Tag Archives: transition factor
Former Teen Star Mandy Moore, Voice of Rapunzel in “TANGLED,” Says Success Boils Down to a Strong Support System
Posted on 28. Nov, 2010 by Editor Tracy Bobbitt.
Mandy Moore plays Rapunzel in the updated fairytale, "Tangled."
Former Teen Actor Mandy Moore, the star of this weekend’s animated Disney release “Tangled,” managed to weather her adolescent years in the spotlight to become a lovely young woman. Although perhaps not as widely known as some of her teen songstress counterparts like Britney Spears and Christina Aguiliara, Moore, who began her career as a teen in Orlando, Florida, is the perfect expample of a teen star who remained successful and scandal-free well into her adulthood.
Mandy Moore during her Teen Star years.
She recently shared why she didn’t take the path of some of her contemporaries: “It makes me feel lucky to have a strong support system. I had Mom and Dad traveling with me at a young age, and they were concerned for my welfare. That’s why I’m able to do what I do.”
Moore originally broke into the business when an executive from Epic Records overhead her singing in a recording studio. She went on to record soundtracks for multiple films and starred in her own films, “A Walk to Remember” and “How to Deal,” among many others.
Disney’s “Rapunzel” adaptation “Tangled” debuted to $69 million over the five-day Thanksgiving-holiday weekend, according to studio estimates, earning the title of the second best Thanksgiving premiere ever. The biggest Turkey Day-weekend premiere came in 1999, with Pixar’s “Toy Story 2″ grossing $80.1 million over the five-day holiday frame. ”Tangled” additionally made $13.8 million internationally. Read a review by Cinema Blend here.
Mandy Moore today.
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Rosario Dawson on Her Fortuitous Start as a Child Actor on Sesame Street
Posted on 13. Sep, 2010 by Editor Tracy Bobbitt.
Rosario Dawson’s Mini Biography from IMDB
This exotically stunning actress, born, May 9, 1979, in New York City, New York, has been primarily a film player thus far. Only recently has she been opening herself up more to doing TV (the series “Gemini Division” (2008), which she executive-produced), and animated voiceovers. Rosario Dawson obviously acquired the best-looking genes from her multi-ethnic heritage, which includes Afro-Cuban, Puerto Rican, Native American and Irish, yet it is her gritty, powerhouse talent that stands out even more in edgy, urban filming that dates back to 1995 when she was only 16.
A rags-to-riches article entitled “Rosario Dawson: From Tenement to Tinseltown” probably says it all. Born the daughter of Isabel (Puerto Rican/Afro-Cuban), a singer, and Greg Dawson (native American/Irish), a construction laborer, her parents, who married when both were teenagers, eventually divorced. Rosario and her younger brother Clay had it hard while growing up and was cared for by family members, most of whom were poverty-stricken and some of whom were HIV-positive.
Her career actually started as a child when she made a minor showing on the children’s show Sesame Street. As the story goes, she was “discovered” as a teenager on her front porch step by two photographers. One of them, Harmony Korine, was an aspiring screenwriter who thought the inexperienced 16-year-old was ideal for the controversial cult film Kids (1995) in which she would portray a sexually-active teen. It took time for Rosario’s film career to kick in after that but by the late 1990s, she had nabbed several indie-styled films. Since then she has moved into mainstream hits (and misses) and has surprised viewers with her earthy, provocative, uninhibited approach to her roles.
Reflecting New York’s tougher, tawdrier side as assorted streetwalkers, homeless moms, drug addicts, etc., her film highlights have included Light It Up (1999), Edward Burns’ Sidewalks of New York (2001), Spike Lee’s 25th Hour (2002) and Shattered Glass (2003). For Oliver Stone, she portrayed the duped bride of Colin Farrell’s famed B.C. Macedonian warrior Alexander (2004) (as in “…the Great”), which featured a notoriously violent-tinged nude/sex scene.
Expanding her horizons beyond film, she has always expressed interest in singing. She hooked up with Prince for the re-release of his 1980s hit “1999″ and appeared in The Chemical Brothers’ video for the song “Out of Control” from the album Surrender. She is also featured on the OutKast track “She Lives In My Lap”. On stage she co-starred as Julia in a revival of “Two Gentlemen of Verona” at the Public Theater’s “Shakespeare in the Park” and appeared in “The Vagina Monologues”.
