Santa Clarita City Councilman Cameron Smyth is well-known around Santa Clarita. Thirty miles out in Los Angeles, his children are also making a name for themselves.
Rowan, 12, and Kenley Smyth, 8, have both starred in major Hollywood productions.
Rowan has acted for six years, while Kenley began her career when she was a baby.
“It’s interesting,” Rowan said. “Because it’s like having two lives — you have your acting life, and your normal life. In the morning, when I’m at school, I feel like I’m not any different than anyone else. But at my age and in school there’s not that many people acting, so it’s interesting.
“It’s kind of like you’re a superhero,” he said. “You have a whole different side to you.”
Rowan has a supporting role in the film, “A Happening of Monumental Proportions,” alongside actors such as Allison Janney, Jennifer Garner, Bradley Whitford, Common and Katie Holmes.
The film opened Sept. 21 and was directed by Judy Greer.
This summer, Rowan also worked on projects including a horror film opposite MMA fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, as well as the Hulu series, “Futureman,” shot in Santa Clarita.
Meanwhile, Kenley has starred in various television shows such as “American Horror Story,” and “Sharp Objects.”
She also has a supporting role in the film, “Destroyer,” coming out in December. In the film, she worked with Nicole Kidman.
Kenley says she doesn’t get starstruck, though — she sometimes doesn’t realize how big stars are until her parents tell her, she said.
“What I like about acting the most, actually, is you can meet new friends at the studio and it helps you express yourself,” she said.
Cameron Smyth said raising kids in the acting business can be a commitment, but he and his wife Lena are supportive of the kids’ careers.
“Our kids go on multiple auditions a week,” he said. “We’ve really let the kids drive this, though. They understand they’re not going to book every job, and there’s so many factors that go into booking a role, especially when you’re a kid.”
“It’s not an easy business to do,” Lena Smyth said. “But they’ve persevered and worked with some really big people, and they’ve had some really nice experiences.”
“If they want to do other things as they grow older, we’ll leave it up to them,” Cameron said. “But our kids, they’re not major characters on a series or anything, so they’re still able to pursue other things. And we want them to have a balance.”
Rowan agreed that he enjoyed having a split between his acting jobs and his regular life.
“Acting would be the superhero side of me,” he said. “It’s my job. It’s ‘my hobby,’ but you get paid for it. But I like being as equal to everyone else as they are equal to me, but I still have a different thing about me even though I’m not any… cooler or better than anyone else.”
