By Andrea Teague
Former BYU gymnast impressed moviemakers, landing a role in a recently released Touchstone Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment Film.
“Stick It,” an April 2006 release, features Jaime Mabray in a small role as one of the gymnasts that competes with Missy Peregrym, the movie”s star. Peregrym plays a 17-year-old girl, who is forced to return to gymnastics to straighten out her life after problems with the law.
Jessica Bendinger, writer and director of the movie, chose skilled gymnasts from graduating seniors on university teams to be featured in the film. She saw a broadcast of former BYU gymnast Jaime Mabray perform with BYU”s team and decided to contact her.
“I saw Jaime competing, and she was a real standout – competing on all four events and doing it brilliantly. I knew we had to have her in the movie,” Bendinger said in a press release.
Bendinger contacted Mabray”s coach and asked if the gymnast would be interested in appearing in a movie.
Mabray, who has been doing gymnastics since she was six, decided to try it, so she called Bendinger and auditioned for the part.
Cheryll Mabray, Jaime Mabray”s mother, encouraged her to try out for the movie.
“My feeling for all of my kids is that if you have the opportunity to do … something worthwhile, and you may never have the opportunity to do it again, do it,” Cheryll Mabray said.
She also said being in a movie was on Jaime”s to-do list growing up, and this allowed her to check one thing off her list.
Even though Jaime Mabray said that making the movie was a good experience, it wasn”t quite what she expected.
“There”s a lot more sitting around than I thought there would be,” she said.
Jaime Mabray had a small part in the movie, playing a gymnastic competitor. She spent a month on the set. Her main part was doing routines in the background of scenes, along with ten other gymnasts, to make the meets in the movie seem more realistic.
Even though much of her time was spent waiting and sitting around, Jaime Mabray said she enjoyed the new experiences.
“It was fun,” Jaime Mabray said. “It was a really good experience because I”ve never been around that [movie making] before.” The Mabray family”s experience with gymnastics caused them to look at the movie through a different perspective than most moviegoers, Cheryll Mabray said.
“We were kind of watching the routines more than the movie,” she said.
Mabray”s parents said they felt that their daughter”s good experience making the film was the best part of the production.
Jaime Mabray”s father, Jerry Mabray, said it is an exciting thing for his daughter to be able to say she had this experience in her life and that she can share the experience with her kids.
At the end of the filming, the crew and other filmmakers were impressed with Jaime Mabray, movie director Bendinger said in a press release.
“She did a fantastic job,” she said. “I hope her fellow Cougars will be proud. She was a wonderful ambassador for BYU.”
