Last week I had the honor of moderating a kid actor panel discussion put on for the Conversations series by the SAG Foundation. I always love moderating panel discussions or hosting one-on-one interviews for the SAG Foundation, because the actors they bring in are fantastic, giving, working actors who love to share their experiences with an audience filled with enthusiastic actors of all levels. It’s always a great time and last week’s panel was no exception.
What was different about this one, though, was that the age range of the participants was 12 to 18. And while I didn’t expect anything less than a great experience out of this, I certainly wasn’t prepared for the level of professionalism, the amount of business savvy, and the wealth of perspective on the industry these kids shared.
The panelists were Kay Panabaker (Monsters, Inc., Phil of the Future, Summerland, Nancy Drew), Zach Mills (Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, October Road), Devon Gearhart (Canvas, Shorts, Funny Games US), and Malcolm David Kelley (Lost, Antwone Fisher, You Got Served).
We talked about their first jobs, their favorite jobs, roles they’ve not yet had the opportunity to play but hope to someday, actors with whom they’d love to work, what it’s like to prepare for roles completely unlike them in real life, and how they prepare for auditions. All pretty standard stuff with answers you’d expect.
They each started acting while in single digits, they were all very diplomatic about saying which gigs they’ve liked best, they all really enjoy comedic roles and most would love to tackle an action adventure film someday. Their role models included family members and actors ranging from Adam Sandler to Robert DeNiro. Each has a similar and simple way of portraying against-type characters: they pretend they’re in their situation and consider what the character — based on clues from the script and information from the director — would do and how he or she would behave. And prep for auditions is just a matter of reading as much as possible, reviewing the material with a coach or a parent, and being ready to rock when they walk into the room.
But it was when I asked a follow-up question to the audition topic that I realized we were dealing with some very mature and smart people, here.
“How do you let it go?” I asked. We had talked about how actors sometimes know right away that they’ve landed the role and at other times will hear back three months after the first audition, once they’re sure the role has been filled by another actor. Curious as to whether kid actors carry around angst about wanting to know whether they booked the part like adult actors do, I asked about strategies to letting it all go.
Kay was first to speak, and she talked about the importance of conditioning yourself — once you first decide you’re going to pursue a career in acting — to move on as soon as the audition is over. “You could be too young or too old or too fat or too thin or too tall or too short or anything,” she said. And because you can’t know what it is that makes the difference between your getting cast and someone else doing so, it becomes essential to develop a lack of needing to know, needing to care.
Zach explained that his mother taught him an acronym that they use after each audition: FIDO. “That’s ‘Forget It and Drive On.’ And that’s what we do,” he said. I love it! So simple. So very simple.
And there wasn’t a whole bunch of time spent on the topic of how to let go after an audition, with this panel, simply because the panelists don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how to let go, like adult actors do. Hmm. Maybe there’s something to that. 😉
One of the members of the audience asked the young actors what it is they would do with their lives if there were no Hollywood, no movies, no TV shows.
Malcolm had the most well-defined goals and, in fact, is already developing many non-acting projects, including a clothing line! He clearly has spent a lot of time thinking about ways to make the most out of the relationships he has built in the industry and is doing the work required to reach his non-acting goals.
Each of the actors had a nice, long list of jobs and interests to pursue both if there were no acting work to do AND during acting down time, now. Devon in fact has put his star power behind the Syringomyelia Foundation (he is their youngest spokesperson). Kay graduated from UCLA by the time she was 17 years old (a goal she had had since she was very young).
It became clear that acting is just a small part of life for these kids and that they already invest a lot of time, thought, and energy into non-acting goals and dreams. The stakes aren’t high for them, as far as acting is concerned. They could take it or leave it! Again, this is a mindset that I think many, many adult actors could benefit from.
Of course, they have a great time acting or they wouldn’t do it. Seems the waiting around is the biggest drag of it all. Devon and Zach both told stories of on-set pranks and silliness to pass the time. Kay talked about reading in her trailer and getting to know people on set. Malcolm told us about wedging study time into a packed shoot day and making friends both within the cast/crew and on location.
These kids definitely have a lot of patience for things they may not entirely understand at their age. Facing adult issues before they may have had to do so “in real life” was one of the topics we discussed and this led to perhaps some of the biggest laughs of the evening. You see, there tends to be a lot of adult language on set. While none of these actors would swear unless the role called for it (and even then, the rehearsal process would involve substitutions for the “bad” words), they all talked about earning “the curse purse” on set.
One story included an actor just walking up and handing over a twenty, saying, “This oughta cover me for the next couple hours.” And Zach had us all rolling when he declared that he “can’t tell [us] the name of the biggest contributor to the curse purse, but his initials are Dustin Hoffman.” When the topic of standing around just waiting for a Teamster to cuss came up, Kay mentioned that the honorable way to earn the curse purse is to just be there when it happens, not to sit around on set trying to catch folks doing it.
I mentioned Kay’s lightning-speed travels through the educational system, above, but all of these kid actors are far ahead in school and earning really good grades. “You have to keep a high average just to get the work permit,” Devon explained. What was truly compelling, here, was seeing just how passionate these young actors are about their education. They all talked about how tough it is sometimes to get schoolwork in between shots on set, but that they really enjoy working with their on-set instructors as well as their teachers (either at traditional school or home school) when not on set.
“How do you handle juggling school and auditions?” was another question I asked. Devon said that when he was attending school he was lucky enough to be able to schedule study hall and physical education for his last two classes of the day, allowing him to cut out early for auditions if necessary without missing any academic courses. “And the study hall was great, when I didn’t have auditions, because I could get all of my homework done.” Flexibility is key, both on the part of the students and their educational team, for a kid actor to be able to handle the unpredictable schedule. “But it’s worth it,” Kay said. “I will always have my education. I treasure it.”
Another major theme of the night was parental support. Obviously, a career in acting can be tough no matter what age you might be. But to be a child actor and have any chance at profession-level success, the support of a parent is essential.
In fact, several times during the answers he shared about his mom schlepping him around to auditions and interrupting her schedule to manage his, Malcolm would stop and say into the audience, “Thank you, Mom.” It was precious to see. I met each of the young actors’ moms in the green room prior to the panel discussion and it was very clear that each is not only her own child’s biggest fan but also a huge reason for the child’s success.
Except for Malcolm — an LA native — each of the panelists picked up and moved to Los Angeles from somewhere else, and each young actor talked about the sacrifices his or her family had to make in support of this career choice.
“So, you all have a deal to thank your mom at the Oscars, right?” I asked.
“And take her with me,” was Zach’s retort. “And buy her a car,” was Malcolm’s. All four actors nodded emphatically and, again, Malcolm called out to the audience, “Thank you, Mom.”
Honestly, there are times when I watch the entertainment media coverage on the tragic, young child stars out there and wonder about the fate of this industry. Not anymore. After spending a couple of hours with Kay, Zach, Devon, and Malcolm, I can safely say that there are definitely some kid actors out there who are finding success while keeping balance in their lives. They are smart and business-savvy and delightful to be around. And best of all, they’re still kids. They’re not trying to be anything they’re not, and that’s refreshing after having spent time around so many adult actors who do.
Maybe that’s what adult actors reading this week’s column can learn from all of this: Seeing the business as something quite simple might come easily to kids because they don’t have a need to make it more complex than it is. They’re authentic, they’re in touch with what’s happening, and they’re having a good time every day.
May we all be able to say the same!
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/000890.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.