these Progressive Insurance coverage commercials? Comic Stephanie Courtney has performed Flo the Insurance coverage Girl in 215 advertisements, to date. She’s helped flip Progressive into America’s second-largest insurance coverage firm.
She is, by any measure, some of the profitable actors on the earth – on tv nonstop for 16 years, with face recognition by the general public, and the cash that goes with it. “I’m not gonna fight you on that!” Courtney laughed. “Even though in my head I’m like, What?”
I requested, “What does it mean when you go out in public? Do people harass you? Want selfies?”
“No, not really,” she mentioned. “Normally I look like a sea hag. So, I get a double life.”
She’s come a good distance since 2007: “I was broke as a joke. I was auditioning. I was driving around L.A. auditioning for every commercial, every show.”
Being referred to as a struggling actor, Courtney mentioned, could be a praise. “I would’ve aspired to be a struggling actor!” she laughed. “And then, I got the audition for Progressive.”
CBS Information
That first advert wasn’t supposed to be humorous. However then got here the ad-lib that modified promoting historical past: “I keep in mind the primary actor, his line after I inform him the entire thing is, ‘Wow.’ And he mentioned, ‘Wow.’ And I’m like, ‘WOW! I know! I say it louder!’ I used to be type of shocked at how I screamed on this actor’s face.
“And so, that’s the first clue about, like, who is she, how crazy can she get,” she mentioned.
Viewers beloved Flo, and a industrial icon was born.
It’s possible you’ll know Dean Winters from his roles on “Oz,” “30 Rock,” or “John Wick.” However you’re almost definitely to know him from the 150 TV advertisements he’s made for Allstate. He performs Mayhem, the human embodiment of each dangerous particular person, place, or factor in your life. “It’s like, ‘Mayhem, Mayhem, Mayhem, Mayhem!’ I can’t even ride the subway anymore,” she mentioned.
Allstate
I requested, “Does it bother you at all that you’re getting recognized more for an ad campaign?”
“I think in the beginning, maybe a little bit,” Winters replied. “But I wouldn’t have the lifestyle that I live if it wasn’t for people watching the commercials, watching the TV shows and movies, paying for their insurance. So, every time someone stops me, my first thought is, this person is helping me pay my mortgage!”
The luxurious of getting a aspect hustle shouldn’t be misplaced on Winters: “It’s a very fickle business,” he mentioned. “You can go six months, eight months without working, easily. A lot of my friends are struggling right now. And so, like, I’m very cognizant of how lucky I am. it’s become, like, the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”
But when anybody is aware of concerning the ups and downs of showbiz, it’s Deanna Colon. “I am a 360-degree entertainer, singer, songwriter, vocal coach,” she mentioned. “If you want to be in the world of entertainment, you have to do it all.”
Colon was on “America’s Got Talent,” and she or he’s appeared in advertisements for Pepsi and Massive Tons. However the greatest break she ever bought was the Jardiance industrial.
“I have Type 2 diabetes, but I manage it well, it’s a little pill with a big story to tell!”
“I’m dancing with my mailman and I’m, ‘Hey, how you doing buddy?’ And she’s living her best life!” Colon mentioned.
Jardiance
The advert aired in March 2023. And aired, and aired, and aired. “Apparently they showed it one million times,” she laughed. “People were yelling at me online, ‘I’m so sick of seeing your face!’ And I’m like, ‘I have no power in how much they air this thing, guys!’”
Business pay may be fairly good: “With Big Lots, I made over a hundred thousand dollars in a three-month period,” she mentioned. “Plus, you get the health insurance. Yeah, it’s awesome.”
What wasn’t so superior was the net hate that the Jardiance advert introduced her. “I would get emails to my personal website that were horrible, and I’d just be crying,” Colon mentioned. “It was mostly about my weight and how, you know, ‘Oh, if you danced like that all the time, you wouldn’t be the size you are.’”
I requested, “Would you do anything differently now that you know how toxic and horrific some people can be?”
“No,” she replied. “I’m always gonna be a plus-size woman. I’m always gonna be a curvy woman. And you’re gonna see me singing and dancing and acting. The joy of it all far outweighs the haters.”
In the meantime, Dean Winters will probably be Mayhem for so long as Allstate can have him. “You know, I really hope that I’m doing it until Mayhem is wheelchair racing in a nursing home, you know what I mean?” he laughed.
As for Stephanie Courtney, she’s given up her youthful desires of showing on Broadway or on “Saturday Night Live.” However she nonetheless performs each week with The Groundlings improv group.
And he or she nonetheless loves being Flo. “I will tell you, the thing that made my heart grow three sizes that day was the Halloween costumes, seeing, especially like little kids, I love it so much,” she mentioned.
VioletteVerse (Fb); ginalee (Instagram)
“I’m like, ‘Just keep reapplying powder, reapply your lipstick. Go forth, be free, go spread the word!’” Courtney laughed.
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Story produced by David Rothman. Editor: Joseph Frandino.
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