I've been wary of casting calls promising Hollywood stardom since I was 11 years old. Living in Alabama at the time, my parents learned that talent scouts were two hours away in Birmingham, looking for a kid to star alongside Steve McQueen in The Reivers.

Made the first day cut, returned for the second day (despite a flat tire that Dad feverishly fixed), and found out that producers were already set on a California kid named Mitch Vogel, who later co-starred on Bonanza. That, and the fact that McQueen wasn't at the auditions as the publicity intimated he would be, always stuck in my craw.

So, forgive my lack of excitement while passing along that the 31st annual Bay Area Renaissance Festival at Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry is offering visitors each weekend through April 5 the chance to "be the next Hollywood star" in "a major Hollywood film" toplined by Christina Ricci, Cedric the Entertainer and "Ann-Margaret."

Any news release that can't correctly spell Ann-Margret's name makes me suspicious.

The movie is called All's Faire in Love, and principal photography with those actors was completed at a renaissance festival in Michigan last October. They won't be here. The production is only filming B-roll shots in Tampa, showing people in costumes (that the production won't need to spend for) milling around the festival.

You won't get paid for your services. In fact, you have to pay regular
prices ($16.95 for adults, $8.95 for children age 5 and older) for the
opportunity to serve. Bring four cans of food to benefit Nature's Harvest and get a 50 percent discount.

Dress in your finest medieval wear, stand in line for a cursory "audition" interview and maybe you'll get a few seconds of screen time in a movie unlikely to reach a theater near you. Three production companies involved with All's Faire in Love have 16 movies to their credit, and only one - Material Girls starring Hilary and Haylie Duff - ever made it to Tampa Bay area theaters, for about five minutes. The only distribution rights for All's Faire in Love secured so far are in Turkey and Spain.

You have a better chance of seeing McQueen at the festival than becoming a star.