Young actress launches film career with lofty goals

Madison Lipoff decided at the age of 3 that she belonged in the movies

By: Lacey Korevec
   MONROE — Eight-year-old Madison Lipoff’s ultimate goal is to win an Academy Award. And if folks are only as good as the company they keep, then she’s got a good shot.
   "My ultimate goal in acting is to get an Academy Award because Tatum O’Neal got an Academy Award when she was 10 and I met her, so I want to be 8 when I get one," she said.
   As an actress in commercials and film, Madison has met actors such as Matt Damon, William Hurt and Aidan Quinn. In addition, she may also be the only third-grader at Mill Lake School who has a resume, work permits and an official Screen Actors Guild card.
   At the end of the school day, as many of her classmates head home, or to activities like piano lessons and soccer practice, Madison goes to New York and gets into character.
   Though she’s had a passion for movies and acting since she was 3, Madison only began working professionally about a year ago, when she was 7, her mother, Liz Lipoff said. Since then she has received a handful of roles including commercials for Radio Shack, Kmart, Comcast and Build-A-Bear, and small parts in upcoming films including the epic thriller "The Good Shepherd" and the comedic drama "Dirty Laundry."
   "At 3, she said she felt it in her heart that she needed to be in movies and on the stage," Ms. Lipoff said. "She couldn’t explain it, but she knew that it was what she wanted to do every time she saw actors. It just happened through circumstance that somebody I knew had a manager and recommended Madison. It all fell into place when she was 7."
   Skeptical of the industry her young daughter wanted to be a part of, Ms. Lipoff said she was cautious, but has since grown comfortable with the whole situation.
   "She liked the actual process," she said. "I never really did. I thought it was a very competitive field and I thought it was very difficult. I guess when she sort of got mature enough, the opportunity was presented to me and I didn’t want to not let her pursue her dream."
   Madison, who is also a Pop Warner Monroe Wolverines cheerleader, has two agents, a manager, and the full-time support of her parents and two older brothers, who travel with her to work most days. Madison said it’s great being able to spend time with her whole family so often while traveling to work, even though her brothers, Julian, 10, and Jeremy, 12, are not always eager to go for an hour-long car ride after school.
   "They want to stay home and play video games," she said. "They have a good time though. Once they get into the city, they have a good time."
   When the whole group can’t make it, Madison and her mom take the train in.
   "Madison and I have left sometimes at three o’clock in the morning to get on the train and get to the city," Ms. Lipoff said. "Every time is an adventure. You never know the outcome of an audition. And the opportunity is amazing."
   Madison’s first audition was for the national tour of "Annie." With her natural curly red hair, she seemed born for the part. Though she didn’t get it, Ms. Lipoff said she was stunned to see how natural her daughter seemed in front of real casting directors for the first time.
   "She did very well," she said. "She was the youngest girl there. She went right up there in front of all the casting directors and felt very at home. Right then, I knew that she would be able to do what she wants to do."
   When Madison heard that she was up for the part of an extra in the film "The Good Shepherd," she went online and started learning German so that she would have a better chance at landing a speaking part.
   "She plays a little girl in West Berlin," Ms. Lipoff said. "One day, I just heard German coming from the computer. She was on it and she typed in ‘learn to speak German’ and she practiced for a long time."
   Working on set is sometimes a challenge. For "The Good Shepherd," Madison was there from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and her scene was filmed in cold, rainy weather, Ms. Lipoff said. It’s times like those that Ms. Lipoff said she asks Madison if she’s happy and wants to keep at it or take a break from acting. But Madison never complains and continues to set high goals for herself, Ms. Lipoff said.
   "When she’s done acting and she’s off the set, she’s just your average kid," she said. "It makes you realize that the actors, they’re just like us."
   All of the money Madison earns through her acting work goes straight into a trust fund that she will have access to when she’s older, Ms. Lipoff said.
   "It’s for her, for her future," she said. "She’s working hard for it, going on all these auditions and being tired and coming home and falling asleep in the car and going to school the next morning. It’s hard."
   Despite the tiring hours, Ms. Lipoff said she is thankful that her daughter never seems to feel any kind of pressure or stress. Madison is comfortable balancing school work with her acting career and said she doesn’t mind traveling back and forth from home to the city three to four times a week for auditions, filming and voice lessons.
   "It feels good, because instead of school work, I’m doing acting work," she said. "And during school, I’m happy because I’m doing school work instead of acting work."
   But being in third grade, where the work is harder than it was for her last year, Madison said she expects she’ll have to start bringing homework with her to the city so that she can work on it between filming.
   "I’m probably going to have to do that this year because I really need to do my homework," she said.
   Aside from winning her Oscar, Madison said she also hopes to live in a mansion and own her own hover car, if they’re available by the time she grows up.
   In the meantime, Ms. Lipoff said she is just grateful that Madison has met so much success with less than one year in the business. The family is planning a trip out to Los Angeles for part of next summer and looks forward to seeing how Madison’s dream plays out.
   "She’s got something," she said. "I’m never going to stop any of my kids from doing what they want to do. She wants to win an Academy Award by the time she’s 8, so we better keep moving."