The Smiths From Texas Keep It All in the Family

Jake Sakson’s experience in what insiders call “the business” does not represent the norm. Many child actors audition for several years before getting even a bit part, while others, such as MacKenzie Rosman, who plays Ruthie on the WB series “7th Heaven,” landed the leading role on one of her very first auditions. The experience of the Smith family from Rockwell, Texas, falls somewhere in between.

“At first, it was just my eldest son, Chas, who was in the business,” says mother Denise Smith. “When I asked Chas’ manager, Terrance Hines, about getting them all started, he looked at me like I was crazy.” But Hines found them charming and now represents all five.

Denise Smith stays with her children--Chas, 13; Preston, 11; London, 8; Priscilla, 6; and Alexandra, 4--at the Oakwood Apartments in Toluca Lake. Her husband flies in from their home to see them on weekends.

This is the Smiths’ fourth pilot season at Oakwood, a huge residential complex that targets industry kids by providing on-site schooling, tutors and acting lessons. They love living there and have made many friends who provide mutual support.

Oakwood does have its detractors, however. Agent Judy Savage dislikes the close quarters; she says it can set off panic in parents when they see other children go off to an audition for which their child wasn’t called.

Denise Smith tries to steer clear of such situations, doing what her children’s manager recommends to “stay out of the negative universe.” Her view of the acting life is relentlessly positive: “Whether or not my children go on to careers in show business, the skills they are learning here will help them with whatever they choose to do.”

This pilot season, the five Smith kids went on a total of 81 auditions and booked three jobs.

Out of 12 auditions, Chas booked two, appearing as Warren the genius on “Chicago Hope,” a natural for Chas--who tested at the college level in many subjects at age 8--and as a recurring character in a pilot called “Brutally Normal,” which has been picked up by WB as a midseason replacement. Priscilla and Alexandra appeared in an Orange County child abuse prevention public-service announcement.

That wasn’t enough to move the family to L.A. permanently, but it was enough to convince them to take out a year’s lease on their apartment, which they’ll use when work, or a chance at work, brings them back. “We’re not rich,” Smith says, “but we can afford to live this lifestyle without going into debt.”

She adds, “Our manager told us it usually takes three years before kids begin booking consistently, so in the back of my mind, I thought that we would do this for three years, and if we didn’t get that big part we’d go home.

“But then the three years came and I thought, ‘What do I want to teach my children: to give up or to keep pursuing their dreams no matter what?’ I want my children to pursue their dreams.”