Charlotte Stewart took a massive risk during her ‘Little House on the Prairie‘ audition by telling Michael Landon to “shut up.”
The move could have ended her shot at the series instantly, but her fearless performance impressed the room and landed her the role of schoolteacher Eva Beadle-Simms.
Charlotte Stewart Had No Idea Michael Landon Would Be in the Room
Stewart admitted that she did not know much about ‘Little House on the Prairie‘ when Paramount Studios called her in. “I got an interview for Paramount Studios for something called Little House. I didn’t pay much attention to it,” she told former co-star Patrick Labyorteaux on his The Patrick LabyorSheaux podcast.
Related: 10 Times ‘Little House On The Prairie’ Handled Serious Themes
Things got awkward as soon as she arrived. While the other actresses wore costumes that matched the Western setting, Stewart turned up in casual clothes.
“So, I arrived at Paramount, and there’s all these women in old-West dresses, bonnets, and long skirts, and I’m in my tie-dye T-shirt and jeans. And they said, ‘Are you ready to read?’ I went, ‘Okay!’ So, they opened the door, I walked in, and it’s like 12 men in folding chairs and Michael Landon.”
Seeing Landon in the room made the pressure even more real. He was already a huge television star after playing Little Joe Cartwright on Bonanza from 1959 to 1973, but nobody had warned Stewart that he was involved in the new project.
Stewart Took Over the Desk on ‘Little House on the Prairie‘ Set and Silenced Everyone
Stewart felt “shocked, speechless, because that’s the first time anybody said it was a Michael Landon thing.” However, she “recovered very quickly” and decided to fully channel the firm schoolteacher she was auditioning to play. She noticed a producer sitting behind a large desk and boldly asked him to move.
In case you missed it: Melissa Gilbert Defends Netflix’s ‘Little House On The Prairie’ Amid Historical Accuracy Debate
“I said, ‘May I sit at your desk?’ [He said] ‘Oh, well okay.’ He got up and moved, and I walked all the way down to the end of the room.” The men continued talking among themselves as Stewart prepared to read. Instead of waiting for them, she slammed her hands down on the desk and took control like a teacher dealing with a noisy classroom.
Stewart silenced everyone with one direct command. “And I went, ‘Quiet!’ I told Michael Landon to shut up in my interview. So I got the part.” Her risky choice showed the producers exactly how she would handle the role of the kind but no-nonsense Eva Beadle-Simms.
Labyorteaux, who later played Andy Garvey in the fourth season, wanted to know whether the tactic actually worked. When he asked if Landon and the other men stopped talking, Stewart coyly replied, “Yeah.”
The fearless audition secured Stewart a four-season run on ‘Little House on the Prairie‘. By entering the room in a tie-dye T-shirt, taking the producer’s seat and ordering one of television’s biggest stars to be quiet, she proved that fully becoming the character could hit harder than simply reading the lines.
You might also like to read: 10 Actors You Forgot Were On The Original ‘Little House On The Prairie’
