Except for that role as a maiden, Rosalynn Ritchie, former Auburn resident and Edward Little grad, didn’t have much acting experience. But that didn’t stop her from getting the part of a ring girl in the upcoming Mark Wahlberg movie “The Fighter,” which opened this weekend in the bigger cities and next weekend in Maine.

Far from being intimidated by the stars, the bikini wardrobe and the long day, the experience confirmed her desire to move to New York or Los Angeles and do more acting. She’s ready for “Rebel Without a Cause II” and a lot more.  

Name: Rosalynn Ritchie

Age: 28

Home town and where living now: Grew up in Auburn. I am currently splitting time between South Portland and north of Boston.

Nickname? Close friends and family call me Ros, which is fine, but I prefer Rosalynn.

Current occupation: Part time model with Maggie’s Agency in Boston as well as freelance

What are you studying right now? I attend USM Business School, finishing up a marketing degree. I am also taking acting classes when I have the time.

Did you do a lot of acting as a kid? Church plays? School productions? I was too shy. I remember doing one school play, but I did not have a main role. I played some kind of a maiden. For school projects I co-directed and co-starred in a couple of videos, which was fun! One was a made-up interview with O.J. Simpson and the other had do with Salem witch trials!

So how does a girl from Maine with little professional acting experience land a role — OK, not a big speaking role, but still, a role with “high exposure,” we’ll say — in a big Hollywood production with a big-name cast? Well, I am on Boston Casting’s website, so they e-mail me when they have an audition for me. In this case they called me a couple of times, because I could not make it at first. I ended up going down to Lowell (Mass.) to meet with the director of the movie, David O. Russell. He told me then and there that he wanted me as one of the ring girls for the movie. Angela Peri, the owner of Boston Casting, told me they had gone through 400 girls for the roles.

Fess up: Did you practice for the audition at home, in front of friends and family? I practiced walking in my room and holding up my arms walking toward my mirror!

Any trepidation walking around in a skimpy bikini in front of people during filming who you hardly know, and knowing that millions of movie-goers are likely to see you? Honestly, I did not think about that at all. I wear a bikini to the beach in front of people I don’t know. I was so excited and nervous about being in the film and with such amazing actors. Mark Wahlberg even made the comment that at least the other ring girl and I were wearing more clothes than he was. He was only wearing boxer’s shorts.

OK, so mega-actors Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale are among the stars, as well as boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. And director David O. Russell, director of “Three Kings” and “I Heart Huckabees,” is there. Are you feeling out of your element? Or falling in love? What were your emotions like? I was excited and I actually felt completely in my element. I was totally bit by the acting bug! At first I was in amazement of all the great people around me. Filming is such a long process and we were there for 12 hours, so it was kind of just like a workday.

What were Wahlberg and Bale like? Did they even acknowledge you? Mark Wahlberg seemed really nice, and it was funny because I did not even notice we were in the same makeup trailer until he was leaving. That’s when I was thinking “Oh my god, that’s Mark Wahlberg!” I tried not to stare at him, so I always looked the other way instead! He told us we did a good job. Christian Bale seemed to be totally into his role and he seemed to be very serious with his acting.

What’s next for you? Have you caught the Hollywood acting bug? Oh, I am for sure going to move out to LA or even NYC after I finish up with school in the summer. I will take more acting classes and try to find an agent out there. What have I got to lose? I figure if I can be living in Maine and get a small role in a film, then I should be able to go to a city where the market for acting is much bigger and hope for a bigger role.

In the perfect world, what movie do you wish Hollywood will do a remake of and ask you to be the lead in? I love the ’50s and would totally love to be in a “Rebel Without a Cause”-type movie. And I really love “Public Enemies'” Billie character.

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