Comet Shines on Screen

Editor’s Note: We solemnly swear there are no “Better Call Saul” spoilers in this post.

10.17.2022

Julia Lawshae in character on the set of “On Becoming a God in Central Florida.”

When the final episodes of the TV show “Better Call Saul” aired this summer, eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted a Comet among the cast.

Julia Lawshae is an internal auditor in the Office of Audit and Consulting Services at The University of Texas at Dallas.

She’s also an actor.

Lawshae — her screen name is Julia Lashae — has appeared in more than 25 films and TV series since the late 1990s. She has performed alongside Bryan Cranston in “Your Honor,” Kirsten Dunst in “On Becoming a God in Central Florida” and Mahershala Ali in “True Detective.”

“It’s like a master class in acting every single time,” she said.

Before she landed a role in “Better Call Saul,” Lawshae was first a fan. The show, which followed the morally ambiguous lawyer Saul Goodman, was a spinoff from the Emmy-winning show “Breaking Bad.”

Lawshae knew the show filmed in New Mexico, but she had no luck getting an audition.

That changed after she took an online class during the COVID-19 pandemic with the head of casting for the final season of “Better Call Saul.” Lawshae learned that the show cast its smaller roles through New Mexico agencies.

Determined to land a role, Lawshae switched agents to a firm with offices in both Dallas and Albuquerque. After a few auditions, she got a part.

“This was the first time I made a plan to get a role, and it worked,” she said.

Her scenes in two of the final episodes of the series were anticipated moments since they provided updates on the female lead, who was portrayed by Rhea Seehorn.

“There was a major nondisclosure agreement in place,” Lawshae said. “I filmed for about two weeks in January, and I couldn’t talk about it until it aired in August.”

Julia Lawshae (left) played a co-worker of Kim Wexler — played by Rhea Seehorn — in the final episodes of the TV show “Better Call Saul.”

Some of the scenes were shot outside in the midst of a New Mexico winter, which presented a challenge since the scene being filmed was set in balmy Florida.

“Cameras would start rolling, and the costume people would take off our parkas and our UGGs. We would put our shoes on, pop ice into our mouths so the cameras wouldn’t catch hot breath in the cold air, and then spit out the ice and start the scene like we were warm as can be in Florida,” she said.

Lawshae also gave herself an added hurdle – she wanted to avoid major spoilers for the show.

“I would do my best to avoid looking at any scenes in the script other than my own. I just wanted to be surprised,” she said. “Rhea even offered to tell me so I knew the mindset of her character at that stage of the show. I told her yes, then no, then yes again and finally no.”

Lawshae grew up in Austin, Texas, with hopes of performing in theater productions, but opted for a degree in international studies from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and planned to attend law school.

But the itch to perform remained. She moved back home to Austin, where she sang in Italian restaurants, delivered singing telegrams, performed in theater productions and entertained at children’s parties before eventually being accepted into the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York City.

“I deferred my student loans; I sold my car. I sold whatever I could and moved to New York City,” she said. “I worked in restaurants at night so I knew I always had a meal, and I’d go to acting school during the day. By the time I finished my time at AMDA, I was exhausted.”

Life then took her to New Orleans, where she became a working singer in swing and jazz bands at night and auditioned for film and television roles by day. She joined the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in 1999.

She balanced her day and night jobs for many years, but after Hurricane Katrina, she also worked in disaster response and recovery. She eventually burned out and returned to Texas, where she first worked at UT Southwestern Medical Center and then landed at UT Dallas in 2014. She uses vacation time to pursue auditions and to act.

She has performed at the UT Dallas Celebration of Support and during a Faculty at Five concert, a series that featured performances by UT Dallas faculty and invited guests. She also recently helped an animation class with voice-overs for a commercial the class created for UTDesign.

“It was amazing working with them. I had no idea we had this great recording studio on campus,” she said. “The students are so creative; they sent me a card they created that was decorated with a pattern from the top I was wearing that day.”

Out of all the films and shows she has been in, Lawshae said “Better Call Saul” has been her favorite.

“Rhea was so amazing and funny, and [showrunners and co-creators] Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould were also amazing to work with. They let me improv a bit, some of which even made it into the scenes,” she said. “They let their actors do what they do.”

–Paul Bottoni