Sloane Morgan Siegel Stars in Amazon's "Gortimer Gibbon's Life On Normal Street!"
Season 2 is Now Available on Amazon!
By: Samira Shahbandy
When Sloane Morgan Siegel's mom heard a commercial looking for actors and took him to an audition, Siegel hadn't thought anything of it. He hadn't even considered acting until someone mentioned it to him at an international dance competition. Perhaps it was fate.
His first acting job wasn't on screen like most actors. His was on a recording.
"My first professional job was doing a reading of a boy on the Titanic. It was for an audiobook," Siegel recalls.
He continued getting jobs, scoring a guest spot on the Nickelodeon show "Big Time Rush." Since then, Siegel has come quite a long way. The fifteen-year-old actor is currently playing the lead role on Amazon's "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street."
The show is about a young boy who seems to always find adventures to go on in his seemingly normal neighborhood. Although, the street is anything but normal as Gortimer and his friends, Mel (Ashley Boettcher, "Aliens in the House") and Ranger (Drew Justice, "The Little Rascals Save the Day"), continuously look for the magic hidden in their own backyard. With their quick wit and creative minds, they make anything possible on such a normal street.
His show, however, isn't on television like typical shows. It's featured on Amazon. That, however, did not change the audition process.
"It was like any other audition. You go, audition, and hope for a callback. I did a show that Amazon saw. A producer [from Amazon Studios] was there. I was the first and last person they saw [for the part of Gortimer]," Siegel said.
The second season of the show, although much like the first, has an element of change in it.
"The second season is about change. It's about moving onto teenagedom," Siegel said.
As his character on the show grows and matures, Siegel finds himself growing as well.
"I have a lot in common with Gortimer. We're one in the same. As the series has gone by, I've become more and more like him," Siegel said. "He's a good kid, who does the right things for his family. I'm really growing up with him.
In the first season, he's a kid with two besties, going on everyday adventures. In the second season, he deals with more situations as he grows up. People go through things every day that he goes through - you really get to see that in the show."
Fans of shows typically have their favorite moments of the show, but actors also have their favorite moments whilst they film certain episodes.
"My favorite episode form the second season is Gortimer vs Gortimer. I kind of clone myself. It switches between characters really fast. It was filmed ten times each and you could see it all ten times. It was a blast to film," Siegel said.
**See a bunch of pics from "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street" by clicking on the photo below:
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As for his favorite part of filming, it's not the show itself that makes him happy, it's who he's working with on set.
"Coming in every day and seeing people smile is my favorite part [of filming]. We all love making the show. The final cut is also really cool to watch. I get to see different versions of myself, which is an amazing thing. I love working on it," Siegel said.
There's a bit of skepticism surrounding a show that's online versus on television, or even on Netflix. Many would argue that it's a bad idea and ratings would be terrible, but Siegel was quick to counter that claim.
"The show is released all at once. Everyone binge watches shows. You don't even have to wait, you can see it all right away. And competing shows, like on television, get canceled. My show 'Partners' did. Streaming online lets people choose versus letting Networks," Siegel said.
When he's not being Gortimer Gibbon, Siegel enjoys a range of activities.
"In my spare time, I play videogames, hang out with friends, in door skydiving, skating-all that fun stuff."
Like most young actors his age, Siegel is still in school. Balancing school and his career is difficult, but not much more difficult than he thought.
"There are three things to juggle: acting, school, and social life. I can run on a lot less sleep than I thought. School is important; acting is a job, but it's also a privilege. Sometimes, I've just got to improvise [balancing school and acting]," Siegel said.
Originally, Siegel didn't want to be an actor; in fact, he wanted to do something on a completely different scale.
"It's kind of funny. I didn't want to be an actor, but I fell in love with it. When I was little, I wanted to be a marine biologist, but now I want to be an actor for the rest of my life. I love movies and TV. I love watching and making shows," Siegel said.
His influences include actors such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Matt Damon, Mel Brooks... who inspired his comedic side.
Apart from "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street," Siegel has been working on a TV movie. Like Siegel's show, the movie, "Eddie of the Realms Eternal," also deals with a bit of magic, when a boy is sent to a magical realm to become its hero. Sloane provides the voice of "Eddie" in the animated project which might become a series. The pilot episode is already on Amazon.
For other aspiring young actors, Siegel has a bit of advice.
"Always be yourself. Don't let anyone tell you to look this way or act that way. Persevere. Do your best, try your hardest, and do what you love."
You can catch Sloane as "Gortimer" in Season 1 and the first part of Season 2 on Amazon right now! The second half of "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street: Season 2" will be uploaded to Amazon next year just in time for summer.
Keep up with this rising star by following Sloane on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/SloaneSiegel
To watch "Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street" visit Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street