Casting Call
Until April 22nd, 2005, the Shues will be accepting applications and videotapes of girls interested in the starring role of Gracie.
They are also looking for a girl to play young Gracie. However, this is not a speaking role.
The Starring Role
The Shues are looking for an articulate and energetic 14-17 year-old-looking Caucasian girl with above average soccer skills and some acting experience (amateur or otherwise).
The Shues are searching for a young female player to provide "outstanding emotional range."
This is the lead speaking role of their movie.
Andrew Shue
On Thursday, March 31st, Andrew said:
It's really become kind of a family project.
The search for the girl is sort of a paramount thing.
We want everybody to be talking about it, trying to come up with that special girl.
The story is inspired by Elisabeth's life as a young female athlete.
"Gracie" is about a New Jersey girl in the late 1970s playing soccer on an all-boys team.
Much like Elisabeth, the title character is motivated by the death of her star soccer-playing brother.
Elisabeth, Andrew and John's brother, William, died in 1988 on an outing with her family, celebrating William's 27th birthday and the start of his medical residency.
Intending to swing on an old rope tied to a tree and splash into a pond, the rope broke, dropping William onto a broken tree branch instead. The branch impaled him through the gut, and he died as his siblings watched helplessly.
Elisabeth, now 41, said:
The inspiration for the film came from what it means to lose somebody you love.
In our case, it was once enough time from the devastation of losing our brother had passed.
There was a gift he gave us, which was to follow your dreams and not waste time.
Shue added, "I think growing up gives you a little more courage to take on projects and make them yours instead of waiting for the phone to ring."
A Passionate & Personal Family Project
At the time of publication, nearly 100 girls out of more than 1,000 applicants were being considered for the starring role of Gracie.
Those who have currently made the first cut include:
Gabrielle (Abby) Arrowsmith
Jillian Banks
Brittani Bartok
Rebecca Batty
Lauren Bianchi
Maggie Boyle
Lianne Bugg
Lindsay Butzer
Grace Campbell
Nora Campbell
Jennifer Caple
Allison Carroll
Marissa Cascio
Kelsey Cash
Alexa Clark
Anastasia (Tasha) Conrad
Julie Coppedge
Stefanie Crocker
Amber Cunningham
Jillian Curran
Christina Darwell
Tara Davies
Stephanie Deswert
Mallory Devens
Amy Divo
Carla Donadio
Jesi Dover
Jessica Franks
Emma Fried
Karla Gilmore
Christina Glynn
Jenson Goins
Emily Greenwell
Lauren Hagin
Rachael Handy
Amber Hanks
Abby Hauver
Kira Helmer
Shelby Howard
Brittani Howell
Kerry Inglis
Aubrianna Janis (Auna)
Ashley Johnson
Alaina Jones
Heather Key
Melanie Kinkler
Jenna Kloss
Holly Laubinger
Brooke Lee
Taylor Lefelovre
Amy Lemon
Megan Majestic
Kel Martin
Michaela McCrain
Molly McDougall
Karon McIntyre
Stephanie Mirales
Rachael Pack
Lindsey Palmer
Stephanie Palmer
Mia Parkhurst
Laura Palumbo
Megan Petersen
Lindsey Pritzlaff
Kelli Rankin
Grace Reinhalter
Megan Riley
Alexis Rodda
Natalie Roy
Laura Sadler
Ariel Schlef
Eleanor Seigler
Cody Skroski
Angela Smith
Sasha Snow
Britta Stacey
Jane Stiles
Alexis Sutton
Rebecca Swanney
Chelsea Sykes
Ryann Sypniewski
Lorna Torrez
Libby VanBeuren
Jennifer Vandenberg
Jessica Vo
Sarah Vogel
Tracy Walsh
Linnea Wilson
Taylor Wilson
Megan Wright
Nicole Yockey
Leanna Yust
Callie Anne King-Guffey
A "Shue-in" for the role is my niece Callie.
Callie lives in Portland Oregon with her folks and two sisters. Her mom is a Presbyterian minister and the executive director of Thrive Foundation for Youth. Her dad was a youth pastor, who is now studying to be a high school teacher - in between being a soccer dad.
All three of their girls are avid soccer players.
In fact, two weeks ago, Callie and her soccer team traveled to Reno, Nevada for a tournament and came home the champions.
The final game of the championship her team won 5-0.
Callie Anne King-Guffey
Callie is also an aspiring actress and a talented entrepreneur.
She has played significant roles in her school plays.
She and her sisters have a "rugged elegant" jewelry-making business called CACHE.
On June 13, Callie Anne will turn thirteen.
You can bet I will be sending a link to this story her way the minute I have published it.
