Alison Arngrim’s First Day on ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Was Filled with ‘Complete Chaos & Confusion’
What To Know
- Alison Arngrim described her first day on the set of Little House on the Prairie as chaotic and confusing.
- Due to miscommunication, Arngrim had to undergo a last-minute, frantic hair curling session.
- Despite the rough start, Arngrim eventually settled into her role.
It was a full-on Walnut Grove reunion on The Patrick LabyorSheaux with Patrick Labyorteaux, where host and former Little House on the Prairie star Patrick Labyorteaux welcomed several of his old Prairie dwellers — and their families — for a heartfelt catch-up about life on, before, and long after their days on Little House. The gathering included Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson), Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder), Pamela Roylance (Sarah Carter), Jennifer Donati (Baby Rose Wilder), and Tracy and Victor French, the children of the late Victor French.
At the top of the show titled “Little House Castravaganza,” Labyorteaux asked Arngrim’s, “Alison, what was your first day on the set? What was that like?”
“Complete chaos and confusion. Um, I mean, as I said, the audition, you know,” said Arngrim. “I hadn’t read the books and didn’t know who Nellie Oleson was. So, we’re all kind of all over the place. So, I had no idea that Nellie had ringlets.”
Courtesy of Everett Collection
“My auntie Mary and I showed up at the crack of dawn at Paramount, and the assistant director Reid Rummage said, ‘Why aren’t you in curlers?’ And we went, ‘What? WHAT?!?'”
“We were informed that I was supposed to have arrived in curlers because apparently I had ringlets. No clue,” recalled an exasperated Arngrim. “So, it was lots of panic and phone calls back and forth, and then massive curling of my hair. Um, so yeah, bananas.”
As if the hair curling debacle wasn’t enough, there was another incident to make the day memorable.
“And then first day on location, of course, I passed out. So, I was off to a just a rousing start right there.”
As most of the series was shot in Simi Valley, California, where temperatures can soar to extreme highs, the brutal heat took a massive toll on the cast and crew. The heavy, period-accurate outfits did little to help the situation, and on the very first day, with her hair neatly curled and fully costumed, Arngrim fainted on set.
In her book, Confessions of a Prairie B****, Arngrim explains that she was dressed in a long dress, a massive petticoat, tights, and boots during a heat wave that reached well over one hundred degrees, making the outfit almost unbearable. Arngrim recalls feeling a “weird” sensation of having “no temperature at all,” noting that she struggled to get her lines out. Realizing something was wrong, she approached the assistant director and told him she thought she was about to pass out, and moments later, she blacked out.
It might have been a rough start, but it is safe to say she eventually found her footing, as Arngrim’s Nellie Oleson soon settled into her stride and became one of the show’s most memorable characters.
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