Child actors and gruesome films.

I get that, but some are quite distressed, and they just want to be with a parent/carer. I understand that babies cry, but sometimes it is toddlers/young children, which is equally hard to watch.

As an Early Years teacher I have seen children cry hysterically when their parents says goodbye and turn it off the instant the door closes. I think small children are capable of acting even without any encouragement. I'm not a cruel teacher, BTW, I saw it with my own child when I hovered outside peeking in.

Nannerli · 24/09/2024 10:57

Is your baby upset on an average day? Because that’s all that’s happening here — you wait till the baby cries about any of the fifty things babies cry about and then film, after which the baby goes back to his/her day. Hence the use of twin babies playing the same character quite often

I get that, but some are quite distressed, and they just want to be with a parent/carer. I understand that babies cry, but sometimes it is toddlers/young children, which is equally hard to watch.

Bear in mind as well the kids hang out in costume, make up, they get lunch at the trailer, sit near the actors, see them half in/half out costume, the sets are fab but also two steps away from 'real' rooms. It's so stop and start not real time.

Haven’t see that movie, but my six-year-old can scream and wail like the world is ending because we told her she had to turn off Unicorn Academy. (She has ADHD and lots of “big feelings.”)

There’s a movie called “Mysterious Skin,” about two boys who are sexually abused by their coach and how it continues to affect them as adults. You can tell how the filmmakers did it without traumatizing the kids; for example, the coach rests his head on one of the boy’s chests and we don’t see the boy’s face, because I think it’s a mannequin. At one point, the same boy looks out his window late at night and sees his mom and her boyfriend having sex in the yard. We see him looking out the window, then a shot of the mom and the boyfriend, then a closeup of the kid’s face. The mom and boyfriend characters were clearly filmed at a different time.

What I wonder is, how do these kids feel when they grow up and find out what other things were in the movie? If I was a kid and I thought I was filming a movie about a little boy’s summer, I’d be shocked when I grew up and found out it was about child sexual abuse. Or do the parents and filmmakers tell them a sanitized version of what the film is about? (“A man who hurts a boy” or something like that.)

Thanks for the information about Mlle Lejeune , Pontoon . I am so glad that she has good memories of her role . She was remarkable .

I read an interview with the actress who played the daughter in Mad Men a while ago. She said that she went back and watched the series as an adult because she actually had no idea about a lot of the plot, due to the way that she was shielded from what her scenes were actually about back when she was filming them.

My children have done acting in tv and advertising. They are extremely well looked after. The chaperones are all licensed by child social services, the social worker has to provide a licence for exactly what will be filmed and at any time the chaperone isn't happy, they can have the production halted.

My youngest worked with a fairly intimidating (on screen) actor, but they had spent time together in catering before so DS was comfortable before they started the run through. He watched the show a few years later and said he's never realised he was that scary at the time.

Well, she's fine, and working in finance in Paris, or was at the time she did an interview for a Blu-ray re-release 10 years ago -- there's quite a lot in this interview, about exactly how they did the scene, which, though it would definitely not be done that way now, doesn't seem to have left any psychological damage:

https://ew.com/article/2014/04/25/sophies-choice-bluray/#:~:text=Jennifer%20Lawn%20Lejeune%20was%20just,was%20for%20the%20film's%20characters.

And remember where the character is a young teen, they usually cast an actor over 18 who looks particularly young if it's a "scary" or violent movie.

Also It's really hard to film kids as principal characters due to strict school rules etc. so they avoid if possible unless it's a film about young people eg Harry potter or whatever.

My child recently filmed when her character has to become very ill and die. There is a psychologist meeting with her and me before. They laugh and joke between scenes and obviously there when their make up is going on so know it's not real. They didn't film death scenes last, and had a little party after wrap on difficult days. It's so different on set and precautions are taken.

Richard osman covered this on his podcast. It's shot in such a way that children are either not exposed or it's just a fun game. They won't be allowed to see the Final Cut

In this country there are quite strict regulations on using children on stage or film, even if they're not paid. Babies are very limited on time they can have in front of the camera, so what they'll do is wait for them to cry, and then film round them.

