From Public Enemies to Chicago stardom.

Rising talent Randy Bernales is a pro in the entertainment circuit and he lives states away from Hollywood. The Chicago area based star has found the acting/modeling Pot of Gold right here in the Midwest.

Recently, BTSCelebs virtually sat down with the northern gentlemen to discuss his motivation, acting jobs and future in the business.

BTSCelebs: Please introduce yourself to BTSCelebers:
Randy: I’m Randy Bernales, an actor and model in the Chicago-land area.

What inspired you to join the entertainment industry?
I was always actively performing during my college years as a musician and actor. I really enjoyed the cultivating nature of community theater as well, and would like to thank the directors and fellow actors from those productions for sparking my interest in the craft of acting.

Tell us about your very first movie extra job:
It was during the spring/summer of 2008 for the movie, “Public Enemies” . My brother and I saw a posting on IMDB for an extras casting call for this film. The 1930’s depression era and John Dillinger were of particular interest to me, so we hopped a train and took a taxi to the audition. I remember it was rather an odd experience. There were a lot of people in front of us dressed in 1930’s attire and the audition simply consisted of picture taking and an availability check. Later that week, I received a callback to play an inmate for one of the smaller prison scenes. Upon arriving on set for wardrobe and makeup, I met with one of the stand-ins for Christian Bale who told me what to expect on set and of his experiences in this production thus far. I was amazed at some of the fun and unique stories he told. As this was a night shoot, we were on set from about 8 P.M. until 8 A.M. the following day. Later that night, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale were both in the same room with the extras and myself, and I remember it being a surreal experience. Depp joked around quite a bit but Bale kept to himself. When the sun came up, everyone was yelling, ” That’s a wrap!” and I had realized that I wasn’t used yet. It was then that the director, Michael Mann, said he wanted to get one more shot for the scene. He picked me out of the lineup of extras and asked me to smoke a cigarette in the jail cell next to the one where Depp was being held. Michael Mann has always been an inspiration to me and I’ll never forget that moment where he asked me to smoke and gave me specific direction for this scene. In the coming weeks, both my brother and I were repeatedly called back for scenes up until the last one which was shot on location at the Biograph Theater. It was here where John Dillinger was shot and killed. It was also here where I got to be featured in the final cut of the film. I had the good fortune of being once again hand picked by Michael Mann to be seated 1 row behind Depp as were watching the last film Dillinger saw before he was killed. In reality, it was just a green screen with the actual film being added in post production. I also got to be featured in a slow motion reaction shot of the outside crowd as we approached the body of Depp/Dillinger after he was shot. The entire experience on set for this project last about 4 short weeks but the memories with the cast, crew, and extras will last a lifetime.

What was it about this first experience that encouraged you to continue to pursue an acting career?
The ability to see movie magic at it’s best and how films are short inspired me to pursue this craft. I haven’t looked back since.

Stay Tuned for Part 2.

A Special Thanks to Randy Bernales for the image and interview.