About John Shue
John Shue is one of three Shue siblings who are spearheading the production of Gracie. Just like his brother, Andrew and his sister, Elisabeth, John knows soccer. While at Harvard, he was the captain of the Harvard soccer team.
Before graduating in 1981, John earned First Team All Ivy and Regional All American honors.
In 1998, after earning an MBA from Harvard Business School, John worked for global sports marketing giant, IMG, as a Vice President of Corporate and Business Development for its subsidiary TransWorld International (TWI).
In 2000, John joined Audax Group, a $1 billion private equity fund, focusing his energies on media-related, technology-driven venture capital investments.
Since 2002, John has pursued acquisition opportunities in the local television industry through an investment vehicle called Mongoose Media that he formed with a TV operating partner.
John lives in Needham, Massachusetts with his wife Jody and their three children, Madeline, Jeb and Hope.
John is working behind the scenes on the business side of the film production.
Elisabeth Shue
About Elisabeth Shue
Elisabeth Shue became passionate about soccer in sixth grade; so much so, when she could not find a girls' team she joined the local boys' soccer team. This lasted three years.
When Elisabeth's high school would not add a girls' soccer team, she switched sports.
In high school she became the captain of the gymnastics team.
Elisabeth started acting professionally when she was a student at Wellesley College.
Her beautiful baby face was shown on commercials for Hellmann's Mayonnaise and Burger King.
In the original Karate Kid movie, at the age of sixteen she played a 21 year-old.
The next year she co-starred in Call to Glory, a TV series about a military family in the early 1960s. Craig T. Nelson played the role of her dad.
At 25, director Chris Columbus cast her as a high school girl in Adventures in Babysitting.
A few of the other celebrities she has worked with include Tom Cruise in Cocktail, Michael J. Fox in two Back to the Future sequels, and Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning in Hide and Seek.
In 1995, Elisabeth teamed with Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas.
That was the year she became one of our favorite actresses.
It was also the role that landed her an Oscar nomination.
In 2000, when she was between movies, Shue earned her B.A. in Political Science from Harvard.
Today, Elisabeth, "Lisa" to her family, lives with her husband and their two children, Miles William Guggenheim (born Nov 11th, 1997) and Stella Street Guggenheim (born March 19th 2001).
For Gracie, Elisabeth plans to play either Gracie's mother or an older version of Gracie, who appears at the end of the film.
Elisabeth's husband, TV director Davis Guggenheim, is expected to direct Gracie.
Elisabeth's father-in-law, Charles Guggenheim, was a documentary filmmaker. He received eleven Oscar nominations, and won four.
About Andrew Shue
Personally, Andrew Shue is married to Jennifer Hageney. It is probably safe to say that he is a "soccer dad" to their three sons. He and his family live in New Jersey.
Athletically, Andrew, a Dartmouth graduate (also my husband, father and grandfather's alma mater), was a Regional All American soccer player in both high school and college.
He spent a winter living and playing soccer in Glasgow, Scotland.
Professionally, after graduating from Dartmouth, Shue traveled to Africa with his childhood friend Michael Sanchez and spent a year living in Zimbabwe, where they taught math to 200 African high school students and played professional soccer as the only white players in the African First Division for the Bulawayo Highlanders.
In 1991, Andrew returned to America where he began to pursue acting as a career. Following in his sister's footsteps, it did not take long to find success.
In 1992, he showed the cast of FOX TV's Melrose Place.
For six years, he played Billy Campbell.
In 1996, Shue played professional soccer for the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS.
In Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker (1997) he shared the screen with Matt Damon and Claire Danes.
In addition to acting, Shue is a successful entrepreneur.
His start-up ventures include International Sports Publishing. He is the creator of the '94 Cup Daily. He is the owner of ClubMom, the nation's leading membership organization for Moms with 3 million members.
Shue most recently joined forces with Jeff Arnold and the Convex Group to bring to market the innovative brands of LidRock and Flexplay.
Shue's creation of Ursa Major Films in 2004 has given birth to his first movie project.
Andrew, 38, will be play Gracie's coach in his family's film.
Passionately and philanthropically, Shue is the co-founder of Do Something, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching young people to take the lead and to learn life's most important values by doing.
Something About Elisabeth
The Shues are using the Internet, an unconventional method, to seek out the star of their latest project.
The Shue family is looking to release "Gracie" in theaters in the first half of 2006, ideally before the next World Cup.
Your daughter, niece or the soccer star in your family can apply to the Shues' nationwide search by going to:
FindingGracie.com
Inspire & Be Inspired.
Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "walking, or in this case, running in another's shoes" living!
~ Jennifer Carolyn King, Rugged Elegance, LLC
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The Real Life Gracie, Elisabeth Shue
