The Monroe Midnight Soccer Team will appear in a scene of the upcoming movie, "Stuart Little 2" expected to be released in June 2002.
By: Nick D’Amore, Staff Writer
MONROE – The Monroe Midnight Soccer Team will soon get their 15 minutes of fame.
At the very least, it will get four.
The traveling soccer team of 8- and 9-year-old boys will appear in a scene of the upcoming movie, "Stuart Little 2" expected to be released in June 2002. Movie stars Geena Davis, who starred in the first "Stuart Little" movie and Jonathan Lipnicki of "Jerry Maguire" fame.
Laurie Landy, whose son Harry, 9, is on the team, said Harry and her other son Jeremy, 11, do modeling with an agency.
"The agency called to see if we were interested in being in the movie as part of a traveling soccer team," said Ms. Landy.
"And we asked them if they needed a team, which they did," she said.
The kids worked for five days for 12 hours each day, starting at 5 a.m. The total length of their scene will be four minutes.
The kids said they had fun while shooting their scenes, a soccer tournament, but that there was a lot of waiting around in between shots.
"It was fun, but sometimes it was boring," said Ryan Miller, 9.
"One shot took six hours," said Kevin LeBrun, 9.
The kids were in New York City filming for about five days last month, said Ms. Landy.
"They had a school set up and the kids went to school while they were there," she said.
Timmy Merrick, 8, said having to go to school was the only part that was not fun.
Both the parents and kids found it interesting to see how movies were made.
"It was something to be in it," said Robert LeBrun, father of soccer player, Kevin, 9, and a scorekeeper in the movie.
"It’s interesting to see what it takes for one scene and how many people are involved," he said.
The kids also got to hang out with the young stars of the movie, including Jonathan Lipnicki, who they all agreed was just a regular kid.
"Playing soccer and meeting the stars was my favorite part," said Anthony Torres, 9.
The team also got some autographs. Peter Micciulla, 6, whose older brother, Dominic is on the team, even obtained the director’s autograph.
The director is Robert Minkoff, who directed the first Stuart Little movie and The Lion King.
Some of the kids had some interesting moments, including Ryan, who made his mark on the set when he kicked the ball into one of the cameras, breaking the lens.
"I was supposed to kick it to the camera without the lens," he said. However, Mr. Minkoff ended up loving the shot, said Ryan.
Nick Chen, 9, is a goalie on the team and played the goalie in the movie.
"I was in almost every shot," he said.
Also, on the team and in the movie are Chris Pritzlaff, John Dougherty and Adam Peterson.