Young stars futures was Re: Deleted scenes then wandering off into PoA country

[GulPlum]

"alhewison" wrote, responding to my previous post:

> I'm interested in why you cite Rupert Grint's case as different to 
> Daniel Radcliffe's and Emma Watson's. Surely coming from a large 
> family doesn't presuppose that his parents are not fiercely 
> protective? 

I wasn't assuming that to be the case at all. ;-) I expect his 
parents to be no more or less protective of him than the other stars' 
parents. I also don't expect them to treat him any differently from 
his siblings. 

And therein lies part of what I meant - one of the major issues for 
anyone, let alone a child, suddenly become becoming rich and famous 
is being treated differently by friends and acquaintances. The good 
(and sometimes bad) :-) thing about siblings is that that they treat 
you the same way all the time, regardless of success or failure. 
Rupert's brothers and sister will, I'm sure, make him feel well 
grounded and whilst offering him all the support and protection he 
needs from over-zealous fans and media, will ensure that he remembers 
that he's still the same person. I'm also sure that his parents won't 
treat him any differently from the rest of the brood. For the last 
several months, he's had an undoubtedly strange routine what with 
filming and all, but for the next few weeks, the summer holidays will 
bring everything back to "normal" and he'll get some quality family 
time. 

Dan's dad is also his agent and professional chaperone, so they 
probably have a very strange relationship. Whilst I'm sure that Dan's 
old friends are still around and he spends as much time with them as 
he can, he's not been to his regular school for most of the school 
year and I'm sure he's well out of kilter with his peers. On a 
completely different level, Dan's a passionate Fulham Football Club 
supporter. For the next season, his team's moving their base 80 miles 
away, and I'm sure that having to travel over an hour each way to 
attend matches is preying on his mind, compared to the 10 minute walk 
he's enjoyed to their home ground previously. :-)

> I'm also a little unsure as to why he should be assured 
> an acting career. Whilst I agree that he is good, and has already 
> gone onto to star in Thunderpants, the fact remains that he is only 
> 13. Not only would he need to wish to continue to act, but surely 
he 
> would have to carry on developing as an actor? Whiilst probable, 
this 
> is not assured.

OK, he's not assured a career. But despite Thunderpants being a 
financial flop (releasing it head-to-head against Star Wars wasn't a 
good idea!) it was reasonably well received, Rupert in particular (in 
a VERY different part from that of Ron Weasley). 

I'm sure he's going to get lots of offers, and he has all the makings 
of a fine comedy actor already. The acting bug has definitely bitten 
him, and unless he does something stupid, he's bound to be a success.

> However *wonderful* it might sound to be rich and 
> famous at such a young age, I imagine it will also be quite lonely 
to 
> be so set apart. They are lucky that there is a group of them.

Indeed. The fact that the actors seem to have become as firm friends 
as their characters will, I'm sure, be a great help and comfort to 
them. I remain slightly worried for Emma, though -  they boys have 
each other to lean on, and I recall she was complaining about having 
too few girl friends around the set. 

<snip GCSEs>

> Surely, if they are doing well with on-set tuition then carrying on 
> with the movies would not be a problem - as long as there was a 
> substantial gap whilst they were actually taking the exams. I agree 
> though psychologically a complete break would be better. 

It's not as simple as that. A significant proportion of GCSEs 
is "course work" and kids have a *lot* of work on their hands. One of 
my nieces has just taken hers and had to put her social life on hold 
for the whole of the last year (and more). There simply isn't enough 
time for more than school. And she wasn't taking very many subjects 
either...

I agree, though, that the psychological importance is far greater 
than simple scheduling.

> Ali
> 
> Who does worry for the young actors, and would not like her little 
> kids to become child stars!

Absolutely. I can certainly understand the Radcliffes' reservations 
about allowing him to take on the part, although on the evidence to 
date, it seems to be working OK. What the future holds remains to be 
seen, though...