Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Alex Cabrero reporting A lot of people would love to be in a Hollywood movie; well, here's their chance. Next month, a movie crew will be shooting scenes at the Bonneville Salt Flats, and they're looking for extras to be in the same shots as Brad Pitt.
There sure is a lot of emptiness in rural Tooele County. As head of Tooele's Chamber of Commerce, it's Debbie Winn's job to get people excited about the place. Brad Pitt could help.
Pitt's next movie, "Tree of Life", will be shooting a scene at the Bonneville Salt Flats next month. The company doing the movie needs extras to be with Pitt, and it is hoping to find them in two open casting calls this coming Saturday.
Jan Eshete is planning on trying out. The chance to stand next to Brad Pitt makes her smile. "Oh yeah, well, he's good looking, that's for sure," she said.
But others we spoke with, like Ray Weigle, weren't so excited. He said, "I could care less, myself."
We even found a woman --yes, a woman-- not into Pitt. Karrie Gardner said, "Russell Crowe, Richard Gere, yeah, the older, the better. That's what I say. Brad Pitt? He's burned out."
One thing not burned out, though, is the money films bring to Utah. Winn said, "It's just gonna be wonderful!" Winn admits it might take something a little extraordinary to put rural Tooele County on the map, but she thinks Pitt is just the superstar to do so, even if it's just for a few minutes. "We want to let people know what we have in Tooele, which is just a great variety of things to do," she said.
The casting company will be holding open tryouts this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. The tryouts will be at the Deseret Peak Complex in Tooele County. Then, from 3:00 until 4:30, they will be at the West Wendover library. All the company would say is that it's searching for a "unique" look.
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
