Chartiers-Houston student appears in independent movie being screened Friday
Film part of Three Rivers Arts Festival
Most of us feel a little weird about seeing ourselves on any kind of screen, no matter how large or small, and can approach the experience with a bit of trepidation.
Harper Humphries will have the chance to see herself on a big screen Friday. And she’s not feeling jittery about it at all.
“I’m excited,” said Humphries, who is 12 and a sixth-grader at Chartiers-Houston Junior-Senior High School.
Humphries, her family and some friends will be venturing to the Lindsay Theater and Cultural Center in Sewickley for the local premiere of “The Gymnast,” an independent film that was made in the region and set in Pittsburgh in the 1980s. It is being screened as part of the Three Rivers Film Festival, which started Wednesday and continues through Nov. 15.
In the movie, Humphries has a supporting role, playing a young gymnast in a story about a 16-year-old girl who is training for the Olympics, dealing with all the drama of being a teenager and confronting an injury. It was made in the area in 2023 by first-time director Charlotte Glynn, who will be discussing the movie after it is shown.
Humphries has already appeared in several movie and television productions, and most recently portrayed a soccer player for an upcoming television commercial for laundry detergent that was made in Connecticut. Humphries’ other credits include achievements as a student athlete – she was one of the students involved in forming a girls’ wrestling team at her school.
Since she has been acting for a couple of years now, what is her favorite part of the process? Meeting other actors.
“It’s fun to be around people who have the same interests as you,” Humphries explained.
Showtime for “The Gymnast” is at 7 p.m. For information, go online to filmpittsburgh.org.