Holliston Coleman as Holly Stephenson/Captain Redlocks!

 "Writing Proving Ground for Holli was as much a mission from God as it was a privilege. She's one of the most gifted actresses of this generation. She deserves the best roles...she deserves the lead roles. I have no doubt she'll establish a new standard to be aspired to in the arts." - Kevin M. Kraft, screenwriter, director, producer

Holliston Coleman began acting at age four when, on her first theatrical audition, she booked a role written for a six year old.  Holliston was so convincing and articulate that despite no filming experience she booked the part of  Horace Bing’s daughter on the popular and long-running television series Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, with Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jane Seymour.  The part called for Holliston to master an extensive number of lines, to sing both in a group and solo, and to shed tears for her father. 

Since then, Holliston has tackled a number of roles beyond her years.  At the age of six, she booked the title role as  “the Child” in the Paramount feature film Bless the Child, starring opposite Academy Award winner Kim Basinger.  The role was described in the breakdown by the Paramount features casting director as “perhaps the toughest role ever written for a six year old.”  Holliston played an autistic child overwhelmed by messages from God and pursued by agents of evil. 

As a largely silent autistic child on screen the majority of the film, Holliston had to communicate a vast emotional range with expression and posture.  One critic described her as having “dead-on instincts when acting with her face and body.”  Her performance was hailed by critics nationwide, with the New York Times proclaiming her to be “enormously compelling … a real find.”  People Magazine raved that “the best acting comes from Holliston, who brings real gravitas to her scenes.”   Holliston received over sixty positive reviews nationwide. (See attached.) 

Later, Holliston was selected from a national search to play the title role in a TNT film Miss Lettie and Me, filmed on location in Georgia, in which Holliston played opposite Mary Tyler Moore and Burt Reynolds, both Golden Globe and Emmy winners and Academy Award nominees.  The filming of Miss Lettie and Me was extremely demanding in that Holliston filmed every day of the shoot and was on screen most of the film.  She played Moore’s feisty niece who has unexpectedly come to live with her.  The producer, Beth Poulson, noted that Holliston’s maturity, focus, ability, and sweetness were so unusual that she would recommend Holliston to “any production, anytime.” 

Holliston also performed as the voice of Lilo’s classmate Aleka in Disney’s animated film Lilo & Stitch II.

Between films, Coleman continues to be offered extremely challenging roles in television dramas.  In Law and Order: SVU, Holli played a pregnant 12 year old, the illegal wife of a cult leader whom she finally shoots, in what lead Marishka Haggerty called “an Emmy-worthy performance in her favorite episode”.  In Medium, Holli plays a recurring role as the best friend of Patricia Arquette’s daughter.   Touched by an Angel tapped Holliston for one of the biggest roles they’ve ever offered a child, calling for virtually continuous screen time as a near-orphan guided by angels in her search for her missing father.  In Judging Amy, Holliston portrayed a difficult, emotionally charged based-on-truth story of a disturbed young girl whose mother eventually murdered her.  In Ally McBeal, Holliston played a young girl torn by her father’s infidelity to her mother, and in ER, Holliston was asked to portray a young girl driven to kill her father in self-defense. 

Holliston’s film experiences also include Supreme Sanction, in which she played opposite Michael Madsen and David Dukes as the daughter of a man pursued by assassins, and Norman Jewison’s Emmy-nominated Dinner with Friends, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name.  In Dinner with Friends, Holliston had the privilege of acting as the daughter of Academy Award nominee Toni Colette and Academy Award nominee Greg Kinnear, as well as with Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell. 

Holliston has extensive international experience.  She filmed Bless the Child for four months in Canada, and recently traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria to film Run for the Money, an action-drama with Christian Slater, Val Kilmer, and Daryl Hannah.  Holliston portrayed Slater’s daughter, kidnapped by Kilmer.

Holliston has already accumulated a rich variety of experiences in film making.  She has acted around fire and explosions, participated in car chase and accident stunts, had a full body double cast made (requiring her to be still while her entire head and body were wrapped in plaster), was in a harness two stories high against a green screen background (she did flips in the harness between takes for fun), has been filmed underwater, remained motionless for over an hour while special CG cameras were programmed frame by frame, acted against non-existent CG creatures, and acted under huge wind fans and rain-making equipment.  Holliston has also acted with animals and birds, both live and animatronic.

For her title roles in Bless the Child, Holliston was honored with a prestigious Saturn Award nomination for Best Performance by a Younger Actor from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.  For her title roles in both Bless the Child and Miss Lettie and Me, Holliston received Young Artist Award nominations for Best Performance.  In honor of her inspiring role as Cody in Bless the Child, Holliston was asked to be a Presenter at the televised Family Film Awards.

In spite of Holliston’s interesting and busy life as an actress, she remains a normal kid with an array of friends from church and neighborhood, and has surrounded herself with a variety of pets and outside activities.  Holli and her family have owned and loved pets including: dogs, cats, rabbits, sheep, chinchillas, hedgehogs, parrots, guinea pigs, mice, lizards, frogs, fish, and a large tortoise.  Holli is currently taking swim and diving training at the Olympic Rose Bowl Aquatic Center.  She also takes gymnastics and piano lessons.  Holli loves to sing and dance.

Holli enjoys learning new accents for her potential roles.  She has been tutored by Robert Easton, the renowned “Henry Higgins of Hollywood” for various accents from Irish to Santa-Fe Western.  Easton says Holliston is a quick study with an excellent ear and a remarkable ability to pick up the nuances of language.

