18 December 2010

My Views on Child Actors

Recently, I've been watching a succession of films featuring hugely talented child actors. This got me thinking as to how best a child actor should adjust themselves to continue working as an adult. After looking back at some other child actors I have my thoughts as to how a child actor should have a good career in the future.

Thought 1: The Best Child Actors Get Their Breaks with Dark Material:
For the best examples of this view it is best to use the big three child actresses with dark material, past and present, Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver, Natalie Portman in Leon/The Professional and Chloe Grace Moretz in Kick-Ass. All three of these actresses got their big breaks doing roles that no-one would expect children to do and still complain about to this day. However Jodie Foster and Natalie Portman both have phenomenal careers now and going of that I expect that Chloe Grace Moretz will have a good career in the future based on her performance in Kick-Ass.

Thought 2: Work with Great Directors at a Young Age:
Once again I have to go back to Jodie Foster and Chloe Grace Moretz, chiefly with one of the directors they worked with, Martin Scorcese, Scorcese is great with getting people great careers in the future, look at Robert DiNero, Willem Dafoe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Redford and Harvey Keitel. Working with a talented director gets you a good career in the future. Going to different sources look at Christian Bale and Drew Barrymoe. both got their start with Steven Spielberg and look at how good their careers turned out.

Thought 3: Make Education A Top Priority:
For this thought Natalie Portman and Emma Watson are prime candidates. Natalie Portman went to Harvard University around 2003, around the time Facebook was invented (if you want proof of this she's mentioned in The Social Network, not by name, and gave help to Aaron Sorkin in production of the film) and Emma Watson is, I think, currently studying at Brown University. Point is, they have good careers, my thought is that it is due to them valuing education so if you are a child actor, take some time off acting and get a good education, it may help in the future.

Thought 4: Split Adult Films With Kids Films:
Now I think that it is always best for a child actor to not put soul focus on adult films or children's films but to split focus, once again for my examples I'm going to Jodie Foster with Taxi Driver and Bugsy Malone, Christian Bale with Empire of the Sun and Pocahontas, Asa Butterfield with The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas and Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and Chloe Grace Moretz with Kick-Ass and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This means that these actors know how to appeal to both adults and children which is good to be an actor in the future with the scripts you get which have to appeal to adults and children.

These are my main thoughts on how to make the transition from child actor to adult actor, I hope you enjoyed it and found my opinions worthwhile. See you later and Nuts on the Road

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