February 6, 2002
Schwartz stars in Hollywood
First grader lands movie and commerical roles, models for magazine
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Britney Spears, Hanson, Frankie Muniz - rubbing elbows with famous stars was all in a summer's day for Kylie Schwartz.
Schwartz, 6, spent last summer in Hollywood learning about the movie and television industry from the ground up. And packing in a lot of fun in between acting classes, photo shoots, publicity efforts and auditions. Accompanied by her parents and younger brother, Schwartz combined an extensive vacation with pursuit of that elusive Hollywood star.
"I just like to do it and try to get parts and have lots and lots of fun," said Schwartz, a first- grade student at Interlochen Pathfinder School.
With the guidance of her parents, Kelly and Anna, Schwartz has her ambitions firmly in perspective. Despite years of dancing, singing, piano and acting lessons, plus a basement stuffed full of trophies garnered at talent contests, Schwartz is not sure the silver screen is her ultimate goal.
"I want to be a doctor or maybe a veterinarian," she said. "It is hard to choose right now because there are so many things I like."
Kelly Schwartz said he and his wife are determined that their daughter will decide where she goes with her talents. They are not going to be stage parents obsessed with success. Instead, they constantly remind themselves to make decisions based on maintaining a normal childhood for Kylie: they turned down a last-minute callback for a Campbell's Soup commercial at the end of the summer because they wanted her back home and in school.
"We haven't tried to push anything, we let Kylie choose," said Kelly Schwartz, who commuted between Hollywood and his dental consulting business last summer. "We had an opportunity to go out there in January and February for the pilot season but she didn't want to leave her friends at school. At her age, some days she loves it and some days she just wants to be a kid."
Schwartz's exceptional memory and above-grade-level reading ability have helped her at both auditions and after she has landed a part.
"What surprised Anna and I was that at her first audition, she had a three- page script and read it twice and had it memorized," Kelly Schwartz said. "She's got a memory, she knows all the phone numbers, she's like a little Rolodex."
The Schwartz's got started with an agent in 2000 after their daughter won a national talent competition. The agent invited her to Hollywood and, after much thought, they decided to invest a summer trying it out. They went with a goal of just breaking even and also having a lot of fun as a family.
They left after school ended and found an apartment in the Oakwood Apartment complex in Burbank, which specializes in residences for the industry and is located next to studios. Also staying there was Frankie Muniz, star of the hit TV show "Malcolm in the Middle."
Kylie Schwartz enrolled in acting classes and her parents began sending out her portfolio and head shots. Wearing a pager and carrying a cell phone all the time, the summer started out slowly. Then, in the last few weeks of August, everything speeded up.
Schwartz landed two parts in experimental movies, modeled for a Bridal magazine and also parts on Nickelodeon Jr. shows. She also appeared in the show "All That" with Britney Spears.
In an area literally swarming with talented kids, the Schwartz family realize how lucky she was to get the parts she did.
"What surprised us was the number of talented kids out there, there are hundreds of kids with the same dream," said Kelly Schwartz. "We'll keep doing it until Kylie's no longer interested. Kylie is a good little Christian kid, she came back with a lot of memories and a lot of stuff."