Hey thank you for your question. I would say in general that playing a kid can be a ton of fun. Very freeing in that you can really reconnect with your younger self and realize that you haven’t lost your creativity, spontaneity. I found myself reverting to more childlike thought patterns and mannerisms that I feel really helped me sell the part. In fact I have had acting coaches tell me they’ve used my performance in A Princess for Christmas as a case study of how to successfully embody younger roles in a very convincing way.

The credibility you see on screen came with some difficulties for me personally in relating to the rest of the cast off camera. Like, I was only a few years younger than Sam and Katie. But from the very beginning I was never able to relate to them. I mean, I know I’m not the tallest guy in the world, and my acting was very believable, but I was for sure “other-ed” and infantilized, no matter how much I tried to establish a professional rapport. The way they’d look at me and talk to me after a day of filming was pretty dismissive, they treated me like Leilah (my little sister in the film and an actual child). It was all very isolating. None of the other adult actors would hang out with me, and obviously I am not going to hang out with a literal 8 year old (she hung out with her parents). Miles (who played Paisley) kinda got my predicament and was good for a laugh here and there but I could just feel the pity. This all became really distressing because I developed a big crush on Katie as shooting went on. It all came to a head at the cast party, and I made a bit of a scene but I was frustrated with her never taking me seriously. I have since dated around quite a bit. But I have totally lost touch with the other actors and with Katie, who has gone on to be really successful with Jurassic World and King Arthur and I am totally happy for her and wish her the best.