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US child star steps off the screen

By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-25 09:29

Rain Spencer (right), the US child actress in a short movie called The Garden that is being shown at the USA Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai, signs her autograph for a Chinese fan. [Yong Kai / For China Daily]

Her movie, The Garden, tells an optimistic story of what can happen with collaboration

SHANGHAI - Rain Spencer, the US child actress in a movie being shown at the USA Pavilion at Expo 2010 Shanghai, won a new group of fans on Monday when she stepped out of the screen.

In a visit to the pavilion, the 10-year-old girl surprised visitors when she appeared in person at the end of the short movie called The Garden, in which she stars.

Dressed exactly as the character in the movie, Spencer appeared on the stage, posed for photos and signed autographs for her new Chinese fans.

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"I really loved shooting the movie," the girl from Los Angeles said in an interview afterwards.

The movie suggests that a little girl's attitude can change the view of others and the world, she said.

"If you believe in yourself and you trust yourself that you can do something that you want to, I think you can do it."

The Garden is an immersive, multi-sensory experience presented by BRC Imagination Arts. It takes place in an architect's drawing of a city - a world created by computer-generated images where cast members appear as real people in an illustrated world.

At the heart of the story is a girl, played by Spencer, who has an innovative idea to replace a trash-filled vacant lot with a community garden. By her optimistic determination, she wins the collaboration of her community. At the end of the story, a city that was once tired and gray becomes a magical vision of what can happen when optimism, innovation and collaboration come together.

Bob Rogers, the founder and chief creative officer of BRC, said the company auditioned hundreds of actresses for the part, but immediately decided Spencer was the girl they wanted when she showed up for her tryout.

"We were initially looking for twins to play this part because of time limits on how long a child is allowed to be on a sound stage in front of a camera," said Rogers.

Using identical twins allows one twin to be filming while the other is resting or in school, so movie directors get twice as much time with the child's tapings each day, he said.

Although she is not a twin, Rain's audition was so strong it outweighed all other considerations, he said.

"We had rarely seen a young actress with such presence and grace," Rogers said.

Spencer was only 9 years old when she auditioned (she turned 10 during the filming), and had been performing in film and theater for several years. Her passions include gymnastics, running, swimming, soccer, painting and design.

Asked which part of the movie she enjoyed most, the young girl said her favorite part is the rain scene.

Spencer was looking forward to performing under the big rain machines, right up to the moment she discovered the water was ice cold.

"She was pretty miserable for the first several takes," said Rogers. "But she showed real courage by doing take after take."

With the help of a warm-water dousing before and after each take, she got used to it and after the scene was finished three days later, she asked if they could turn the rain machine back on so she could play in it for a while.

Spencer said the girl in the movie shares her personality, but some differences do exist.

"My character in the movie thinks a lot about what she is doing," she said. But the real Spencer is a relaxed girl with the dream of becoming a superstar.

"My character never smiles either. But you have to smile at least sometimes. It's not real if you don't smile," she said.

Those who saw the movie were impressed by Spencer's role.

"She's quite immersed in the movie," said Lu Zhiwei from Guangdong province, "She is a talented girl."