Talking with the young star of Ice Castles

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Taylor Firth is the latest in a long line of figure skaters to make a smooth-as-ice transition from the rink to the big screen. Born in April 1991, Firth has been skating for most of her relatively brief life. She won the pewter medal on the Intermediate level at the 2004 U.S. Junior Championships. In 2009 she qualified for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but will not compete this year. It was in April 2009 when she began filming "Ice Castles," a made-for-TV remake of the 1978 film starring Robby Benson and Lynn-Holly Johnson. The film tracks the rise, fall, and rebirth of a young figure skater who loses her eyesight following an on-ice mishap but comes back to compete again.

The 2009 version of "Ice Castles" was directed by Donald Wrye, who's made a nice career out of crafting made-for-TV movies, among them "Amerika," "Stranger in the Family," "Trail of Tears," and "High Stakes." Playing opposite Firth in the romantic lead was Rob Mayes ("The American Mall"), who, having appeared in just a half-dozen TV episodes/movies prior to "Ice Castles," was almost as fresh as Firth. "Ice Castles" marks her film debut. The film, which was shot on location in Nova Scotia, comes to DVD on February 9 from Sony Pictures, and DVD Town had a chance to talk with young Firth about her first movie-making experience.

James Plath: This is going to sound flippant, but it's not. What's harder? Acting or figure skating?

Taylor Firth: They're a tie, I have to say. Skating comes with a little more stress, but, I mean, it's something that's very close to my heart. But when I was on set doing the film, I had to think some of the skating scenes are a little bit harder for me because I didn't have much practice time. Skating definitely helped me with my acting skills--I mean, just learning hard work and different things like that. But they're neck and neck, I have to say.

Plath: So acting wasn't as stressful. Is that because you always had another take if you screwed up?

Firth: Oh yeah. Oh yeah yeah yeah (laughs). Definitely.

Plath: So you're not going to hit Broadway?

Firth: That's never really been one of my aspirations, but you never know. Acting was never one of my aspirations either, but who knew? I had a blast doing it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Plath: In a heartbeat, who would you like to work with next?

Firth: Umm, I don't know, actually. As far as different genres in the film world, I would like to do something with a Christian message, like in the Christian film industry. I would like to do something with that and just kind of get my faith out there. I'm hoping to be a positive role model.

Plath: Did you watch the first version of "Ice Castles" before you did this?

Firth: Oh, yeah. I watched it over and over and over, trying to soak up anything that I could. It's just a great film. It's a really great family film.

Plath: Hearing you say it's a great family film reminds me of an anecdote about Lynn-Holly Johnson, who said that they kept after her to do a nude scene for that film, and she said if the people only knew. So you talk about doing a Christian film, but this industry does have a different side to it.

Firth: Yeah, which I have to say, with the version that we did I think it's a little more family oriented. From the rushes I saw there's no swearing in it, there's really nothing that's inappropriate. It's a great thing for families, and we didn't have any problems. There were some swear words in my script, but I kind of told them that I would rather not partake in that, and they were more than fine with that. That in itself was a great relief to me.

Plath: Lynn-Holly Johnson quit amateur competitive skating to join the Ice Capades a year before she made the film, and then after she made the film she gave up the Ice Capades. Having a taste of acting, is that the direction you see yourself going?

Firth: You know, I'm kind of working through all that right now. I'm trying to decide what I want to do with my future--whether I want to help with the family business, go into acting, continue skating, go into show skating, coaching. I'm trying to work through that right now, but I have a lot of options on my plate and I'm grateful that I do have options. As long as I'm doing it with the right heart and with the right ideas in mind, it doesn't matter what I'm doing as long as I'm giving God the glory. That's all that matters.

Plath: In figure skating, what's the most difficult move for you? And then, what was the most difficult thing for you--"move," if you will--about acting in "Ice Castles"?

Firth: I think with figure skating the hardest thing that I do is the triple Lutz. That's mainly what you see a lot of the ladies on TV doing. And I would say that the hardest thing for me to do acting-wise was (laughs), I think it was trying to have relationships on-screen. That was difficult for me. That in itself was kind of a struggle. I have a boyfriend, so that was a little hard for us to get through. But we worked through it, and it made us even better now.

