Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 21, 1994 TAG: 9403220137
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WENDI GIBSON RICHERT STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Just ask Nathan Briggs and Richie Cannaday of Roanoke. Both had smiles that impressed judges at the JCPenney Kid Search modeling contest.
And both impressed the judges enough to be named regional finalists with a chance to compete for a $150,000 modeling contract and scholarships for college. Indeed, their smiles were two of 100 chosen from 60,000 applicants. Each won a JCPenney portrait package and the chance to go on to the semifinals in the modeling competition.
Both boys say it doesn't matter, though, if they win any more modeling prizes. In fact, only Nathan went to the next level of competition in Washington, D.C. While both love to smile for the camera, they're also content with their lives right here at home.
Nathan, a third-grader at Westside Elementary School in Roanoke, is anything but shy. But, "I'm not very laugh-a-tive either," he adds.
Still, he flashes a bright and happy smile when he talks. "My mom entered me [in the modeling contest] and one day it came in the mail - the letter. And my dad said `Look at this!' "
That letter told Nathan that he'd been selected a regional finalist and that he could go to the next level of competition - an interview with modeling agency judges in Washington, D.C. He went to that interview in February. Not being shy, he says he wasn't nervous about talking to the strangers who asked him questions.
"They asked me what I like to do. I said when I come home I like to harass my momma," he laughs. What he wishes they had asked him is what he likes to harass his mom about. But, "they didn't ask me serious questions," he recalls.
Nathan's modeling experience is limited to modeling outfits with his sister in Radford. "I was a little bit shy because everybody kept staring at me," he remembers. "I kind of liked the attention, though."
Ask him to smile and pose for pictures, though, and he's a pro. His secret? He won't tell, except to say "I just like to keep my smile."
Nathan keeps his smile when not modeling or posing for pictures. His favorite subject is math and he also sings, plays the violin and is getting ready to take tap dance lessons at his school. Add to that his participation in Odyssey of the Mind, T-ball, football, baseball, swimming and basketball. He also studies hard so he can be an engineer like his dad.
Richie has never modeled, he says. But the pictures his mom sent to the JCPenney folks told them he'd be pretty good at it if he did. And besides, he says, he's always liked having his picture taken.
What Richie is more interested in, though, is acting. Most recently, he played Dill in Mill Mountain Theatre's production of "To Kill a Mockingbird." That was a big role in a professional, grown-up play. The rehearsals and performances took him away from his own friends and caused him to miss some school for weeks.
They also caused him to miss the finals for the JCPenney modeling contest. "It wasn't much of a choice," he says. Deciding to stay home and be in the play instead of going to the competition was easy because he knew how much he loved acting.
"I really don't want to put modeling down, he stresses. "But I love to act. I like to talk. I like to show my enthusiasm. There's not much I can say modeling."
In December, Richie had played a small role in Mill Mountain's play, "1940s Radio Hour." Because of that, Richie knew what an audience's applause sounded like. He tried out for "To Kill a Mockingbird" and doubted he'd even get a role. He waited three months before learning that he did.
" `To Kill a Mockingbird' is a really big thing to me," he says. "It's not that I don't want to model, but I wanted the part."
Now that the play's finished and Richie has returned to his normal life as a sixth-grader at Cloverdale Elementary School in Botetourt County, he has no regrets. "I've had a lot of fun working under the direction of Ernie Zulia," the director of the play. And, "I've made friends down at the play," he adds.
That still didn't stop him from missing his own friends - and three birthday parties - while performing in the play. Not to mention his other school activities - basketball, baseball, soccer, Odyssey of the Mind, chorus and his job as his school's SCA president.
While happy with their lives right here at home, both Nathan and Richie can envision a day spent smiling for the camera and making money doing it. Nathan, given the chance, would love to model Nikes and be on the inside pages of the JCPenney catalog - which pay more than the cover picture, he says. And Richie laughs: "I'd like to model toys."
by CNB