Thursday, July 24, 2008

"I wanna be a rock star"

The last post about my boy, well, I was concerned about raising a quitter. An individual who would be afraid to try anything new; be paralyzed by fear of the unknown.

I may have overreacted to my own internal neuroses.

Turns out the boy wants to be FAMOUS.

In the last few months of school, he'd been asking me the occasional question about acting. And about being on TV. This past year he has made a few in-class presentations, and really enjoyed working on the class "skit" for both the spring concert, and his French class. It has always been very casual, this questioning, just general curiosity.

A couple of weeks ago I spotted a tiny ad in the paper, to announce an open casting call for a boy who was of a visible ethnicity, between the age of 8 - 11, under 4 ft 11, who was athletic and outgoing. Hmm, sounded like some kid that I know.

The production company was looking for a boy to play a friend of this precocious carrot top, for an upcoming new TV series.

My boy used to LOVE "This is Daniel Cook" when he was about 5. Daniel got too old to continue the role, and the series continued with another cutie who reminds me a lot of the little G. To be honest, other than how cute Daniel looked, I found him to be a little bit wooden, especially after comparing him to Emily Yeung. She's a little firecracker, personality just shines from her ... a total natural. In any case, I wouldn't think Daniel is suffering much after moving on, as they are now producing TV shows specifically for him.

Shortly after finding this ad, I asked L if he was interested in trying out for a TV series starring Daniel Cook.

To my astonishment, he said "Yes, will I be famous?"

To which I replied: "Well, I suppose if you got the part, people might recognize you."

And then he said: "Sure, why not. That would be cool! Will it be like American Idol or So You think you Can Dance,? With nasty judges with English accents?"

Well, I didn't know about that. But I sent an e:mail, and after they replied, sent a photo of the boy looking athletic, cute, and hopefully about 10 years old. The assistant got back to me and we booked a appointment. She sent us a few lines for him to memorize.

I practiced with him about a dozen times. Not too many times, because he said he didn't want to jinx it by over-practicing. I was impressed by his enthusiasm. He really wanted the part, but at the same time was quite nervous. It was tough; I tried to be as encouraging as possible, but also wanted him to know that if he didn't get the role, it wouldn't be the end of the world. He was, at least on the surface, fairly casual about it. He told me he would do his best, but if he didn't get the part, he could always for something different. HE said that to ME.

On the day of the audition, we went through his lines a couple of more times (with his little sister chiming in every so often, echoing her favourite lines, much to his annoyance). We had a light lunch (he wasn't hungry) and then we headed downtown.

It was about a 40 minute drive, down the congested highway into the city. I hadn't been to that part of town in a long while, this area that many production companies call home. It was fun to be doing something so foreign, going into a world that I knew little about.

[Well, I do know a teeny bit about it. My brother actually had done some modelling and filmed a commercial when he was about 10 years old. And I accompanied him on the Kellogg's cereal commercial shoot, as I was in university at the time and only had one class that day. I'd forgotten that one of my life's goals at that time, was to be a stage mom. Don't know if it's still like that, but the massive spread of food they had for the parents/ agents and the kids themselves was certainly impressive to my impressionable student mind. I think one of the moms at that shoot was mother to "Lucy" in the original Degrassi TV series... but I digress...]

We found the building, and I parked my so-city minivan; then plunked the girlie in the stroller and off we went...



Into the dark hall where another dozen kids were waiting for their turn. Some of these children had resumes and professional photos with them. More importantly, many of the boys had their Nintendo DS's with them, something that my boy, in his nervousness, left at home.

"Noooooooo" he whispered with a smile on his face (it was one of his lines, and he could hear muffled cries from the other room as the kids auditioning were sympathetic to his plight).

Turned out that the wait wouldn't be too long, they were only about 30 minutes behind. Thirty minutes for me to get nervous, but my boy, with the smile on his face, just chatted it up with his "competition", laughing, joking, asking everyone how old they were. There were also girls trying out for the part, something he found quite hilarious, for whatever reason.

When his name was called, he bounded down the hall, quickly passed me his gum (yuck!) and walked into the room closing the door behind him, not even missing a step. I could see him through the frosted glass, and heard him answering the casting director's questions.