But I also have to say that trying to portray being blind and making it realistic, I think that was hard. I didn't want to be offensive in any way, that I was trying to show what I would think a blind person . . . how they would act. That was definitely a struggle for me, but Donald (Wrye) gave me some great tips. He really was a great mentor.

Plath: Were there any times when you were skating after you were supposed to be blind where you felt this was really endangerment?

Firth: Not really. (Laughs) I had to skate into the boards a few times, but honestly it was nothing different from what I would do on a normal-day basis. I really don't try to skate into the boards, but, you know, I have fallen into the boards quite a few times. It's quite painful, but you get through it. And definitely one of the things that I like to brag about is that I was able to do basically all my stunts. And I keep saying that if I ever do get to do another movie role--which I hope--then I'll be able to do all of my next ones as well.

Plath: Johnson and before her, the big one, Sonja Henie--have you heard of her?

Firth: Oh yeah, she's a legend.

Plath: She starred in "One in a Million" and that led to one film after the next for Twentieth Century Fox, and . . . now I forgot the direction I was going with that. I went right into the boards myself.

Firth: (Laughs) I was saying that I was hoping to do my own stunts.

Plath: Right. Well, Henie and other skaters were pigeonholed for a while into movies having to do with skating. Do you hope that that happens with you, that you get more skating roles, or are you hoping to break away from that if you get into acting further?

Firth: No, I mean, skating is a huge part of me. It's my God-given ability. I've been skating for 12 years, so to be able to keep that and move into the film industry and kind of blend the two together, that would be the most amazing thing. I can't even describe how much that would mean to me. So yeah, I would love to do that.

Plath: Are you considering a professional career in the ice shows?

Firth: It's one of the things I'm considering. So yeah, it's still on my plate, and I have quite a few things that I'm trying to decide what I want to do.

Plath: With the winter Olympics coming up, who do you like among the American skaters? Who do you think has the best chance at a medal?

Firth: It depends on nationals and how they do this weekend. If Alissa Czisny is competing, I would love to see her go on. I know a lot of the girls, so I have my favorites, but I love Alissa Czisny. I think she has a great heart and I'd really like to see her do well.

Plath: You mentioned that you had difficulty working through some of the relationship stuff on-camera? So does that mean if you run across Rob Mayes at a mall, your boyfriend might have a confrontation there?

Firth: (Big laugh) No comment. Umm, no. My boyfriend, he's a great guy. He's an amazing man (laughs).

Plath: Is school on the horizon for you? Are you going to college?

Firth: That's another thing that I'm thinking about. If I was to go to school I've been thinking about maybe doing something with the pulmonary field, maybe like a pulmonary RN or a physician's assistant. That's one thing I've been thinking about, along with skating and coaching and show-skating and acting.

Plath: You'd need about four lives to handle all of that. Let me ask one more question. You're in a position that a lot of young women would love to be in, where you've just starred in your first movie. And I mean, you weren't just a walk-on. You weren't like Woman Eating a Donut at a Restaurant in the credits, and that's a pretty big way to start. And you got a taste of it, and you said that for you it's not as stressful--maybe the next director would be--but having done this first film, can you share what you learned about acting and about the business of movie-making?

Firth: Oh yeah. I mean, I was expecting to go on-set and you know, I was thinking, Oh yeah, this is gonna be a walk in the park. I'm an athlete, you know. This is going to be nothing. And I was very wrong. It was a lot of hard work, it took a lot of energy, a lot of focus, and a lot of dedication. But you know what? It was the most amazing experience. I can't even describe what has meant to me. I'm praying that I'll be able to do another film. I want to be a good role model and I would like to be able to influence people in positive way in the world that we're in right now.

Plath: That's great. But I'm going to push you one more time. What else did you learn from the process?

Firth: Oh, I'm sorry. I think I just slammed into the boards. I forgot where I was going.

Plath: Oh good. We're tied.

Firth: (Laughs) I really learned more about hard work, and I have a greater respect for people in the film industry. I don't want to say you have to be careful what you wish for, but, you know, it's happened to a lot of people who've gotten into the film industry and then they sort of go astray. So I'm trying to learn more and more about it and trying to learn as much as I can and hopefully portray another character some day.

Plath: Who do you like among actresses?

Firth: I'm a huge Sandra Bullock fan. And I love Mel Gibson as an actor. Some of his personal life I don't really agree with, but I think that he is just a spectacular, phenomenal actor.

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