It takes a ‘Village’ to raise a Chestnut Hill movie actress

by ED MAHON

She may not have a marquee name like her fellow movie actors Sigourney Weaver, Academy Award winner Adrian Brody and Joaquin Phoenix, but 10-year-old Chestnut Hill resident Pascale Renate Smith also has a speaking role, just like the aforementioned household names, in Hollywood filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan’s latest blockbuster film The Village, which opened last weekend in multiplexes all over the United States.

Pascale, known by friends and family members as Calla (from the Greek kalos, which means “beautiful”), is an integral part of Chestnut Hill’s own village. The Project Learn School (Mt. Airy) 5th grader plays one of 60 residents of the fictional village of Covington, surrounded by woods inhabited by a race of mythical creatures during 1897 in rural Pennsylvania.

In the film, there’s a haunting secrecy regarding what is living in the woods. In real life, great secrecy was literally demanded of Calla and her mother Karen Rile because Shyamalan’s films are noted for their surprise endings. All actors were sworn to secrecy because in these computer-driven days, millions of people could know what the twist is at the end if just one person associated with the film leaked it out via e-mail.

“We would meet at Chaddsford, but then be bused to an undisclosed location,” said Karen, “Everything was so secretive.”

Karen and Calla had to sign a confidentiality agreement as part of the contract, and they couldn’t take pictures on the set. Even though Karen and Calla never saw any more of the script than Calla’s scenes, they were both very pleased with how the film turned out. (Ed. Note: We attempted to obtain a photo of Calla from a scene in the movie when it was released last Friday — since secrecy was no longer an issue — but the Disney Company, which produced the movie, would not provide it.)

Calla auditioned with her sister in August, after their mother saw a notice for open call auditions. Calla, who has been in numerous theater productions for the Delaware Valley Opera Company and others, said the kids waiting to audition were lined up by the thousands. Calla and her sister, Caeli, 12, a 7^th grade student at Project Learn and an exceptional violinist, went to the auditions together, and both were called back. Then they went through repeated call backs and auditions lasting over a month.

“There was a period when they didn’t call us back for a long time. And in that time, my sister cut her hair really short and got green braces,” Calla said. Caeli lost the opportunity for the role because her hair style and braces would have stood out as historically inaccurate.

Since it was a historical piece, Calla wore a 100-year-old dress, and she learned about the way of life for people in the 19th century. Calla described the final audition when M. Night Shaymalan was present. He asked her if she was nervous.  

“I said a little because I really wanted the part, and he said that was good.” 

Shaymalan and Calla talked about the origins of her unusual name, and about Shaymalan’s daughter. “I thought he was really nice, but I didn’t get to know him that well,” Calla said about the director and writer who sets all his films in or around the Philadelphia region and became a household name because of his huge worldwide hit, The Sixth Sense, with Bruce Willis..

In September Calla was told she had the part. Filming for her role began in October and lasted until November. She went on the set about three days a week over a period of six weeks. Karen and Calla wouldn’t know if they were filming until 8 p.m. the day before. On a typical day, they would arrive there, get makeup and hair done, then go to lunch, and either go to class or filming.

After Calla got the role, Karen thought she could drop her daughter off at the studio in the morning and pick her up later in the day.  But she learned that the Screen Actor Guild (SAG) requires a parent or guardian’s presence for any actor under 18. Despite the inconvenience of having to be on set every day and juggle her work around it, there were some benefits.

“They had amazing food,” said Karen about the Los Angeles caterers who were brought to the set. Since Calla had a principal role, which is higher than an extra but lower than a star, she received some nice perks, including eating with stars such as Sigourney Weaver, Adrian Brody and Joaquin Phoenix. 

And while there were many stars on the set, Calla became friends with several other children acting in the film.

“It was almost like being in camp. There were so many kids around. She made a lot of close friends,” Karen said.

You can spot Calla in the beginning of the film when a group of children describe the discovery of a dead rabbit. Calla, who has also played the violin for three years, played the violin in a scene for the film; unfortunately, the scene wound up on the cutting room floor .

Calla has other interests including roller blading, art and her two dogs: a 13-year-old large Labrador, Poppy, and the small, young Shawnee. Calla also wrote a one-act play that was performed by her Arden Theater class in the spring of this year. And even though Calla had never been a big movie watcher before, when asked if she would continue with acting, she said, “Definitely.” 

(Calla and Caeli have two other sisters — Lauren, 17, a freshman at Swarthmore College, and Madeline, 14, a 9^th grader at Philadelphia’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. Their father, Larry Smith, is a neurologist with a practice in Flourtown and Norristown. Their mom, Karen Rile, teaches creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania.)