Farm Bureau signed Brett Favre to be the star of a TV commercial campaign called “Faverates”, in 2015. The search for an actor to replace Favre began in the 30-second ads. The search was quickly ended when Chris Marroy, a 28-year-old Louisianan, auditioned. Rob Bridges, chief creativity officer and co-founder at Mad Genius, Inc., Ridgeland, which produces Farm Bureau advertising, explained. Bridges explains that they were searching for a physical foil to Brett, who is tall and slender. “We wanted Brett to be the straight man. He isn’t an actor. We wanted his foil to play off him. Marroy said, “Perfect.” “That’s me, shorter and rounder.” But they got more than just shorter and rounder. Marroy, a multi-award winning comedic actor, is able to kill the role with both his body language and facial expressions. You can see it all in person by clicking here Mad Genius and Farm Bureau might not have realized how great Favre was. Favre is a prolific quarterback in football history and is reputed to have been one of the hardest players, if not the most difficult, in pro-football history. Marroy? Marroy? Marroy said, “It wasn’t that I didn’t like sports.” Marroy says that I wasn’t good at any kind of sports. T-Ball and Little League, peewee basketball, and T-Ball. I was terrible. Favre says, “He had no hand-eye coordination at all.” Let’s just say Chris doesn’t have the athletic ability to be an athlete. But Favre said that Chris is a very funny man. His faces are timeless. “I’ve enjoyed getting acquainted with him,” Bridges, the executive producer of this campaign, says about Marroy’s facial expressions. Bridges said, “We call it having an elastic or plastic face.” “Chris communicates so well with his eyebrows,” Bridges says. Favre and Marroy both attended the University of Southern Mississippi where Favre learned how to play quarterback and Marroy received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in performance. Marroy first moved to New Orleans to learn acting. He won the Best Actor in a Comedic Role in the 2014 Big Easy Theatre Awards. Marroy has also worked in film and TV, as well as commercial work. He signed recently with one of the top commercial agencies in Los Angeles, and moved there, at the least partially due to his Farm Bureau campaign work. Marroy said, “I’m really proud to have worked with Farm Bureau ads.” Marroy says, “No doubt, they have been great for me.” Henry Hamill from Farm Bureau, vice-president for sales, said, “No doubt,” that the ads have been “great for my career.” One of the commercials features Favre’s ex-Green Bay teammates Mark Chmura, and Antonio Freeman. The story is about how Favre’s bulletlike passes have mangled their fingers. This was brilliantly demonstrated at an intensely staged autograph session. Marroy ends up with his hands casts. Bridges says, “We brought in prosthetic experts from Austin Texas to work on their fingers.” It was perfect. Favre and Marroy have since become close friends. The first commercial was shot in July 2015 and the second in May 2015. Farm Bureau contracts are renewed for another two years and four more commercials. Marroy describes Favre as “down to earth” and “comfortable in front of the camera.” “Brett is very personable. Heck, I was amazed that he remembered me from year to year.” Marroy said that Favre never asked him his favorite quarterback. Who is that? “Drew Brees.”