How do you portray a 10 year old boy?

Question

Ok, so this local acting troup I'm in is putting on a production of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and I was cast as Edmund. Being a 16 year old girl, I'm finding this rather difficult, so I'm wondering if anyone out there has any tips for this (other then using ace bandage to bind my chest down). Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

LOL, love the answer above! Mud and bugs, indeed.

Also remember that playing Edmund's desires and fears is more critical than making him look like a 10 year old boy. The audience is going to know you're a girl playing a boy, so don't fret over the illusion or your appearance.

Instead, concentrate on getting his reactions right, on showing clear relationships with the other characters. If you can do that, the audience will be more willing to suspend disbelief and stop caring what you look like because you will "feel" like Edmund. Does that distinction make sense?

He is, at heart, a traitor--someone so selfish and shortsighted that he walks right into danger...then sells out his brother and sisters for his own personal gain.

He also gets the best character arc in the whole story: letting Aslan win him over and becoming one of the good guys again. This is an important growing-up moment for Edmund. Perhaps showing his immaturity at the play's beginning and his transition to a young man at the play's end will be more useful to you than concentrating on your appearance, which you really have so little control over anyway.

OK...that said, here are a few ideas about the physicality:
-Find a fidgety bit of business for him to do early on: foot tapping, playing with a favorite toy (slingshot?), snacking (the story tells us he likes sweets?), etc. Perhaps his body language gets calmer and steadier as he matures.
-Short hair and no blush or lipstick when you do your hair and stage makeup will go a long way towards minimizing your femininity
-Think about how his voice changes, too--he strikes me as a bit of a whiner at the start.
-Spend some time watching how boys this age WALK and SIT. If you can get those two movements down, you'll have won half the battle.

Good luck to you! Playing someone of the opposite gender can be really freeing and fun!

Answer 2

Wow. You got a tough one. But ten year old boys are usually energetic. Their greatest desire is to be a MAN. They like to gross people out. They like much different things than girls. they like fishing, bugs, worms, tormenting girls,playing in mud. They hate Baths, ruffles, dancing, singing, and chores.

Answer 3

I dunno.. Let me ask my priest!!