>who is anyone of us to say Jaden didn't earn that role on his own merit?
I'll say it. I do not believe for a minute that Jaden would have landed that role in open audition/competition. For one thing, as a black child actor his casting is inconsistent with the narrative we are given. There are virtually no black characters in this film. His "mother" is white and his "father" is absent. There is no obvious reason why Helen Benson's "son" would be African American.
Except when the best kid for the part is Black. Accordingly, based on the story line, (which I assume was inserted to address any incongruency) you can also see why there was no obvious or imperative reason for the character to be cast caucasian. The father who was deceased was Black., therefore no incongruency. Changes like this occur all the time. I've auditioned for roles, where an irrelevant backstory involved romance. When all was said and done, I turned out to be the best actor for the job, so producers faced the decision, do they go with me, and keep the backstory, potentially risking a backlash for an interacial romance... or do they go with a lesser performer and keep the backstory. What were their priorities? They decided the best performers for the job, were more important than an irrelevant backstory, so I, along with the white guy, both got the job, and "they went another way" with the backstory. Jaden's casting could very well have been a similar situation. So now we've got a caucasian mom and a black child. How do you explain Jennifer Connelly having a Black child? Simple, ...he is her stepson, ...a child she acquired from having married her now deceased husband. Incongruency wrapped up.
Granting someone special access in the industry via a family relationship is still a form of nepotism. No 5 or 7 year old kid lands an acting gig because he has "knowledge of the business."
I'm not talking about granting special access, I'm talking about having it by virtue of proximity to it. Kinda similar to when they were shooting an Ivory snow ad and didn't have a baby, and the casting director remembered her model friend Teri Shields who just had a baby, so in a desperate panic pleaded with her to bring in her baby Brooke. Brooke's proximity to the industry gave her access. Access, is not always a case of who
you know, ...more often, it's who knows
you.If Jaden Smith wanted to get into movies, he stands a better chance than Joey Smith whose parents would then have to research the industry to find out what doors to even knock on first. His parents already know that. They already know the ins and outs of film making... the day in, day out... down & dirty of what's required ON THE JOB, and can take him through it better than any stage mom or dad who's never been there. Just as if Arnold Schwarzenegger's kid was running for governor of his kindergarten class, ...he'd probably have a better organized campaign than any of his fellow 5 yr olds. And he'd probably be astute enough to promise extra playtime, ...and chocolate milk, ice cream & cake along with cookies, just before nap time.
It's the same reason why in my 11
th grade marketing class, Joey L, blew everyone out of the water and got the highest grade on an assignment. His family had a chain of grocery stores and he'd been immersed in, and learning the business since he could crawl, as opposed to the rest of us who first encountered the subject at the start of that school semester.
And you're wrong about the assertion that no 5 or 7 yr. old kids land acting gigs because they have knowledge of the business. You'd be surprised. There are plenty of cute faces in Hollywood, ...but if you ask a producer, director, or cast if they had to choose between 2 cute faces, one without knowledge or exprience, and the other Dakota Fanning, ...they're gonna go with Dakota everytime. If you've never worked on a film set with a child, you have no basis to judge. Their knowing what the heck is going on around them is extremely important to EVERYONE concerned. No one has time to babysit or teach someone as they go. You need a kid whose gonna understand the difference between a wide angle and a 2 shot, and be able to tailor their performance accordingly. When working with minors, there's no wiggle room. Everyone needs to be on point. You need to bring it home on the first two takes, ...especially when working with minors and the time constraints that brings.
Granted their knowledge is not gonna be as specialized or as technical as an adult's with yrs of experience, but you'd be surprised how much these kids know, ...especially if they start early enough, ...and alot of them do, ...some while literally in diapers. The youngest kid I ever met on a film set was literally less than 1 day old. I met him again when he was 6. That little guy was a PRO. Of course I didn't recognize him, ...his Mom and I recognized each other.
Enrique Iglesias is a better example of someone who made his own way. Due, in part, to tension between him and his father, Enrique "did not want his famous surname to help advance his career." In fact, when he was starting he didn't want his father to know anything about his nascent recording career. With borrowed money, Enrique "recorded a demo tape which consisted of one Spanish song and two English songs. Approaching his father's former publicist Fernan Martinez, the two shopped the demo tape under the stage name 'Enrique Martinez' with the backstory of being an unknown from Guatemala. Iglesias was signed by a then small indie record label called Fonovisa. Dropping out of college he went to Toronto, Ontario for six months to record his first album." That's the story anyway.
So you know what I'm talking about when I refer to the access and information their pedigrees provide. If Julio had not been his father, ...and he was just some kid starting from scratch, he wouldn't have known to get a publicist, or where to go to find one. As well too, the offspring of celebrities know they often have a more difficult road ahead of them, by virtue of their pedigree. Infact, from what I heard Jaden had to go through so many auditions the Smiths began to feel they were being harder on him because of who his parents were and were almost ready to pull the plug on the whole thing.
