Award Season Buzz
"From the Golden Globes to the Oscars, Child Stars of the Past and Present are the Talk of the Town"
In 2013 Children In Film is celebrating success, and nothing represents such a celebration quite like the award season. From the Golden Globes to the SAG Awards to the Oscars, this is the time of year when Hollywood gets together to award one another for a job well done. And even though it isn't always children who are giving acceptance speeches, it is important to note that the majority of those performers who cross the stage, award in hand, were at one time or another involved in performance as minors.
Notable Winners
The 70th Annual Golden Globes, for example, was filled with nominations and awards for former child stars. Ben Affleck, for example, who took home two awards for Argo, got his start in a Burger King commercial and at the age of 12, landed a PBS mini-series. Rising star, Jennifer Lawrence, took home the award for Best Actress (musical, comedy) for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, and while her career seems to have skyrocketed since her role in Hunger Games, she has been working on her career since the age of 14. Globe Award Winners, Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) and Claire Danes ("Homeland"), also began their acting careers before the age of 18.
Oscar Predictions
It is often the case that the Golden Globe awards set the stage for what will come at the Academy Awards. This year, however, should prove to be very interesting: new contenders who were looked over by the Hollywood Foreign Press were still nominated for Oscars. Is Jennifer Lawrence slated for the Best Actress award or will we see, for example, Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) take the lead? One prediction is for sure - a former or current child performer will walk away with Oscar gold this year. Consider this: Your child could be next.
Memorable (and teaching) Moments
Perhaps one of the most memorable moments for the 2013 Golden Globe awards occurred when former child star, Jodie Foster, took the stage to give her emotionally driven acceptance speech for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. Foster, who as a child was known for her roles in "The Doris Day Show", Taxi Driver and "Gunsmoke" spoke openly about her career, her sexuality and the struggles of being in the limelight since before she can remember. "Those very quaint days when a fragile young girl would open up to trusted friends and family and co-workers and then gradually to everyone that knew her, everyone she actually met," remarked the fifty-year-old Academy Award Winner, "But now apparently I'm told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference, a fragrance, and a primetime reality show."
It's an important point that Foster brings up; that is, one that brings light to the fact that young performers cannot fully escape the limelight and that your child's privacy is a sacrifice that should be carefully weighed. Once that genie is out of the bottle, you can't exactly put it back. Children In Film encourages parents to explore these concepts during the early stages of your path to success so you are as prepared as possible to face them when the day comes.
Success has a way of bringing with it both incredibly exciting times as well as extremely trying moments. Children In Film hopes to be with you along your path towards success and encourages you to explore the multifaceted areas of your child's career.
