Zuzu Bailey once said that every time a bell rings, an Angel gets its wings. Well, no disrespect to Zuzu, but we’d beg to differ. It turns out that an Angel gains her wings when she auditions for a role!

At least that was the case for Tanya Roberts, who gained her wings in 1980 when she played Julie Rogers on Charlie’s Angels. Roberts wasn’t simply handed the role; she had more than paid her dues in the television industry before she was cast on the hit series. In fact, one of those smaller roles paved the way for her time as an Angel.

During an interview with The Daily Herald, Roberts revealed that years before she starred on Charlie’s Angels, she was offered a small role in a pilot from producer Aaron Spelling. At the time, the role was so small that Roberts admitted she was reluctant to take it on.

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“It was just three pages of dialogue,” said Roberts. “I did it because I didn’t want to alienate the casting director. Well, I’m lucky I did.”

Roberts revealed that the appearance gave her the opportunity to appear in a potential spin-off to the popular series, Vega$. “It was this tiny part that got me the two-hour Vega$ spin-off,” said the actor. Roberts revealed that it was the spin-off that cinched her victory and won her the role of Julie Rogers.

So take that, Zuzu! It looks like there’s more than one way for an Angel to gain her wings.