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Stacey Blitsch - Movie Star!
CHARLIE'S ANGELS
FULL THROTTLE!
By: Rob Brown
It's eight
o'clock in the morning. The sleep was alright, but it could have
been better. Today is the big day. Looking out the window, the sun
is shining and all is well. Stacey gets out of bed and stretches,
running her hands through her hair. A quick call to her
grandmother gives her all the support she needs. It's time to get
into the game!
After getting ready, the blond queen of the roller derby gets
behind the wheel and drives off to the Grand Olympic Auditorium in
Los Angeles, CA. Known as the home to the stars, Los Angeles is
about to open its arms to a fresh face with an abundance of energy
and a love for what she does. Her name: Stacey Blitsch!
Stacey is heading out on the opportunity of a lifetime - a role in
the highly anticipated Summer movie, Charlie's Angels 2 Full
Throttle.
It was last fall when Stacey got the call from Bay City Bombers,
the fighting bomber babes, mastermind Tim Patten. He asked her if
she would be interested in the chance of being in a movie at all.
She would have to be respectful to Cameron Diaz, Luci Liu and Drew
Barrymore. Without hesitation, Stacey jumped at the opportunity.
"Not only was it one of my goals to be in a movie," she said. "I
also thought it would be a great way to promote the sport and the
female athlete."
After talking with a few other industry people, Stacey got the
call to attend a costume fitting and have her pictures taken.
Although she was unsure of whether she would be a body double or
have an actual role in the film, Stacey went in with great
spirits.
Whether it was her looks, skill or spirits, something caught the
eyes of the casting agent and Stacey landed a role in the film
that would not only see her share some film time with the stars of
the movie, it would also give her a chance to wow them.
"After the fitting, I was called back for the next day to begin
filming," Blitsch said. "I was the first to arrive the next day,
so I was a little anxious to get going."
Anxious, yes. Nervous?
"Absolutely not," she said. "This is my craft and talent. I'm
always confident in my abilities."
After waiting a few hours in the "talent holding area," Stacey was
asked to get into her costume for her scene. While Stacey is used
to wearing # 36 on the Bombers, this time she was playing the role
of #7 on the Blasters.
Out onto the track she went with the 11 other skaters chosen to be
in this scene (some of whom were body doubles). Joining the 12
skaters were the three main stars of the movie, Drew Barrymore,
Cameron Diaz and Lucy Lui.
"I found it funny in a way," she said. "There was a skate
instructor there, but it was obvious that the instructor had never
been on a banked track before."
Also humerous was the fact that almost all of the skaters present
tried their hardest to be the personal teacher to each of the
stars. But the humor stopped there. Out of nowhere came an uproar
from the majority of the skaters about the skates they were given
to perform in.
"They were costume skates and not our own," Blitsch said.
"Everyone complained that they couldn't skate in them. They really
complained! But as a true banked track skater, I adjusted to the
feel and had no problems."
The old school
skaters are such a pain. They can't adapt to the new world.
A few of the skaters continued to yell about the costume skates
and asked if they could use their own. They were told that they
needed to be in uniform, which had to match the skates.
Unfortunately for those skaters, their personal skates were black.
But the chaos wasn't over yet - as those skaters hatched a plan to
use white tape on their skates and change the wheels so that they
would match the uniforms.
Meanwhile, Stacey ignored the protests from her fellow skaters
about the costume skates and did a few laps around the track.
"You just have to learn to deal with the situation," she said. "I
mean, it's not like it was a real game. It was only for a sequence
in the movie that will last about one minute."
Stacey might have gotten the last laugh after all, as once the
other skaters had finished complaining and altering their personal
skates to fit the costumes, the costume director decided that
everyone should be in the costume skates.
It was then time to go to the wardrobe area to get hair and make
up done. While waiting for the action to heat up again, Stacey
spent her time adjusting the skates some more to tweak them to her
preference and struck up a conversation with the child actor
mentor for the movie.
Just as they were talking about child actors not having a chance
to lead a normal childhood, Prince was blasted through the stereo
system. It was now time to get the show started. Time to see
Stacey and the Blasters take on the Angels and the TBirds.
The director set the skaters up on the track - two TBirds followed
by two members of the Blasters, being trailed by the three Angels
and two more blasters. Stacey initially found herself behind the
Angels, but was quickly moved up ahead of them after a few quick
laps.
Much to Stacey's surprise, the filming turned out to be much like
a regular game for her. As she skated around the track, Lucy Liu
reached forward and pulled Stacey's hair, bringing her off
balance. However, being used to this from all the times she has
played on the banked track, Stacey leaned back on one skate with
her other foot in the air and balanced herself as she continued to
skate.
A few more laps were skated and then the director called for all
the skaters who wanted to do a few stunt shots. Of course, Stacey
was one of the ones that stepped up to the challenge. However, the
directors seemed to have a difference in opinion. As Stacey was
sure of her skill and drive to perform the stunts, the directors
instead chose Gwen Miller and Darlene Languis. Not ready to give
up, Stacey approached the director and told them her feelings
straight blank.
"I said, 'I know I have the skill for this - I am a gymnast and if
you want aerials, I can do it for you - I will fly,'" she
explained. "They discussed it amongst themselves for a few minutes
and decided that they would take Gwen anyways."
Not to be deterred, Stacey stepped off the track, letting the old
timers get some action. She watched as the director called for a
rail shot where Cameron Diaz would send Gwen into the rail. After
two takes, the director decided that he wanted to see the same
shot, only this time with Drew Barrymore and Stacey. A smile came
across Stacey's face as she got ready to do the shot - ready to
fly.
Ready ... set ...
on three ... two ... one ... GO! Stacey took off with Drew
following behind. Into position, Drew bumps Stacey into the rail
... and watches as Stacey fails to simply bump into the rail. No -
no simple bumps for Mailbu Stacey - she showed off her style and
flew over the top rail. On the second take, the same thing
happened - Stacey taking the move one step further and clearly
sailing over the rail and dropping down.
"It was really nice to hear everyone applauding," she said. "The
whole crew was in disbelief!"
And it wasn't just the crew that was in disbelief - Gwen Miller
was too. However, while the crew was excited because they were
amazed at what they had just seen, Gwen was more perturbed that in
her mind, Stacey had stolen her move, saying that she didn't know
that was what the directors wanted. Once again, Stacey had to keep
her laughter silent.
Again, it was the
old school skaters, most of whom are fifty years old or more,
who just can't cut the mustard anymore. But, because promoters try
to skate the elderly athletes, all the new and fresh talent
suffers, as does the sport.
After Stacey's arial, there was a shot done using Denise Dodras
and Dar the really old star doing a double block and then the
Angels posed for a few pictures as the skaters went around the
track. And that was a wrap - the day was done.
All the skaters
were sent home. But Stacey got a call back from the production.
She would spend four more days at Zuma Beach working in some beach
scenes for the movie. Stacey's first major film role was complete.
"I had a blast - the time of my life," she said. "It was
definitely something that I would want to do again. I hope you all
go to see the movie when it comes out on June 27th - I know you'll
love it.
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