By JON BAKER

CUMBERLAND — The way Ryan Plonka met Lillie O’Connell is a crazy kind of story. And, no, it has nothing to do with romance.

Although they both hail from Cumberland, Plonka and O’Connell didn’t know each other existed prior to this summer. But their paths entwined when they chose to enter a “Be Famous with Verizon FiOS” modeling campaign — and ultimately won.
Among the prizes awarded to them and three others from around the state: A $50 gift certificate to Providence Place, a free iPod Nano, a year’s representation by the Rhode Island Modeling Agency and six weeks of acting lessons with longtime Hollywood actor Lynn Seibel.
Over 850 “wannabes” showed up at the audition site, where all would be taped reading their own script promoting Verizon’s new FiOS TV and Internet services. Those were posted on the Internet, and America voted on their favorites. After that field was sliced to 20 finalists, the five victors were selected at Waterfire on Sept. 1 by a panel of judges.
Immediately, the pair began attending acting and modeling lessons.
Then came the trek to Manhattan.
Plonka, now 24 and working as an entertainment agent’s assistant in Los Angeles, truly got to know O’Connell — a 16-year-old junior at Cumberland High — when a limousine whisked them off to Manhattan earlier ths month from Providence Place Mall.
The pair had earned a photo shoot at Sun Studios on Broadway, courtesy of a few very simple auditions back in July.
“We had to be smiling and jumping around; they just told us to exhibit excitement,” Plonka stated. “It was awesome. It was the most professional, high-quality photo shoot I’ve ever had. I’m not sure if we’ll be in those print ads, but — based on what I saw and heard — it looks pretty promising.
“The photos came out great,” he added. “Actually, Lillie and I did a lot of shots together, and I thought she was phenomenal considering she hadn’t done anything like that before. She had her game face on, and she was very professional.”
“It was surreal, in every sense of the word,” gushed O’Connell. “I never dreamed of being involved with something like RIMA, or having acting lessons. It was unbelievable. Verizon took us down there in a huge Escalade, put us up in our own rooms at the Hilton and chauffeured us everywhere. We spent eight hours modeling, and it was so much fun.
“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she added.
Stated Plonka: “Going to Manhattan is the pinnacle of my life so far. I’m not sure if our photo shoots will end up in print, but they may, and that’s huge. It’s enough for me. We were told they should be in various publications later this winter or in early spring.”
“I can’t wait to see what happens as a result of that photo shoot,” he said.