Talk about a tough spot!
Suzanne Somers almost gave up the movie role that launched her career because she couldn’t afford to feed an expired parking meter.
Somers, now 76, tells Page Six exclusively that when she arrived at an audition for the destined-to-be-classic 1973 movie “American Graffiti,” directed by future “Star Wars” legend George Lucas, “I had no idea who George Lucas was.”
In a roomful of other unknowns, Somers had other things on her mind besides imminent fame.
“I was in the waiting room with a bunch of other blondes, and the [audition panel was] running behind,” Somers recalled to us. “I almost left because my parking meter was running out, and I had no money to extend it.”
She said that, “the casting assistant asked me to wait, and indicated ‘Mr. Lucas liked my photo.'”
George Lucas asked Somers at the audition, “Can you drive?” Getty ImagesLucky for her, Somers took her chances with the meter.
“When I got in the room to see him, all he said was, ‘Can you drive?,'” she recalled of her first meeting with Lucas.
“I said, ‘Yes.’ That was it. I was shocked when my agent said I got the part,” she says.
The teenage flick is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Lucas, now 79, cast Somers as “Blonde in T-Bird,” her first credited role. Little did she know that the tiny bit-part would later land her the career-making role of Chrissy Snow on the 1970s sitcom, “Three’s Company.”
Lucas cast a number of future stars in his 1973 film, including Somers and Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams and Mackenzie Phillips. Getty ImagesIn “American Graffiti,” “I only had three words in the entire film, ‘I love you,'” Somers says. “I practiced all day in the mirror. I waited all night on set and met the other actors – a bunch of no-names,” she laughed, “Little did I know!”
Somers’ says her small part was made even smaller on the set by Lucas.
Somers went on to star in “Three’s Company” thanks to her small “American Graffiti” part.GC Images“When the time came to shoot my scenes, I drove around in a white Thunderbird. Now for my big line! George Lucas said, ‘Just mouth it,'” she recalls.
“I didn’t even get to say the three words! I think I was on screen for a total of five seconds… But those five seconds gave me my career.”
Lucas went on to create the “Star Wars” franchise. Corbis via Getty ImagesAfter the film debuted and was nominated for five Oscars, “Johnny Carson had me on his show and introduced me as ‘the mysterious blonde in the Thunderbird from “American Graffiti.” The producers of ‘Three’s Company’ saw me on Carson — and that’s how I got the audition for Chrissy Snow. The rest is history.”
She starred in 100 episodes of “Three’s Company from 1977 to 1981, and then went on to star in another smash sitcom, “Step By Step.”
Somers also recently said she turned down a role on “The View” as a host. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty ImagesShe recently revealed that she turned down a role as a host on “The View,” because she didn’t want to move to New York.
