Sophomore reaches for the Hollywood stars

Not too many high school students can add “movie star” to their resume, but after posing in front of the flashing lights of paparazzi at the Hollywood premier of the short film “Everyone Loves Bulldog” last month, sophomore Brendon Morris-Dice can cross it off his bucket list.

This film was produced in part by Big Spring graduate, Meg Kuntz, and it was at her request that the Hollywood film crew traveled to the heart of Bulldog nation in Newville, PA to film it. To do this, she coordinated with Randy Jones, the Assistant Athletic Director. “Any requests for facility utilization come through my office,” Jones said. “[I wanted students to be able to participate in this film because] it’s great for them to see what it takes to put all of that together as well as show off our building and encourage the collaboration of different activities.”

Morris-Dice landed a role in the film as Mark McCusky, the school mascot, earning himself a close up on camera pulling off the mascot head. “[Getting involved was] really simple,” he said. “ I pretty much just sent in my face and said…I would love to be considered and it just went from there. Within a few hours, they were like ‘Okay, let’s do this!’”

“It was [lead actress] Michelle Khare’s idea to bring Brendon out to Hollywood,” Kuntz said. “Michelle wanted to do something extra special for him to one, let him know he is special and two, to thank him for all his hard work and help with filming “Everyone Loves Bulldog.” Khare face-timed Morris-Dice to share the news. “She was like ‘Hey we just wanted to say that we enjoyed your presence on set and we know how great of an opportunity it would be for you to come see the premier, so we want to fly you out.’ And I lost it, I was freaking out!” Morris-Dice said.

To prepare for the premier, Morris-Dice received the full celebrity treatment, including a professional haircut and even a suit fitting. “They took me to get a suit which was intense because I’ve never worn a suit before,” he said.

In addition to the premier, Morris-Dice had the opportunity to travel around Hollywood for some sightseeing. He participated in a backstage tour of Warner Brothers studios, saw the Big Bang Theory set, walked Hollywood Boulevard, and visited the infamous Hollywood sign at golden hour. While Morris-Dice enjoyed all of this, his favorite part of the experience was the people. “[They taught me that] you don’t have to be in LA for this career to be plausible, you can be pretty much anywhere and as long as you are a hard worker you can make your dream come true…to talk to everyone and to hear their sides of the story, nothing could replace that,” he said. Kuntz enjoyed watching Morris-Dice on the red carpet. “He looked extremely happy. It was extremely rewarding to see him glow and be inspired. He is a great kid and deserves nothing but the best,” she said.

Morris-Dice first dabbled in acting in the third grade, and established his love for it while performing in the ensemble of “Les Miserables” his eighth grade year. Having been granted this opportunity Morris-Dice said, “I got to see that it’s actually a plausible career, and I know now that that’s what I want to do.”

Kuntz’s advice to Morris-Dice and any other aspiring actors or actresses is “never give up on your dreams and goals. Just go for it, you will figure it out as you go, just believe in yourself. This is the most important. You have to believe you can accomplish anything you set your mind to and then do it.”

While Morris-Dice’s trip to Hollywood has come to an end, his dream of acting is just getting started. Students can find him performing in both the fall play, “Scrooge of Rock” and “Seussical” this spring or check out this video featuring more about his experiences on the red carpet and beyond.