2011年9月27日星期二

Acting classes help Parker County kids learn "the biz"

Twila Barnett returned to Weatherford in 2006 from Riverview, Fla. During her early years as a Texas resident, she operated a 24-hour day care in her Fort Worth home. Among those in her care were a few ADD children, but she didn't want them on medication while under her supervision.

"We liked them better that way," Barnett said about herself and her husband, Mark. "The day care was organized and scheduled [to meet the needs of those children]. The deeper we dug in to find out why these children got in trouble, why their grades were so low, we found out they were talented kids."

For the many children who stayed in their home during the evenings and overnight, the Barnetts became a second set of parents. And in her care, they learned to "vent their talent" which included acting because on stage, just about anything goes.

After a while the children wanted to move on to the next level, and Barnett knew she had to set a positive example.

"I educated myself," she said. "Their parents were working and didn't have time. Miss Twila and her day care, off we'd go to Dallas for auditions."

The next thing she knew two of her sons — Bug Hall and Gemini Barnett — were cast in the 1994 film The Little Rascals and the Barnett family set off for Hollywood.we supply all kinds of polished tiles, Bug, now 26,It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. played Alfalfa and Gemini played Weezer. And her children's talent created a fork in the road for Barnett.

"I loved working with the kids," she said. "I never thought I'd do anything different."

Barnett tried to keep her day care going while stationed in Los Angeles, but her children were achieving so much success the family moved to California, and Barnett found work coaching kids on set with various production companies.

Her next career move came when Joey Travolta hired her to work as an acting teacher at Entertainment Experience and then as a camp director for production courses for autistic children.

"That's when I really felt I found another niche," Barnett said.

When the family ended up in Florida in 1997 for Gemini to work on the ABC show Second Noah, Barnett continued working on set and found work with the Pop Shop, a performing arts studio for children. There she met more students with varying degrees of conflict in their young lives, and she started taking notes for a script.

Before she knew it, Barnett had created a story of children overcoming various struggles like persecution for being biracial, the loss of a parent and dealing with learning disabilities. She called up her old friend, Travolta, and asked what he thought about it. Should she turn it into a short, educational project for the kids? To her surprise, he called her back and encouraged her to turn the script into a feature film.

Shortly after the Barnetts returned to Texas.

The two youngest of her four children, Dakota and Gemini, attended Weatherford High School,Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide. but the family didn't go around boasting about their Hollywood ties.

"The kids are all humble,we supply all kinds of polished tiles," Barnett said. "I'm the one who brags. They would go to church every Sunday, and people would think they looked like the kid [from this or that]."

Then one day,The additions focus on key tag and magic cube combinations, the family hosted Gemini's high school football team for a party in their home. His friends saw photos of Gemini with Jay Leno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Spielberg, Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore and other celebrities and asked how he knew all of them. The cat came out of the bag.

When the kids told their coach about Gemini's TV and movie roles, Gemini responded "I just love life," Barnett recalls of her son's reaction. "I love everything — acting as much as football."

Gemini's has also appeared in the Wedding Singer, the 2006 film Mr. Fix it, the TV series Kelly Kelly, The Magnificent Seven and Family Law. He also appeared in the film Arizona Summer along with his brother Bug and was the puppy voice in Babe.

Bug's resume includes The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas, where he played Eddie and a role as Adam in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. He has also appeared in the TV series Providence, CSI, Strong Medicine, Charmed, Cold Case, The O.C., Justice, CSI Miami, Saving Grace, Nikita, Criminal Minds and the 2011 series 90210. He has two movies in post-production and two in pre-production.

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