Growing Up Smith follows an Indian family that moves to America in hopes of living the American Dream. Sharbino was last seen in Miracles from Heaven, opposite Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah. Brighton is best known for her role as the Walker loving “Lizze” who threatened Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) daughter’s life on The Walking Dead. “The Walking Dead was a great experience where I got to play a really interesting and different dark character. I also learned a lot from the fellow cast and crew members. Playing Lizzie Samuels in the series and interacting with fans at conventions has shaped my view on my role, and my responsibility as an actress,” she said.
Regarding her new acting project, she said, “Growing Up Smith is being released in theaters in early 2017. It is a coming of age, heartfelt comedy about first love, childhood heroes and growing up in Small Town U.S.A. in 1979. It has won numerous Best Audience Award and Jury Awards at Film Festivals including Woodstock, Naples, CAAMFest and Prescott Film Festivals. It stars Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) as my father and Anjul Nigam (Bad Words) who is also the writer and producer. It was directed by Frank Lotito and we filmed in upstate NY. I play Amy Bruner and it was fun to play a different time period as well as work with the cast and Roni Akurati, who plays Smith.”
The precocious teen actress is trying to learn everything she can about the industry right now. “I’ve co-created a series with my sister and friends to pitch, and I’m going to produce my first independent film in the coming months,” she said.
Each day, Sharbino is motivated by her family. “I want to keep improving myself and building my career,” she said.
Her dream male acting partners include John Goodman and Leonardo DiCaprio. “I would love to work with John Goodman because I thought he was crazy good in 10 Cloverfield Lane. I would like to work with Leonardo DiCaprio because he’s a legend for one ,but also I thought his character choices in Catch Me if You Can were just brilliant,” she said.
She was also privileged to be a part of Miracles from Heaven. “We filmed Miracles from Heaven in Atlanta, Georgia, in the summer of 2015. It was a very positive set and I had my 13th birthday on set which was a lot of fun. Jennifer Garner was so nice to all the kids on set and would bring us crafts from her ‘We Made It’ line that we would all work together on between scenes. It was a wonderful experience. It was my first time basing my character off of a real person. The real Abby Beam came to set and it was cool to meet the person I was portraying, I was motivated to really capture her feelings as her sister was dying from this terrible disease. I enjoyed every aspect of being on Miracles from Heaven,” she said.
For aspiring actors, she recommended that it is essential for them to believe in themselves. “Believing in yourself is the most important thing you can do. When you first start out and haven’t booked any roles, you have to have more faith and follow your dreams. You can learn so much about getting started at Children in Film and there’s a new app where you can practice scenes opposite myself and other known actors, called SceneBot, which can help you get seen by casting directors and talent agents,” she said.
She concluded, “I hope you enjoy Growing Up Smith! Tweet me your thoughts about it at @BriSharbino.”
