Here's the article -- so sorry for the misprints ! -- Talking Circle Alternative

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Date Posted: Mon, 06/ 7/04 8:25am
Author: sunny
Subject:

Here's the article -- so sorry for the misprints !
In reply to: sunny 's message, "JoHawk's daughter auditioned for "Pocahontas" !!" on Sat, 06/ 5/04 9:07pm

> Just got this link from our old friend JoHawk in
>NewZealand -- What wonderful news !! Sounds like she
>has a good chance for the role, and if so it'll be
>going to an AmNdn afterall, wouldn't that be great ?? !
>
>I'll refrain from posting at Ndnz.com, since she could
>do so if she wants to herself, but I couldn't help
>wanting to celebrate :o))
>
>Think positive thoughts, everyone ....
>
>:o))))))))))))))

HI folks,
Really, really sorry for the bad link above -- I must have just been too excited to get anything right that day [abashed smilie here :o<< ] -- Here's the full article, in case the link below still doesn't work .... but if it DOES work you can see a photo of JoHawk's daughter as well [fingers crossed :oO !]

---------------
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2004/06/05/news/features/519features.txt

(Photo courtesy of Jo Hawk-Sanders): South Dakota native Kyla Bearheels, who now lives in New Zealand, is waiting to find out whether she will play Pocahontas in the Disney film "The New World."

Lakota teen sets sights on stardom
By Jomay Steen, Rapid City Journal Staff Writer

WHANGAREI, New Zealand - A teenager with South Dakota ties is waiting for an important phone call, but it all depends on the accent.
Half a world away from Hollywood in New Zealand, Kyla Bearheels, 17, waits for word from Walt Disney studios that may launch her career in films. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe member, formerly of Aberdeen, auditioned in mid-May for the part of one of the most famous indigenous women in the history of the United States - Pocahontas. According to legend, Pocahontas, the daughter of a powerful American Indian chief, saved the life of an English adventurer, Capt. John Smith, when he was captured by members of her tribe. She later converted to Christianity, married Englishman John Rolfe and died in England at age 22.

Although Bearheels has not heard whether she has won the part, the casting director called her to audition for a role as a Power Ranger in a Saturday morning live-action cartoon. She is still waiting to hear back on that role, too.

Back in South Dakota, friends and relatives in Aberdeen, Kadoka and Wakpala are rooting for Bearheels with daily updates on the Internet. "It's exciting," Bearheels, who participates in high school and community theater, said of the auditions. "The best part was just knowing that I had been given a chance to do something I love, which is acting."

In Hollywood, movie producers hold the final vote on whether Bearheels will portray Pocahontas in the Terrence Malick-scripted drama "The New World." Set to film this July in Virginia, the casting director has scrambled to find the perfect girl to fit the movie's mold of an Indian princess. Jo Hawk-Sanders, Bearheels' mother, knows her daughter is the one for the part. "I sent the casting director my daughter's resume and some photos over the Internet," she said. "They fell in love with her."

Hawk-Sanders said the casting director had originally wanted an Indian girl who could speak with a British accent, but she feared that American girls lacked the background to master it. Hawk-Sanders and Bearheels arrived in New Zealand four years ago, when Hawk-Sanders married a man who lives there. Since then, Hawk-Sanders said, her daughter's South Dakota accent has softened. It also helped that the teenager won a major acting award in a regional Shakespeare festival.

The production company was so intrigued with Bearheels' photo and resume that it asked her to audition. On May 12, a Northland Theater camera crew filmed the high school senior in her first screen audition. Surrounded by cameras and crew members, Bearheels' stepfather, Mark Sanders, stepped in as language coach. A native of England, he helped the novice nail the British accent and pronunciation. "I knew the people who were working the camera, so it was a very relaxed atmosphere," Bearheels said. "We just went for it. Whatever happened, happened."

Without elaborate costumes, hair or makeup, Bearheels unbound her waist-length hair to step in front of the cameras for four hours to film a 15-minute tape. The tape was sent to the producers in Los Angeles, who had already heard of Bearheels and were interested. She said there hasn't been a bad part in the entire experience. The worst of it was standing around waiting for the set-up for the next shoot, "which really wasn't bad." "Working with people I knew made it a great experience. It didn't really feel stressful or intimidating," Bearheels said.

The movie company already has cast Colin Farrell as Capt. John Smith. Christopher Plummer will play Capt. Christopher Newport, an early leader of Virginia's Jamestown colony; Wes Studi is Opechancanough, Pocahontas' treacherous uncle, and August Schellenberg will portray Powhatan, chief of his people and Pocahontas' father.

"We feel she has more than a good chance of landing the role," Hawk-Sanders said. Hawk-Sanders spotted the casting call in a local Whangarei newspaper, seeking a South Pacific girl with a British accent for the movie role of Pocahontas. It angered Hawk-Sanders that an Indian woman would be portrayed by an actress of a different nationality. "It was bad enough that Disney chose an Oriental Asian girl to be the model for the Disney animated film 'Pocahontas,' but now this," she said.

Hawk-Sanders said that her daughter's tribal membership might be the biggest advantage she has over the hundreds of teenage girls auditioning for the part in New Zealand. The daughter of Lee Bearheels of Aberdeen, and granddaughter of Gladys Hawk of Wakpala, Iris and Leland Bearheels of Kadoka, and Angela Lawson and Adrian Sanders of Surrey, England, Bearheels brings a wealth of cultural diversity to the role, she said. Let's be realistic," Hawk-Sanders said. "It doesn't have to be my daughter, but Native Americans really need to be portrayed as they are and not as Hollywood thinks they should be."

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com
This Article was published online on Saturday, June 05, 2004

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