Child actress to be honored

Charlene Geisler is literally reaching for the stars.

The 11-year-old is already a working actress, and her Plan B is to study astrophysics and become the first woman to land on the moon.

“I’m fascinated with the stars,” she said.

On March 14, she will receive her fourth Child Actor Recognition Event Award, which recognizes kids’ professional work in the arts, as well as community service and academic success.

The event will take place at the Globe Theater at the Universal Studios in Hollywood, where about 150 Hollywood kids will be honored, said Annette Geisler, Charlene’s mother.

Echoing Hollywood actors, Charlene said receiving a fourth award is just as exciting as getting the first.

“It’s always fun for me,” she said.

Recently, the Costa Mesa resident was cast as a German child prodigy in “Bobby Fischer Live,” a movie about the controversial life of the late world champion chess player. Charlene, who’s half German, speaks the language and was happy to use it on camera.

Charlene, who is home-schooled, just finished filming another movie, “Thrillseekers: The Indosheen,” a sci-fi thriller coming out this year. In the movie, Charlene plays Emily, a mediator between the forces of good and evil.

She also works in theater as a three-year member of the conservatory at South Coast Repertory. Charlene was cast in “A Christmas Carol,” which played at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts for four months to mark its 30th anniversary.

Charlene hopes to become a method actor, one who studies the lives of characters they hope to inhabit on stage and screen.

On Friday, Charlene will begin performing in another play, “Wherever the Twain Shall Meet,” at the Gallery Theatre in Anaheim.