As junior Troy Guthrie and his brother made the 1,744- mile trip from Columbia to Burbank, Calif., nerves and excitement kicked in. This was no vacation, but the chance of a lifetime. For Guthrie his dream of making it in Hollywood meant moving away from all he knew.
“I was about two years old when I decided I wanted to act,” Guthrie said. “My mom always had me do musicals, and I loved it. I did TRYPS here and then got introduced to people in California. My brother went out there with me and became my legal guardian so that we could live out there together.”
Although Guthrie’s brother became his official guardian, his parents still supported Guthrie’s dreams of an actor. They funded his year in Burbank and encouraged him through all of his auditions.
“I know that I am lucky to have parents like mine,” Guthrie said. “They had the money to send me out there. A lot of parents would have taken that money and bought a condo or something, but I’m so glad they’re supportive.”
Family support doesn’t make getting roles any easier though. Guthrie auditioned for anything and everything in California. Because of his age, however, most of his auditions were for pilot episodes on Disney Channel.
“I didn’t get any work while I was [in California], but it’s about getting your name out there. I was at one audition, and they asked me to come back to read the lines again; [Zach Galifianakis] was there, and I got to meet him and shake his hand. The role went to a 30-year-old, but it was a good experience. You have to have thick skin because people will try to bring up the statistics and say you can’t do it, but it takes a long time, and I’m going to keep pushing it.”
He moved back for his junior year because of lack of work. Even though Guthrie did not receive any big roles, he remains optimistic and plans to stay involved around RBHS. He plans to try out for all of the school musicals and participates in the Children’s Theater class.
Along with being in front of an audience, Guthrie helps out behind the camera. He and fellow junior Sam Keller make films about activities around school and students who are not well known.
“In Hollywood the triple threat is writing, directing and acting,” Guthrie said. “That’s my goal. I try to act no matter what. I also write scripts. I’ve written three so far about different things. When I’m older, I want to direct.”
With such an intense drive, Guthrie will do anything to stand out. Whether it means making a fool out of himself for an audition or doing back flips on the football field for good film, Guthrie sees no reason not to give it his all.
“I was in a class, and everyone had to improvise and play an autistic kid. The kid we were playing had to freak out when someone touched him, and everyone was doing the same thing. I decided to try and stand out by flipping this huge table. I broke a phone and two flower vases.”
Even with the difficultly through classes and auditions, Guthrie plans to move back to California once he graduates high school. His love of movie making pushes him to continue to move forward with what he does best.
“Everyone has something they’re best at, that’s acting to me. [Acting] helps you figure out who you are because to be good, you have to put yourself into someone else’s skin. If you don’t know who you are or what you want to do and if you’re not confident, then you can’t be someone else. It’s what I love and who I am.”
By Maddie Davis