Would You Let Your 10 Year Old Daughter Play Esther?

I agree with you I wouldn't let my ten year old daughter play this part, they probably shouldhave used an older actress for it and made her look younger which with the special effects they have these days is entirely possible.
Oh and just as a side note regarding Isabelle's age she was actually 12 when the film was released so I assume she may have been 11 going on 12 when she made it but thats still to young for this part in my eyes.

"I'll set my course by you my northern star"

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No absolutely not cookie crumb. When people act, they become and they have to completely believe they are that character and see things from their perspective. It can be quite hard to shake off. A 10 or 12 year old are too innocent for this sort of role and the complex and dark issues. I wouldn't want my child playing a psychopath. I wouldn't mind at 16 or 17 though.

I would if they wanted to sign up for the part. Isabelle Fuhrman did a truly terrifying job as Esther, but she's as nice a person as you'd ever meet in real life. Although she can scare the sh*t out of you with one good glare.

Well, maybe. If she really, really, wanted it, than yes. But if it was " I guess" than no.

The part where she comes on to the dad made me consider that a pre-adolescent girl was necking a 30+ man on film; acting or not, it's disturbing.

Her character was 9 but in real life she was 11 when it was filmed. By that age she would know the "facts of life" and the actors were not really nude/humping when this was filmed (it's not a porno)... if Isabelle was even really in the room at that point. And wearing the black dress or getting changed like in a locker room shot from a distance and not much detail was seen aren't really all that much. Filmmakers are generally very careful about that kind of stuff.

As for the violence, that would have also been toned down. Isabelle obviously didn't actually kill anyone. It was just shot to make it look like she did. We do haunted house stuff with fake blood every year for Halloween. She probably had fun pretending to be a serial killer.

BOT- Would I let my daughter play Esther? It depends on the kid. Every child is different and develops at different rates. Some kids would be really afraid any kind of scary thing and no way would they want fake blood. My sister Emily is Isabelle's age and I don't think she would do a role like this even at her current age of 15. My sister Jessica has always loved all kinds of scary movies even when she was a little girl and nothing bothered her (she loves making haunted houses), so if she was interested in doing a movie at 11 I don't think it would be that big of a deal.

I don't know how Isabelle managed to do a film like this when I heard she doesn't like scary movies, but her acting was great and they probably added a lot of stuff in later.

I don't think I would want my child to play a psycho killer. It's hard to tell, though, because so many horror films have behind the scenes interviews where directors state that scenes are manipulated in such a way that child actors don't see what we see on screen. They compile footage and add sound and CGI effects afterwards, so a child might just see a dummy lying on the floor with maybe a little red paint, or maybe they are in front of a green screen and then the scary background is added in later. Filming such scenes probably isn't too scary for children. I doubt that the parents of children who act in scary movies allow their kids to watch the final film.

I definitely wouldn't want my child acting in a sexual scene, such as depicted in Orphan. Esther was really trying to interact in an inappropriate way and you can't CGI that. Plus, even if they could CGI such a scene, I would be concerned that creeps would think of my child in an inappropriate way.

My child is only in 2nd grade. Perhaps Isabelle was more mature. She was eleven years old, right? She may have been better mentally prepared for bloody scenes and cursing.