Commercial Carmodys

When Marissa (Cumba) Carmody took the stage at Morris Community High School during the 1980s for spring musicals, she had no aspirations of going on to act after high school.

She wanted to become a doctor like her father, Dr. Cesar Cumba of Morris.

She received her medical degree and, while going through residency with two young children at home and pregnant with her third, she decided she would be a stay-at-home mother and forgo becoming a doctor.

Carmody eventually signed her children up with Stewart Talent in Chicago and started taking them on auditions for ads and commercials.

Now, with five children and number six on the way, Carmody is starring in a Walmart commercial with four of her children.

“They contacted us for my son and said to bring in his siblings and his mother,” she said. “I called back and said, ‘Are you sure you want me, I’m seven months pregnant?”

They assured her she was wanted and the family planned for the commercial.

They had to be on the set at a closed Walmart store at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night, just six days after they auditioned.

“We stayed up Saturday night playing family games like Monopoly,” Carmody said. “Then I let them sleep during the day on Sunday so, when we went in, they could stay up.”

The advertising personnel opted to leave Peyton, 2, the youngest of Carmody’s children, out of the commercial due to her age and the late-night session.

The others — Austin, 10; Jake, 8; Alexis, 6; and Tyler, 4 — were ready to go when it was their turn for filming.

“I wasn’t scared at all,” Austin said. “It was pretty fun, and I got to stay up late.”

All of the children have participated in various ad campaigns, including for Kohl’s, Sears, and McDonald’s. Jake was even an extra in the 2007 movie, “Fred Claus.”

Jake said he loves to be in commercials.

“I think it’s fun to be on TV,” he said. “And a teacher in my grade thought it was really cool.”

Austin agrees that it’s cool to see yourself on TV, but he also thinks it’s cool his friends get to see him.

“My friends at school have a nickname for me,” he said. “Commercial Carmody.”

While Alexis liked being on TV as well, it was the chance to get dressed up in fancy clothes she likes best.

“I hope I get to do more,” she said.

“I would love to be in a movie. It would be amazing to see myself in a movie.”

Carmody said the only thing she was afraid of is the kids being too tired by the time it came to filming.

“I just had to pretend I was shopping with the kids behind me so it was pretty much like running errands,” she said.

For mom, the experiences aren’t about her screen time, but instead about enriching her children’s lives.

“I see each audition as an opportunity for them,” she said. “My younger sister was involved with an agency when she was younger, and I thought it would be great for my kids.”

She said she doesn’t like to take her older children out of school very often for work, so she turns down some offers, but when they do fit in the family schedule, she happily takes them to auditions.

As the Carmody family is shown in the commercial, the words “I’m saving for 20 years of college” flashes across the screen.

“I didn’t think of it that way, and now with another one, that’s 24 years,” she said jokingly.