Local model/actress featured in 'American Idol' music video
By Carissa Marsh Special to the Acorn

BIG BREAK- Mason Rae Hathorne, right, poses with artist Ferras during the shooting of a music video for "Hollywood's Not America."

The hit television show "American Idol" has produced stars from coast to coast- talented crooners as well as memorable characters. But not all who've felt the glow of "Idol" fame had to face Simon first.

Though she's not a singer, hometown girl and model Mason Rae Hathorne has created a buzz in the entertainment industry since appearing in a music video for the official exit song of the seventh season of "Idol."

The piano-driven ballad called "Hollywood's Not America," by new artist Ferras, was played during the show's Hollywood Week eliminations.

In the black-and-white video, 19yearold Hathorne plays Helena Jane, a girl who moves to Hollywood looking for stardom, only to realize it isn't all she'd hoped for. As Ferras sings, Helena Jane eventually puts her blue jeans back on and returns home.

Hathorne, who was born and raised in Simi, turned out to be just right for the role.

"I think this part's perfect for me because I'm from Simi Valley and it's just a small town," Hathorne said during her audition. "I love Hollywood, the scene's crazy and fun, but in the end I would rather just be in Simi Valley."

The next day, she was told she got the part.

"I was totally freaked out," she said. "I was so excited."

While landing the role was fairly easy (her quick interview and head shot sealed the deal), making the video was a different story.

Hathorne had to wake up at 4 a.m. and drive to the shoot, which was set in a woodsy area in Topanga Park. Filming her first part in the video only took about 30 minutes, but Hathorne then had a six-hour break while Ferras had his turn in front of the camera.

At 4 p.m. it was her turn again, but not without a bit of wardrobe trouble first.

"We couldn't figure out what I wanted to wear, so we kept going back and forth and changing," Hathorne said. "They wanted a specific thing, and they couldn't find it."

Despite the challenges, Hathorne said she feels lucky and blessed for the experience and the buzz the video created.

"The whole experience was so amazing," she said. "I hope I get more (opportunities) like that in the future."

A self-described tomboy as a child, Hathorne didn't think about pursuing modeling until someone at church told her she had the look. She was just 15 at the time.

"I decided to try it, not thinking much of it at first because I was young and all I really wanted to do was hang out with my friends," she said.

She posted head shots on MySpace and received dozens of compliments, but her first real taste of modeling came in the form of a gig with Ventura-based dress shop California & Main.

"They did this runway thing, and they had the fans blowing on me, and I just had so much fun," Hathorne said of her first shoot. "I was like, this is totally for me."

Not long after, the shop made Hathorne their cover girl. Local teens shopping for prom recognized her on the street from California & Main's catalogs and posters and from a hand-painted rendering of Hathorne on the store's wall.

Hathorne is now taking acting classes and continues to go on auditions four or five times a week. She was recently chosen to be the face of a new mineral makeup line called MyChelle Minerals and said she will model for a Marilyn Monroe-inspired shoot with Paul Brown, who directed Ferras' music video.

Hathorne plans on one day going to cosmetology school and earning her associate degree from Moorpark College.

"Hopefully I will open up a salon- that would be fun," Hathorne said, "or my career could just kick off and I become this huge movie star or big model. That would be cool too."

To check out Hathorne in "Hollywood's Not America," visit www.americanidol.com/videos/ ?vid=913.