MARK WAITE / PVT Nancy LaScala acts out her role as Tracy Parker, part of a couple struggling with gambling addiction, in filming a scene in Pahrump. Advertisement

It was a scene that could have easily been a real life story replayed numerous times in Pahrump. A couple had a heated argument in the yard in front of a mobile home about their tight finances. The angry wife then gets in an old pickup and drives away.

Only this was just part of a movie called "Las Vegas" that is being shot in Pahrump by Alphaville Films Inc. It is about a couple struggling with a gambling addiction before it is saved by their son. Cast and crew have been filming in town for months and expect to wrap up at the end of March.

The lead actress, Nancy LaScala, had her first movie role in the 1998 science-fiction thriller "Species II." That was followed by a role in an episode of the popular television sitcom "Melrose Place" in 1999, a role in the movie "In The Cut" in 2003, and the remake of "Stepford Wives."

"I was born and raised on a dairy farm," she said. "When I was about 7, my grandmother and I were watching TV and I said, 'I can do that.' It was a beauty pageant."

A resident of upstate New York, LaScala shared the dream many young girls have about making it in movies. She persisted in pursuing her dream, though her advice for others pursuing an acting career is to make sure that's really the line of work they want, and if so, to acquire the necessary training.

When she was a teenager, LaScala noticed the advertisements for modeling agencies on the back of Seventeen magazine.

"I started pursuing modeling in New York City. I worked for the Hyatt in Buffalo and just started meeting people and doing bit modeling jobs. From there I kept going to the agencies and meeting people. You have to be in a place that is acceptable. For modeling, it's more New York because from New York you go to Europe," she said.

The modeling industry has exacting standards for height and weight, but LaScala said a lot of girls are now plus-size models.

"The door's not going to knock. You have to go out and pursue it. If you want to be an actor, you have to go out and take classes and read the plays, read all the literature," LaScala said.

"There's so many things to learn and then the more you learn the more you know, the more you understand. I still take classes, I've only been acting for seven years, I've been doing commercials for 16."

LaScala did commercials for Ponds soap, Acura cars, MCI communications, Pepcid stomach medicine and State Farm insurance among a long list of clients.

"I modeled in Europe for five years. I did everything from runway with Givenchy and Armani and Yves St. Laurent, catalog and campaigns and had a great five years in Europe. Then I just wanted a base so I came back to the States and lived in New York. What happened was the more commercials I did, a lot of directors were like, this is really acting.

"I got friends that lived in L.A. so I went and started staying with them and had commercial agents when I got out there and had modeling agents before I got out there," she said.

But LaScala suggested hopefuls should research the different modeling and acting schools before shelling out a lot of money to see what they actually will learn.

LaScala was taking acting classes in New York when she heard about an audition for "Species II." She took her parents to see her first movie part.

"I played the debutante. I'm in the first half hour. Not everyone should see it, it's just one of those sci-fi, crazy movies. But I was more excited about seeing myself on television in the commercials," she said.

The assignment on "Species II" took three weeks of work, her role as a baby doll dancer in the movie "In The Cut" took two weeks of shooting. But LaScala said she was on the set for five months in her role in "The Stepford Wives," a movie that required 10 months of filming in New York.

"TV is different than film. TV, you do everything in two takes because there's so much to do. Commercials, it takes all day to do 30 seconds," she said.

Her last TV show was a role in the soap opera "Passion."

"The best advice I can really give anybody if this is something you really want to do, it just doesn't come knocking at your door. You have to put yourself in classes, and in small towns it's hard. The activity for acting is in L.A. and New York, modeling is mostly in New York and Miami and Europe," LaScala said. "You know what's glamorous about it? It's your own schedule. You are your own business. It's what people need to realize."

People in this business have to be strong and persistent, she said. "You have to take a lot of rejection. You can go up on many auditions and get nothing."

LaScala said people in the acting and modeling business can get a big head from the glamorous life. But she said what's more important is how someone is as a person.

"I know every day I came from a dairy farm. I used to be out there every day, milking cows and baling hay. And I remember how I was raised and I appreciate how I grew up. It makes me appreciate everything I get now that much more because I can help my family," she said.

LaScala said she is enjoying her time in Pahrump, which with its friendly, down-to-earth people reminds her of small-town life back in upstate New York.

The movie is a challenge, LaScala said, but she enjoys the people she works with.

Speaking of her lead actress role as Tracy Parker, wife and mother, LaScala said, "My character is full of energy and emotion. She's trying to keep her family together, keeping her life together, keeping a home. It kind of like fits into being here in Pahrump because it's real homey."

LaScala said she enjoys having her dogs with her -- she has an organization called Throw Your Dog A Bone -- and likes visiting local sites like the Shoshone miners' caves and China Ranch with them.

LaScala can't discuss her next movie and would say only that it's going to take place in Philadelphia. LaScala has been in Pahrump longer than expected, since last Dec. 22.

While her own career has been lucrative enough she doesn't have to worry too much about finances, budgeting is a concern for many actors and actresses. Some people may work two night jobs and go out on auditions during the day, she said.

"You have to learn, too, even though you may want to get that new pair of sneakers or that new handbag, you've got to realize I may not work for another month so I've got to save my money, get another job to support myself," LaScala said.

But she added, "Like anything, any job, if it's something you really want to do, put your heart and soul in it. Always trust your gut."