Childreen actors in 'mature' movies

[Frere]

Hello everyone,

Some movies involve childreen actors in situations where they can clearly see nudity and sometimes sex. These movies are even rated ‘mature’. But how do the producers justify using childreen actors in movies that childreen are not even supposed to watch?
Is there any special law for this?
Do the childreen undergo any special education?

I have often wondered about these questions, I would appreciate your help.

I am interested to know what both the State and the Church think about this. I think I know what the Church generally teaches on these issues, but I will not mind extra (name removed by moderator)ut.

God bless everyone.

 

[DominicStephen]

I know that in the case of sexual activity the children are not actually there, the sex scene is shot with the adults, the childs part is filmed seperately, then added post production. Not sure if its the same with simple nudity.

 

[Frere]

I know that in the case of sexual activity the children are not actually there, the sex scene is shot with the adults, the childs part is filmed seperately, then added post production. Not sure if its the same with simple nudity.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[DaveBj]

I’d love to know how they handle the child actors who portray the victims in programs like Law & Order - Special Victims Unit. They’re reciting lines about things that I knew nothing at all about when I was their age :bigyikes:

 

[karebear92]

I’d love to know how they handle the child actors who portray the victims in programs like Law & Order - Special Victims Unit. They’re reciting lines about things that I knew nothing at all about when I was their age :bigyikes:

They might not either. I am sure that most of them do, but I am sure some of the lines they just memorize and are told how to act it out. For example, if someone told me how to speak Greek right now I could repeat the line and still have no clue what it meant.

 

[chevalier]

I don’t have a valuable answer here, but I’ve long been repulsed by the idea of parents being able to give consent on the part of their children to appear nude in films, especially in sexual contexts. Then again, I’m against such scenes with adults too.

 

[puzzleannie]

my personal opinion is that a child actor used in a film where his character participates in or has knowledge of the misbehavior of the adult characters is child abuse.

 

[Phemie]

I remember reading an interview by a former child actor who’d done ‘Boys of St. Vincent’, IIRC. All the kids’ scenes were filmed apart from the adults and in one scene where he had to react to oral sex he was directed to react as though he’d had a spoonful of something disgusting put in his mouth. He was never actually told what the film was about.

 

[starsmurf]

I acted a bit as a kid and these things were always dealt with very carefully. The director took time with us to explain how he wanted us to act, without giving us the reason for it. We weren’t really bothered in why we were being asked to do these things, it was just a part of getting to do this fun thing. The adult actors were very careful to sheild us from anything that might have upset or disturbed us, and one actor, who was playing a cruel and abusive relative who makes the children’s lives unbearable, would always give us candy and was great at playing games with us. The actor obviously went out of his way to be as kind as possible so that we weren’t frightened when he had to be nasty while in character.

With regards to the “law and order” question, they probably use an old trick for using child actors who are actually older than they look, using make-up, camera angles and possibly children who are small for their age. We used a girl who looked about three but was actually seven. Therefore that “ten year-old” who is describing horrific sexual abuse is probably actually thirteen.

It was a great experience and I’m really glad that I was able to do it. The laws surrounding child actors are very, very strict, the children are never put in a position where they will be upset or frightened. In fact, in a scene where I had to cry, they put some Vick’s Vapo-rub on a hanky and I wiped it just under my eyes. Instant tears!

 

[eegardner]

Two movies really stand out to me in this situation.

The Exorcist (1973), Linda Blair (age 14), that was some intense content that they could not have hidden much from her.

Pretty Baby (1978), Brooke Shields (age 13) played a child prostitute and had some nude scenes. They could not hide the fact that she was naked in front of an entire film crew as well as all over the world when the film was released. Her mother should have been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor at the very least.

 

[starsmurf]

I would imagine in the Pretty Baby case, it would be like an adult actor doing a nude scene, the set is “closed”. There are only absolutely essential crew there. Also the actor wears “modesty” clothing. these are basically thin, flesh coloured clothes that cover you up a little bit. It would be like a bikini. She wouldn’t have been showing any more to the few people on set than she would have at the beach.

And it can’t have done Brooke Shields any harm. Wasn’t she the one who famously declared that she was a virgin and proud of it? Sounds like her mother did a pretty good job.

 

[Joe_5859]

Two movies really stand out to me in this situation.

The Exorcist (1973), Linda Blair (age 14), that was some intense content that they could not have hidden much from her.

I’m pretty sure Linda Blair wrote a book on her experience. From what I heard (and please take this as anecdotal hearsay that would require authentication in order to be believed), they would actually send her mother out of the studio on an errand and then do some of the racier scenes without the mother’s knowledge.