By Antony Teofilo
Old Soul -- An Interview With the "Jersey Girl" herself, Racquel Castro
So, you're seven. You're hanging with Ben Affleck, George Carlin and a small boatload of heavy-hitter movie stars. You've got private tutors who play learning games with you in your own self-contained mobile school. Hair stylists, costumers, and make-up artists primp you constantly between takes. You're the envy of all your friends:
You're "In The Movies."
Sound like a sweet gig? Sort of. Factor in a nine, sometimes twelve-hour workday, plus the fact that you and your whole family have to be away from your home and closest pals for months at a time, and the deal begins to sound less savory. Consider what happens historically to child actors later in their careers, and one begins to hear the loud bells of caution ringing from within the foggy, uncertain future.
Racquel Castro finds herself at the center of such a storm at this very moment, and she's sailing strong . It's strange to use the words 'consummate professional' in the same sentence as 'seven year old'; nevertheless Ms. Castro, the fresh face portraying Gertie Trinke [pronounced TRINK-ee] in Kevin Smith's next film JERSEY GIRL, is holding her own.
Her presence is at times uncanny. A powerhouse of frenetic activity, Racquel is as comfortable in conversation with professionals three decades her senior as she is with her friend (and stand-in) Gracie, with whom she plays and attends school on-set. Her sunny attitude is refreshingly free of the spin-tainted publicists' gloss normally stretched so tightly across the desperate face of a child who has fallen in love with fame.
Due to strict child labor laws, Racquel has staunch defenders called Child Advocates (from whom you'll hear later in the year) that make sure Racquel is healthy physically and psychologically. The Advocates are doing their job well. While off-camera, Racquel appears to be enjoying the ride, chatting happily, and working on school projects. But when the lights go up, and it's time to act, she's focused, attentive, and takes direction better than most grown actors. Her performance is crisp as she hits her marks every time, take after take, hour after hour.
With the bright lights, the learning of lines, the long days, and the pressure to perform perfectly on every take, where does a kid actor find time to be a kid?
Antony: So, you're seven years old?
Racquel: Yes.
AT: What do you like best about being part of this movie so far?
RC: Meeting the actors, like Ben [Affleck], Liv [Tyler], Jen[nifer Lopez], and George [Carlin]. They're all great, they really are. George is so funny!
Antony: What did you do as an actress before JERSEY GIRL?
Racquel: I had a chance to play in LES MISERABLES. I had an audition, and I had a callback, but they said I'm too small to travel around for six months. They thought I would get homesick. They said they'll keep me on the list, and maybe when I'm nine, or eight, which is next year, because I'm turning eight next year...
AT: Do you know which character you might play in LES MISERABLES?
RC: The one who sings, 'There is a castle on a cloud...'
Halle: The young Cosette.
AT: You've got quite a singing voice. Have you trained with a voice teacher?
RC: No. I've never been trained, but I work with my Dad.
AT: How long have you been working on JERSEY GIRL?
RC: Since August.
AT: Do you ever get tired?
RC: Yes. When we shoot until three o'clock in the morning, I get really, really, really tired.
AT: When you have to act at three in the morning, and you're really tired, what do you do to get yourself in the mood and be up and cheery for the camera?
RC: I just wake up, but I don't get cheery. Sometimes I just say, 'Leave me alone!'. But then Halle or my Mom tells me it's time to act, so I just wake up!
AT: What was it like auditioning for JERSEY GIRL? Did they audition a lot of kids?
RC: Yes, a lot of kids. And then they called me back, and Kevin Smith was there, and Scott Mosier, who is the producer, and they liked me, so I guess they just picked me.
I was so excited. We were at the library, and my manager called up, and she was like, crying, she was so happy. My mom picked up the phone, and there was this woman
screaming, 'She got it! She got it!'. And my Mom was like, 'Hello? Who is this?' And my agent said, 'She got it! She got JERSEY GIRL!', and then my mom was crying, and my agent was crying, and we were shouting in the library!
