Acting Their Age

You're carrying a movie. You have to play an innocent. You're 10 years old. What's a kid to do?

Damian, a shy 7-year-old still grieving over the death of his mother, has been taken by a friend of his dad's to the Manchester, England, department store where his mum used to work. Left alone for a moment, he feels mournful, bereft--and then panicky, when he thinks he has been deserted again. In an ordinary movie, the situation might call for a freshet of tears to guarantee an audience's instant pity. But in this film, Millions, with this young actor, Alex Etel, subtlety is the key. His eyes mist up, just enough to cue the attentive viewer to the desperation of...

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