This is the 12-year-old's first major role in a movie, but you'd never guess it watching her perform.
In a roundabout way, Lily Bowen can thank family ties for her first performing role. When the Michigander was nine, an aunt saw a poster announcing auditions for a local musical production of Sleeping Beauty and mentioned it to Lily. With her parents' blessing, she tried out and won a small part...on her own merits, of course.
In the three years since then, Lily has performed in six more musicals in local theater, including playing the lead role in Mary Poppins. And it's no wonder she has favored musicals, because the sixth grader is quite the singer, taking vocal lessons and performing in her school's choir.
Fortunately for us, earlier this year Lily decided she wanted to really try her hand at more TV and film roles, which led her to audition for Miracle on Christmas, the faith-based movie written and directed by yours truly. From the word go, it was clear at the audition she would win the part, because her acting talent belies her tender years.
In our movie, she plays Lydia Boyce the daughter of protagonist Mary Boyce, who is portrayed by Christian actress Erin Bethea. Lily is one of three child actors in the movie and performs equally well with them as she does with the adults in the picture, demonstrating significant range for a youngster.
She tells us she had "so much fun working with everyone" on the set of Miracle on Christmas that it confirmed something she's felt for some time now: she wants to make a career of acting (we'll no doubt say some day, "We knew her when..."). All that fun she had comes as little surprise to us, because the camaraderie on this production was particularly strong, which she herself felt, calling the cast and crew "nice, professional and welcoming."
Lily adds that her family is really looking forward to watching her performance when the movie debuts. She is as well, of course, though she admits it will "feel unreal" to see herself in the picture. We can't wait for you to see her and the rest of the cast when Miracle on Christmas is released for this year's Yuletide season.
In the meantime, you can check out some of Lily's work on her YouTube channel. She has recently put together several musical parodies to bring a bit of much needed levity to this coronavirus-induced quarantine that has beset the country the last couple of months.