Things to do in Sacramento

So you could never bring yourself to audition for "America's Next Top Model" because ... spending all that time with Tyra Banks wouldn't be worth the effort.

Well, I've got good news for aspiring models (and actors) in the Sacramento area. A Phoenix-based company called ProScout is coming to town Thursday for free, open-call interview sessions. The sessions are at 6 and 7:30 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, across from Arden Fair mall.

I've never attended one of these calls, but if you're looking for validation, I spoke recently with Lindsay Frimodt (pictured), 26, who was discovered at a ProScout outing 13 years ago in Sacramento.

She's now living in New York, basking in a very successful career that has taken her to more than 40 countries. She's walked runways from New York and Milan to Paris and London. And she's appeared on numerous magazine covers, including Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and Harper's Bazaar, as well as advertising spreads for Christian Dior. She even appeared in a music video with Justin Timberlake.

And all because she begged and cajoled her parents to let her attend the ProScout audition when she was a teen.

"I wouldn't be a model today without ProScout," she says from New York. And she probably wouldn't have the newly purchased villa she found in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

"It was the only way I would have been introduced to the people and agencies I otherwise would never have met," she says.

So how does the ProScout process work? Well, everyone who shows up is given a brief introduction and told how the interview process will run. You only have a short, short amount of time to show you have what it takes. So be prepared! Pictures aren't required, but personality is uber-model important.

If you want more info, the company has a Web site. Just click here.

Lindsay advises not to be discouraged if it doesn't work out for you the first time. "I've been turned away by agencies in the past," she says.

She is now with the Next NYC agency.

Growing up in Sacramento, Lindsay says she used to hang out at Arden Fair, though I haven't seen many model sightings on the escalators as of late. After her career, she hopes to take a year or so to travel - sans stilettos, makeup or hair dryer. Just jeans, tank tops and a backpack.

Her favorite mentor models? Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford. She also loves Giselle.

As for "America's Next Top Model" (and I love this!), Lindsay says she's vaguely familiar with the show, but that none of the girls "are really going to be models."

"Actually, the fashion industry watches it and laughs."

So take that, Tyra!