Thursday, October 24, 2013
Performance prodigy: 11-year-old lands TV, movie roles
Jake Ryan Scott in upcoming Hallmark Channel movie
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McKinney actor Jake Ryan Scott, 11, left, plays The Magistrate in a scene from ‘Fools,’ a play put on by Young Actors Guild. Jake will be on a Hallmark Channel movie premiere, “Snow Bride,” on Nov. 9.
Ask Jake Ryan Scott how he does it, and his answer is simple, if not lacking: He just does.
Whether on stage improvising his way out of a rare lost line, or in front of Hollywood cameras for a first audition, acting comes natural to the 11-year-old. That’s why the McKinney pre-teen has landed roles in FX’s “American Horror Story” and TNT’s “Dallas,” and will soon be on the Hallmark Channel’s “Countdown to Christmas” TV movie series.
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Jake has a supporting role in “Snow Bride,” an original movie that premieres at 7 p.m. Nov. 9 on the Hallmark Channel. Alongside a cast that includes Patricia Richardson, who played Jill on the popular ABC series “Home Improvement,” Jake plays a depressed young boy who lives with his grandparents.
“I auditioned and I guess they just liked me,” said Jake, shrugging off the nearly eight months he recently spent in Los Angeles auditioning for numerous such roles. “It’s really exciting because it’s my only real movie role.”
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It’s far from the only one for Jake, who’s already spent six years on stage and several months on screen. He is shopped through Osbrink Agency in L.A. and Kim Dawson Agency in Dallas, and his young resume includes Shakespeare plays, lead roles and voiceovers.
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Along for much of Jake’s ride into the spotlight has been Lisa Martin, co-founder of McKinney’s Young Actors Guild and Jake’s mentor. She’s quick to point out his rare talent and even rarer approach.
“He doesn’t have an ego about what he does; he comes in and listens and wants to get better,” said Martin, who recruited him to play Winthrop in McKinney North High School’s upcoming rendition of ‘Music Man.’ “High-pressure situations don’t shake him. You can’t throw him off.”
It’s a smooth fortitude mostly inherent but partly learned. Jake realized his stage love watching “A Christmas Carol” at age 5, telling his mother, Donna Kobrin, he wanted to be Tiny Tim the next year.
And that’s what he did.
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“He’s never mentioned being nervous,” Kobrin said, adding that the very word was taboo in their family. “Sometimes you instill it in people, so we just never asked.”
Jake was one of the first few to sign up for YAG, which puts on performances around the area and now has roughly 80 members. He’s been in more than 10 plays, his favorite roles being the drunk Watchman in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and a bearded 80-year-old in Neil Simon’s “Fools.”
After a local Hollywood showcase, where West Coast agencies recruited talent, Jake went to L.A. to pursue opportunities off the stage. He’s been in commercials for Toyota and Tagamoto Toys, six short films and three TV shows.
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“If you can do theater, you can do film,” Martin said. “They’re going to change their minds and want different things, so the ability to adapt is critical.”
Jake’s biggest TV gig to date, by show popularity, was his role as a trick-or-treater in the second episode of “American Horror Story: Asylum.” Thousands auditioned for the part, and Jake won it his first try.
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Most of Jake’s L.A.-based earnings go straight into an account reserved for him, with about 10 percent going to the agency. Kobrin said Jake’s career path is his choice, and sees his personal growth and learned life skills as the true payoffs.
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Still in middle school – with hobbies like cooking and writing – Jake isn’t yet anxious for an Oscar. At least for now, the stage is where he’d rather be. That’s where he feels at home, where the real performance lies.
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“It’s just fun seeing the smiles on people’s faces,” he said. “There’s no trick. I just get on stage and do it.”
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Chris Beattie, cbeattie@starlocalmedia.com