She lucked into and got to show off her singing chops in the film adaptation of the hit New York musical Rent (2005), when Daphne Rubin-Vega, the original Mimi, became pregnant and was unable to reprise her exotic dancer role. Rosario also appeared as a prostitute in the adaptation of the graphic novel Sin City (2005). Of late she has turned to producing. One of those, Descent (2007), had her playing a college coed who is brutally attacked and raped by a fellow student. Her more popular ventures have thus far included the role of Valerie in the live-action version of the comic strip Josie and the Pussycats (2001), the Will Smith’s Men in Black II (2002), Eagle Eye (2008) with Shia LaBeouf and Seven Pounds (2008), again with Smith in which she offered one of her more tender-hearted performances as a woman with a potentially fatal heart condition.
Off-camera the still-single Dawson is highly active in political, social and environmental causes and has been involved with such organizations/charities/campaigns as the Lower East Side Girls Club, Global Cool, the ONE Campaign, Oxfam, Amnesty International, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Control Arms, International Rescue Committee, Voto Latino (which she founded), Conservation International, Doctors Without Borders, National Geographic Society, The Nature Conservancy, and Save The Children. In 2008, she lent her voice to the RESPECT! Campaign, a movement aimed at preventing domestic violence.
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Dakota Fanning on Growing Up in Marie Claire’s August Issue
Posted on 13. Jul, 2010 by Editor Tracy Bobbitt.
Soon-to-be “Former” Child Star, Dakota Fanning, 16, graces the cover of Marie Claire’s August issue. The “Eclipse” and “The Runaways” starlet continues to evolve into a mature actress, trading in yesteryear’s’ Kaiya Eve Pettiskirts for a a leather-trimmed blue graphic-print Proenza Schouler dress among other sophisticated but age appropriate looks. My fave is Fanning with teased-out hair donning a gun-metal metallic sheath with blue short shorts, topped with a 3.1 Phillip Lim tuxedo jacket and Nina Ricci sweater.
Photos courtesy of Marie Claire
The Campbell Hall high school student dishes to the magazine on her “transition” from child actor to screen star. “When you start out young, people get really attached to who you are at 6 years old,” Fanning tells Marie Claire. “I hope that ‘The Runaways‘ was kind of a moment to be like, ‘You know, I’m not that young little girl anymore, but I’m still not all grown up, either.’” The critics have taken notice of Fanning’s blossoming talent as well. The New York Times, A.O. Scott states: “Ms. Fanning, who has shown herself a remarkably disciplined and self-aware actress almost since toddlerhood, displays heartbreaking vulnerability as well as frightening poise,” of her performance in the “Runaways.” And like a fine wine aged to perfection, The Denver Post simply called her performance, “uncorked.”
The seasoned actress is practical about the future of her career. “As you get older, there’s so much more that you can do in films,” Fanning says. “I’ve never wanted to rush that; I’ve always wanted to do what’s right for my age, but as you approach 18, a whole new world opens up to you as an actor, and I really look forward to that.”
Visit the magazine’s Web site and pick up the August issue of Marie Claire, on sale July 13, 2010 for the full interview and more fab pics.
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Jodie Foster’s Believes Actress Kristen Stewart is “On the Right Track”
Posted on 04. Jun, 2010 by Editor Tracy Bobbitt.
According to People Magazine, Former Child Star and accomplished Academy Award winning actress, Jodie Foster shared some advice with “Panic Room” co-star, Kristen Stewart.
Foster’s advice: “Just about how to not go crazy and be a young actor who wants to have a long career.”
Jodie Foster with Kristen Stewart in 2002
And if anyone would know about the graceful transitioning from child to adult on-screen, it’s undoubtedly Jodie Foster. As a child, Foster helmed several Disney productions, “Freaky Friday” and “One Little Indian,” and small television guest star roles before her career took a more serious turn with the acclaimed role of a child prostitute in “Taxi Driver.” Jodie Foster, who incidentally never took an acting class, received two Oscars before the age of 30. She received her first Oscar for her role as Sarah Tobias in The Accused (1988) and her second for the role of Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Foster is widely considered one the best actresses of her generation, having appeared in block buster hits Contact (1997), Panic Room (2002), Flightplan (2005), Inside Man (2006) and The Brave One (2007). (Little Man Tate is a personal favorite in our household)
Foster believes Kristen Stewart is doing a good job managing her newly found stardom. “She doesn’t need any help. She’s on the right track. She’s a good girl,” Foster told People Mag. “And I love that kid. I spent so much time with her.”
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Alyssa Milano Reveals Secrets to Growing Up Sane in Hollywood
Posted on 19. Apr, 2010 by Editor Tracy Bobbitt.
This morning on ABC News, host George Stephanopolis interviewed beautiful actress and UNICEF ambassdor Alyssa Milano in promotion of her new prime time series “Romantically Challenged,” premiering tonight on ABC. During the interview George asked Allysa how she managed to be a child actor, grow up in the spotlight on 70′s smash hit “Who’s the Boss?” and yet, remain so normal.
