I’ve brought up the mixed race and adverts issue in an earlier post. Regardless of anyone’s opinions on what advertisers should or shouldn’t be doing in terms of representation…it’s plain to see that in that sector there is a current demand for mixed race child actors/extra’s, of which demographically they will be a minority in the local population. This means that when putting themselves forward for these roles, rightly or wrongly, their skin colour is a useful trait. They are also easily available as there is no school schedule to work around, and once they have done one job and they behave well, they will be put forward for more. Add to that Ella’s family contacts, which may help them find the best route to getting agents etc.
But take 100 randomly selected child actors working in the uk today, where would the Grimwade kids score if tested against others on their acting skills?
They aren’t in any drama schools or even local am dram. I don’t see anything specifically wrong with putting your kids forward for these things, it can be a fun day out and a confidence boost, but where I disagree is that they are using these minor jobs to push the idea onto their daughters that they will be actors/dancers when they grow up. I don’t agree that the work they are getting now will lead to that conclusion and it could be damaging for the girls to experience that failure later on.
If they wanted to really understated whether their kids have the necessary talent, and whether it is a good move to encourage them into those fields, they should be getting them some kind of tuition in order to receive feedback on whether this is going to be an option for them longer term.
As with Heze, he trains at Chelsea Academy, so although he may not make it to pro as an adult, he must have enough ability at this stage for it to be worth pursuing, so with him at least there is a group of professionals confirming he has real promise.
Heze getting schooling at the academy will be interesting, not that they’d tell us this on YouTube, but would not be surprised he struggles with the expected level for his age. All he’s done so far is work on activity books, with parents who may not always be able to explain things he doesn’t understand properly while surrounded by much younger children and a lot of noise and distraction. He’s a bright boy, that is obvious when he speaks, and he probably feels he is bright as well…so it’s going to be a shock to his system if he finds the other children are much more advanced. I get the impression the ‘workbooks’ are just basic reading and maths for their age groups? At 11-13, which is the group he’s being taught with they would be expected to already have some basics in sciences, geography, computing, the variety of subjects and level is like to be more advanced than his home schooling. If there are any problems with his overnight at the academy, it won’t be the football, behaviour or missing home….it will be the stress of the education sessions.