US Cellular released its US Days campaign back in March to say thank you to its customers.
Bobbie McWilliams-Leesley, an Osage tribal member from Sloan, Iowa, was one of two lucky customers picked to star in the promotion. This included being in advertisements and a commercial, and being flown to Los Angeles.
Bobbie and her mother were both extras in the 1993 TV movie “Ambush in Waco: In the Line of Duty,” and afterward agencies would send her emails for different gigs. In January she received a random email from an agency in Florida about the US Cellular commercial.
“My name was out there in emails from different companies,” McWilliams-Leesley said. “And then a company sent out emails for this, so I thought ‘I’m a US Cellular customer, I’m just going to fill this out.’”
She originally chose US Cellular because of not being satisfied with other cell phone carriers’ service in rural areas.
“I had been a US Cellular customer for quite some time and always had pretty good reception,” she said. “The other companies I used, my children live in a really small town in Iowa and I would go visit them and the calls would get dropped. Like if one of my grandchildren had a birthday party, the calls would drop and it was really frustrating.”
McWilliams-Leesley filled out the email questionnaire and sent in a video about her experience as a US Cellular customer.
“They wanted a little video, which I thought was terrible,” she said. “So I sent them this video and I didn’t know how to work the computer. I really didn’t because I had never done an iMovie video before.”
McWilliams-Leesley was able to get the video done and sent in, but didn’t think she was going to get the role.
“I think I was actually past due, so I just hit the send button,” she said. “And I thought, ‘I’m never ever going to hear from them.’ The next day, they called me.”
US Cellular liked the video and wanted to talk to McWilliams-Leesley. She had to meet with several people individually over Zoom, and had a group meeting with everyone. Bobbie was in Oklahoma visiting her mother, Suzanne Edwards Walsh, at the time she got the phone call from US Cellular.
“We were sitting in the kitchen and she was getting interviewed,” Walsh said. “I didn’t even know what it was or what she was doing, really. She just had a big interview with a lot of people. Then she got a call saying she had the main part.”
Everything for the commercial moved quickly, and in February she was in Los Angeles to film.
McWilliams-Leesley flew first class for the first time and was well-taken care of at the hotel. She thought the accommodations were marvelous. A driver took her wherever she went, and she was given a per diem. She had her fitting and was given her script on the first day.
“It was kind of funny because they wrote the script,” she said. “But I thought to myself, ‘Did they write that just for me?’ Because it seemed so much like me. Even my daughters were saying that I’m always wanting my hair and makeup done, and my nails.”
Her first day consisted of having her hair and makeup done by professional makeup artists and she filmed the commercial during the morning and afternoon. She also picked up a to-go order from the California burger chain In-N-Out, and enjoyed seeing the workers in action.
McWilliams-Leesley handled being in front of the camera well.
“Everybody made you feel at ease,” she said. “I wasn’t nervous.”
On March 14, Bobbie’s commercial aired nationally. Her performance was met with great reception from her family and friends.
“I couldn’t believe it was her,” Walsh said. “I about jumped out of the chair. There she was as big as day, across the whole screen and I couldn’t believe it.”
McWilliams-Leesley comes from a big family. Her siblings, nieces and nephews also saw the commercial and were very excited.
“A couple of the kids saw it and one of the grandkids said, ‘I just saw Aunt Bobbie!’ and they couldn’t believe it either,” Walsh said.
McWilliams-Leesley’s reaction to the commercial was a little bit different. But if she had the opportunity to do it again, she would.
“I thought, ‘Is that someone else?’ Because I’m not used to seeing myself on TV,” she said. “I knew it was me because I did it, but I was like ‘Oh that’s really weird, I’m on TV. That’s odd.’”
Her husband Greg Leesley was very proud of her performance in the commercial.
“She did a really good job,” he said. “I liked her giggle at the end. I was amazed that my wife was doing a commercial. She’s a star now.”
McWilliams-Leesley is grateful for US Cellular and the service they have provided her over the years, especially because she recently just became a grandmother again.
“It’s important to have a good phone carrier like US Cellular because I just heard the news that I’m a grandma,” she said. “My son just had a little girl named Maiah. So I’m really glad I was able to get the call for that.”