Alyssa replied:
“You know, it’s a hard business to grow up in and I had the best circumstances which was a family that didn’t care what I did just as long as there was food on the table and we all had dinner together. And, I really think that having that stability saved me. I think a child can go through anything as long as they have parents behind them that support them and remind them what’s important in life.”
“I have a brother who’s 10 years younger than I am and he never missed an opportunity to tell me about my acne (laughs) and that kept me normal, sane and grounded. Down to earth. [My parents] always instilled in me that family, love and friendship were the most important things and that it doesn’t matter what you do in your life as long as you have those things, you’re a success.”
ABOUT THE SHOW: “Romantically Challenged,” is an ensemble comedy about four friends trying to find love and happiness while navigating their way through today’s tricky world of dating. The show premieres tonight, MONDAY, APRIL 12 (9:32-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
Smart and beautiful Rebecca (Alyssa Milano) is recently divorced after 15 years of marriage. Having never really dated before she was married – and not having been on a date since Clinton was in office — she finds it scary to start over now. Although a gifted mom and lawyer, she is clueless about dating and hopes to get some help from her equally romantically-challenged friends.
Perry is Rebecca’s best friend since childhood. He is a rugged man’s man and a tremendously successful financial planner — but also one of Pittsburgh’s most sensitive hopeless romantics. When it comes to matters of the heart, Perry is a romance-a-holic who falls in love with women 20 minutes after meeting them. After 40 minutes, he’s already naming their future children.
A struggling novelist, the witty and affable Shawn has been Perry’s best friend and rent-free roommate for six years. Shawn is the emotionally unavailable cynic to Perry’s hopeless romantic. He has never had a relationship more serious than a three-night stand – and even those send him running for the door.
Rounding out the group is Rebecca’s petite, baby sister, Lisa. Behind her deceptively sweet appearance is a sassy pit bull ready to protect her older sister. Although a nurturing kindergarten teacher, she has a wild side too, and sees a “threesome” as “second base.”
Will these four romantically challenged friends ever find lasting love? Or even someone who lasts until next Thursday?
“Romantically Challenged” stars Alyssa Milano as Rebecca Thomas, Kyle Bornheimer as Perry Gill, Josh Lawson as Shawn Goldwater and Kelly Stables as Lisa Thomas.
The series is created by Ricky Blitt and executive produced by Blitt and James Burrows. Burrows also serves as the show’s director. The series is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. and Candy Bar Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
”Romantically Challenged” is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC’s selected HDTV format, with 5.1-channel surround sound.
For more information on “Romantically Challenged,” visit ABC.com. Follow the show on Twitter @RomChallenged, follow Alyssa on @Alyssa_Milano or become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RomanticallyChallenged
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Anna Chlumsky (Former Child Star of “My Girl”) on Her Decade Away From Acting
Posted on 17. Feb, 2010 by Editor Tracy Bobbitt.
You’ll likely recall Anna Chlumsky as the adorable 11 year old star of “My Girl,” it’s sequel and “Gold Diggers.” She is now 29-years-old, and after years off from acting, has resurfaced on both the small screen (with appearances on “30 Rock” and last year’s “Cupid”) and large (the Oscar-nominated “In the Loop”).
Next up for her romantic dramedy “The Good Guy,” starring Alexis Bledel as an urban conservationist in Manhattan torn between two Wall Street traders (Scott Porter and Bryan Greenberg). In a brief but memorable supporting role, Chlumsky plays one of Bledel’s upwardly mobile friends. Below are excerpts of a recent interview she did with Aaron Hillis of IFC.com
Anybody who writes about you always feels the need to use the phrase “former child actor.” As an adult who still acts, do you feel there’s a stigma to that term?
I certainly do, but you just have to embrace what you can’t control. How am I going to control how people refer to me? I used to be an editor, I considered journalism — and even more marginalized, entertainment journalism. It has its own rules and style. The first thing that I think journalists do, and you can tell me this or not, is to remind people exactly what they would know this person from. So it’s just another variable: “Oh, we can stick that one in there so people can put her in context.” I learned not to take it personally that people still want me to be ten years old. [laughs]
Beginning in the late ’90s, you were jaded enough to take several years off from acting, went to college and pursued a career in publishing. What ultimately brought you back into performing?
