Little House on the Prairie actress Pamela Roylance got candid about the unexpected request she faced when joining the cast of the hit ’70s show.
The 73-year-old sat down with Patrick Labyorteaux, who portrayed Andrew “Andy” Garvey on the series and hosts the podcast The Patrick LabyorSheux, for a March 24 episode about how she landed the coveted role. Prior to joining the cast as Sarah Carter in the ninth season, Pamela worked at a chocolate factory to make ends meet, she recalled.
“They were a real thriving company, and a lot of actors worked there, and the boss loved actors. So it was the perfect job to have where you could come and go for your auditions, and the rest of them all said, ‘Are you prepared to work here for five or 10 years before you get your break? and I said, ‘You bet.'”
“I’m a bit overweight. I’m eating the chocolates a lot,” she added. “And my frame is athletic, and it’s square. You know, I’m not voluptuous, which is why I didn’t last on Days of Our Lives, which I would get after Little House. I just didn’t have that perfect figure. I was a little kind of straight up and down squareish.”
Pamela was called in to audition for the part of Sarah and then pulled aside by the show’s casting director. “She’s very sweet, and she says, ‘You’re good, and I want to have you come back in, but you’re a little heavy to be on the prairie. You’ve got to be a little thinner.'”
“And she said, ‘If you can lose some weight, I’ll have you come back and meet Michael [Landon].’ And I said, ‘Okay.'” Michael was the showrunner and also served as executive producer, director, writer and star.
© NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesPamela took on the advice and lost weight, yet felt that she ultimately got the role due to her “sturdy” look, which perfectly suited the character of Sarah. The blonde beauty added that she had previously refused to lose weight when auditioning for Days of Our Lives, which ultimately lost her the role.
“They went with somebody else because, as the casting director said, he called my agent and he said, ‘She’s good. It’s a shame she’s so fat.’ And I didn’t care,” Pamela explained.
© NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via“I didn’t want to spend a minute changing myself to be a trophy wife for anyone…And I thought, I’m not changing. I hate this town. I hate these people. Why can’t I just be me and look like me?”
© Disney General Entertainment ConThe Seattle native went on to star in more than 60 projects, including MacGyver, Murder, She Wrote, 7th Heaven, Grey’s Anatomy, Mad Men, and The Social Network.
© NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesShe portrayed Sarah Carter in the ninth season of Prairie, which followed the Carter family as they moved into the Ingalls homestead. Only Melissa Gilbert’s Laura Ingalls Wilder and Dean Butler’s Almanzo Wilder remained on the show.
“I love season nine. I love the edginess of it. We entered an iconic show with the gift of being series regulars,” Pamela told Buzzfeed. “We got to live in the little house and be best friends with Laura and Almanzo.”
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