After splurging thousands of dollars on billboards, Racquel Bailey has finally achieved her purpose.
The New Jersey-based actress was in the news recently for putting her headshot and contact details on a billboard with the message “Attention Mr Perry, Racquel Bailey is your next leading lady.”
Sources now indicate that Bailey has been cast in the upcoming Tyler Perry production “Sistas”.
When Bailey paid $2,000 to create two billboards of herself in southwest Atlanta to get Perry’s attention, she sparked online frenzy and even received backlash from Tyler Perry, who told people not to follow her lead but rather just come for auditions.
“… 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!! … PLEASE STOP! To audition is FREE!! I’m sure you can use that money for a better purpose… Again, the best way to work for me is to AUDITION and it’s FREE!… And by the way, you were great in THE NIGHT OF! … I ALREADY SAW YOU!! So just audition and keep your money!! Again, I appreciate your effort, but that’s not the way to work for me.
God bless you dreamer. I have no doubt you will make it one day!!”, he said in an Instagram post.
The billboards were put up on May 6 and 7, and by May 8, the actress is reported to have received a call from Tyler Perry Studios. She then went to the studios to audition for a role in an upcoming TV show, which turns out to be “Sistas”.
She is reported to have landed a role as a police officer in Perry’s upcoming BET show “Sistas,” and she’ll appear in the season one finale and will most probably return for the second season as well.
The coincidence of Perry being familiar with former works might have also contributed to him responding and inviting her in for an audition. The actress has been in projects like Van Ness Avenue, The Night Of, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Jake & Tarry and others.
The billboard that landed her the role in Tyler Perry’s show, however, is not the first billboard Bailey has made. Over seven years ago, she spent $1,400 on a billboard near Perry’s first studio when she was looking for work. That did not yield any results, but she did not give up.
Bailey said she got the idea after watching Halle Berry in the HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, where Dandridge was told to put her face on billboards to get an agent’s attention.
The attention garnered by Bailey’s billboard didn’t stop with her role on “Sistas”. After it went viral on social media platforms, Racquel has been contacted by several film executives and landed over 20 auditions which have led to two roles even before the “Sistas” role was confirmed.
She has more major auditions coming up with some big-time directors and sources say she is very grateful to Perry for giving her a boost.
The mother of two responded to people who criticized her method of reaching her goals that the “…decision to put up a billboard, though it was directed at Tyler Perry, it wasn’t motivated by him.
“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. 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.”