Going back to school didn’t have to do with the jaded parts. [laughs] I always loved learning and was enamored with the idea of higher education, so college was always the plan. School allowed me to see what my strengths were other than the things I’d been told my whole life: “Oh, you’re cute. You say these lines and take direction well.” That’s all you need as a kid to be an actor, because all the truth is already there. It’s not about what [making movies] is really about: being creative, telling stories and collaboration. That’s what I love about it now, but as a kid, it was about making sure people like you. That’s what we discover at the end of adolescence, that it’s okay if people don’t like us. [laughs]
So I was disenchanted with the idea of having my major goal to be on the cover of a magazine when I’m having so much fun learning about Hobbes. Everything got re-prioritized for me. Once I was out of school, I was pursuing anything that I had interest in except for movies and theater, even though those are the things that I have the most interest in. I was squashing it down because I didn’t want to admit it. Slowly, I started to discover that this could be a beautiful thing if I follow the beauty of it, as opposed to… I don’t know, schlock. Honestly, recognition is beautiful but that’s not what I’m in it for. For me, it’s to tell stories, and I love doing it that way. So that was the journey. I’m so loquacious, pardon me. [laughs]
How have you gone about approaching your career in this way?
It’s something I learned in my time away from it, especially being an editor. I was on the business end [of publishing], the buying and selling end of a creative industry. Here are these people putting their hearts on the page, and I had to say “Eh, can we sell it?” I learned, when I became the person putting my heart on the page again, that it’s not personal. If I don’t get a role that I really want, it’s not because I suck, or I’m ugly, or they think I’m stupid. It’s just because they had one little role and all these people. That’s my antidote to rejection. You can’t blame people for having to make a buck, and the buck pays artists, so how can that be bad? So the sting isn’t there. I know I’m good at what I do, as long as I put my work in.
I read that you had a stint during college as a Zagat guide fact-checker. What was the strangest experience you had in that position?
That wasn’t even in college — that was my entry-level position, which got me to New York. I put so much of it out of my memory. It was a cut above telemarketing, for sure. It was three of us in a little room with no windows that we called the “War Room,” where we just made all these cold calls to restaurants. We were bored, obviously, so there got to be one point where we started singing the theme to “Law & Order” incessantly. We couldn’t stop. Every call we finished, we’d go, “Duh-duh, duh-duh-duh-duh-duuuuh” to the point where we then looked up who the composer was — Mike Post is his name. We printed his face out and put it on our wall. He became our mascot so we could get through the day. So that’s kind of odd — tt’s very Zagat ’02. [laughs]
Anna Chlumsky’s film “The Good Guy” opens in limited release on February 19th.
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Celeb Profile: No Child Actors for Future Mom, Hayden Panettiere
Posted on 30. Mar, 2009 by Hollywood Mom.
Not many people hold the title of both child actor and celebrity offspring simultaneously; even fewer hold those titles and transition successfully to television stardom by early adulthood. This makes Hayden Panettiere a rare breed indeed. According to a recent interview with “In Style” Magazine, one time child actor and now star of the hit sci-fi series “Heroes,” on NBC, Hayden shares that she’d like to have as many as four children of her own someday; however, contrary to her own upbringing, she will not allow her kids to go the show biz route.
The 19-year-old “Heroes” star, daughter of former soap opera actress Lesley Vogel, shares “I always said I want four kids – I love kids. I would love to be a [mother] and to have a family – for Italians, [a family is] the most important thing you can have.”
But in regards to being a child star, Hayden adds, “I think you have to be a pretty strong person to enter the industry that young and not be affected by it. I was lucky, but I’d never want my kids to be subject to that much criticism at such a young age.” Read more about Hayden in the current issue of “In Style.”
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Emma Roberts admires Actress Anne Hathaway. Lindsay Lohan, Not so Much.
Posted on 03. Feb, 2009 by Hollywood Mom.
Hotel for Dogs‘ Emma Roberts, niece of Julia Roberts and daughter of Eric Roberts, shared with Moviefone.com in a recent interview that she would like to emulate the career path of Actress Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), also once a child actor known for Disney fare (Princess Diaries, Ella Enchanted). I watched Anne Hathaway present at the recent “Behind the Camera” Awards Ceremony and she’s so talented, so eloquent that choosing Hathaway over almost all former child stars as a role model is really a no brainer.
Roberts gives fellow child actors advice on how one successfully moves from child roles to more mature film themes and characters. In her view Lohan has failed to exhibit what we here at the HMB refer to as “the transition factor.”
“I just think it’s very thin ice you’re walking on, to make the transition from child actor to adolescence. Because, you know, so many people just mess it up, and they do things that are so outrageous. Like, Lindsay Lohan, you still know that she was in Freaky Friday and The Parent Trap, and it’s hard to take her seriously. So that’s why I really like – like, Anne Hathaway is a great example. I think she’s been nominated for so many awards this year. And the fact that she starred in a Disney movie when she was in her teens – a lot of people don’t even know I don’t think.”
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