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Teen From Zephyrhills On 'Ugly Betty'

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By NICOLA M. WHITE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 6, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - When "Ugly Betty" first hit the airwaves last year, Elizabeth McLaughlin tuned in every week.

She never dreamed she'd land a guest role on the hit TV show.

"I practically almost passed out," said Elizabeth, 14, when she got the call.

Then again, the Zephyrhills teen has been thinking and dreaming about being a professional actress since she was 5, when she started taking voice and dance lessons.

"To be honest, I've been waiting for this pretty much my entire life," she said.

Elizabeth's national television debut is slated for 8 p.m. Thursday on the ABC network. In the "Ugly Betty" episode, she plays a leader-of-the-pack mean girl. She and her classmates visit Mode, the fictional fashion magazine where Betty works as an assistant, to learn about an upcoming fashion show. Betty, the homely, down-to-earth star of the show, is appalled by the message being sent to the kids and suggests putting real women on the runway instead of stick-thin models.

On-screen, Elizabeth plays her snobby role with aplomb.

"I mean, she's really mean," said mom Kim McLaughlin, saying friends and family in Zephyrhills are planning viewing parties Thursday. "She said, 'Mom, all my friends are going to think I'm mean!'"

In real life, Elizabeth is a regular teenager who would have been a freshman this year at Zephyrhills High School. She was set to enroll and even landed a spot on the cheerleading squad. But before school started, she headed out to California to audition for pilot season, when the networks try out different television shows. This was her second time. Even before she landed the guest role on "Betty," her family decided to pack up their house in Zephyrhills and move to Burbank, Calif.

"It wasn't an easy decision," Kim McLaughlin said. "Fortunately, it has paid off."

Elizabeth said she misses some things about being in Florida, such as going to homecoming. She even said she missed the rush of final exams before Christmas; she took those in California. For the fall semester, she was technically a home-schooled student.

She did wear her Zephyrhills High School jacket, though, on the set of "Ugly Betty," where she stayed for 12 hours at a time while filming the episode. On the set, she met all the stars, including America Ferrera, who plays Betty Suarez.

"She is such a sweet person," Elizabeth said. "She's really encouraging and nice. She actually, between takes, for about five minutes went out of her way to have a discussion with me about working in the entertainment business because she knew it was my first gig. She was just kind of giving me advice. It was really nice of her."

Ferrera told Elizabeth that if she's successful, she's always going to be in the spotlight, and she should make sure she's OK with that.

"You can't forget about that. No matter how many cool clothes you have or how much money you get, you have to be yourself," Elizabeth said.

If you plan to watch the show Thursday, don't think it's the last time you'll see Elizabeth. She's auditioning for more film and television projects.

Stay tuned.

Reporter Nicola M. White can be reached at (813) 779-4613 or nwhite1@tampatrib.com.

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