JACKSON CENTER — Calling herself both dramatic and shy, 14-year-old Mickenna Ansell hopes landing a spot at The Event, a Disney-based forum for combining talent scouts and aspiring actors, will give her some solid experience if she opts to pursue a career on stage.Well, that and the one-in-a-million chance to co-star in a movie with Johnny Depp, she said.
The youngest daughter of Sherry and Donald Ansell of Jackson Center had “the look” that scouts were searching for, her mother said, and the teen was called back for a second day of tryouts in Cleveland, where screeners worked with nearly 200 teens on the last weekend in July.
“We ditched my niece’s bridal shower to drive two and a half hours to Cleveland, twice in two days,” said Sherry Ansell. Her older daughter, Katie Engstrom, tagged along with them. “They called us the second day and asked us to come back, because Mickenna had the look they wanted,” she said.
The prize for having been chosen to participate in The Event, she said, is traveling to Florida in March when she will audition for various parts by doing dramatic readings, some stand-up comedy, a commercial and some sitcom lines. Mickenna will work with other teens who work with the youth-based Nickelodeon channel and has the chance to be called for future roles on television shows. Sponsors of The Event will pay for her lodging at Disney World, but travel is at the family’s expense.
“We’re looking at it as a nice vacation. Even if nothing comes of it, she will have had a chance to learn something. I don’t see a downside,” said Mrs. Ansell.
She made multiple phone calls to Disney and other sponsors to make sure it was a valid offer. “I confirmed that they do have talent agents who will be there and they do have classes to work with the young actors,” she said.
Mickenna has already taken singing lessons at Lakeview High School, tap, jazz and ballet lessons privately and participates routinely in an academic decathlon that involves public speaking. She said she has loved acting since she was a little girl because “all the characters I can play are so different from me. I get to be somebody different,” she said.
“I’m not afraid to speak in public because I’m not speaking for myself. I’m playing someone else,” she said.
She has acted in two productions, she said, and played the lead in “A Walk to Remember” and “Happily Never After.” A fan of Facebook, romance novels and watching movies, the high school freshman said she is excited about a chance to audition, but doesn’t rule out a career outside of acting. “I also thought about psychiatry,” she said.
Still, her mother cautions, this isn’t anything more than an opportunity to find out if she likes acting.
“We are looking at this as a fun family vacation. If she gets a part in some show or a commercial, that is great. If she doesn’t, that’s great too. We are going so she can learn something. We’re not approaching this like ‘hey we can sell the house and quit our jobs because we’re going to be rich’, said Mrs. Ansell, who for the last 35 years has worked as a hairdresser. Mickenna’s father is a blasting supervisor at Allegheny Mining.
Requirements for participation in the program include not changing how Mickenna looks.
“No weird hairdos or dramatic changes,” she said. She is required to have specific outfits, including a black and white outfit and some semi-formal attire.
“We’ll be waiting till after homecoming season until we can buy a dress cheaper. My sister will take the photos she has to have, instead of us hiring a photographer. We aren’t going to run out and spend a fortune buying her a whole wardrobe. We do things as cheaply as we can here,” said Mrs. Ansell.
**I copied this verbatem from an email that was forwarded to me by my mom. I don 't know Mickenna personally, but she is a relative of mine and I wish her the best of luck! I am very excited for her and her story deserves a special place on my blog. Go Mickenna!
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