Bucket lists are beautiful things. They can challenge us, encourage us and incite us to dream outside of our comfort zones and beyond the parameter of our day-to-day lives. Lesley Catlett’s bucket list wasn’t extreme. A first-grade teacher at Prairie Point Elementary School, her daily life is never dull with a classroom full of six-year-olds and two teenage sons who always add adventure to an ordinary day. There has always been one constant on Lesley’s bucket list, however; but she never really thought it would happen.
Lesley wanted to be in a movie.
Her dreams weren’t to move to Hollywood and become an A-list star, but rather simply to be an extra in a movie. Those opportunities don’t come up very often in the Midwest, so she considered it the universe sending her a sign when one of the auction items for the 2026 Big Slick event was to be an extra in The Swimming Lesson, a movie filmed in Kansas City starring Heidi Gardner and William H. Macy.
Faced with the possibility of her bucket list item becoming within reach, Lesley watched the silent auction and waited. She entered her personal information and set a daily alarm to check the status of the auction item. She waited, and waited, watching as the price of the film extra opportunity began to rise in the last thirty minutes of the auction. With ten seconds left, she entered her bid and pressed submit.
And she won.
The next moments are somewhat of a blur, but they involved the type of shrieking that occurs when a lifelong dream suddenly becomes reality. Thankfully, Lesley had a few months to compose herself before receiving her call time and instructions for stepping on set.
The Swimming Lesson, an indie film co-written and directed by Bishop Meige graduate, Casey Twenter, stars Gardner as a mom relocating to Kansas City with her autistic son amidst a custody battle with her ex-boyfriend, played by Joey Bicicchi. Hudson Escudero is the talented young actor who plays Albee, Gardner’s son, and Macy plays Gardner’s tough, yet loving father. Many locals were employed as part of the cast and crew; a detail of the indie film that suggests it’s built on the same sense of community as the Big Slick auction that placed Lesley on its set.
Told that she would be playing a high-end realtor, Lesley headed out for her call time with a new dress and nervous anticipation. Her first stop was base camp – a few trailers behind the film’s production office downtown. Lesley didn’t quite know what to expect. She certainly didn’t anticipate hearing the words that came next:
“You can go to hair and makeup.”
To some, these words might not mean much. For someone who was simply expecting to be an extra in a scene, this small little something meant everything. Relieved to have access to professional makeup artistry, Lesley entered the trailer to find herself seated next to one of the film’s co-stars, Abby Elliott. Well-known for her role as Natalie Berzatto on the popular FX and Hulu series, “The Bear,” Elliott introduced herself and greeted Lesley with the same kindness extended to all of the cast and crew.
And just like that, this first grade teacher from Parkville was getting her cheeks blushed in a makeup trailer on a movie set next to Abby Elliott. Surreal.
“We were just chatting like regular people,” Lesley says. “They were like a little family, the whole cast and crew. They seemed to really like each other and were so welcoming.”
Lesley soon heard someone announce that it was time for the talent to board the shuttle for the shoot location, a beautiful house in mid-town.
“Am I the talent?” she asked someone innocently.
“Yes,” she was assured. The time had come.
[Lights on; cameras ready; scene set ] Elliott and Bicicchi were to arrive at the new home they had just purchased in Kansas City. Lesley, their trusted realtor, was waiting to welcome them inside with a smile and a wave.
The direction sounded simple enough, but execution is more difficult than you think.
With a production assistant cueing her exit from the house, the excitement Lesley felt was equaled by nerves.
“At the time, I just thought don’t screw it up,” she says. “You have to hold your breath to contain your excitement, but your heart is pounding.”
Told that she could be on her phone when she emerged from the house, Lesley decided to pretend she was talking to her son. “I was afraid that if I wasn’t actually talking, I would look like a cartoon version of what an actor is supposed to be doing.”
When she first heard “action,” Lesley walked out of the house as directed. When Elliott’s character said, “Hi Susan,” Lesley did what anyone would do. “I said hi. I didn’t even know my name was Susan and I felt like I should say hi back.” An innocent mistake, she laughs when recalling the director’s reaction: “This time we’re going to do it again and don’t say anything.”
After five takes or so, Lesley says, “I heard, ‘That’s a wrap on Lesley Catlett realtor,’ and the crew all clapped.”
Her day on set might have had to eventually end, but the day’s meaning continued to grow for Lesley. Inspired by a thank you message received from Children’s Mercy, Lesley was inspired to volunteer at the hospital to help patients and their families find joy during the toughest of times. “When I got an email from Children’s Mercy thanking me for my donation to help children, I thought, ‘I can do more,’” Lesley says.
And, when Lesley met Heidi Gardner on set and was given a hug for her decision to volunteer with the hospital, the true meaning of the day fell firmly into place. With the joy that Big Slick brings to Kansas City each year, the brave patients at Children’s Mercy are the ones who truly deserve the applause.
“It was one of the best days of my life,” Lesley said of her experience on set and the perspective she now has for helping others. “It was everything that I wanted it to be and more.”
[Dim the lights; cue the curtain] That’s a beautiful wrap.