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Guelph Mercury (Ontario, Canada)
June 17, 2005 Friday Final Edition
NEWS; Pg. A1
They're seeing stars; Guelph family takes part in movie being filmed in nearby Rockwood
DEIRDRE HEALEY

GUELPH:
The Daniel brothers are used to playing together, but not with more than a dozen cameras following their every move.

Alex, 10, and Austin, 9, are bit players in the upcoming film Cheaper by the Dozen 2, a sequel to the popular 2003 movie comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, and have spent the past week hanging around such big names as Steve Martin, Eugene Levy, Carmen Electra, Bonnie Hunt and Hilary Duff.

"It's fun seeing all the stars," said Austin, who for now is an aspiring actor. "I want to be famous someday."

A portion of the movie is being filmed on the beach at the Rockwood Conservation Area, just 15 minutes from the Daniel family's Guelph home.

The quiet park has been bustling with actors, camera crews, make-up artists and movie stars' trailers for the past week.

While Alex and Austin, both students at Holy Rosary Catholic school in Guelph, don't have their own trailer, the two boys just enjoy being in the middle of it all.

"I like seeing all the cameras and watching how it all works," Alex said yesterday. "It's neat to be behind the scenes."

Rockwood's lake is a substitute for Wisconsin's serene Lake Winnetka where Steve Martin's 12-sibling family, the Bakers, and Eugene Levy and Carmen Electra's picture-perfect family are spending their summer vacation.

During the film, Martin and Levy's families end up battling it out in a variety of beach competitions.

Alex, Austin and their mother Krista Daniel, who also has a small non-speaking role in the film, are one of several families also participating in the competition with the stars.

Krista was offered the role of the boys' mother when she signed them up for their parts, and she has had the chance to make small talk with the big stars during her time on the set.

"They are all really nice and polite," she said. "Steve Martin is always making jokes between scenes. He is a funny guy."

Husband and father Aldo Daniel is the only family member not getting a taste of the Hollywood scene.

"I feel left out," he jokes. "They come home and talk about all the stars and gossip."

So far, the Daniels have spent three days filming at Rockwood park, and the last shoot is expected to wrap up Monday.

While on set, they get the star treatment, complete with make-up touch ups, wardrobe fittings and catering.

"The best part is the days off school," said Alex.

There is a tutor on set to help the boys and the rest of the younger children in the film with homework assigned to them by their teachers while they are away from class.

Alex and Austin began auditioning for films last fall, and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is Austin's second role on the big screen.

The budding actor was also an extra in the upcoming film Truth, Justice and the American Way, a drama starring Ben Affleck as George Reeves, star of the popular 1950s TV series Superman.

While the nine-hour days on a movie set can be tiring, Krista said she plans to continue to let her sons test out their acting skills. "Right now they are finding it really fun. Who wouldn't want to play at the beach all day?"
- posted by sookeyjane 6/19/2005 03:48:00 PM PERMALINK 0 COMMENTS