Abby Ryder Fortson may be leading a big blockbuster movie with vets like Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates, but she’s no acting newbie. The 15-year-old stars as the titular lead of “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” (out on April 28), the long-awaited movie adaptation of Judy Blume’s beloved 1970 book, but she’s been featured in plenty of other onscreen projects – most notably, in the Ant-Man movies as Cassie Lang.
Ryder Fortson, who started acting when she was four years old, apparently caught the acting bug from her thespian parents, John Fortson and Christie Lynn Smith. During an April 26 interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” the young star recalled when her parents would take her to their auditions when she was a kid. “I would sit on the producer’s couch and I’d just watch them,” she shared. “And one day, when I was about three-and-a-half or something, I just turned to them and was like, ‘I want to do this now. Please get me an audition, I want to be an actor.'”
Read ahead to learn more about Ryder Fortson and her budding acting career – from who her biggest influences are to how she secured her “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” role.
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She Wrote a Letter to "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret"'s Director and Producer to Get Her Role
According to IndieWire, Ryder Fortson felt “so proud” after she auditioned for the role of Margaret in front of director Kelly Fremon Craig and producer Jim Brooks. But she went the extra mile to write a heartfelt letter about the movie to ensure the part was hers. “I actually wrote a letter to Kelly and Jim, just explaining why I loved it so much and how much I related to Margaret because I was going through the exact same stuff that she was at the exact same time that she was,” the actor told the outlet.
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She Credits Her Parents For Being Her Acting Mentors
Thanks to her parents being actors themselves, Ryder Fortson had an advantage when she officially entered the entertainment industry. Even more so while she was filming for “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” because her parents were on set to help her out.
Of the valuable lessons they’ve taught her so far, Ryder Fortson told Roger Ebert, “I certainly learned from them that hard work is the most important thing, and prep work is always a must.”
“I took many different tips and tricks from my parents, who have been in the trade for so long, and they really helped me work on Margaret’s character,” she added. “They helped me not only in developing her but in working on all of the big questions surrounding a lot of the topics in the film.”
The actor also referred to her parents as “a useful resource” who helped her with her different scenes. “They are incredible actors and coaches, so it was great to have them both be able to be there for me,” she concluded.
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She's Interested in Directing and Writing in the Future
Not only has Ryder Fortson caught the acting bug, it seems she’s interested in one day honing her skills behind the camera, too, as she also told Roger Ebertt that she’d “love to try out directing or writing.”
“I’m writing a bit myself,” she said, “and there are lots of books that I would love to adapt as well as other projects that I would love to be involved in as well.”
According to the publication, the actor is currently involved in an upcoming feature version of her family’s 2016 short film, “Rated.” Ryder Fortson said, “I have been working on writing parts of the feature script for ‘Rated’ in order to adapt my character [Hannah Mitchell] into an older version of herself.” She added that the script’s being finalized and she hopes to shoot the movie this year.
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She Was a Fan of the Percy Jackson Book Series When She Was a Kid
During a recent interview with Brit + Co, when asked what books had an influence on her when she was young, Ryder Fortson noted that she “loved the Percy Jackson series.” “I was a huge fantasy, sci-fi [fans], that kind of mythology stuff when I was younger.” The self-described “huge reader” added that she would “curl up in the corner and blow through all those books in about a week.”
