MEDIA > ARTICLES > THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR

WORKING WITH KIDS: READY OR NOT

"I've decided to do everything that's difficult for my career," jokes Steve Carr, "working with animals, sophisticated visual effects, and now, children. I've pretty much run the gamut. An outer space children's CGI movie with talking animals is all that's left."

However, for Daddy Day Care, the most difficult assignment was finding the half dozen or so four-year-olds for the main speaking roles. "Kids are great mimics," says Davis, "the trouble is that those skills usually don't manifest themselves until kids are six or seven years old. The kids we needed had to be four years old and capable of a variety of emotions. Consequently, we saw thousands of kids."

"We looked all over the country," says Carr. "I thought it was important that they all have really different personalities and that all those personalities meshed. Fortunately, they did."

Murphy admired the kids' natural acting abilities and how well they got along. "It was wonderful to see these four-year-olds quickly grasp how a movie is made," he says. "They completely understood the process. When the camera was off they'd be playful, then once the scene started, they got right into performing."

King singles out Khamani Griffin, the boy who plays her and Murphy's son Ben, for praise. "He was a very smart boy, already able to read at four and pick up on the nuances of acting," says King. "At one point he noticed that, just before Eddie starts filming a scene, he clears his throat. And soon he was doing it too."

Murphy was impressed by Griffin's instincts. "He's definitely a natural," says Murphy.

Huston too noticed the unforced quality of the children's performances. "You could see the talent and it was spontaneous," she says. "They came up with stuff you couldn't have given them."

�"We were able to get a whole range of emotions out of Khamani without much effort," says Carr. "A lot of credit for that goes to the teacher and acting coach. He and all the kids were taught to be real. They were great listeners and very flexible on the set."

During the production the children largely set the tone for the workday. "They got their nap time, time to drink their milk, time to play Gameboy," says Zahn. "They have a union and it's strong. I wish my union were as strong. I didn't get to have a naptime."

For Garlin the work was effortless. "Working with kids is easy, it's normal," he says. "You just have to watch your language. When we first started, I told them 'If at any point you're not having fun, please come and tell me and I'fll take care of it.' But it never happened. They had a great time."

While relishing playing the villain, Huston made a special effort to ensure that the children were able to differentiate between her and her character. "One of the things about playing an evil character, especially in a movie with young children is that I didn't want to walk on the set and have them be afraid of me," she says. "So I worked extra hard off-camera to have a relationship with them. The children were tremendously responsive.I think they developed a soft spot for Miss Harridan."

BALANCING EDUCATION AND ENJOYMENT

The premise of Daddy Day Care pits the non-traditional paternal atmosphere set up by Charlie, Phil and Marvin (As Zahn puts it, "'The Daddy Day Care' philosophy is just making it through the day,") and the highly structured environment of the Chapman Academy, which is run by Miss Harridan.

In portraying Chapman Academy, Rodkey was poking fun at the rigid demands that are being placed on some children almost from the cradle. "A lot of kids are being forced earlier and earlier to develop skills and specialize themselves," he observes. "It's all geared toward getting them into the right college. As a result, four and five-year old kids are getting overscheduled -- karate class, computer class and linguistics. We thought we'd have some fun with that."

In Davis' opinion, "Chapman, like so much of our society, is terribly result- oriented. It's all about overachievement, whereas 'Daddy Day Care' is happy to let kids be kids for a while longer. They have their whole lives to be what they're supposed to be. When they're young, they should be stimulated in a fun way."

Rather than impose one's adult will on children, says Carr, the dad's pick up clues from the children's behavior. "The message is that if you listen to your kids they're going to tell you what they want to learn about and the experience is going to be much more fulfilling than if you make assumptions as to what their education should be about."

According to King, "kids need structure, but they also need fun and physical activity, because that makes their brain stronger as well."

As Murphy sees it, "Every kid is different. Some need more structure than others." But he concedes, given the choice between Chapman Academy and his child-care facility, "my preference would be a day care center like 'Daddy Day Care',where it's loose and fun."

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Daddy Day Care was produced entirely in Los Angeles. The filmmakers replicated a large Pasadena home, including the front and backyard gardens, on a soundstage in Century City. The scenes at the Chapman Academy were filmed at a mansion in central L.A.

