Show Biz Kids
Virginia's Run
by Alexandra Heilbron
republished with
permission of HorsePower
When young Virginia
Lofton's mother dies tragically in a riding accident, her father forbids
her to ever ride again. But Virginia can't stay away from horses -
this is a girl who comes alive when she's riding. She sneaks out of
the house each night to spend time with her favourite horse, Stormy,
training him for the Memorial Day Endurance Race.
Filmed in Nova
Scotia, Virginia's Run features Lindze Letherman in the role of Virginia.
A seasoned actor, having appeared in the feature films Clockstoppers
and Bicentennial Man, the California native had never ridden before.
After her first audition, she was given a call back, which means the
producers were definitely considering her for the role and wanted
to see her again. Lindze claims she always wanted to ride, but says
because her mother had a fear of horses "I wasn't allowed until
I got the call back for this movie. My dad said he'd let me have few
riding lessons, but that was all." Lucky for Lindze, when her
dad saw how much she loved riding, he bought her a five-year-old Thoroughbred
named Spice, before she even had the role.
As it turns out,
the fact that Lindze had gone so far to win the role impressed the
producers and directors as a very 'Virginia' thing to do. "Lindze
was wildly determined to get this role. She started riding every day
because she wanted to make sure she was good enough," says executive
producer Leif Bristow.
Several of the
actors in the movie, including Lindze, underwent several weeks of
intensive training at "horse camp" when they arrived in
Nova Scotia for filming. Head wrangler Lee Phillips didn't know what
to expect. Even though many actors claim to be experienced riders,
over the years he's found that "It means they rode once on a
Saturday afternoon when they were six years old." However, he
was pleasantly surprised to find that some of the cast actually had
real riding experience. "Gabriel, who plays Virginia's father,
can ride well, but prefers not to go very far or very fast. Joanne
plays trainer Jessie Eastwood and is our best rider. I can tell she's
had a lot of experience. And then 12-year-old Lindze and 17-year-old
Kevin Zegers (who plays a rival rider also entering the race) have
been riding for six weeks and they are doing very well."
"I had to
look as if I'd been riding my whole life," says Canadian Kevin
Zegers, who stared in the Air Bud movies. "We'd play tag on horse
back and chase each other around. I fell off twice," he remembers
with a laugh. "Lee made me keep oranges under my arms so that
I would keep them by my side, instead of in the air. That helped a
lot."
Joanne Whalley
admits that, just like Lindze, she was drawn to the film because of
horses. "The horses are a big perk. I was a horsey teenager,
so to get to work on a really nice film and get to ride horses is
just heaven."
Phillips not only
had to give the actors riding lessons, but also had to train some
of the 40 horses involved in the film to perform complicated stunts.
"There are quite a few tricks: laying down, playing dead, giving
birth, kneeling, jumping. We jump a horse over a Volvo at night in
one scene."
The resulting
film is an exciting, emotion-charged creation, with breathtaking horse
photography and scenery. Shelburne, on the south coast of Nova Scotia,
was chosen because of its beauty, to stand in for New England, where
the story takes place. Producer Robert Schwartz says, "Virginia's
Run was shot in the early spring when the landscape is just coming
into bloom. This is a powerful visual metaphor for what is happening
to Virginia herself."
As she copes with
her mother's death and holds her father and sister (played by Canadian
Rachek Skarston) together emotionally after the tragic event, Virginia
helps than to come to terms with their losses and to rely on each
other.
Lindze positively
glows when she talks about the film. "Virginia's Run is all about
the horse, Stormy. That's the best part of the movie."
Director Peter
Markle considers himself lucky to have found Lindze to perform the
role of Virginia. "With actors, they either get it or they don't.
She's a force of nature as a kid, In fact, she is Virginia."
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