NinjaJack
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Michigan natives star in latest film from 'Spy Kids' director
June 10, 2005, 6:31 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- "Spy Kids" director Robert Rodriguez cast a couple of young and appealing actors with Michigan roots to play the title characters in his latest film.
"The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D" opened Friday around the country. It's rated PG.
Taylor Lautner, 13, who plays Sharkboy, was born in Grand Rapids and grew up in nearby Hudsonville until two years ago. His co-star, 12-year-old Taylor Dooley, spent the first five years of her life in greater Detroit and plays Lavagirl.
Both now live in California: Lautner in Santa Clarita and Dooley in Valencia, about six miles away.
"Shark Boy" was shot in three months at the end of last year at Rodriguez's studio in Austin, Texas. He developed the script with his then-7-year-old son, Racer, who dreamed up the fantasy about children who save an alternate world.
"He's awesome all the way around," Dooley said Friday during a telephone interview from her home. "He's an awesome director, he's an awesome dad and he's just, like, an awesome guy. He's very humble and extremely nice and sweet."
Dooley was born in Grosse Pointe and lived in Roseville and Macomb County's Chesterfield Township before moving to the Phoenix area because of her younger brother's health problems. She and her family later moved to Valencia, where she started doing commercials.
She said they often return to southeastern Michigan to visit their many relatives who still live there.
This is the first movie for both Dooley and Lautner, who has appeared in some TV shows. If his on-screen martial arts skills appear convincing, it's because he holds a black belt in karate and has trained since age 6.
"Right from the start, he was serious and he worked hard," said Tom Fabiano, owner of Fabiano's Karate School in Holland and the boy's principal instructor. "I believe that karate helped give him confidence and self-esteem."
He took part in local karate tournaments and then quickly started competing nationally. At age 7, he met and started training with Mike Chat, a seven-time world champion who played the Blue Power Ranger on television's "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."
"I met him in my first national karate tournament in Louisville, Ky., and he invited me to go to an extreme martial arts camp at UCLA," Lautner told The Grand Rapids Press for a Friday story.
He trained with Chat for a year and continued to compete in various karate tournaments, earning three junior world championships. During that time, Chat also got Lautner an audition for a Burger King commercial in Los Angeles.
"I liked it so much that he set me up with an agent," Lautner said.
By age 10, he was flying back and forth from Michigan to California for auditions.
"We came out here for a month and then six months, and then we moved out here two years ago," said Lautner, who still has relatives in Grand Rapids, Holland, Traverse City and Manistee.
He was in Canada on Friday filming his next movie, "Cheaper By the Dozen 2," with Steve Martin and Hilary Duff.
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On the Net:
Movie Web site: http://www.sharkboylavagirl.com/
Taylor Lautner's Web site: http://www.taylorlautner.com/
Taylor Dooley's Web site: http://www.taylordooley.com/
Tip leads police to fireworks stockpile
GRADUATING WITH HONOR: Last lesson is one of love for Howell students
June 10, 2005, 6:31 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- "Spy Kids" director Robert Rodriguez cast a couple of young and appealing actors with Michigan roots to play the title characters in his latest film.
"The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3D" opened Friday around the country. It's rated PG.
Taylor Lautner, 13, who plays Sharkboy, was born in Grand Rapids and grew up in nearby Hudsonville until two years ago. His co-star, 12-year-old Taylor Dooley, spent the first five years of her life in greater Detroit and plays Lavagirl.
Both now live in California: Lautner in Santa Clarita and Dooley in Valencia, about six miles away.
"Shark Boy" was shot in three months at the end of last year at Rodriguez's studio in Austin, Texas. He developed the script with his then-7-year-old son, Racer, who dreamed up the fantasy about children who save an alternate world.
"He's awesome all the way around," Dooley said Friday during a telephone interview from her home. "He's an awesome director, he's an awesome dad and he's just, like, an awesome guy. He's very humble and extremely nice and sweet."
Dooley was born in Grosse Pointe and lived in Roseville and Macomb County's Chesterfield Township before moving to the Phoenix area because of her younger brother's health problems. She and her family later moved to Valencia, where she started doing commercials.
She said they often return to southeastern Michigan to visit their many relatives who still live there.
This is the first movie for both Dooley and Lautner, who has appeared in some TV shows. If his on-screen martial arts skills appear convincing, it's because he holds a black belt in karate and has trained since age 6.
"Right from the start, he was serious and he worked hard," said Tom Fabiano, owner of Fabiano's Karate School in Holland and the boy's principal instructor. "I believe that karate helped give him confidence and self-esteem."
He took part in local karate tournaments and then quickly started competing nationally. At age 7, he met and started training with Mike Chat, a seven-time world champion who played the Blue Power Ranger on television's "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."
"I met him in my first national karate tournament in Louisville, Ky., and he invited me to go to an extreme martial arts camp at UCLA," Lautner told The Grand Rapids Press for a Friday story.
He trained with Chat for a year and continued to compete in various karate tournaments, earning three junior world championships. During that time, Chat also got Lautner an audition for a Burger King commercial in Los Angeles.
"I liked it so much that he set me up with an agent," Lautner said.
By age 10, he was flying back and forth from Michigan to California for auditions.
"We came out here for a month and then six months, and then we moved out here two years ago," said Lautner, who still has relatives in Grand Rapids, Holland, Traverse City and Manistee.
He was in Canada on Friday filming his next movie, "Cheaper By the Dozen 2," with Steve Martin and Hilary Duff.
------
On the Net:
Movie Web site: http://www.sharkboylavagirl.com/
Taylor Lautner's Web site: http://www.taylorlautner.com/
Taylor Dooley's Web site: http://www.taylordooley.com/
Tip leads police to fireworks stockpile
GRADUATING WITH HONOR: Last lesson is one of love for Howell students
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