AT: What did they have you do in your audition?
RC: First, they had me say my name, and how old I am. And then I did the scene from where I'm in the street sweeper.
AT: So it was a pretty short scene?
RC: Yeah, kind of. But we did it a couple of times, like three.
AT: When you're trying to learn your lines, does it take you a long time?
RC: Yeah.
AT: Who helps you with that?
RC: My mom, and Halle [one of her two Child Advocates].
AT: Can you read the script yourself?
RC: Well, yes, but if it's really tiny, and it's black, and it's all mushed up, then I can't read it.
AT: I think older people have trouble with that, too.
RC: When that happens, my Mom takes the script and helps me read it. Sometimes, it's just exhausting.
AT: Halle was telling me you have to do schoolwork when you're on the set. What's that like?
RC: Like today, since we're already in a school, they set up a room for school that we go to when we're not shooting. We usually go to the trailer right next to mine, when we don't have a room like we have today.
AT: So, what do you think of all the fans that show up when you go to a set?
RC: I like to sign autographs a lot. [Laughs]. I wish I was a big star so I could sign more autographs.
AT: You want to sign more autographs? Have you talked to Ben and Jen about what it's like to get that kind of attention from a lot of people?
RC: Ben and Jen? Yeah. They said that sometimes it gets kind of boring when you have to do it a lot. I don't think I could ever get bored with it. Last night, I saw Michael Jackson. There was like a million, no more than a million, like, the whole country, no, the whole United States was there to see him. I said 'Am I going to do that someday?' But, you know, he's a dancer, and a singer. I can sing, but I can't dance. I cannot dance...[Laughs].
AT: Well, maybe not yet, kid. You're seven. You've got some time, don't you think?
RC: I don't know...if I dance, I look so [funny]!
AT: Where have you signed autographs?
RC: Well, I signed some when we did this one scene, and I had my pink sweatshirt on. There was a train going by outside, and it had like, two thousand cars on it, and I was so bored while we were waiting for the train to go by. So I asked my Mom if I could cross the street, and she said yes, but that she had to come with me, and we went and signed autographs. At first there were only a few people, but then all of a sudden, all these other people came rushing up, and I was trying to sign all the autographs. Then the train stopped going by, and they were all really nice and said, 'Thank you!'
AT: You're pretty grown up for a kid your age...
RC: Some people say I'm eight going on eighty, because I have a really grown up personality, even though I'm a kid, and I'm pretty small.
AT: Which do you like better, being a kid, or acting grown-up?
RC: My mom says that once she wished that she was older, and then it happened, and then she kind of wished she was younger again.
AT: So she tries to help you be a kid, too?
RC: Yes. She makes sure that I'm a kid. I can't even stay over by my friend's house until two o'clock in the morning, even though my sisters can. That's not fair!
AT: You can't stay out until two in the morning...I bet she doesn't let you drive yet, either.
RC: No, I can't drive either. I can't drive, I can't dance...!
AT: Have you ever tried dancing and driving at the same time?
RC: Are you kidding? I remember this one time, I was driving a taxi in this game I played at the movie theater, and I was smashing into everything I could. I picked up this woman to take her somewhere, and she jumped out before I could even get her to where she was supposed to go!
AT: So it's probably a good thing that you don't have your driver's license yet...
RC: Well, I drive on my Mom's lap sometimes...
AT: So besides acting, and hanging out with movie stars, and signing autographs, what do you like to do for fun when you're not making movies?
RC: I play the violin. My teacher is very, very nice.
AT: Have you had a recital?
RC: No, because I usually do it in my own school. I've been waiting to do violin for a long, long time. And I want to play soccer, because I always play in my back yard, but it's hard to do right now because I'm here. And my Mom says that right when we get back from the movie, I can be a horse rider, too, because I have a friend who does that.
AT: What do you want to do with your career after you're done with JERSEY GIRL?
RC: I'd like to do a couple more movies!
Watch out Hollywood, Racquel Castro is undoubtedly a force with which to be reckoned.
