When Warner Bros. put out a casting call earlier this year for a big-screen Harry Potter, the studio was besieged with 60,000 applications from wannabe wizards.
The plethora of potential names churned out by the rumor mill before the studio eventually settled on 11-year-old Brit Daniel Radcliffe proved there was an abundance of talented tykes out there.
High-profile success stories like Haley Joel Osment, Frankie Muniz and Pepsi girl Hallie Kate Eisenberg – the 8-year-old star of “Bicentennial Man” who opens opposite Minnie Driver in “Beautiful” on Sept. 22 – have prompted thousands of kids to give the acting gig a whirl.
And many are showing they at least as much talent as their adult counterparts.
“The talent of young actors has always been there, but until now there have been so few opportunities for them to really be able to show their talents off,” says Bob Preston, vice president of Hollywood casting firm CED’s youth division.
Preston – who reps 9-year-old “Stuart Little” star Jonathan Lipnicki, 8-year-old star Spencer Breslin of “Disney’s The Kid” and 12-year-old Mae Whitman, who’s appeared in “Hope Floats,” “Independence Day” and “One Fine Day” – says Lipnicki opened the floodgates with his cute-as-a-button turn in 1996’s “Jerry Maguire.”
Osment, 12, then made an even bigger splash, winning an Oscar nomination for “The Sixth Sense.” The film propelled him to the upper level of Hollywood salaries as well. Osment will get $1 million for the upcoming “Pay It Forward,” which stars Oscar winners Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey, and $2 million for Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi epic “A.I.”
“Studios are starting to see that smaller actors complement the adults, bring in a form of reality and fit very nicely into the trend toward non-violent, family-friendly movies,” Preston says.
The annals of Hollywood are littered with child star horror stories – Drew Barrymore entered rehab at age 13 and “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin’s career took a dive after an ugly public battle with his father-agent. But today’s kids appear to be in control – and their parents and agents insist they’re in it for the love of the game.
“Hayden just genuinely enjoys acting,” says Lesley Vogel, mother of 11-year-old actress Hayden Panettiere, who opens in “Remember the Titans” with Denzel Washington, Sept. 29.
“She needs a lot of stimuli and a lot of challenges in her life,” she says of the busy youngster, who is currently filming “The Affair of the Necklace” with Hilary Swank, before beginning work on “The Panic Room,” playing Nicole Kidman’s daughter.
“In ‘Necklace,’ she gets to film in Prague and France, and walk around in a world and a time period she’d only study about sitting in class. To actually be living that – what’s not to like?”
Panettiere, who also has a recurring role on the soap “Guiding Light,” says that by the time she was 7, she knew she wanted to make acting her career.
“I was only 8 months old when I started, so I couldn’t really say yes or no – it was up to my mom,” she says. “But if I were old enough to understand, I think I would have said yes.
“I really like seeing myself up on the screen and I think it’s really fun working with all the people and going to all the premieres. It’s not really hard and actually being a part of it makes me happy.”
Mae Whitman’s mother, actress Pat Musick, compares child stars to young Olympians. “They have to work hard, but they really love what they do,” she says. “I’ve never believed in rewarding [Mae] with money or gifts; the work is the reward for her.”
Preston points out that one of his clients, 7-year-old moppet Taylor Momsen, won the role of Little Cindy Lou-Who in Ron Howard’s highly anticipated “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” through personal perseverance.
“She really wanted this part,” he says. “She grew up with the [Dr. Seuss] book, and loved the TV cartoon and, as young as she was, she was working with her acting coach to such a degree that she just became Cindy.”
But the fact that the business is becoming more competitive puts added pressure on its young players.
“There are more movies now with child leads than I remember having seen in the past,” says Meredith Fine, director of the youth division at Coast to Coast talent group, whose clients include Osment and Michael Angarano, who’ll next be seen in Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous.”
“As we tend to see more children in the business, of course [the auditioning process] becomes very competitive.”
Preston agrees it takes a certain type of personality to handle repeated rejections.
“Of course they get hurt if they miss out on a role,” he says. “But usually there’s a few moments of sadness, then the strong ones bounce right back and go out auditioning again.
In California, the child labor laws are particularly strict, limiting the number of hours a child can work on set, and stipulating a certain amount of schooling and rest time.
The Screen Actors Guild, which has about 8,000 members under the age of 19, ensures the guidelines are followed.
Still, unlike the 1930s and ’40s when child stars like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney were contracted to particular studios, ensuring they were part of a huge support network, the well-being of today’s young actor is ultimately the responsibility of their parents.
“A lot of my clients go to regular schools and have friends outside of the business,” Fine, the agent, says. “It’s the parents’ responsibility to make sure they provide their children with a well-rounded environment, so that when they get older they have the opportunity to go on to college or on to other [professions] if they choose.”
