On the Verge: An Interview with Christen Harper of 'Auggie'

Newcomer Christen Harper stars in the title role of Auggie, a sci-fi drama about a retiree (Richard Kind) who falls in love with his augmented-reality companion, played by Harper. His life unravels when he begins to prefer his virtual relationship over his real-life relationships.

Harper began her career as a model, but Auggie is her feature acting debut. She spoke to Casting Networks about her big break, and how modeling actually helped her nab the role.

What was your audition like for this film?

They were casting out of New York and I’m based in Los Angeles, so I submitted tape for it. The interesting thing about this role was that everything was going to be shot point-of-view. So, for the casting tape, instead of reading off-camera, I had to read directly to the camera. I had a lot of familiarity with that because I worked as a model for so many years and was used to staring down the camera. For many actors, that’s the opposite of what you’re supposed to be doing in a scene. I had a comfortability with that, and I think that separated me from a lot of the other people auditioning.

Christen Harper

As Richard Kind’s virtual Auggie, did you even get to work with him if most of your scenes are close-ups of you looking into the camera?

The great thing about Richard was that he read almost all his scenes to me off-camera [during shooting]. When I was looking into the camera, he was a little off to the right, reading to me. We actually did a lot of rehearsing, which also helped. It was a challenge not to be able to play off someone directly and to not be able to look at them and react off of what they’re doing at that moment. I had to remember how Richard reacted we were rehearsing, and then put that on to the camera, which was interesting.

Your first IMDB credit is an AFI short called Seven’s Eleven. Did you always want to act?

I was about nine years old when I did that. At the time I was doing a lot of commercial acting, working as a model and going out on a lot of auditions. It’s something I always wanted to do. When I was about 12, I played a young innocent girl who was a fan on Entourage. I went out for so many Disney auditions as a kid. Nothing ever stuck, so eventually, I decided to continue with school and then later, revisited acting. When I signed with my managers last year, Auggie came along. It happened really quickly and suddenly.

Next up is a supporting role in the Ali LeRoi film The Obituary of Tunde Johnson, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month. You play a part of a high school girl-clique led by actress Nicola Peltz. How did that role happen?

That also began with a self-tape. It was a small role, and they were going for a specific look. The other girl in the girl group they cast had a similar look to me. They wanted two brunettes opposite Nicola Peltz, who’s a blonde.

Self-tape seems to be very common in the audition process. As someone who began auditioning since she was a child, how have you seen this process grow and change?

Coming back into acting this past year, the biggest difference compared to when I was younger is the self-tape. That comes with a different set of pressures and challenges. Auditioning in person, you can adjust and alter things based on feedback from the casting director. With self-tape, you’re sending something in that you hope is exactly what they want. But self-tape makes things easier if your schedule won’t let you make the audition, or you’re in a different state. It’s opened doors for a lot more people.

Doing this since you were a kid, you must be pretty comfortable auditioning by now.

I don’t know if you ever get comfortable. I would love to think that you do, but I am definitely not there yet. I do think you become more confident in yourself the more you do it, but auditions are always nerve-wracking because you want to go in and do your best. What’s always helped me is knowing that you are the way you are, and if they want that, they’ll get you. If they don’t, it’s not yours. Because if you think you’re never going to be good enough to book something, that can wear on you over the years.

That’s a healthy way of looking at it. How did you acquire that attitude?

I obviously didn’t book any Disney shows. [Laughs] I had so much rejection at a young age and all that rejection helped me learn that. I had a lot of no’s. In fact, it seemed like it was always a no. Instead of getting frustrated and giving up, I learned not to take it personally. Knowing that has been helpful with both my modeling and acting careers.

Has modeling been a hindrance to your acting career?

When I was trying to make a push for acting, I wondered if I should totally step away from modeling. When I got Auggie, not that it uses my modeling abilities, but the whole idea of this specific point of view, this character looking into the camera head-on the entire time, that’s what I had going for me. I had such a comfortable relationship with looking into a camera, which I would not have had if it wasn’t for modeling. That was the one thing that I was really thankful for.

Auggie opens in theaters on September 20, 2019.

 
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