Becki Newton has won legions of loyal fans for her fashion-forward onscreen characters, but before she became a household name on Ugly Betty, she had a very different role.
The Lincoln Lawyer star featured in an Olive Garden commercial and her dark hair and formal uniform was an alternative look to her colorful onscreen wardrobe.
Becki played a waitress in the commercial which was filmed before she booked Ugly Betty.
She later confessed she was "horrified" her co-stars — including Vanessa Williams and America Ferrara — had seen the ad.
"I filmed that Olive Garden job two weeks before booking the Ugly Betty job," she told Stay Thirsty Magazine. "It was my last commercial. It aired during the commercial breaks throughout season one and everyone on set called me 'Breadsticks'."
© Getty ImagesBecki said the Ugly Betty team even added it to the script.
"They even wrote an episode wherein my character Amanda was in a commercial for a restaurant chain called Medieval Times,'" she added.
"At the time I was horrified because I wanted my peers on set to think I was a "serious" actress. But, looking back, I’m so proud that I made such a leap – in such a short while – and it was all part of my story."
© Getty ImagesBecki said she learned a lot from those working on the show.
"I never studied formally," she told the outlet of acting. "But have had the privilege of working alongside some incredibly talented women. I booked the job on Ugly Betty at a time when I had only been doing commercials, and then spent four years on set alongside Vanessa Williams and Judith Light, two of my all-time idols.
© Getty Images"I watched their every move and tried to absorb everything I could. I learned so much by spending all those hours on set."
Becki now stars in The Lincoln Lawyer, and while she loves the show, she admits the role came as a surprise to her.
© Getty Images"On paper, I would not have guessed this is where I would've ended up," she told Town & Country magazine. "I was always a fan of legal shows, but I never watched them thinking, 'Oh, what would it be like to do one?'"
But she says she likes "the challenge of the material" adding that It's been an "incredible gift to my career."
Becki loves her character, Lorna Crane, and explained to the outlet: "Lorna's never been too worried about fitting in. She just is who she is."
"That’s what I love about Lorna. She's okay with being underestimated because she will find a way to use that against whoever is underestimating her. She takes it and uses it as a badge of honor."
