Now that Bird Red has a taste of professional acting under his belt as an extra, he wants to move onto speaking roles.
And there's no denying this composed 14-year-old from Ignacio might just do that.
Red was an extra in the film The Ridiculous Six, starring Adam Sandler, Taylor Lautner and Rob Schneider, which is being released today on Netflix. The premiere also will be shown at Ignacio High School at 6:30 p.m. this evening. Concessions also will be sold, with the proceeds benefitting Red's travelling basketball team, the Ignacio Wildcats. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Interviewed this week at his home in Ignacio during a rare afternoon off from both theater and basketball practice, Bird said one of the difficulties of working in film is that it's a lot different from theater.
"I can make everybody laugh in real life," he said of theater. "In film, it's more like reading lines. It's a different ball game, a different field."
Yep, like most of his peers in Ignacio, Red also is a basketball player.
He says right now, if he had to choose between the two, he would almost go with acting, but sports are a close second. Baseball actually is his favorite game.
Red's mom, Ceci Ryder, heard last spring that Native American extras were being cast for a movie being filmed in April near Las Vegas, N.M. She emailed her son's photo to some casting agents, and a member of the production company called right back, asking to have him come to Santa Fe for a costume fitting.
He worked on the set for a week in April, sitting around all day one day and not being used in any scenes.
"That was boring," he said. But the next day, he was used in two scenes.
He did get the chance to talk for a bit with the movies' stars, but the extras were informed they had to wait for the professionals to talk to them first.
"That was so hard not to go up and talk to them!" the enthusiastic youth explained. "But you gotta be professional and do your part."
He did enjoy talking with all of them, however.
"Rob Schneider said, 'How old are you? You're taller than I am!'" Red remembered with a chuckle. He also liked interacting with the other extras, and got to be friends with three kids from Taos.
New Mexico is known as "Hollywood for Natives" in the film industry, he explained. Now that he has a credit and his photo in front of agents, he's hoping to be in other films. He tried out last weekend for I Am That, another Native American movie. He also might try to attend some acting camps in Albuquerque this summer to get some more experience.
On the set, young extras have to to strictly adhere to child labor laws. They could work up to eight hours a day, and they also had to attend school for three hours a day. Their parents also have to be close by at all times. Red said he got in trouble once when he another extra wandered off to go play down by a river.
"They are very protective of their underage actors," his mother said.
But overall, she said she thinks the filming was a good experience for her son.
"I had a good time," Ceci Ryder said. He got to meet other kids and enjoyed getting paid for his work.
Red said his dad, Timothy Ryder, also is proud of him.
Ceci Ryder said the family, including Red's older brother and two sisters, enjoy spending time and travelling together. Timothy Ryder is a Southern Ute drummer and softball player, so they hit the road often for events and tournaments, as well as their daughters' basketball games.
"I'm just the mom," she said with a laugh. "We're all together, all the time!"
Red also joins his father in drumming and is proud of his Ute heritage, his mother explained. He wears the traditional long hair of his tribe.
Although he's now a professional actor, Red is still excited about appearing in his school play next week, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
He also works hard at his eighth-grade classes at Ignacio Middle School and in his ACT test preparation class.
And if acting doesn't pan out, there's always basketball or baseball.
