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Riverside schoolboy stars in TV drama about deaf family | Riverside County | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
Playing a deaf boy wasn't the most difficult role for 9-year-old rookie actor Noah Valencia.
He has been profoundly deaf since birth.
No, the hardest part was devouring so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Forty of them, a fresh one for each take in the made-for-television movie.
"I hated that," Noah said through an interpreter, Irma Noel, during an interview at the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, where he is a student.
But he loved starring in "Sweet Nothing in My Ear," a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie set to air April 20 from 9 to 11 p.m. on CBS. He plays Adam Miller, whose deaf mother opposes her hearing husband's push for cochlear implant surgery to regain their son's hearing.
Both of Noah's real-life parents, Scarlett and Jeremias Valencia, are profoundly deaf, as is their younger son, Jory, 3. Scarlett teaches high school literature at CSDR and Jeremias is a dorm counselor and coordinates intramural elementary school programs there.
During November's auditions on campus, Noah, a fourth-grader with unruly blond curls, wide-set hazel eyes and an easy smile, caught the attention of the film's casting director.
Mal Grossinger, the school's superintendent, said through interpreter Becky Crawford that every year Hollywood agents come looking for students. Noah was a natural, he said, because he's adorable, smart and high functioning.
"I had a gut feeling they'd pick him," Elizabeth Creamer, the school's communications director, said through interpreter Noel. "I knew he'd win their hearts."
But the lanky Noah didn't win the role of Adam Miller, originally written for a 6-year-old. Instead, he was cast within the movie as the Tin Man, a small part in the school play, "The Wizard of Oz."
Shortly before winter break, Noah was catapulted into the lead role, revised for an older child after the boy chosen to play Adam fizzled. For the next four weeks during the filming, Noah and his father bunked at a Los Angeles hotel to hit the movie set by 5 a.m.
"It was really hard to memorize this much in a few days," Noah said, holding his thumb and index finger 2 inches apart to depict a thick script. Then he had to sign his lines and perfect his facial expressions and body language.
To make himself cry in the scene in which he fell, cut his knee and got stitches, "I thought about missing my brother," Noah said.
Noah worked with a tutor to keep up his studies.
Admittedly "nervous and scared," Noah had never acted before except for a nonsigning role in second grade in "The Little Mermaid."
"I had to run across the stage and hold up a sign that said 'Boo!' to block the little mermaid from the squid," he recalled.
He loved the first week of shooting on a private campus in Pasadena, where he performed the "Oz" scenes with three friends from his school: Jacob Weiss, 7, Dylan Lesti, 9, and Jarita Bustamonte, 9.
Once they left, Noah was ready to quit, Jeremias said through Noel. "He was homesick."
Noah's mood improved after a weekend visit home to Riverside and a trip to Universal Studios. Nightly webcam chats signing with his mother and brother on his dad's laptop helped ease the loneliness. "By the third week, I was his best friend," Jeremias, 27, said.
Implant Debate
In the story, told with voiceovers, Noah is the center of a battle waged between his deaf mother, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, and his hearing father, Golden Globe winner Jeff Daniels.
Perhaps nothing has so bitterly divided the deaf and hearing communities as a debate over cochlear implants. These surgically implanted electronic devices cost between $40,000 and $60,000 and are designed to bring a sense of sound to people who have hearing loss.
Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved cochlear implants in 1985 for adults and in 1990 for children, about 60,000 people worldwide have received them.
In the 1990s, many people in the deaf community worried that these devices might adversely affect the cohesiveness of their culture. However, eight years ago the National Association of the Deaf quieted the debate somewhat by declaring that cochlear implants should reflect personal decisions and that they do not force recipients to choose between the deaf and the hearing worlds.
Noah won't spoil the movie by divulging whether he receives the cochlear implant or whether his film parents' marriage survives. However, he doesn't hesitate to express strong opinions against the surgery designed "to fix" deaf people.
"Deaf people have families and shouldn't get cochlear implants," he said. "I don't want to be someone who talks. I know how to sign. It's better. I don't need to use my voice."
His parents agree. "We're a third-generation deaf family," Scarlett, 27, said proudly. "He's been surrounded by deaf people all his life."
The Valencias will attend a private screening April 16 in Beverly Hills.
Noah is even more excited that when he watches the movie on TV, he'll get to stay up past his bedtime.
Local star
What: “Sweet Nothing in My Ear,” a Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-TV movie
Who: Riverside’s Noah Valencia stars as the deaf Adam Miller
When: 9-11 p.m. April 20
Where: CBS
Playing a deaf boy wasn't the most difficult role for 9-year-old rookie actor Noah Valencia.