"Are you big for your age?" the redheaded woman asked.

"Yup, people think I'm a fifth grader all the time!" smartypants replied.

And then he did his lines, right on cue, enthusiastically and with a smile in his voice. They said thanks for coming and good-bye. On our way out, I asked if they would call. And the assistant said "no, that's it."

So that was it. As we walked back to the car, my boy asked whether I thought he would get the role. Suspecting the answer was "no", I said maybe not, but the important thing was that he tried something new, and he discovered that he liked something new. His mom and dad were so very proud of him. He shrugged his shoulders and said that maybe there'd be a next time.

"By the way, can I take guitar lessons? And when I'm famous, can I drive by the school in a limo?

Sure, rock star, sure thing.

25 comments:

Life As I Know It said...

wow- what a great experience for him. And what an amazing attitude he has!!

Ed (zoesdad) said...

Sounds like a pretty cool kid! Love his positive attitude.

Happy2bme said...

Awesome! Of course I hope he gets the part but if not I am intrigued by his enthusiasm. Maybe someday I can say "hey, I know that kids story and I met his Mom on Plurk"..LOL

Rima said...

GOOD FOR HIM!!! Personally, I think he should totally get the part, but if he doesn't, he's still star material, based on everything I've read about him here!

Kamis Khlopchyk said...

I admire his spunk! That would have been my worst nightmare as a kid... okay so it's still my worst nightmare but that's beside the point.

He's got a great attitude no doubt and I think I have an inkling about where he gets it from!

MarĂ­a said...

WOOO for him!!

Miss said...

that is so awesome!! I think he would be a natural!!!

Gina said...

What a neat experience for him. He sounds like such a neat kid.

Hockeyman said...

Wow! Awesome! I would have never done that as a kid. Nor as an adult....

Karen said...

I love that boy. You've taught him well.

Anonymous said...

He sounds like a really cool kid! We try to emphasize the trying is what is important thing, too. And how cool to be able to say I "know" his mom when he is famous!

J said...

Totally cute. Driving by school in a limo sounds like a GREAT idea. I guess he'll be in the school play, huh?

Meg said...

That is way cool!! And if he plays an instrument, there's always Camp Jam.

I may have to steal you line: visible ethnicity.

Anonymous said...

:) GOOD FOR HIM.. :)
Love it.. woo hooo..

Anonymous said...

Oh, that sounds like it was fun for him.

Martin said...

(I'm choking on Kami's first line above, that has a WHOLE other meaning over here!)

Anyway, that's a great attitude he has, wish I had half his guts!

Anonymous said...

What a nice experience for the two of you to have shared. It's cool that you encouraged him to try something new.

I like Emily Yeoung better than Daniel Cook, too.

Maureen said...

Good for him. With that attitude, he will do well in whatever he decides to pursue.

Every actor has to go through rejection; best he learns that hard fact early.

enthalpymama said...

Love it! What an awesome experience. I attended my nieces audition for a play and I think I was more upset than she was when she didn't get the part. I hope he gets it, and if not, tries again.

Anna-b-bonkers said...

Oh my gosh, what a little star!

He is so brave and has such an enthusiasm, what a go getter!

I wish him the best of luck in his dreams and my gosh for you too, the food does sound enticing :)

KJ said...

Wow, that is SO adorable. Good for him. I think its very cool that he's interested and you're willing to help.

Melissa said...

Fabulous attitude! Way to go!

Don Mills Diva said...

gscherYou never know Karen!
Glad he had fun at the audition - my nephew was a child actor and I think he made enough to fund his RESP so it's all good...

Anonymous said...

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! How exciting! What a brave kid! Super proud of him. I AM an actress and singer and I'm petrified of auditions. I have serious stage fright. How do I do it??? I stay in the studio. No audiences there. Whew.

But he shined, and even if he didn't get the part, I'll bet you he still impressed the casting agents.

Super duper big hugs to him. Simply fabulous.

April said...

Sounds to me like they wanted someone smaller. You did a great job, stage mom :)

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