Photograph by Pete Newcomb
How excited is Jordan Rackley right now? "Crazy excited!" Plucked from a swarm of preteen girls at an open casting call for a part in this month's Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, the 13- year-old South County eighth-grader is getting her first taste of Hollywood—and she's hooked. "When I started acting, I was just like, 'Let's see what happens,'" says the six-year veteran of local musical theater. "Then this movie came along, and I was like, 'Acting is the thing!'"
Rackley was one of four first-time actresses to land small roles as classmates of the titular heroine (played by Little Miss Sunshine herself, Abigail Breslin) last summer, and months after wrapping her two-day shoot, she's still buzzing. "Being on set was probably one of my best memories, because we would all have lunch together," she says. "It would be me and the other girls that made it and Abigail."
And how's this for a welcome to the dollhouse: Not only did she get to hang out with the stars of the movie ("I thought the four of us with one line would be off to the side, like extras," she says), but she got her own trailer—sort of. "I shared with one of the other girls, but it was really neat."
Rackley says she's going to keep her "eyes peeled" for future parts, but for now, she's just excited to go to L.A. for the premiere, decked out in a dress made for her by local designer Afton Johnson. "I'm going to be so nervous, because I don't even know when my part comes into the movie," she says. "I'm going to be like, 'Where is it? Where is it?' I won't be able to sit still!"