My friend's dd took part in a zombie movie where the children had to appear to eat a dead body.
They filmed them coming towards a "dead" body which was one of the other actors. Then they filmed them "eating" it. What it actually was by this point was a dummy with a hollowed out middle which was filled with sweets. They had a wonderful time!
As far as the children were concerned they didn't know what they were doing to a point that she saw the film about 10 years later and was really surprised to find they'd been "eating a dead body". She hadn't even realised it was a horror film.

She loved doing the acting and never was scared.

It was the scene in Sophie's Choice where the little girl is dragged off Meryl Streep by a Nazi deathcamp officer that has always upset me . She was screaming crying . I don't know how that can be 'acting' by such a young child .
Still traumatised on her behalf .

I also think a lot of children are more affected by what comes after the film than by being in the film. I think it would be far better for most of them if they didn't go to the premiere, didn't do press conferences, didn't do photo shoots, didn't do interviews etc. Just did the acting because they enjoy it and then get on with their normal lives afterwards.

I remember a scene from Coronation Street years ago when it was filmed live. Gail Platt was shrieking at someone,with a toddler at her slde. He looked up at her and said "Shut up, piggy!" It was hilarious!

Jodie Foster had a body double who was 19 on the set of Taxi Driver. She says it was awkward for Scorsese to direct some of the scenes. IIRC, they had to shoot the scene where Travis shoots (?) Harvey Kietel’s character with a colour filter and reduce the amount of blood to avoid an R rating.

There are so many safeguards put in place and child actors aren't exposed to horrors on set. Though that might not have always been the case on every set.

I know what you mean when it can seem like children are distraught and you think 'what has been done to them?' to make them so upset? but there's a very popular video on YT of Henry Thomas, 'Elliott' from ET, screen-testing for the role aged 8. You see them telling him what the scene would be, the government are going to take ET away and he's listening intently to the instructions then goes into the scene and his bottom lip wobbles then he's crying then yelling with tears streaming down his face about how they can't take ET away.

At the end of the scene you hear a voice saying 'okay kid, you got the job' and he breaks into a wide smile.

Even little kids can be great actors.

I believe there's a documentary about the filming of Aliens and it talks about how it was filmed with the actress that played Newt. She may even feature in it talking about her experience.

I believe she didn't do anymore acting after that though. Just had a normal life. But there are plenty of interviews with her around as an adult.

I work with child actors and have worked on 18 rated films. They aren't supposed to have read the script/understand it but every one I have met has, Horror is fine. Some of others aren't and I find it very odd that people push their children into this line of work.

Yes, anyone who's ever been on a film ot TV set recently understands exactly why there are those jokes about Sally Webster's children on Coronation Street being permanently invisible upstairs, detectable only for months or years as invisible presences she occasionally shouted 'Dinner's ready!' or 'Do your homework!' at. Because using child actors is (as it should be) monumentally labour intensive in terms of safeguarding, hours worked, education etc.

This is a US TV interview with Deborah Warner and Fiona Shaw about doing Medea (which involves child deaths, and child actors who are 5 and 6) and how they worked with the children. From about 11.30:

When they were filming the movie Maleficent (I know it’s not a horror!) the child actors didn’t like interacting with Angelina Jolie’s character so they used her daughter who knew that it was her mum under the makeup.

For me the bigger issue is the potential fame that comes with being a child actor and how they cope with it. Especially when the parents are focused on making the child famous rather than protecting them from any negatives with being in the industry.

Shirley Temple was making movies in the 1940s. The Exorcist was made in 1973. Those aren't really current examples of how children are being treated on set in 2024. Linda Blair was also 14 when she appeared in The Exorcist, she wasn't a small child.

Those of us who actually have been on film sets/tv sets in the 2020s have explained that safeguarding and welfare is the main priority. I cannot believe that some posters actually think it's not OK for a child to spend a few hours on a Saturday being in a film. Also if you watch things like Eastenders you'll see the kids are barely in it - lots of posts online about how characters must have put their kids in the cupboard again as they're never with them.

I have always wondered that since I watched Aliens.

Mine have acted in films and tv and agree with the other parents. I can't watch films now without clocking the behind the scenes stuff having stood around waiting or listening to them.