The most elaborate set was constructed in Verdugo Park where the "fund-raising" sequence was filmed. The production rented a string of riding ponies, allowing the kids to ride around in circles all day if they wanted -- which they did. A petting zoo was set up with llamas, goats and lambs.

One of the sequence's highlights is a performance by the hard rock group Cheap Trick, with Garlin as a featured artist. "I had the time of my life," enthuses Garlin. "And the best part was that they were playing so loud, it didn't matter that my singing voice sounded like a man gargling tabasco sauce."

Garlin is obviously exaggerating since, shortly thereafter, Cheap Trick later invited him to perform with them in front of a real paying audience during a play date at the House of Blues in Orange County.

THE KIDS HAVE THEIR SAY

KHAMANI GRIFFIN (Ben) was born on August 1, 1998 in Oakland, California and makes his movie debut in Daddy Day Care.

"It's really cool being in a movie, because everybody's gonna see you on television," Griffin notes. He admits there are some ordeals that come with the job as well. "It's not all about just having fun. One time I had to sit on the steps being mad because Eddie Murphy, who plays my daddy, was playing with the other kids instead of me. But I guess that's the hard part about acting."

MAX BURKHOLDER (Max) was born on November 11, 1997 in Los Angeles. Daddy Day Care is his first movie.

Max plays Philip's (Jeff Garlin) son but is concerned about keeping his public and private lives separate. "I'm not really his son," he says. "My real dad goes to law school. Jeff doesn't look at all like my real dad."

ARTHUR YOUNG (Nicky) was born on December 21, 1995. Daddy Day Care is his first movie and his professional acting debut.

The experience of acting in the movie has helped him grow to understand what it means to be a movie star. "That means you've been good in movies. You did good on things, like shows and stuff. And it's fun because your moms and dads watch you in the movie and they get surprised."

ELLE FANNING (Jamie) made her movie debut in I Am Sam, at the age of two years-ten months, playing the title character's daughter, Lucy, at the same age. Born on May 24, 1998 in Conyers, Georgia, she is the sister of actress Dakota Fanning who was nominated by the Screen Actors Guild for her supporting role in I Am Sam.

In discussing her film career, Fanning modestly relates, "My first time was when I worked with my sister in I Am Sam. So, I think I did ... one movie and this is my, like, you know, two movies. I love being an actress and I just looove working with Eddie Murphy. He's sooo funny."

CESAR FLORES (Sean) was born on August 23, 1996 in Ontario, California. He previously had a role in Larry Clark's 2001 feature The Cutting Horse.

Every actor has a highlight moment in his performance and for Flores there was one scene in particular that stands out. "I liked the part where I had to swing on the swings and say my lines hanging on the bars." However, the most memorable moment in the production for Flores came in watching the work of one of his co-stars. "I saw Max's poo-poo in his pants. That was really funny."

HAILEY JOHNSON (Becka) was born on December 12, 1997 and lives in Winnetka, California. She says that working on Daddy Day Care provided new insights about taking life too seriously. "It's so fun. It's great. I really like being in the movie and stuff. And I really like doing my job. It's not hard at all for me. It's fun. And that's what the movie is all about, fun!"

FELIX ACHILLE (Dylan) was born on January 29, 1998 in Los Angeles. Achille describes a typical day on the set of Daddy Day Care: "Well, we just sat around. That's what we first do. Then in the next scene I hold onto my mom and I start screaming, 'I don't want to go.' And then she brings me up the stairs and I grab on the pole and I keep grabbing and then, I think she pulls me off. And then I grab onto my mom's finger and then he (Phil Garlin) says 'Let go of Mommy. Let go of Mommy.' And then she leaves."

SHANE BAUMEL (Crispin) was born on February 12, 1997 in Long Beach, California.

Baumel enjoyed a special relationship with the main star during the filming of Daddy Day Care. "I liked when I kicked him and I liked when I threw that paper at Eddie Murphy because it was so funny and everybody cracked up. He said, 'You come back here! What's your name? Please come back here.' And it was so funny."

JIMMY BENNETT ("The Flash"/ Tony) was born on February 9, 1996 and lives in Seal Beach, California.

He says working with Eddie Murphy is "fun because he gets to talk to us and stuff and we get to talk back to him. We get to tell him stuff like who's his favorite team. Well, he doesn't watch much baseball, so he's not like a baseball fan or anything. So, that's all."

Back Forward Home