Dream Magazine's Top 16 Under 16
Fourteen young actresses won coveted spots in Dream Magazine's "Top Sixteen Under Sixteen" issue. (Only two spots went to young actors.) Some names you'll recognize, while others are more recent talent that's just arrived on the scene. You can check them all out at Dream Magazine. Meanwhile, we're posting a few of our favorites here. Photos and interesting interview bits are beneath each cut. The photoshoots that accompanied the article are just gorgeous.
Sammi Hanratty, 15
Do you have a special technique to prepare you for the audition room? "I just try to relax and to be myself, because it can really make you nervous if you think about it too much."
Do you have a horror story about an audition you have done? "I was eating chocolate in the car on my way to an audition and I fell asleep. I didn't realize in had fallen in my lap and I was sitting on it. It was all over the back of my pants and it didn't look like chocolate!"
Joey King, 11
Are you still in touch with any of your Ramona and Beezus cast? "Yes. I still see Selena. We go out and eat and hang out and I got to go to a few of the Wizards of Waverly Place tapings this year. I text and email with everyone else because they work or live in other states."
Is there anybody in Hollywood that you want to model your career after? "Well, I have always loved Drew Barrymore and she went from kid actor to adult actor, so I hope I can do that too."
Morgan Lily, 11
You are one of many siblings, how do you get along with them? "It is fun being part of a big family but of course we have our moments of bickering. My brother is ten years older than me so we hang out, make jewelry together and go to the movies. My sisters are younger than me so we get along great and I love playing with them."
What's the auditioning process like for you? Scary? "Not at all, it is so much fun to be able to step out of a safe zone and be able to play another character. It is very exciting!"
Ryan Newman, 13
Despite working in Hollywood, how do you stay so grounded and down-to-earth? "My parents and I work very hard to keep an aspect of normality in my life. I go to sleep-away camp every summer and I still have my best friends from regular school. I also have been involved with charities my whole life so that I am not sheltered from the rest of the world."
What is one thing that people would be surprised to know about child actors? "We all have insecurities, just like everybody else."
Savannah Paige Rae, 7
Describe the audition process for you. Is it hard? "Yes, because I still go to regular school, so after a full day of school, I will have homework and still have auditions after, so it's like double work and there is a lot of driving but I'm lucky though because my sister is my acting coach so she teaches me my lines in the car on the way!"
What is one thing that people would be surprised to know about child actors? "How hard it can be for everyone in the family, not just the actors. People also think you are like your character and you're not. Everyone thinks I'm like Sydney from Parenthood, but I am not really like her at all. You also have to be like a grown-up sometimes, and sometimes you have to miss things at school like picture day or the Valentine's Day party. And the driving - there's a lot of driving!"
Caroline Sunshine, 15
Do your classmates at school treat you differently now that you're on TV? "One of the decisions I made early on, with the help of my parents, was to stay in a regular high school because education is really important to me. When I'm filming, I take online classes through my high school and communicate with my teachers, and when I'm not filming, traveling, or I have a day off, I go back to the high school campus. Its so much fun because I have a locker, go to football games and pep rallies! For the most part everybody treats me pretty cool but it is not unusual for me to have someone freak out when they meet me or want to take a picture with me while we are doing chem lab!"
What is one thing that people would be surprised to know about child actors? "I think people would be surprised at how normal a lot of child actors are. We are still just a bunch of teens and tweens, and as my dad always says, 'put our pants on one leg at a time.'"