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CLOSTER

“What do you want to be whenyou grow up?” This question isamong those most common for chil-dren to be asked. As they age, theanswer typically changes: a cow-

boy, a doctor, an astronaut, an ath-lete. But one young Closter boy isalready taking strides towards hisgoal to become a director of films.

Regan Mizrahi is, in manyways, a typical 10-year-old boy. Heis on the honor roll at his publicschool, has many friends, plays thepiano and saxophone, and has alucky nickel. However, he!ll tell youthat he likes to book the red-eyeflight from Los Angeles so that hecan land by 6 a.m. and get to schoolon time in the morning. And thatlucky nickel? Well, it was in hispocket the very day he landed therole as the voice of “Boots” on theNickelodeon cartoon “Dora theExplorer.”

While he is still a kid, Regan is,undeniably, a mighty ambitious one.

It was his role as “Boots” thatearned him the nomination for aYoung Artists Award for Best Per-formance in a Voice-Over Role inthe young actor category. The 32ndannual awards ceremony will beheld on Sunday, March 13 in StudioCity, Calif. Mizrahi will be attend-ing the gala, and hopes to make hisreturn trip on the red eye with a newaccomplishment on his resume.

While on the subject, alreadylisted on Regan!s resume are sever-al skits on NBC!s “Saturday NightLive,” guest starring roles on twoepisodes of the FX firefighter drama“Rescue Me,” dozens of commer-cials, the aforementioned voice-overon “Dora the Explorer” and his lat-est gig as “Little Brian” in the film“White Irish Drinkers” that opens intheaters on March 25.

Regan, who started his careerat age 4, isn!t the only one in thefamily with a penchant for acting.His mother, Michelle, has been act-ing since she was 5, and her grand-father was also an actor.

“He auditioned for "Boots!three years ago,” says Michelle.

“On the way to the audition hefound a nickel. He put it in his pock-et and felt like it was a sign: nickel,Nickelodeon. He carried that nickelto his callback, then to his trialdemo. He got the job, and kept thenickel.”

Today it remains in a specialplace in his room as he travels backand forth to a studio in New York

City where he records voice-oversfor the cartoon as well as Wiigames, Nintendo DS games and allthe toys that have his character.

“What I love about acting isyou get a chance to be other peo-ple,” Regan tells Northern ValleyPress. “When I grow up I want to bea film director and have a chair withmy name on it, and show the worldmy point of view. I want to do greatprojects that make a difference.”

“On every location job he asksthe director if he can look throughtheir lens,” adds Michelle. “Hewants to see what they see. I alwaysjoke and ask him if he is looking forhis bright future.”

One of Regan!s favorite jobs sofar was filming a Verizon commer-cial with his brother. The two weredressed as creepy twins reminiscentof the ghost twins in “The Shining.”He had only gotten to work with hisbrother one other time in a “Satur-day Night Live” short called“Broadview Security.”

Prior to filming “White IrishDrinkers” Regan worked on filmsincluding “Wedding Daze” and “IceAge 3.”

“He had a nice part in "OldDogs! that got cut out. He didn!tmind, though, because he spent theday with Robin Williams doing astunt on a roof and wanted to knowif he could add "stunt man! to hisresume,” says Michelle. “He hasbeen flown to L.A. a bunch of timesand been down to the final two asthe lead on a bunch of projects. Butthe rule in our house is, if you don!tget the part you have only one dayto be sad. It!s a tough business andyou won!t always get what youwant. I kind of feel like my grandfa-ther is looking down, guidingRegan!s path. If it wasn!t meant tobe his, there!s a reason.”

Photo courtesy Michelle Mizrahi

Rising star:Regan Mizrahi

BY LAURIE KAPLANOF NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS

Regan Mizrahi, 10, already has roles on “Saturday Night Live”and “Dora the Explorer” on his acting resume.

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