*The actress behind the ATL billboards calling on Tyler Perry to give her a job says she doesn’t regret spending her rent money to get his attention.
As we previously reported, Racquel Bailey spent $2,000 on two billboards in Atlanta that read “Attention Mr. Perry, Racquel Bailey is your next leading lady.”
But Tyler was not impressed. He fired off a response to her on Instagram, saying: “Auhhh…. soooooo…… here’s the deal. This is not the way to get my attention if you’re looking for a role in one of my shows. Please DON’T DO THIS, SAVE YOUR MONEY!! This is the third time that someone has done this. PLEASE STOP! To audition is FREE!! I’m sure you can use that money for a better purpose.”
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Why Black Investors Should Think About Growing their Wealth with Stocks
Bailey tells EW that Perry’s response “didn’t make me feel rainbows and butterflies. When I decided to do this, I didn’t know what the response would be. Last time, I didn’t get any response from him and I wasn’t expecting really much out of this time as well, but I had to take a chance.”
This isn’t the first time she has tried to Tyler’s attention.
“Seven years ago, I put a billboard up in Atlanta,” Bailey said. “I never heard back from Mr. Perry, but I went back to the drawing board and continued to work on my craft, auditioned more and worked more.”
The move landed her a role on HBO’s “The Night Of,” which is currently available On Demand.
“This decision to put up a billboard, though it was directed at Tyler Perry, it wasn’t motivated by him,” she said. “I have two beautiful children whom I love to take care of and that is my day-to-day job. I want to show them to go after their dreams, more so than tell them.”
Bailey credits her children, a 13-year-old son and 11-month-old daughter, for helping her stay motivated.
“When [my son] gets ready to go for football tryouts, when he’s getting ready to try out for rugby or the school play, he will remember that his mom got told a ‘no’ and she still went out for it. That means more to me more than anything, more than getting a role, more than a booking, more than Tyler Perry’s approval.”
When the billboards first went up around Perry’s studio, reps from the company reached out and invited her in for an audition, Bailey said.
The wife and mother says “any leap of faith is worth it.”
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
