By Austin Kroeger
        
The movie “Shorts” premieres on August 21 starring William H. Macy, Jon Cryer and Jimmy Bennett.  The movie is a magical theme of adventure and comedy set in the suburbs of a small town where everyone works for the same company.

11 year old Toe Thompson is a boy that is troubled by bullies in school.  He tries making new friends until a rainbow colored rock falls from the sky and hits him on the head.  This changes EVERYTHING.  The rock grants wishes to anyone who holds it.

The neighborhood turns into mayhem of spaceships, crocodiles and giant boogers.  Toe joins forces with his new friends to try to save the town and keep the rock out of the hands of the adults.  This film is a real family friendly movie.

Jimmy Bennett who performs the part of Toe Thompson and I had a talk about his career and Shorts I began by asking him how he got into acting.  He said he was interested since he was six years old! He went on many auditions including Daddy Daycare.

 “Daddy Daycare was the first movie I was in and then I was hooked on a movie career”.  

When asked what he likes most about acting, Jimmy responded “I get to travel to different sets and meet lots of new people, visit cool places and play different characters.  “I’ve made a lot of friends on sets and still keep in touch with them”.

 As far as the most difficult aspects of acting Jimmy described the challenges of working long hours, six days a week with little time off.   Jimmy also explained how he has tutors on set to help him with his studies.  
I was anxious to ask Jimmy about his new film “Shorts” and Jimmy seemed equally excited to talk about it.

“Shorts” has a lot of action scenes.  Jimmy recalled one scene where he’s running through dirt mounds and the dirt blew up in his face.

 “There was dirt everywhere, in my nose, in my face and even in my braces.  It was really funny, he said.

 I asked if there were a lot of special effects in the movie and Jimmy said that the aliens and booger monsters in the movie were all special effects.  

“The best special effect was the booger monsters, they were not really there so someone had to stand there with a cardboard cut out and pretend to be a booger monster who has to throw me around, that was really cool,” he explained.

I asked Jimmy about the stunts in the movie and if he had a stunt double.

“I perform all of my own stunts in the movie except for the scene where I roll off a roof.  Most of the stunts are done while being attached to wire which lifts me in the air. I really enjoy that.  

I was curious if Jimmy and Toe have a lot in common.  “My personality is seen in Toe with my smart-aleck antics,” he answered.

As for the future, Jimmy would like to continue acting or even direct when he finishes his education.  Outside his acting career Jimmy loves to play the guitar.  He has been playing for three years and practices two hours a day.

He is also a New York Jets fan (which brought a grimace to my face since I’m a Miami Dolphins fan).  He also likes to spend down time playing video games and seeing friends. And of course, going to the movies, specifically Leonardo DiCaprio movies.

Jimmy’s advice for kids who would like to try acting is to “work hard and follow their dreams.”

I asked Jimmy about his future projects.

“I will be filming a movie in Iowa called “Field Trip” which is also a magical theme about pirates.

 I’m sure there will be many more movie projects in his future.  I told Jimmy I’m looking forward to seeing “Shorts” when it premieres as well as wishing him good luck in his future endeavors.   I look forward to seeing him on the big screen.