Jolé - Fierce at Four Foot Two

A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

Fierce at Four Foot Two

2017 A&E Television Networks, LLC.

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-68261-461-7

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-68261-462-4

This work is a memoir. It reflects the authors present recollection of her experiences over a period of years. Certain names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed. Dialogue and events have been recreated from memory, and, in some cases, have been compressed to convey the substance of what was said or occurred.

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Post Hill Press

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Published in the United States of America

CHAPTER FOUR

EVIL ELF

A fter Detroit, I decided not to go back to school. I dont have many regrets in life, but I do regret not having a college education. I hate not finishing something Ive started, but I wanted to make a career as a singer. At that time I felt if I dont do something right now, its never going to happen. I had this intense drive to succeed, and I wanted to start performing right away. It was one of those moments where I felt, If I believe in myself (which I did ) and I take that leap of faith (which I did) , it will lead me to my dream (which it dideventually).

So, in August of 2001, I loaded as many of my possessions as I could fit into my little Honda, took the $200 I still had in my savings from Radio City, and drove 1,200 miles along Interstate 10, all the way from San Antonio to California. Right before I moved I had come across a post through the LPA listserv that MTV was casting the third season of their docu-series True Life . They were looking for little people with unusual jobs, or who were considering limb-lengthening surgery, or who worked in the entertainment industry. I contacted the producer and told her that I was moving out to Los Angeles to pursue my dream of becoming a singer. She must have liked my story because right away she wanted to send a film crew out to San Antonio to film my journey. They followed me out to LA, where they filmed my early struggles to find work; to this day, people still recognize me from that episode.

In Los Angeles, I moved in with my old friend Amy Morris. Wed met at my first LPA conference and have been close since the age of fourteen. Were the same age, were both blondes, and were both achon, so a lot of the time our neighbors couldnt tell us apart and theyd be like, Hey, Amy, when I walked by or vice versa. Amy had moved to Los Angeles from Michigan and almost immediately, she started working at Starbucks and got onto a management track. Even though she had initially moved to LA because of the performance opportunities, she ended up staying because of the little people scene.

Me and my roomie, Amy Morris.

Two months after I moved to LA, Tonya and I both auditioned as dancers for the teaser to Austin Powers in Goldmember . Out of the three hundred little people who auditioned, they picked ten of us to be principals. This was the first job I ever got where I was actually hired as a dancerno elf beards or bear costumesand that was the most empowering feeling I had ever had as a performer. We spent one week rehearsing the choreography and one week filming the teaser, which was a re-creation (using all little people) of the opening musical number from the first Austin Powers film. They had hired over a hundred LP extras and to this day Ive never seen so many little people working on set at one time. I wouldnt be surprised if the last time that happened was for The Wizard of Oz . Joe was actually an extra in the marching band, but I was still pissed at him from our night in Detroit so I totally gave him the cold shoulder.

They put Tonya and I in the front row, splitting Verne Troyer, with the other principal dancers and a full LP marching band behind us (and again it was right-leg-right-hand, left-leg-left-hand; during rehearsals they looked like the most uncoordinated marching band ever). Verne is a huge inspiration for little people in the entertainment industry, so it was mind-blowing to be working with him on my first real job after arriving in LA. I just remember thinking: they chose me . I felt like a superstar, like I had made it. I even had my own trailer. That was it. I was hooked. I was only in the teaser for the movie, but I was making almost a thousand dollars a day doing something that I loved. It was such a rush. I felt like nothing could stop me. There was no way I could go back to San Antonio now.

Little did I know that it would be a while before I would have that feeling again. While I may have been ready to take on Hollywood, I quickly learned that Hollywood wasnt necessarily ready for me. Turns out that theres not a lot of mainstream work in Hollywood for four-foot-two blondes with dwarfism, no matter how talented you are. Funnily enough, Im actually too tall for a little person in the entertainment industry. I was always so proud of my two inches, but ironically, when I got to Los Angeles, I learned that casting calls for little people are always capped at four feet. I ended up having to list myself as 4 0 on IMBD so I wouldnt keep getting shut out of auditions.

Los Angeles has the biggest community of little people in the country. You get a lot of characters out here, not just musicians, artists, and performers, but all kinds who cant get regular jobs because theyre so offbeat. Theres a lot of entertainment work out there for LPs, but most of the time theyre just looking for someone to fill a costume so you dont necessarily need to have any talent. Youll go to auditions and theyll ask, how do you feel about wrestling in a bunny costume? Or, how do you feel about wearing a sombrero and having people eat chips and salsa out of it?

Basically, if youre a little person, the work in Hollywood is seasonal. If its October you know youre going to be auditioning for the role of an elf; November, its Cupids; January is leprechaun season; and so on. So, while its not hard for a little person to find work in the industry, if your dream is to have a legit career as a singer or dancer (like mine had been for as far back as I can remember) those opportunities are a lot harder to come by.

THAT FALL RADIO CITY WANTED to send me back to Detroit, but at that point I felt like I needed to move forward; if they werent sending me to New York, I needed to look for a better opportunity. Meanwhile, a friend had hooked me up with an audition for Ozzie Osbournes Merry Mayhem Tour, which was to kick off Halloween night in Tucson, Arizona. It was slightly less money than Radio City would have been, but it was a longer gig so I reasoned that in the end I would make more money and it would be better for my career.