LeeAnne Locken Has an Acting Past Full of Drama (and Comedy, Too)

There's no shortage of drama on The Real Housewives of Dallas, and that's something LeeAnne Locken has a lot of experience with — in the film and TV sense, that is. In between growing up on the carnival circuit and now dominating the Dallas charity world, LeeAnne had quite the prolific acting career. 

LeeAnne's experience landing in the Top 10 of the 1989 Miss USA pageant came in handy when she appeared as Miss Nebraska in the 2000 hit comedy Miss Congeniality. "I loved being on Miss Congeniality. I actually fought hard for my role. You would go to the auditions and literally every girl I'd ever done a pageant with was in the room in her perfect pageant dress waiting to audition. And thank God at that point I'd done enough acting that I'd sort of let go of the perfection part, just like, was just me," LeeAnne told The Daily Dish (clip above). "I loved every second of auditioning for it. I loved being a part of it. I loved the fact that the choreographer from the Miss USA pageant was our choreographer on set. I had a blast." 

You can spot a blond LeeAnne throughout the film as one of the Top 5 contestants, along with star Sandra Bullock's character, undercover FBI agent Gracie Hart, like when she showed off her statuesque frame in a Statue of Liberty outfit for the opening number of the pageant.

She looked pretty and poised during the interview round.

Who could forget LeeAnne's balloon animal creations during the talent portion?

LeeAnne said she actually had to study intensely with a clown to learn how to make the balloon animals herself. "Every single of the pageant girls, we'd ride on a bus together and me and the clown would be in the back," she told The Daily Dish. "All my animals came out like, they never had equal legs and arms. I had always, like, my giraffe was jacked. It was just so sad. It was so sad that by the time we went to set to shoot that scene in San Antonio I started making a balloon animal, and Donald Petrie, the director, walked over to me and was like, 'Is this all you know how to do?' And I'm like, 'Dude, it's hard! I'm not a clown! I'm not a balloon artist!' And so he literally had the guy make a balloon thing for me to play with." 

And yes, Sandra is as amazing to work with as you think. "Sandy was cool. Sandy's like the most down-to-earth, coolest, realest, amazing person. She really is," LeeAnne said.

LeeAnne's acting career includes a wide variety of roles, from an appearance opposite Faye Dunaway in the film Rain to a guest spot in the crime drama Chase to a role in the ABC comedy GCB, all of which you can see (and more!) in her acting reel, below.

RHOD also isn't LeeAnne's first taste of reality TV. She was a contestant on Season 2 of the modeling competition She's Got the Look and appeared on Big Rich Texas.

Yes, LeeAnne has pretty much done it all in the entertainment industry, from hosting to starring in commercials.

But we're sure glad LeeAnne eventually made her way to RHOD.

Learn more about LeeAnne's past by clicking through these throwback pics, below.