Former LSU Tigers gymnast turned influencer Olivia “Livvy” Dunne is set to make her major acting debut next year in Fox’s Baywatch reboot, where she’ll star as Grace, a “highly enthusiastic junior life guard,” alongside several other big names such as Brooks Nader and Shay Mitchell.
Dunne, who also happens to be dating Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, took up acting lessons after retiring from gymnastics, and on Wednesday night, she revealed in a guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon that although this will be her first major role, it wasn’t her first audition for a major role. Before landing Grace on Baywatch, she was rejected following an audition for HBO’s The White Lotus.
“So, actually, my first ever audition was in person. It was different because in gymnastics, usually you just go out there and perform on a 4-inch beam. But this, I have to talk and perform and play somebody else rather than myself. So, it was a completely different animal,” Dunne told Fallon.
“I ended up not getting that one, which was probably a show that you would know. It was for White Lotus.”
Although Mike White’s White Lotus is true “prestige television” and one of HBO’s biggest shows, Dunne is more than pleased with how things turned out.
“I ended up auditioning for Baywatch and submitted my self-tape,” she said. “I had really no expectation of what was going to happen. I got a call back. It’s iconic, and that’s the first callback I’ve ever gotten, and I ended up booking it.”
Akin to how the MLB is promoting Dunne’s proximity to the league to mirror the NFL’s success in marketing Taylor Swift, Fox is betting on her millions of followers across Instagram and TikTok to tune in to see her on its television screens.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.