MINTING CHILD STARS

A12 ■ VARIETY.COM/YOUTHIMPACT FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2007
BIGSCREEN CHAPERONES
F
or some, the best thing about the
“Harry Potter” films has been
watching the parade of notable
British thesps pass
through its soon-tobe
seven installments. Indeed,
with the likes of Richard Harris
and Maggie Smith, it’s easy to
forget that there are a lot of
other actors on the screen as
well. And the vast majority of
them are below the drinking age.
But David Heyman, who’s
produced the five “Potter” films
to date and expects to finish the
series by 2010, is quite aware of
the budding talent populating the
franchise — and he doesn’t just
mean Daniel Radcliffe, Emma
Watson and Rupert Grint. He’s
just as proud of Sean Biggerstaff,
Tom Felton and Devon Murray.
“The smallest part is treated
with the same attention and care
as the lead roles,” he says. “Not
just in the casting, but also the
directing.”
But Heyman is reluctant to
don the mantle of starmaker, insisting that
the “Potter” series is not about minting
new talent. “If they become that,” Heyman
says, “it’s because of their commitment and
DAVID HEYMAN
Recent breakthrough:
“Harry
Potter” recently
pulled ahead as
the top -grossing
franchise of all
time.
Role model: As former
kid stars go,
he admires Jodie
Foster. “Also, the
young cast of
‘Harry Potter.’ ”
What's next:
“Producing films
other than ‘Harry
Potter,’ specifically
‘The Boy in the
Striped Pyjamas,’
‘Is There
Anybody There?’
and ‘Yes Man.’ ”
curiosity to develop their craft. We’ve
given them the platform, but they’re here
because they’re good.”
Good actors will seek out
challenging projects, something
not always consistent with
wholesome family fare. But
Heyman insists that he doesn’t
stand in the way of such ventures.
“You don’t put a stranglehold
on an ambitious young
actor who wants to stretch,” he
says, talking of Radcliffe and his
headline-making turn on the
London stage earlier this year.
“Everybody talks about him
being naked in ‘Equus’ but not
that his character blinded six
horses. There seems to be more
concern about Dan’s willy than
the substance of the play. But I
respect him and his choices.”
One reason Heyman’s young
actors are so good is the master
class that results from tyro thesps
playing opposite past masters.
“They’re learning by doing and
also by watching,” acknowledges
Heyman. “Dan, for instance, has talked about
what he’s learned from Gary Oldman. The
older actors are quite generous.”
— David Mermelstein
A
GUS VAN SANT
t the Toronto Film Fest, “Paranoid Park” star Gabe Nevins stands
with his hands in his pockets facing away from a one-sheet emblazoned
with a giant photo of his face. “It’s weird,” says Nevins, not
sure what to make of the poster. “I can’t
look at it.”
The 16-year-old Portland native is director Gus Van
Sant’s latest discovery, playing a numb-to-the-world
young skater with ties to an unsolved murder. “When I
first started out, I had to use non-actors,” says the
helmer. “In ‘Mala Noche,’ one guy was 16 from a suburb,
and the other guy was a boxer — he was 21. They
had natural abilities, but they weren’t experienced.”
As he grew into studio pictures, Van Sant started
working with trained screen actors, casting professional
teens in such youth-centric stories as “To Die For”
and “Finding Forrester.”
Then came “Elephant,” Van Sant’s reaction to the
Columbine shootings, which called for a more neorealist
approach. “The local high school Portlanders were
all really intense characters,” Van Sant recalls. “The
trick was to find the ones that remain themselves in
front of the camera.”
“Elephant” helped launch the careers of Alex Frost
(“Drillbit Taylor”) and John Robinson (“Lords of Dogtown”),
who still keep in touch with the director.
Nevins isn’t so sure about wanting to become a professional
actor. He auditioned for “Paranoid Park” after
hearing the production was looking for extra skateboarders,
never dreaming he might be considered for
the lead.
Both Van Sant and his amateur star took some convincing.
Recent breakthrough:
Cast a
complete unknown
in the
lead of his latest,
“Paranoid
Park.”
Role model: “Zac
Efron. I really
liked ‘Hairspray’
because it
just looks like
people can’t stop
dancing. It’s not
a Bob Fosse
style, it’s an
ants-in-yourpants
style. It
seems like people
cannot hold
it in.”
What's next: Hoping
to direct the
long-gestating
Harvey Milk
biopic.
“I was nervous. Even though I’d done ‘Elephant,’ this was different. This
was the lead character,” Van Sant says. “A young actor, if he’s good, can take
what’s on the page and mold it into something more, and a non-actor will basically
give you their reading of it. That’s the choice.”
— Peter Debruge