‘I could be one of those kids’ on TV. And now this Laguna 9-year-old is
At age 5, Corwin Allard didn’t want to just watch the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
“I remember thinking, ‘I could be one of those kids having a lot of fun,’ ” said Corwin, now a 9-year-old student at Laguna Beach’s Top of the World Elementary School, explaining that what he could only see from the other side of a screen looked “like a lot of fun, acting super silly.”
Soon he wouldn’t be just an observer.
Four years ago, Corwin and his parents, Chris and Diane, were having dinner at a friend’s house in Laguna when they met Kip Konwiser, a Los Angeles film producer.
“A light bulb went on in our heads,” Diane said. She and her husband told Konwiser that Corwin was interested in acting, and before long, Corwin broke into a dance and told some jokes.
The impromptu audition led Konwiser to refer the Allards to a couple of talent managers, including Valerie McCaffrey, who now works with Corwin.
McCaffrey said she had cast Michael Oliver as “Junior” in the 1990 film “Problem Child” and “saw the same essence in Corwin.”
“[Corwin] had an intelligence about him, was funny and adorable at the same time, which is so marketable with kids,” McCaffrey said. “He has the whole package: the look, attitude and willingness to study.”
Four years later, Corwin is performing in two current television series: “Decker: Unclassified” on Adult Swim, a programming arm of the Cartoon Network, and “Fresh Off the Boat” on ABC. He is scheduled to appear at least once in each series.
His first acting role was for the television movie “All I Want for Christmas,” which was filmed in November 2013.
“I didn’t have any lines,” Corwin said. “I sat there and played with Legos.”
Corwin later earned a spot in a Firestone tire commercial, his “first major job,” said Diane, who added that it aired in May 2015 and has run ever since.
In the “Fresh Off the Boat” episode airing Tuesday, Corwin plays the part of Peter Gardiner, a new neighbor of the Huang family. The TV series follows Eddie Huang’s Taiwanese family as they make their way from the Chinatown of Washington, D.C., to Orlando, Fla., in the mid-1990s.
In “Decker: Unclassified,” Corwin has been cast as Young Decker Jr., the series star’s son. Co-creator Tim Heidecker plays special agent Jack Decker, who is tasked with dealing with terror threats.
Corwin spent three days each on the sets filming “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Decker: Unclassified.”
When he is on set, he will bring his homework. Diane saida teacher is on site to ensure that the child actors keep up with their academic responsibilities.
Occasionally the family stays overnight if they know Corwin will have consecutive days of filming, but most times the Allards drive from Laguna Beach to Los Angeles and back the same day.
When he is not auditioning, or memorizing lines of a script, Corwin enjoys playing baseball in the Laguna Beach Little League — he pitches and occasionally catches.
“We’re trying to keep the normalcy of a typical 9-year-old boy that rides scooters and skateboards,” Diane said. “The acting thing is something he enjoys.”
To help memorize lines, Corwin works with an acting coach and also practices with Chris and Diane.
“I try to do a couple lines at a time,” Corwin said.
Diane said the family does not know when the episode of “Decker: Unclassified” will air but that humor figures to play a part.
“A tremendous amount of what they do is improv,” Diane said of the cast. “I have not laughed as hard on a set.”
Corwin has a stash of jokes ready to tell upon request.
“What do you call a teacher who does not like to pass gas in public? A private tutor.”
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
