What would you do?

[SoCalCoug]

I have a very interesting choice that may be coming down the line. My 6-year-old son has been taking some acting lessons and has just auditioned for and been accepted to another acting program. He is doing very well, and he has been receiving very positive feedback from his acting coaches and agents. We live in Orange County, so we're relatively close to the L.A. acting scene, and he really seems to enjoy it.

The teacher who just accepted him into his program told my wife this the other day: "I don't usually do this, but I have a friend who is the casting director for a movie going into production, and I think your son would be perfect for the role. Would it be all right if I talk to my friend about him?"

Very exciting. Here's the kicker. The movie is the remake of The Omen ("Omen 666"). The role is Damien - aka the son of Satan. (According to the acting coach, he's perfect for the role because he has such a wholesome look.)

It's the kind of thing that can open many, many doors for him. In fact, the kid who played Damien in the original was nominated for a Golden Globe.

I actually have never seen The Omen. I don't particularly like horror movies. The original was rated R for violence and language.

I really doubt it will happen, but a good byproduct of him going after the role would be exposure to at least this casting director, which might open up other opportunities that he otherwise would not have.

Once he gets a little more acting experience, assuming that it works out (if it's only commercials and print ads, that's great, too), I would like to go toward Nickelodeon and Disney-type stuff, but you've got to start somewhere, huh?

However, I'm not very comfortable with my son being the son of Satan (what does that make me? :twisted: )

Just interested in other opinions regarding why we should pursue this or why we shouldn't.

[Archaea]

and I probably would let him try out, but after investigating the role, so that some exposure existed, not take the role.

I would not let my child do what Linda Blair did in the Exorcist.

Omen is bad. I would not want my child involved in movies elevating Satan above where already resides in Hollywood. He's already Prince of that domain.

However, it is a very difficult decision.

[creekster]

. . . but I have know a couple of people that were child actors, including one guiy that did a number of disney films and commericals (Escape to Witch Mountain or some such, for example, and he was the nutter butter cookie kid [have another nutter butter peanut butter sandwich cookoie, they're from Ba-nisco!] and they were all screwed up. In fact, the disney film kid was the worst by far. His whole world view was very, very strange, and he candidly agreed that being in the film industry exposed him, both figuratively and literally, to many things he would not otherwsie have seen until much later in life.

That having been said, I was in an LA ward for a while with some LDS actors, including a child sit-com star who, apart from his somewhat flamboyant wardrobe, seemed like a pretty normal guy. Moreover, my experience with mr. nutter butter included meeting his whacked out family. So it could be with proper guidance, etc., a kid could go through this and come out ok. OTOH, it is a very, very strange world.

Overall, I woulod be more concerned about letting my kid get into that world than I would abvout him playing Damien (as long as it was clear to him that he was only acting, which may be hard at the age of 6). I would also echo Archie's comment about doing some invesitgation into the role before actually deciding. The best thing might be to let him try out and get exposure but not get the part. My guess is you would not want to have him try out, get the part and then decline to accept. That might be the kiss of death in the industry.

[SoCalCoug]

whacked out family

That seems to be the key more than anything. I like to think we're not whacked out.

I think we're leaning toward not even having him audition.

[SoCalCoug]

Update on Damien:

I've done a little internet research on the movie and the casting. I had never seen The Omen, so I knew virtually nothing about the movie. Because it's more of a thriller than anything, I'm more comfortable with it. I'm going to try to see it this weekend. They are using the original script, although updating it, so the role should be very similar to the 1976 version. They also have stated that they are going to take steps to shield the child playing Damien from the darker parts of the movie, and he won't be allowed to see it until he's old enough.

From the synopses of the movie I've seen (again, I'm going to try to see it for the first time this weekend) and talking to people who have seen it, I've turned full circle, and I think it would be a great opportuntity for my son. As I understand it, Damien in the movie is mostly oblivious to the bad stuff he's causing to happen. It's a very different type of role than Linda Blair in the Exorcist.

The casting director is close friends with my son's new acting coach. The acting coach is very aware of what they're looking for in the role, and he is convinced that my son is what they're looking for. He has said he is going to really advocate for my son to get the role with the casting director. His comment was, "If he gets an interview, he'll get the role." We, of course, take that with a grain of salt, but it's encouraging to see someone we only just met be so gung ho about it. We've instructed our son's agent to get him an interview.

Other positives are that this casting director also worked on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the first Harry Potter movie. Sounds like a good person to have exposure with, even if he doesn't get the role.

Since filming is set to start next month, we should know very quickly if it's a real possibility, or if we're too late and they've already selected someone.

[SoCalCoug]

Final update: They already filled the role before we had a chance for an interview. That's how it goes - had we learned of this a couple of weeks earlier, it may have turned out differently.

Good news is that at the exact same time I was talking to the acting coach about this, my wife was on the phone with the producer of an independent film who was offering my son a role. Not quite the same as the Omen, but a good start for him, nonetheless.

[SoCalCoug]

A very interesting coincidence happened for us. My wife had been vacillating between two different agencies for my son. One was more established, but they don't focus on children. The other is a new agency, but their sole focus is on children. She finally decided to go with the new agency. We then discovered that the agent is Kieth Merrill's son, and LDS. We had no clue before, and I wouldn't think there are a lot of LDS talent agents out there. We're both feeling a lot more comfortable about the whole thing now.