Could he be the next 'new' talent?
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 10, 2014 1:46 PM
News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
Shell Davis caught the eye of a casting director for the FOX television show "Sleepy Hollow" and earned a spot in the first episode.
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Submitted photo
Shell Davis' trailer while he was filming the premiere episode of "Sleepy Hollow" last spring featured his own star and character name, "Specialty Soul."
Stories like the legendary discovery of actress Lana Turner while having a soda at Schwab's Pharmacy in Hollywood are virtually unheard of these days.
That is, until local car salesman Shell Davis caught the eye of a casting director.
Perhaps one of the most recognizable men in the county, at 4 foot 6 inches he is a commanding and engaging presence.
So much so that during a random stop at his workplace, Frema Motors, a woman affiliated with the FOX Show, "Sleepy Hollow" inquired about him. The show, described as a "modern-day retelling" of the 1820 short story of Ichabod Crane, or the "headless horseman." It has been renewed for its second season, returning at 9 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22.
And Davis will appear in the first episode.
"I was on the yard doing what I do best, which is meeting and greeting others and this lady comes through and says to one of the salesmen, 'Who's that guy?'" he recalls of the day back in March that the show representative spotted him.
She immediately shared her interest in casting him on the show. No audition.
He had never watched the show, he said. But the next day he received information about contacting the casting department.
"I thought it was a joke," he said. "Being an old country boy born and raised, I thought, 'What do you really want? I'm a very busy man.'"
The process moved quickly -- with him asked to provide his measurements and about his availability to travel to Wilmington, where the show is filmed.
"We were right in the middle of a big sale," he said, prompting him to hesitate and presuming that was the end of the discussion.
"'Oh, no, sir, we really want you for this part,'" he was told.
Then came the call from one of the directors, asking to come to Davis' Goldsboro home. Dubious, especially when the only time they could agree upon was 10:30 at night, Davis enlisted the help of his son, Josh Davis, who works with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office.
"Being a deputy sheriff, I had him also be at the house," he said with a laugh.
It turned out to be legitimate and in the months since, a full head cast mold of his head was created and he traveled down to the EUE Studios in Wilmington, where he met the stars and crew, spent seven and one-half hours in make-up and filmed the episode that will air in two weeks.
As a Christian, he said the only issue he had with the experience was that his scenes were set in Purgatory. When he was reassured that it was acting and "not real," his concerns lessened.
"I prayed, 'Lord, there's got to be a reason, a ministry that may come out of playing this part,'" he said. "There's always a reason things happen. I firmly believe that. My faith allows me to believe that."
He has no lines and there will be no "spoiler" photos published of his character, "Specialty Soul," in advance of the show's airing.
But the promise of future episodes and even a potential career as a character actor have been mentioned.
"The last words they said to me after they said 'Cut!' were they were really excited to have met me and are interested in future things," he said. "The directors met with me after the show was shot. They were asking me how flexible I was in my schedule.
"I'm a working man with a family. This may be the end of it. I told my wife, if I don't do it, it will be something I always regret."
The diminutive 56-year-old who was once mistaken in an airport for the late Mickey Rooney, has no acting experience to speak off, save some TV commercials for Frema Motors and the occasional radio appearance.
Growing up in Mount Olive, one of six sons, he graduated from Southern Wayne High School in 1977 and attended Mount Olive College and Atlantic Christian College, receiving a degree in business.
His life-long dream had been to be a pastor. When that didn't happen readily, he fell back on the job he'd had as a teen in the car business with a friend's father.
He has worked for several area dealerships, returning in 1998 to Frema, where he is now sales manager and elite master consultant.
Married for 28 years to wife, Susan, he has two children. In addition to Josh, his daughter, Brittney Brown, and husband, Andrew, a police officer in Rose Hill, have a 21/2-old, Grayson.
The opportunity to appear in a national TV show, and the potential to pursue it in the future, have brought even more attention to the popular salesman, he said.
Since sharing the news on Facebook, he has had an outpouring of support, with folks coming into the dealership asking for autographs, he said.
"I think it's kind of funny," he said. "I'm Shell Davis. I'm always going to be Shell Davis. I'm not going to be any different.
"At the end of every take, they yell 'Cut.' You know that your life begins back home where reality is."