After one audition, Miriah Martinez landed a role in the upcoming flick, Conspiracy

Miriah Martinez has dreamt of becoming an actress since she visited Universal Studios in Los Angeles in 2003. Miriah, 13, lives in Española, is home schooled, and has been gearing up to work in the arts since she was 4 — she’s taken voice lessons from Sue Parker of Abiquiú; plays the violin in the Mariachi Sol de Valle group; has been a member of the National Dance Institute for four years; and is a member of its North Celebration Team (a group of 15 students who have graduated to a higher level at NDI); and has taken flamenco lessons.

On May 22, Miriah’s dream came true. After just one audition, she was cast in a role in the upcoming movie Conspiracy, starring Val Kilmer and Jennifer Esposito. The movie was filmed in the Santa Fe area May 30-June 29. The film is in post-production and is set to be released sometime in 2008.

Miriah has been cast as Rosa, a friend of the family and their babysitter. The film revolves around Val Kilmer’s character searching for a friend of his who served with him in Iraq. Miriah said that the film deals with immigration issues.

Miriah said that she went to a casting call held in Santa Fe in May. The casting call was for Hispanics of all ages and types. At the casting call, the crew took her picture as well as personal information — age, address, phone number, skills and so on. The casting crew gave her a script to study and then asked her to get into character and play the part.

There were some things that helped her to get the part, such as “the fact that I know Spanish,” Miriah said.

One of scenes in the movie requires her to have conversations with her grandmother in Spanish.

Miriah said on her first day on set, she was antsy and very excited. She said “the first job of an actor is to wait.”

Miriah said the actors and actresses on the set are very down-to-earth and everyone was very friendly.

“They are just normal people,” she said.

Miriah had her own dressing room.

“(I) thought that dressing rooms were a façade, that they were just part of the whole glamour thing,” she said.

Miriah also said she was really surprised that hair and makeup are such a big deal — the hairstylists and makeup artists follow the actors around on the set and continued doing touchups.

As far as the movie-making process goes, Miriah said she was surprised by the speed at which it is filmed.

“The process moved quicker than I thought possible,” she said. “The first scene I shot was done only twice. They give you something to do, the director explains the scene, all the actors in the scene are getting ready to do it, and then boom, boom, boom, everything gets put together all at once.”

Miriah has a scene with both of the major stars of the film — Kilmer and Esposito.

“Val Kilmer is very energetic,” she said. “He is a nut on the set and is very fun to be around — he is really awesome. Jennifer is really cool, easy going and sweet. She is very consistent in her work and is great to work with.”

She also was grateful for the professionals who were so willing to give her tips.

“There are so many people on the set, if you don’t know what to do, you just ask,” she said. “They all help you out, they say, ‘Just follow me, we’re doing the same thing,’ or ‘Get into character and act the way you think the scene warrants.’ ”

This experience has been a lot of firsts for Miriah. First audition, first role cast, first time on a movie lot. She doesn’t consider herself lucky, she believes she is blessed.

“I don’t think that there is anything such as luck,” she said. “I think that there is such a thing as God blessing you with the opportunity to get to do something that great.”

Miriah is very excited to be in the film, but also says that it still seems very unreal to her.

She has several scenes where she is doing more than just talking. Her favorite is a running scene, where she gets a sticker in her foot; another when she gets soaked with water; and yet another where she is splattered with blood.

“I love the action scenes,” she said. She has several wardrobe changes and needs several sets of the same clothes because when she gets wet, she has to put the same outfit on for a re-take. If a scene goes well and there is only one take, no wardrobe changes are needed.

Miriah loves to watch movies, and she has always loved to pretend she is one of the characters — now she’s living her dream. But if her acting aspirations don’t pan out, no problem — she has set her sights on becoming either a neonatal surgeon or working as a crime-scene investigator.

But at the rate she is going, we could be seeing a lot more of her on the silver screen.

Samuel LeDoux is a sophomore at Pojoaque High School. You can reach him at blackwizard91@gmail.com.