By John Rogers
Associated Press
Saturday, June 16, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- From the street, it may look like just another sprawling Los Angeles apartment complex, but to a kid with dreams of stardom, it's the Emerald City at the end of the Yellow Brick Road.
Oakwood Toluca Hills is the place where aspiring child stars arrive by the hundreds every year to take up residence as they pursue fame.
"Everyone in the business, everyone who knows about acting, knows about it," said teen star Devon Werkheiser, who arrived with his mother four years ago with one small film role to his credit.
He left for better digs after landing the starring role in one of the most popular teen shows on television, Nickelodeon's "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide."
Just one visit to the complex of 1,151 furnished residences carved into of the Hollywood Hills reveals this is no ordinary cluster of three-story, beige-and-tile apartment buildings.
Around the pools, in the clubhouses, at the barbecues, they are everywhere: curly-haired, freckle-faced, good-looking kids.
They are outgoing, friendly and look a lot like the people you see on TV. Sometimes they are. At any given time, 400 to 500 child actors live at Oakwood.
Vincent Martella arrived during TV pilot season five years ago from Florida, hoping to land a role.
"I was doing commercials in Florida, and I came out here because I wanted to do television and movies, and I knew this is where I had to be," he said over Sunday brunch at one of the complex's two clubhouses.
The facilities also double as theaters for karaoke night, classrooms for actors away from home and the setting for the complex's own Academy Awards night.
The cherubic-faced Vincent struck out at auditions that first year but came back the next year and landed a few parts. He finally grabbed the brass ring the third year, winning a co-starring role opposite Tyler James Williams as a young Chris Rock's only friend in the hit TV series "Everybody Hates Chris."
Not everyone who comes to Oakwood becomes a star, though, or even a working actor.
Vincent's father, Michael Martella, isn't sure how many years they would have kept returning if his son hadn't broken through.
"You've got to know when to cut loose, I guess," Martella said with a shrug.
As the pair talked over brunch, they were surrounded by the sounds of clattering trays and the voices of parents and children planning a busy week around rehearsals, acting lessons and auditions.
A table nearby was filled with fliers advertising acting coaches, music teachers, commercial photographers and others.
"Be careful," Vincent's father warned a mother whose son would be busy rehearsing a play at a nearby theater during the coming week.
"They can disappear into that," he said, noting that a long-running play can leave an actor with little time to pursue film or TV work.
And time is of the essence in Hollywood, where pilot season (January-April) passes quickly and the cost of a studio apartment at Oakwood runs a little more than $2,100 a month.
"If you're not financially solid, I don't think you can stay here," said Hope Pease, whose 12-year-old son, Gary, has appeared on "Hannah Montana" and other shows.
Still, they keep coming from all over the country.
Cars parked around the complex display license plates from Utah, Texas, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, among other places.
"I'm originally from Covington, Indiana, which is a small little town, so it was a big jump, you know, coming out here to L.A., to the big city and everything," said Hayley Holmes, a hazel-eyed, honey-haired teenager who has appeared in music videos, TV shows and commercials and had a recurring role on the series "Trapped in TV Guide" since arriving nearly 18 months ago.
"I've been very fortunate in the short time I've been out here to be able to accomplish so many different things," she said, adding that acting has been a dream "ever since I was a little girl."
But it's a dream not many will achieve, says Paul Petersen, founder of the child-actor advocacy group A Minor Consideration and himself a child star of the 1950s and '60s.
"A fairly small percentage will even get a theatrical agent," said Petersen, who was precocious son Jeff Stone on TV's long-running "The Donna Reed Show."
"The common thread of those who succeed is a level of talent that is extraordinary."
But, he added with a rueful chuckle, that doesn't mean any of them will stop coming to Hollywood and, in turn, to Oakwood, which has capitalized on its niche and helps the children meet legitimate casting directors and get valuable advice on issues such as finding honest agents.
"When they recognized the true nature of their client base, kids coming out for a chance at the gold ring, they stepped up to the plate," Peterson said of the complex's managers.
So at the end of the day, after grueling, often disappointing auditions; $100-an-hour acting lessons; and expensive photo shoots, young actors can live like stars, enjoying volleyball, tennis, swimming, parties and other activities.
And if they want, they can gaze at the walls of Oakwood's offices for inspiration, where head shots of former residents including Hilary Duff and Jennifer Love Hewitt hang.
Mitchel Musso of "Hannah Montana," Frankie Muniz, Kirsten Dunst and, going back a few years, actor-director Fred Savage, whose breakout hit was the late 1980s and early 1990s show "The Wonder Years," also stayed there.
But there are plenty more who don't score hits.
As he prepared to pack up and return to Florida, Michael Coates expressed disappointment that though his 15-year-old daughter, Amber Rose, had landed several auditions, she didn't come away with a part.
"Still, she's gotten a taste of just how difficult this business may be to break into, and that's good," Coates said, adding that they may be back next year.
So may Courtney Green, who also failed to land a part, although at age 6 she's got some time.
Meantime, Courtney, who bears a striking resemblance to a young Shirley Temple, has already learned the industry lingo.
"I went on auditions, but I didn't book anything," she said.
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