Andrea Elson (Teen Magazine, January 1984)

[TJ]

Full content for this article includes portrait and illustration.

Source: Teen Magazine, Jan 1984 v28 p40(2).

Title: Teens on the tube. (Kim Fields, Lauri Hendler, Andrea Elson)

Full Text COPYRIGHT 1984 EMAP-USA

Teens On The Tube

TUNE IN FOR A BEHIND-THE-SCREENS LOOK AT SOME OF TV'S BRIGHTEST YOUNG STARS

Andrea Elson, 14

A favorite pastime: Riding horses

Ambition: To play a challenging role that would require a lot of research

A role model: Meryl Streep

Someone she'd like to co-star with: Rick Springfield

Last year at this time, Andrea Elson was attending junior high school in a small town in New York, practicing her piano and hanging out with her friends. But because of an intense desire to be an actress, she was also trekking around New York City with her mother, going to "tons and tons' of auditions. They scoured the city for a year but, except for a couple of regional commercials, nothing big seemed to be coming her way.

Nothing, that is, until casting directors for the new series, "Whiz Kids,' came to New York to audition young actresses, after exhausting their lists of Los Angeles-based hopefuls. Andrea was there, determined as ever, with the hundreds of other teens who were hoping this would be their big break.

Call it chemistry, a winning combination or a major stroke of luck (Andrea's not sure which), but the petite 14-year-old New Yorker landed the role of quick-thinking Alice Tyler on the new adventure series about teens who use a massive computer system to solve the community's crimes.

So now Andrea and her mother are bi-coastal, living in Los Angeles for the two-week filming sessions, then jetting back to New York to be with the rest of the family during hiatus.

As you might expect, Andrea's reaction to her new, cosmopolitan lifestyle is one of stunned disbelief. "I keep asking my mom to pinch me,' she says, pinching herself to double-check. "I'm still not sure whether it's a dream or not.'

Hard work is another reality that's there to remind her, though. Her days are packed with acting responsibilities like memorizing lines, rehearsing those same lines again and again, and finishing the required three hours of school work with her studio tutor (often in the midst of lights, camera and lots of action).

The reality isn't too hard to take though, reports Andrea. "It's not so hard memorizing lines since it's just dialogue going back and forth, and there are always cues. And my teachers, both here and back home, are a great help as far as school goes,' claims the TV newcomer. "My assignments are sent here from my
school in New York, so I have the same textbooks and everything as my friends do. I'm even a little ahead of my friends since I have a teacher practically all to myself here.'

Other parts of television life, however, are out of this bright, young star's hands. A television career is always a shaky one when your job depends on things like ratings and network executives' decisions. "I think about that,' says Andrea, "but it's not exactly like "Whiz Kids' is my whole world. I have my family, my school and my friends. So, while I hope everything works out, at the same time it's not like it's the end if it doesn't.'

Andrea may have developed this rational way of thinking after the year-long series of rejections she had to face before getting the part on the "Whiz Kids.' Learning to keep up your confidence during this difficult process, she says, is one of the keys to success if you have visions of seeing yourself on the tube.

"Of course, you should get pictures taken and find a good agent,' adds Andrea. "But then you just have to go for it!'

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