Child Actors

I'm producing a thesis film and we're auditioning for the role of Theresa, protagonist's daughter, age 11 to 13. Child actors, man. Wow.

Exhibit A:

The pageboy-haircut bespectacled little dear perches eagerly in her chair. Our director asks her about a musical pageant on her resume. "Yup! It's all about the story of L. Ron Hubbard and it's like a pageant, like a Christmas one, except it's about L. Ron Hubbard and everything that happened to him and there was lots of songs and I sang and it was really cool."

Exhibit B:

Beautiful long curly hair on this kid, who I introduce myself to and usher into the room, only when this child walks up to the director, the words that come out are, "So, I'm a boy and I'm auditioning for Theresa. Did you want me to do the audition in a girl's voice or a boy's voice?" After the stunned silence of Crying-Game shock recedes, our gallant director says, "Uh, just be a boy, man." I spend the rest of this kid's audition trying to figure out if he is wearing makeup or not. Verdict: yes.

Exhibit C:

Tiny six-year-old comes in to read for the part. She's the last audition at 8pm. She can't read yet, so she's memorized the lines with the help of her parents. Her parents inform us that she's been up since 5am because she was shooting another project. Wow, we say, uncomfortable with all of it, the trailer-trash mom who refuses to sit in on the audition, the thought of a six-year-old playing a character written for a twelve-year-old, the thought of how long this kid has been at work already today, "What was the other project about?" Kid: "Child abuse."