Rising Stars Gracen & Paris Newton On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry
The waiting process after you audition can be brutal if you really want the role! But what I have learned is sometimes when you think you didn’t book it because you don’t hear back doesn’t actually mean you didn’t book it! There was a role I went for that was a series regular role, and it was two months later when I randomly heard I booked it! So waiting isn’t always a bad thing!
As a part of my series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Gracen & Paris Newton.
Gracen and Paris Newton are sibling child actors who have stolen our hearts on some of our favorite TV shows! You probably recognize Paris Newton as the face of Franny Gallagher in the hit Showtime series SHAMELESS. Gracen Newton plays the lead role of Rolly on one of Disneys most popular shows Puppy Dog Pals. You also make recognize him from playing Grace’s son on Will & Gracen or Montana opposite Michael Douglas on Netflix’s The Kominsky Method!
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Gracen: Well I am 9 years old now and Paris is 6 and we have both grown up in front of the Hollywood cameras! Paris grew up on the show Shameless playing Franny Gallagher and I have grown up on multiple shows but I have been playing Rolly on Puppy Dog Pals the longest!
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
Gracen: When I was five I got to be a helper in a big show and I loved it! That told me at a very young age that I loved being on a stage! My mom helped me get an agent after that and I started with commercials and worked my way up! I have now got to work with some of the biggest names in Hollywood- Michael Douglas on “The Kominsky Method,” I got to play Debra Messing’s son in “Will & Grace,” and I got to work with Fred Savage and Ricky Gervais on “Child Support.”
Paris: I started in acting because I saw how much fun my big brother was having doing it, so I wanted to try it! When I was 3, I used to try to sneak into Gracen’s auditions because I wanted to audition so bad! Finally, my mom let me try and my 2nd audition was for Shameless and I booked it!
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your entertainment career?
Gracen: I think one cool story is when I worked with Michael Douglas, I had to throw a can of Pringles at his head! They had a stunt guy there and a prop of the Pringles, but I told Michael my idea about me throwing it at his hat instead of his head and he actually trusted me and let me do it! We didn’t end up having to use any of the stunt stuff, he actually trusted me! Luckily, I didn’t mess up on my aim and the scene was a success!
Paris: I think an interesting story about me working on Shameless, is how I really bonded with the cast like family on and off screen. They would all play with me in between takes and we had so much fun! Like, my Uncle Mickey on the show but in real life he is my Uncle Noel- in between takes he would let me turn him into a frog! He would hop around like a frog until I turned him back, it was so funny! He is so fun!
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Gracen: right now I am working on Season 5 of Puppy Dog Pals for Disney and I just wrapped another TV show for Apple TV but I can’t share details on that just yet! Also, I just booked a sequel of movies! I can’t share the name of the project yet, but I’m so excited to get started!
Paris: I just wrapped season 11 of Shameless playing the role of Franny Gallagher! Now that that show is over, I am auditioning for new roles!
Most young people your age don’t have to balance work and school. Can you tell us how you manage to balance your schoolwork, auditions, and time on set?
Gracen: Well, when we are on set we do our school on set with set teachers. When we aren’t on set we homeschool through a charter school!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Gracen: I am grateful for my voiceover agent Abbie at Osbrink! I was new with her when I got the audition for Puppy Dog Pals and she believed in me enough to put me out for this huge role when I was only 7 years old and somehow I was lucky enough to book it!
Paris: I am thankful for our manager Kim Matuka! When we met her she said she would change our world and she did! She is our biggest cheerleader always cheering us on!
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s jump to the main part of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Gracen and Paris:
- Gracen- The waiting process after you audition can be brutal if you really want the role! But what I have learned is sometimes when you think you didn’t book it because you don’t hear back doesn’t actually mean you didn’t book it! There was a role I went for that was a series regular role, and it was two months later when I randomly heard I booked it! So waiting isn’t always a bad thing!
- Paris- How much fun it would be! I thought it would be fun but I dint realize how much fun it would be! When your on a TV show, you really get a whole second family and I loved that part so much!
- Gracen- Its a lot of work! A scene that you see on TV that is 2 minutes long can take 2 hours to film! So it’s a lot of work but so much fun!
- Paris- You might want to be a morning person! At Shameless, I had 6 am call times which means up at 5:30am to be ready for my scene!
- Gracen: Acting will be your priority! You will be in your car a lot if you don’t live right in LA and most of the time when you get an audition its for the next day or sometimes even that day! So you learn to be flexible, sometimes you will do school in the car while you’re riding there or you may have to give up soccer practice to learn scripts and self tape! I would say if you love it, then do it! Acting is like a sport though, so if you don’t love it and put the time and practice in, you won’t win the game. You gave to give it your all!
You are a person of enormous influence. How do you think you can use social media as a platform to be a positive influence to your fans, and for society at large?
Paris: We always try to spread kindness though our social media! Like, if we see something online about something kind someone has done, we like to share it on our page!
If you had the ability to choose to work on any TV show or film, or work alongside any co-star, or with any director, what or who would that be, and why? You never know who might see this article, especially if we tag them. :-)
Paris: I would love to work on a Jurassic Park movie! My dream is to get eaten by a dinosaur on one of those movies! Also, now I have worked on an adult show, I would like to try to work on a kids show like something on Disney like Sydney to the Max!
Gracen: I think it would be fun to work with Robert Downey Jr and I would love to be in anything Marvels! I also love working for Disney now so I would love to stay in the Disney family!
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Gracen:
https://www.instagram.com/gracennewton/
https://twitter.com/gracennewton
https://www.facebook.com/GracenNewton/
Paris:
https://www.instagram.com/parisrosenewton/
https://twitter.com/parisrosenewton
https://www.facebook.com/parisrosenewton/
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!