He has been profoundly deaf since birth.
No, the hardest part was devouring so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Forty of them, a fresh one for each take in the made-for-television movie.
"I hated that," Noah said through an interpreter, Irma Noel, during an interview at the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, where he is a student.
But he loved starring in "Sweet Nothing in My Ear," a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie set to air April 20 from 9 to 11 p.m. on CBS. He plays Adam Miller, whose deaf mother opposes her hearing husband's push for cochlear implant surgery to regain their son's hearing.
Both of Noah's real-life parents, Scarlett and Jeremias Valencia, are profoundly deaf, as is their younger son, Jory, 3. Scarlett teaches high school literature at CSDR and Jeremias is a dorm counselor and coordinates intramural elementary school programs there.
During November's auditions on campus, Noah, a fourth-grader with unruly blond curls, wide-set hazel eyes and an easy smile, caught the attention of the film's casting director.
Mal Grossinger, the school's superintendent, said through interpreter Becky Crawford that every year Hollywood agents come looking for students. Noah was a natural, he said, because he's adorable, smart and high functioning.
"I had a gut feeling they'd pick him," Elizabeth Creamer, the school's communications director, said through interpreter Noel. "I knew he'd win their hearts."
But the lanky Noah didn't win the role of Adam Miller, originally written for a 6-year-old. Instead, he was cast within the movie as the Tin Man, a small part in the school play, "The Wizard of Oz."
Shortly before winter break, Noah was catapulted into the lead role, revised for an older child after the boy chosen to play Adam fizzled. For the next four weeks during the filming, Noah and his father bunked at a Los Angeles hotel to hit the movie set by 5 a.m.
"It was really hard to memorize this much in a few days," Noah said, holding his thumb and index finger 2 inches apart to depict a thick script. Then he had to sign his lines and perfect his facial expressions and body language.
To make himself cry in the scene in which he fell, cut his knee and got stitches, "I thought about missing my brother," Noah said.
Noah worked with a tutor to keep up his studies.
Admittedly "nervous and scared," Noah had never acted before except for a nonsigning role in second grade in "The Little Mermaid."
"I had to run across the stage and hold up a sign that said 'Boo!' to block the little mermaid from the squid," he recalled.
He loved the first week of shooting on a private campus in Pasadena, where he performed the "Oz" scenes with three friends from his school: Jacob Weiss, 7, Dylan Lesti, 9, and Jarita Bustamonte, 9.
Once they left, Noah was ready to quit, Jeremias said through Noel. "He was homesick."
Noah's mood improved after a weekend visit home to Riverside and a trip to Universal Studios. Nightly webcam chats signing with his mother and brother on his dad's laptop helped ease the loneliness. "By the third week, I was his best friend," Jeremias, 27, said.
Implant Debate
In the story, told with voiceovers, Noah is the center of a battle waged between his deaf mother, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin, and his hearing father, Golden Globe winner Jeff Daniels.
Perhaps nothing has so bitterly divided the deaf and hearing communities as a debate over cochlear implants. These surgically implanted electronic devices cost between $40,000 and $60,000 and are designed to bring a sense of sound to people who have hearing loss.
Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved cochlear implants in 1985 for adults and in 1990 for children, about 60,000 people worldwide have received them.
In the 1990s, many people in the deaf community worried that these devices might adversely affect the cohesiveness of their culture. However, eight years ago the National Association of the Deaf quieted the debate somewhat by declaring that cochlear implants should reflect personal decisions and that they do not force recipients to choose between the deaf and the hearing worlds.
Noah won't spoil the movie by divulging whether he receives the cochlear implant or whether his film parents' marriage survives. However, he doesn't hesitate to express strong opinions against the surgery designed "to fix" deaf people.
"Deaf people have families and shouldn't get cochlear implants," he said. "I don't want to be someone who talks. I know how to sign. It's better. I don't need to use my voice."
His parents agree. "We're a third-generation deaf family," Scarlett, 27, said proudly. "He's been surrounded by deaf people all his life."
The Valencias will attend a private screening April 16 in Beverly Hills.
Noah is even more excited that when he watches the movie on TV, he'll get to stay up past his bedtime.
Local star
What: “Sweet Nothing in My Ear,” a Hallmark Hall of Fame made-for-TV movie
Who: Riverside’s Noah Valencia stars as the deaf Adam Miller
When: 9-11 p.m. April 20
Where: CBS