McKayla Maroney exercised her acting muscles and landed a guest spot on Bones. The episode aired Friday night–and the gymnast proved she has some pretty amazing acting skills. A long time fan of the show, Maroney jumped at the chance to attend the casting call that resulted in the part.

“I had strep throat when I went in. I didn’t know my lines or anything!” she says. “I kind of just winged it. I honestly had no idea how I did. … So when I got the part, I was so excited.”

The cast and crew of the hit Fox series were impressed with how quickly Maroney caught the acting bug. After all–she’s not an actor. McKayla Maroney did perform some gymnastic feats during Friday night’s episode, but none of the signature high-flying vaults that earned her Olympic gold.

“I probably would’ve done some vaulting, but they didn’t have any set up for the level that I am. They were all for younger gymnasts,” she says. “It’s more acting-based. I had to do gymnastics, like I did a round of handspring layouts, which I do every day in the gym and isn’t hard for me to do. But it was very hard for me to be ready to do gymnastics and then be ready to act. I would do a tumbling pass and then have to talk. But that’s how it’s supposed to be, like I’m in the gym and it’s OK if I’m out of breath. It was an amazing experience. I had so much fun. Everyone was so nice.”

Twitter fans eagerly awaited Friday night’s episode of Bones to see McKayla Maroney in her guest role.

Excited to watch @McKaylaMaroney on @BONESonFOX tonight! How cool 🙂

— Alexandra Raisman (@Aly_Raisman) December 7, 2013

McKayla shared an Instagram photo about the show.

Did you catch McKayla Maroney as she made her flying leap from gymnastics to acting on Friday night’s episode of Bones–sharing lines with Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz? Is there a future there for the Olympic gymnast or should she hang on to her day job for a while yet instead?

Image via Wikimedia