I’m pretty sure that last night was the first time in her life that Emily came home after midnight. So is the life of a movie star.

Yes, last night Emily participated in her very first film project. I’m not supposed to say much about the film while it’s still in production, so let’s just say that it stars John Cusack and Elijah Wood and is called Grand Piano.

Last month I was invited to audition for a small role in the film. Everything went very well, I hit it off with the casting director, and we began to chat. She mentioned in passing that they were having a hard time finding the kids that they would need for the film. I asked what they were looking for exactly and she said a six-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy. I casually whipped out my phone and showed her pictures of Emily and Sebastian and her face lit up with excitement. I brought them and Jan in later that afternoon to audition. Jan’s American accent may have tripped her up and Sebastian managed to sabotage his own audition by screaming and refusing to have his picture taken, but Emily and I nailed it. Fast forward to last night.

Emily was cast as “Camera Girl”. We spent the night shooting in Barcelona’s central post office (after hours) with Kerry Bishé, who was super friendly. In fact, everyone on set was super friendly. From the director and the sound technician to the camera operator and the girls in hair and makeup. Emily’s mother in the scene was played by a woman named Rachel whom I had never really met before but we have some friends in common and I was very familiar with her local celebrity status as she runs the hottest karaoke night in Barcelona, nay, in the world. Rachel, as well, was wonderful with Emily.

I am so happy that we had the pleasure to work with so many kind people because I was honestly worried about how the night would go down. Emily is usually in bed by 8:45 but last night that was her call time in hair and makeup. Having her hair done was one of her favorite parts of the experience, by the way. Not because she enjoys being fussed over, but because it was in a trailer and, as she so excitedly put it, “had never been in a real camper van before”.

Emily was very shy going into the whole situation, even threatening to back out on a couple of occasions over the past week. And seeing so many people on set only intimidated her more. But she stuck with it, held her head high, hit her mark, delivered her line, was cute and courteous, and managed to stay awake through it all. We are bursting with pride.

Since being cast in this film, two other feature films have contacted us to request that Emily audition for them. But Emily was not interested. She said that she was already working on a movie and didn’t want to do two at the same time. Fair enough. Now in retrospect, she says that she really enjoyed the experience, but might wait until she’s a little older before doing another one. I’ve got my day of shooting next week.

And here’s some bootleg footage of Emily’s scene. Look at how she hits her mark and delivers her line with cuteness and conviction. Like a pro.