Fall River actress talks working on 'The Holdovers' and her big scene with Paul Giamatti

NEW BEDFORD — With the movie "The Holdovers" now out in theaters, filmed in the New Bedford-Fairhaven area, people are starting to recognize a few local faces in the background. One of those familiar faces is Pamela Jayne Morgan, who has a funny scene with all three leads.

Leading shows at Fall River's Little Theatre, appearing on TV shows such as "Law and Order: SVU" and "City on a Hill" and movies such as "Boston Strangler," and producing and starring in her own award-winning short "The Principal's Assembly," Morgan has been busy climbing the industry ranks.

After being invited by Boston casting to do a self-tape audition for a few roles in "The Holdovers," the casting company asked Morgan to submit another take of the scene with a redirect from the director, Alexander Payne.

"Next, I got a callback and auditioned for Alexander in person. What a delightful man he is! He asked me to perform the scene in several different ways. We had fun playing with how this character could be portrayed," she said.

On Jan. 6, 2022, she got a phone call from Alexander Payne, who offered her the role.

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"This is highly unusual when it comes to big-budget studio movies or TV shows. Typically, you’re notified of the offer by your agent or the casting office," she said. "I was shocked when he called! He told me that he contemplated my audition all through Christmas vacation and thought I was the right person to play the part."

Filming her scene with Paul Giamatti

Morgan said Payne described the role as a small but crucial part and expressed his hope that she had time in her schedule to accept the role. He ended the conversation by thanking her again for coming in to read for the role and telling her to expect to have fun.

Set 1970, the film tells the story of Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), an unpopular teacher with no family to go to and nowhere else to spend the Christmas holiday. Thus, he stays at the school to supervise the students who are unable to go home.

Eventually, the only student left is 15-year-old Angus (Dominic Sessa), a student who has a tendency to land himself in trouble. Joining Paul and Angus is head cook Mary (Tony-nominee Da’Vine Joy Randolph), a Black woman whose son was recently lost in Vietnam. Together, the three explore the New England area over the course of two very snowy weeks, according to a longer description on IMDb.com.

Morgan, who was on set for one day, filmed her scene at the Continental Restaurant in Saugus, Massachusetts. She played a waitress who refuses to serve their dessert Cherries Jubilee to Giamatti, Sessa and Randolph because it contains alcohol and one of the character's is underage.

"My approach was an amalgam of both of my audition takes as well as some of the ways we played it during the callback. That was my base and, from there, we tried many different slants on certain lines, facial expressions, pacing, etc," Morgan said.

"This way Alexander [Payne] would have a bag of tricks to choose from in the editing process."

Working with Oscar-winning director Alexander Payne

Morgan said they did about six takes of her performance in the scene, then they had to adjust camera and lighting to get the performances of the other actors.

Morgan said the person with whom she chatted with the most in between scenes was Giamatti.

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"He was a terrific man, no vanity. Our conversations tended to circle around the TV shows trending at the time as he was in the market for some new series to watch," she said. "Da’Vine is a hoot – very approachable and funny with her quips. Dominic is a nice young man who, I think, was starstruck himself!"

Despite not serving the dessert in the scene, the characters end up ordering vanilla ice cream and cherries instead to create their own fiery dessert in the parking lot — a moment that strengthens the characters connection with one another even more in the film.

"I think she [her character] would’ve actually found it warmly humorous. She may have even said 'Cheers' or 'Happy birthday, indeed,' to them if she witnessed that jubilee," Morgan said.

Working with Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning writer and director Payne was Morgan's favorite part as he directed her throughout the filming day.

"You could see his mind thinking in between takes as he would approach us and say, 'Let’s try it this way next take.  Let’s just see how it plays out.' I’m always in awe of witnessing a director’s creative process and he did not disappoint," she said.

Attending a private premiere with Alexander Payne

After the filming was completed and was in the editing process, Morgan had a text conversation with Payne in early September.

"First, he had been an honoree at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival in August, where my short film, 'The Principal’s Assembly' screened. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend that festival when he was there, but I congratulated him on his having been named an honoree," she said.

"Second, and more about 'The Holdovers' – I had read one of the first reviews of the film in VARIETY Magazine and was excited to see the film. I express my hope to Alexander that my scene 'made the cut' and was not edited out of the movie. He replied with, “…hopeful you made the cut? Woman, you’re wonderful in the movie! Very happy to hear from you.”

On Oct. 30, Somerville Theatre hosted a local private screening of the movie. She and her husband Bill Morgan sat right in front of Payne.

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"Not only did I get a 'hello' from him, I got a hug, a photo, and whispers during the movie from him about how great I am in the scene," she said. "And it was so fulfilling to hear the audience’s laughter during my scene."

Next, Morgan starts production for the TV series “He’ll Be Home for Christmas” at the end of February, about a family reunited with their deceased father every Christmas Day. She plays the matriarch of the family in this warm and inspirational story.

What advice does Morgan have for other actors?

As for what advice she'd give to people wanting to follow in her footsteps? "Hunker down for the long haul.  This industry is extremely competitive," she said.

"Seek out local opportunities including independent short and feature length films, web series and student films – especially in Boston where both undergrad and graduate film students at Emerson and BU, among others, are always casting."

Morgan said aspiring actors can find audition notices on various Facebook groups or register with local casting offices such as Boston Casting, CP Casting, Slate Casting, Asylum Casting (all in Massachusetts) and LDI Casting (in Rhode Island).

"This will open doors for being considered for auditions and background work for local commercials, industrials, and the big studio movies and TV shows that shoot in the New England market," she said, adding that people should also take acting classes and workshops.

"Since the pandemic, there are so many more opportunities via Zoom classes. So, even if you can’t get to New York, you can still participate in some online classes," she said.

"But do enjoy the process of acting if that is your passion. Build a resume of good projects that you can use to get your foot in a door. And get ready for a roller coaster ride of ups and downs."

Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter:@ChitwoodReports.Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Actress Pamela Jayne Morgan: 'The Holdovers' role with Paul Giamatti