A few days before PV sophomore Evie Higgins’ 2019 summer vacation, Higgins got a call that she wasn’t expecting, offering her a new opportunity.

“I got called by a casting agent for Universal; they asked if I would be available to spend two days shooting for a SAG [Screen Actors Guide] movie in Staten Island,” Higgins said.

Higgins was cast as an extra in the movie, “King of Staten Island,” in July 2019. Major cast members include Pete Davidson, Bel Powley and Ricky Velez. Davidson plays the role of the troubled young adult male lead, Scott, who is grieving the loss of his father while being forced to take steps forward in life.

Higgins said she filmed in Staten Island, New York for two days and participated in a 30 second scene. 

“It was really fun being on set,” Higgins said. “Even though it was just background, it still felt like I was a part of the main cast. It was a great experience because Pete Davidson, Judd Apatow, Marisa Tomei and other well known people were there [and] it was interesting to see them work and [hear] the comments that Apatow made to the actors.” 

The movie was released in August, and is available for viewing via On Demand services. According to Higgins, outside talk about the film was not allowed before announcements could be made.

“I wasn’t allowed to say anything about [the movie] for a while and had to be very secretive because they didn’t want anyone knowing about it before they were going to announce it,” Higgins said. 

While Higgins is also a singer, she still has a passion for acting. She wants to pursue acting as much as possible and thinks being on set is a great learning experience.

“I’ve also done [background work for] two other projects in the past,” Higgins said. “I’ve been acting since I was 8 years old in musical theater and auditioning in the entertainment industry for a while. When I was younger, I got a lot of callbacks for “Matilda” on Broadway, but then I got too tall, and it didn’t work out.”

Earlier in the year, Higgins did a similar project for the HBO show, “Divorce.” Higgins did get paid for her role – following a lot of paperwork – and she was able to spend the money when she went on vacation.

“My main takeaway was [that] I want to do this again,” Higgins said. “[Being on set] just made me [realize that acting] is what I want to do.”