Alison Arngrim’s Hysterical ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Audition: Michael Landon Cried with Laughter

Arngrim mentioned that she observed something in Nellie Oleson that other young actresses had not.

NEED TO KNOW

• Alison Arngrim, who portrayed Nellie Oleson onLittle House in the Big Woods,remembered discovering the comedy in her role during her audition
• Angrim was 11 years old when her interpretation of Nellie moved Michael Landon and the show’s producers to tears of joy.
• Arngrim was part of the cast that came together at theLittle House in the PrairieFinal 50th Anniversary Reunion on December 12

Alison Arngrimsays her major opportunity onLittle House in the Prairiefelt as though it was her final opportunity to keep her acting career going.

During the recent Little House in the Prairie50th Anniversary Reunion Final, Arngrim reflected on securing the role of the show’s bully, Nellie Oleson, following rejections from earlier auditions for the main castLittle House cast.

I didn’t read the books… but I tried out for every role as a child,” Arngrim remembered during the Dec. 12 gathering. “So I went and auditioned for the roles of Laura and Mary, and I didn’t land them. I remember thinking, ‘It’s because I’m not a country girl.’

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Nevertheless, Arngrem was invited back for an audition once the series was ordered, and they aimed to broaden the Ingalls family’s universe.

Then I receive a call, ‘You should go down to Paramount to read for theLittle House in the PrairieAnd I recall saying, ‘But I did that. They filmed it. They produced it for television, which is fantastic. So, what do you mean?’

Nevertheless, Arngrem agreed to audition for the role, but admitted she had no idea what she was getting into.

“These were the times when, particularly for young actors, they would simply hand you a script and give you no direction. So I would receive these scenes without any indication of her character, like she was mean or anything,” she remembered.

And I was sitting there with my dad, on the stairs [because] there were no seats left at the audition, and I began reading, and I thought, ‘Wait, what?’ I looked at my father and said, ‘This isn’t a typical role.’

Arngrim said to her father, “This girl is completely… she’s a bitch!”

“My father says, ‘Wait, what?’ And I begin reading it to him. He was dying while I was reciting the monologue,” she said, adding that it was essentially the whole script for the second episode of season 1 titled ‘Country Girls.’

So I begin reading this to my dad, who becomes completely hysterical with laughter, and he says, ‘Okay, don’t alter it. You go in there, you do that, I don’t know what exactly you just did, but keep doing it. Don’t rehearse again.’

Angrim mentioned that his response had “never occurred previously,” but she concurred. As she entered the audition, she spotted Michael Landon and three additional producers.

As directed by her father, she entered and read the script precisely as she did the initial time.

I handled everything. They were laughing so hard throughout it all. Tears, poking each other in the ribs, and I thought, ‘Okay, I’m killing it. What’s going on?'” she recalls. “Then, when we finished, Michael caught his breath and asked, ‘Would you do that again?’ They wanted to check if it was just a one-time thing.

Arngrim nodded, prompting the group, “What would you prefer me to alter?”

He says, ‘Nothing,'” she remarked, pointing out that the second time around “was exactly the same.

Although the entire monologue was “hysterical,” Arngrim, who was 11 years old at the time, mentioned that there was one specific part that had everyone laughing uncontrollably.

“She said, ‘We have three sets of dishes: one for daily use, one for Sundays, and one for when a very special and important guest comes over — which we’ve never even used so far,'” she remembered from the script.

Even when she was a teenager, Arngrim recognized the humor in Nellie pretending to be “so high and mighty” without realizing what the comment truly implied.

As she exited the audition room, Arngrim remembered hearing the producers and Landon “still laughing behind the door.”

During the 30 minutes it took Arngrim and her father to return home, her agent was on the phone verifying that she had secured the part.

It was truly wild. The amusing thing is, I began working when I was 5. My Screen Actors Guild card states ‘member since 1967,’ which is quite entertaining,” she said. “I’ve been working since I was this height and I had several jobs, then I did a film when I was 10, after which I didn’t work much.

When I was around 11 years old, my father, who worked as a manager, told me, ‘You’ve been working hard until now, but you haven’t been getting much work at 11. Many child actors tend to stop working around this age… and they might not return to acting until they’re adults, or they might never act again. You already understand the industry well. You’ve watched my clients, many of them, and seen which ones continue to work and which ones simply stop.’

She continued, “And I was certain this was real… And then six months later, I received”Little House. So they will ask me, since I’m 63 now, “Are you making a comeback?” And I said, “No,”Little House was the comeback.’ “

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