Mon, January 26, 2009
One to Watch: Hayley McFarland
I never thought this would happen, but I have finally come to regret my years of making inappropriate sexual comments about teenagers. I had fun publicly fantasizing in lurid detail about underage (or, in most cases, barely legal) actresses or kids at the mall because it was mostly harmless – in real life I'm not a predator at all. But the downside is this: when I tell you that Hayley McFarland is a star in the making, you naturally assume it's because I want to get in her pants.
I swear I don't, but why should you believe me? A few months shy of her 18th birthday, she certainly fits the profile. But I promise, I don't have a crush on her. I just marveled at her natural, underplayed performance on Without a Trace last week, where she had to carry several scenes, and then was impressed again by her brief turn as Tim Roth's daughter on Lie to Me (a show which turned out to be quite good despite its obnoxious ads, with a terrific cast including darling Brendan Hines from ABC Family's underrated The Middleman). A peek at IMDb suggests that McFarland may already have been replaced on Lie to Me by Kay Panabaker, who has been another favorite of mine, turning up as Catherine Willows's daughter on CSI and in a powerful turn on Boston Legal as a girl who sued her school for its abstinence-only program.
I noticed Kay instantly on Boston Legal, because she's a dead ringer for her older sister Danielle, who charmed me throughout the brief run of Shark on CBS. (I admit I have a crush on her, but she's 21 so that's perfectly legitimate!) Ordinarily I would say cast Kay Panabaker in absolutely anything, but I hope I'm reading this IMDb info wrong, because Hayley McFarland is truly terrific, and a great fit for the put-upon daughter on a TV series. I hope she and Lie to Me both stick around. (Though apparently we'll also see her on a few episodes of Showtime's Diablo Cody extravaganza The United States of Tara, which is pretty watchable as long as you enjoyed Juno and have been inoculated to Diablo's dialogue style.)
I'm interested in young actors and actresses, because the whole enterprise is such a crapshoot: you need a perfect storm of talent, opportunity, and ambition (or a pushy stage mother). Because, at such a young age, it's impossible acting can be taught. (Not that people don't try – watch most of the young actors on TV and you can see them going through the steps from their acting lessons.) Delivering a believable performance without being sidetracked by self-awareness is tough to do. Most people amass a decade of experience before they're good at it, but apparently some people are just naturally capable of it. Taylor Ball and Renee Olstead are excellent, and were the main reasons I watched every episode of Still Standing. Oliver Davis is quite good. (Contrast all these against the hammy laugh-poison of Angus T. Jones on Two and a Half Men, although hammy laugh-poison writing shares some of the blame.) The Panabakers and Hayley McFarland (and previous One to Watch nominee Leah Pipes) are all great at it. Maybe they won't all grow up wanting to work in acting, and it's unlikely they'll all become megastars, but unlike the plastic charisma vacuums headlining 90210, they could have fine acting careers if they want them. If they pop up on one of your TV shows, you're in for something special.
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Bee Boy — Sun, 2/1/09 10:00am
Excellent news! I sweated out the second episode of Lie to Me this week because the framed photo of Kay Panabaker on Tim Roth's desk in the pilot was back. Still, I had hope: who knows what order they shoot these things in?
Today, IMDb is confirmingHayley for next week's episode, so hopefully this settles it for good! Also, she has been magnificent on The United States of Tara in a role similar to Ginnifer Goodwin's on Ed but a little more so, if that makes any sense. She'll be there for at least two more episodes, which means if I do quit the show it won't be before then.
"Alexandra" — Sun, 10/18/09 3:42am
Is it ok to like her because she's cute, ALSO? :P
Bee Boy — Sun, 10/18/09 9:39am
Hell, yes. When Lie to Me put her in a bikini last week, I turned to my girlfriend (who is of legal age), and said, "Great, the one young actress in all of TV whom I liked for non-pervert reasons, and now they're going to corner me." This is why I recommend getting a dorky blog and going on the record early.
"happy manah" — Wed, 12/30/09 5:59pm
Hell!!!!she is cute and charming to be serious? hope she wouldnt spoiled by all those things..... whatever it was??? keep up the good work Hayley mcfarland