Those Wacky Acting Children

I was recently cast in a short graduate student film @ Columbia College. The piece will end up being about 8 minutes long, and I was very impressed with the script. Three generations of men, dealing w/ racism. The grandfather is an old school bigot, and his son (me) is trying to break out of the nastiness his father has raised him on. Then there is his son, a ten year old kid, who is getting mixed signals from his father and grandfather. Nice juicy stuff. So I was cast, and was able to sit in on the initial meetings w/ three son possibilities. I have never been part of a casting situation, but the director wanted to view the chemistry between myself and each of the young'uns. Interestingly enough, there were three distinct types within the choices. First off, a kid that was the ultimate kid. He was easily distracted, and always trying to goof off. But when he was asked to "go to a certain place" mentally, to place himself in a situation not unlike the script called for, he was able to do it, and passed w/ flying colors. His mother was a gem, and it seemed an all around positive relationship. I liked this kid. Next up, was the ultimate kid as the ultimate working actor. This kid's resume was longer than mine, and he was already affiliated w/ the unions. Wow. He was "on" immediately when he entered the room. Not that this is a bad thing, but it seems that w/ all the work he had done, some of his innocence was lost. There is no doubt that he is a good actor, but his qualities seemed...well, used. This kid stated that he was home schooled. I feel there is a stigma attached to that, and it seemed to turn me off even more so. However, if you are a working actor and a child, then you have to attend school somehow. So be it. When I met his mother, I got the "stage mother" vibe. She was cool, but the underlying sense was, "hear my child roar." Finally, the third kid was part of a family of actors. His older sister was/is acting, and she got him into it. His entire family was present, and he seemed to have the ultimate support system. We were able to do some improv and he did quite well. He looked the most like me physically, and he had a very innocent, shy quality about him. The father seemed suspicious of me, looking me up and down, and while that annoyed me, I am sure he doesn't want to expose his kid to any riff-raff. So good for the young'un that his parents are going to bat for him. The director has a difficult choice ahead, and I wish I could have put more than my two cents in, but I wasn't necessarily asked. I told him my favorite was #1, and that I felt the most connected to that kid. Whether that will sway anything will remain to be seen. But the experience on the inside of casting children, was an interesting glimpse of who is on their way up the ranks. Those wacky acting children.