"North York kid sees his future in Hollywood"
October 15, 1985 Rita Zekas Corey Haim could be your typical bright 13-year-old. He has a dog named Muffy, a pretty older sister named Carol and lives in a North York townhouse. But Corey also has six movies under his belt, an agent in Los Angeles and plans to move to Tinsel Town come January. "An okay" Grade 8 student at Zion Heights, Corey is home for lunch. "Take your time," he says. "I don't necessarily have to go back to school this afternoon." Bernie, his father and manager, shoots him a look to the contrary. "Speak to me," instructs Dad. Corey has been acting for 1 1/2 years. In that time he has tallied up the movies First Born, Secret Admirer, Lucas, Murphy's Romance and Silver Bullet, the latest Stephen King thriller which opened in Toronto last Friday (see review on this page). On Oct. 28, he has the pivotal role of Liza Minnelli's son, a sufferer of muscular dystrophy, in the NBC TV-movie A Time To Live. Murphy's Romance, which stars Hollywood biggies James Garner and Sally Field, is a Christmas release. Edison Twins "I've been taking drama lessons for improv and mime from Myra Rudin for four or five years," Corey says. Fifteen-year-old sister Carol corrects him in the spelling of Rudin's name. "I just wanted to act," he continues. "My sister got me the idea." He gets up and runs to the window to check on Muffy, his four- month-old blue chow chow. "He looked up to me and whatever I wanted to do, he would do," explains Carol, who's also an actress. Corey worked on the CBC series The Edison Twins and did two commercials. "And they'll be my last two. One was for Sears, modelling these clothes," he says with an exaggerated primp in his faded jeans and sports shirt. "Next, a furniture bankruptcy ad. I know why they went bankrupt." The phone rings. Dad answers it and complains about Corey's phone message, a takeoff on Billy Crystal doing his Fernando "You look mahvellous' schtick. "You'll have to change it," he says and plays it in full. Corey ducks his head in embarrassment. Love story Corey's career took off with First Born, which starred Teri Garr. "Producer Stanley Jaffe came to me and said, "The kid's gifted,' Dad recalls. "Get an agent in L.A.' " So they did. And the movies kept coming. Lucas, due out in February, is one of Corey's favorites. He brings out stills from the film. It was shot in Chicago with Charlie Sheen (brother of Emilio Estevez and son of Martin) and Carrie Greene. Corey plays Lucas. "It's a teenage love story. Lucas is a nerdy kid who lives in his own world," he explains, putting on a Toronto Star Blue Jays visor. What's up next? "I dunno. School, school, school. She's like my tutor," he says, referring to his sister. "She helps me. She skipped Grade 2, she's highly sophisticated." Sometimes Carol gets parts in her brother's movies but the theatre is her big love. She does "plays and things." As for her brother, he wants to "be an actor and get married." Does he have anyone in mind? A girlfriend perhaps? "He has several thousand," says Carol. "Not in Toronto," stresses Corey. "Around the world." The kids back at school react differently to him now that he's been in the movies. "Some take it good; about 10 per cent use me," he says. "Like one girl asked me if she could come to my bar mitzvah (coming up Oct. 26). I said I was sorry, but no. "Go away, then,' she told me. "Some kids call me "movie star.' My teacher calls me Corey Hart. I'm seriously a troublemaker in school," he says wickedly. And university gets a big "no.' "I'm planning to quit school when I'm 16." Not practical Dad looks worried. "I take care of Dad. I'll buy him my dream car - it's a $400,000 Vector W2 and it'll do 205 miles per hour. I had a hamster called Vector. He just died. Dad'll inherit the Vector. I've planned my whole life." He races off to get a catalogue of formula racing cars and show cars. "Corey's not a practical kid," says Dad. As well as daydreaming about racing cars, Corey collects Archie comic books ("I have 100,000") and likes going on dates. "He's been dating since he was five," cracks Carol. "The kid's wacko," says Dad. Neither Bernie, a salesman, nor his wife, Judy, a data processor, have acting backgrounds. "But both children have a gift," Dad shrugs. "I'm proud of what Corey's doing but I'd like to keep his life normal. He's a well-adjusted kid and doesn't abuse it. One night, I was watching him do a scene in Silver Bullet. (Corey plays a kid in a wheelchair who helps thwart a werewolf attacking residents of Smalltown, U.S.A.) He's a natural as an actor but once off the scene, he's just a kid. "I've turned down two movies in the last few weeks." "What two movies?" demands Corey. "Mosquito Code with Harrison Ford . . ." "I'll go," says Carol. "I'll sacrifice my school year." Meanwhile, it's back to school for Corey. "Are you sure you don't want to stay and ask me more questions?" he asks. |