Child actors and gruesome films.

[Itsmychristmasdress]

I'm watching gangs of new York. And it just got me thinking how child actors are exposed to horrific violence on set of movies...I wonder how is that allowed. I am sure they are protected in some ways but I'm not sure they can be fully protected?
Anyone know a bit about it?

It’s fucked up that we’ve decided that children shouldn’t work - except for the extremely important reason of making TV programmes and films 😒 They use CGI for everything these days and I think they should use it for things like this so that children don’t have to be exploited.

We had quite a lot of strikes because the idea of CGI actors was being pushed...

And they DO use CGI, or "fake babies", to do some stuff

Plus kids love to perform. They will often have a lot of fun on set, it's not work to them. It's not the old Shirley Temple, work them til they cry and work them some more, atmosphere.

Watch a stage show with main children actors and watch it twice in one day, it won't be the same kids performing because of hours they can work. It'll also finish by a certain time. I've known shows which have had to stop for a technical issue and have ultimately had to cancel the rest of the show because the time to fix it would take the children in the show over their hours

The one that springs to mind for me is in Fatal Attraction when the husband admits to wife he's been unfaithful & the mistress is pregnant, the wife screams at him and cries hysterically. I remember their cute little daughter seeing it & cuddling her toy (rabbit? 🤔). It's sad to watch bur no doubt the little actress knew it wasn't real

Are you saying you think all films and tv shows with children in should be "played" by CGI children? At what age would that stop? 18? So you could never have a film or tv with real children in ever? Or should we just never have children in any film or tv show instead? Only over 18s allowed.

And yes as the above post mentioned, there's just been strikes regarding using CGI for actors. That's a slippery slope to not having actors at all. Just using CGI for all films forever.

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.

I have always wondered that since I watched Aliens.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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 .

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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