Brevard Talent Group Congratulates Austin Abrams for booking the recurring role of Todd in the MTV show “The Inbetweeners”

Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Neal McDonough, Austin Abrams, Yancey Arias, Dane Rhodes, Nicki Aycox

Directed by Ernie Barbarash

“That investigation leads to an angry young boy (newcomer Austin Abrams, more menacingly intense at times than McDonough) living in an orphanage whom the killer has been murdering on behalf of since he was a baby. “

Local actor strides toward stardom

By Gulf Coast Business Review – Thursday, January 27, 2011

Sarasota, a town known for its arts and culture, made waves recently with a push to bring Hollywood to town in the form of TV and film production studios.

But a genuine Hollywood star-in-the-making might already be here in Austin Abrams. Abrams, a 13-year-old Sarasota resident, spent several weeks this past fall in Baton Rouge, La. starring in Ticking Clock, a movie released earlier this year.

The movie’s cast includes stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Neal McDonough. Abrams plays a nine-year-old orphan in the movie, which is billed as a psychological thriller about a serial killer.

Abrams recently signed with two talent agencies in California, but he’s already well known to local theatergoers. He made his stage debut in 2006 in Beauty and the Beast at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre in Sarasota. He has appeared in more than a dozen local professional productions since then.

The new release of the “Ticking Clock” film on January 4, 2011 stars Austin Abrams, Sarasota resident.

Sarasota, FL – January 2011 – The Ticking Clock film, a Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA) and Ticking Clock Productions, will be released on January 4, 2011 in the USA. Academy Award® Winner Cuba Gooding Jr. stars in the pulse-pounding action thriller along with Neal McDonough, and Austin Abrams, a local celebrity from Sarasota who stars in the role of a 9-year-old orphan living in a group home.

Directed by Ernie Barbarash and written by John Turman, the “Ticking Clock” is a psychological thriller in the tradition of The Silence of the Lambs and Seven that is guaranteed to have viewers on the edge of their seats. The story stars Cuba Gooding Jr., a reporter who stumbles upon the journal of a murderer replete with plans to butcher specific people, and investigates on his own, finding that every trail leads to a 9-year-old orphan living in a group home (cast by Austin Abrams).

ABOUT AUSTIN ABRAMS – Austin made his professional stage debut in 2006 as Chip in “Beauty and the Beast” at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre in Sarasota. He was then only 9 years old and since, he has been involved in multiple other professional productions including performances at the Asolo Theatre in the “Plexiglass Slipper” and as Mamillius in “Winter Tale” as well as Cosimo de Medici in “The Life of Galileo”. Austin Abrams has performed at multiple performing-arts venue in Sarasota such as The Sarasota Opera House, The Players Theatre, The Glenridge Performing Arts Center and the former Backlot Theatre. Austin Abrams was recently cast in the movies “Ticking Clock”. Abrams signed with APA, a major talent agency in Beverly Hills, California, which makes him the youngest male actor on the agency’s A-list roster. He is also represented by The Agency For The Performing Arts and The Brevard Talented Group in Beverly Hills, California.

More information is available online at www.autinabrams.com

This past October, when most kids his age were debating whether to go trick-or-treating, 13-year-old actor Austin Abrams was in Baton Rouge, La., playing the part of an orphan in a movie (starring Cuba Gooding Jr.) about a serial killer.

It was hard work, and Abrams loved every minute of it: the 3 a.m. shoots; the on-set tutoring; the rapid-fire script memorization; the emotionally draining scenes with Gooding that required Abrams to yell over and over.

“They shot this one scene like 50 times. I’m not kidding,” Abrams says. “The director needed different angles and I had to give him the same emotional intensity every time.”

Of course Abrams, a shy ninth-grader with 17 Sarasota theater credits to his name, would have delivered the performance 100 times if necessary. It was the same scene he had used to audition for the part, which, to be clear, was a starring role.

(Check out imdb.com for the movie “Ticking Clock.” Abrams’ name is three lines down, under actor Neal McDonough, who will star next year in Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: The First Avenger.”)

“It was my first major part,” says Abrams, a former New Gate School student who will start his freshman year this fall at Suncoast Polytechnical High School. “When I heard I got it, I was on the floor. I was shocked. I didn’t know what was gonna happen next.”

Here’s what happened next: After filming “Ticking Clock,” which is scheduled to be released later this year, Abrams signed with APA, a major talent agency in Beverly Hills, Calif., which makes him the youngest male actor on the agency’s A-list roster.

Plopped on a sofa in his Laurel Oak Country Club living room, Abrams shoos away two Great Danes. The dogs, which outweigh the actor by 35 pounds each, nuzzle and lick Abrams’ face. In their company the 5-foot-1 teen appears even more boyish.

Behind him, his mother, Dr. Lori Abrams, a Sarasota gynecologist, is perched at the kitchen countertop eating lunch. Like her son, Dr. Abrams is petite, soft-spoken and unobtrusive. She pipes up every so often to share an anecdote.

“There are two types of actors,” Dr. Abrams says. “There’s the ham, and there’s the quiet, humble actor. Austin is a quiet, humble actor. He’s afraid if he talks about what he does, it’ll be perceived as bragging.”
Sarasota theatergoers are probably familiar with Abrams. He made his professional stage debut in 2006 as Chip in the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre’s “Beauty and the Beast.” That same year he played a footman in “The Plexiglass Slipper” at the Asolo Repertory Theater.

Abrams has performed on the stage of almost every performing-arts venue in town — The Sarasota Opera House, The Players Theatre, The Glenridge Performing Arts Center and the former Backlot Theatre. In 2009, he was cast in the Asolo Rep’s “The Winter’s Tale,” followed by the company’s 2010 production of “The Life of Galileo.”

All of this to prove to his parents that he was serious about acting.

“We had no intentions of turning him into an actor,” says Dr. Abrams of the decision she and her husband, Brad, made to enroll their bashful son in Florida Studio Theatre’s children’s program eight years ago. “We had no idea this would turn into a career.”

Abrams begs to differ. He says he knew when he was 5 years old that he wanted to be an actor, which is why, when was 8, he asked his parents for an agent. He knew he wanted to make movies.

“I think that’s what it’s come to now, being on a movie set,” Abrams says. “I know it’s not like I’ve done a humongous amount of films, but it just feels right.”

His eyes shift to the floor, to his slip-on checkered Vans and matching checkered socks. He may be a reluctant celebrity, but his canvas shoes ­­— a staple among young Hollywood stars — scream hip, young actor.

He mentions that he was able to keep three props from the “Ticking Clock” set: a comic book, a newspaper and a pocket watch.

His mother suggests it might be wise to stash the souvenirs in a dresser where she keeps all of his other acting memorabilia.

The boy blushes.

“You know Cuba’s mom kept a scrapbook of all his acting stuff,” Dr. Abrams says in a tone only a mom can manage.

“Yeah, but Cuba kept his Oscar,” Abrams says. “I get to keep my Oscar.”

ABRAMS’ FAVORITE ACTORS
Robert Downey Jr.
Anthony Hopkins
Jack Nicholson
Tom Hanks
Johnny Depp
Will Smith

Contact Heidi Kurpiela at hkurpiela@yourobserver.com.

Read the article Almost Famous by: Heidi Kurpiela | A&E Editor of YourObserver.com

I’m leaving for Baton Rouge next week to work on a film.