Holli home-schools year-round with her mother Doris (a former writing instructor at USC and Cal State University, Northridge), her father Bob (a Caltech grad and software development engineer), and her younger brother Bobby, whom she in turn is helping to educate.

FILM REVIEWS OF HOLLISTON COLEMAN AS ‘THE CHILD’ IN

PARAMOUNT’S  “BLESS THE CHILD”

" Holliston Coleman … is enormously compelling, a real find. "

-- Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times

" Newcomer Coleman makes a fine impression.”                                     

 -- Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

“Coleman suggests a complex mind ticking behind the innocent face” 

-- Robert Koehler,  Variety

“ Holliston Coleman gives a REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE”

            — Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide

" The best acting comes from Holliston, who brings real gravitas to her scenes."    

 -- People Magazine

"Holliston Coleman, refreshingly unprecocious"

               -- Katrina Onstad, National Post

"Holliston Coleman in a very self-possessed performance… delivers a finely-modulated and totally unselfconscious performance." 

 -- Dennis King, Tulsa World

" In 1999, a young actor named Haley Joel Osment burst onto the scene with a spectacular performance in a scary movie (The Sixth Sense) in which he stood head and shoulders above his big-name Hollywood co-stars. ...In 2000, this pattern was repeated.... the young actor is Holliston Coleman. ... Coleman's impressive big screen debut...IS a treat to watch … without any sign of child-star precociousness. Young Holliston Coleman’s performance is great "                         

-- Brian Webster, Apollo Guide

" Holliston Coleman puts in the film's best performance. Quiet and understated, you almost believe this girl knows and sees more than all the adults fighting over her. "               

 -- James Kendrick, Film Desk Reviews

“Bless the Child: She's the Bright Spot in the Picture

Holliston Coleman's film debut is a wonder. Coleman puts in a solid, shaded performance. ... She displays dead-on instincts when acting with her face and body.  Her fear seems real, as does her joy...She has a bright future ahead of her... "           

-- John G. Nettles, The Cabinet of Dr. Casey

" There are wonderful moments in ‘Bless the Child.’ For the film to work...the right performer had to be chosen to play Cody, and Coleman is up to the task...she shines beatifically.”      

--Vicky Edwards, Chicago Tribune

"Holliston Coleman, the best and most sensitive actor in the movie …" 

 -- Barbara Lester, Ft Lauderdale City Link

"Young Holliston Coleman… is a real find, and dodges all dangers of becoming an unctuous child actor" 

 -- Dustin Putman, Young-Hollywood.com

" Casting Coleman as Cody was a marvelous move "                   

 -- Pam Grady, Reel.com

“ SMART, TALENTED ”      

                     -- Mary F. Pols,  Contra Costa Times

" 'Bless the Child' also benefits from the child itself: Holliston Coleman as Cody.  There's an earthiness to her, an edge to her girlishness.. ."                           

-- Donald Munro, The Fresno Bee

"Sewell..and young actress Holliston Coleman ...certainly pull more than their share of the load."

-- Lesley Jacobs

" … especially seven-year-old Holliston Coleman turned it out.  She is blessed, indeed.”           

-- Tim Bennett, checkout.com

"The movie is effective... because of fine performances of … Coleman."   

 -- Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope

" Coleman did a wonderful job "

              -- Holly McClure, The New Movie Show

"…solemnly appealing"

-- Lawrence Toppman,  The Charlotte Observer

"Holliston Coleman is quite believable as the troubled Cody."

 -- Laura Clifford, ReelingReviews.com

"Holliston Coleman put[s] her adult colleagues to shame..."

 -- Todd Anthony, Sun-Sentinel

"Holliston Coleman (Cody) gives a great show. She’s very convincing and I felt for her. Impressive…" 

 -- Movie Emporium

"...this film’s titular child...  charming and lovable"

 -- J. Rentilly, TNT's Rough Cut

"beatific Holliston Coleman"

 -- Rita Kempley, Washington Post

 " Holliston Coleman delivers the best performance of the film. " 

 -- Kris Worrell,  Albany Times Union

"quite good as Cody ... the little girl is VERY aware of what is going on around her!"

 -- Dave Forsmark, The Flint Journal

"Coleman is appealing  …" 

-- Bob Campbell, The Star-Ledger, N.J.

"clearly gifted child actor Coleman"

-- Matthre Breen, MYOC Spotlight on Movies

" Coleman… manages to look beatific, disoriented, and terrified throughout …" 

-- Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News

"…newcomer Coleman provides the proper angelic/spooky countenance as the mysterious Cody."

 -- Mark Burger,  Winston-Salem Journal

"Blessings on the moviemakers for…casting Holliston Coleman, a sweet, good child actor, as Cody." 

                -- Mary Kunz, Buffalo News

"She's  a cute kid who does a good job…" 

 -- Kevin M. Williams, Chicago Sun-Times

" Cody [is] played sweetly by Holliston Coleman. ...Touches in 'Bless the Child'…show filmmakers were taking it seriously, usually involving young Coleman.  When she comforts a homeless man, for example, or quietly heals an ill woman…Coleman's performance is good… "

 -- John Keenan, Omaha World Herald

" Holliston manages a welcome innocence & wisdom"

-- D.T. Baker, Edmonton Journal, Alberta

"Director Chuck Russell['s]... central character is a six-year-old girl (played with ethereal grace by young Holliston Coleman), but he doesn't shove her down our throats with cutesy moments or mugging reaction shots."  

 -- Teddy Durgin, Day Tips. Com

"Holliston Coleman manages to look both adorable and empathetic as the child with special powers…"       

-- Jay Carr, Boston Globe

"Which leaves newcomer Holliston Coleman as the Angel of Mercy.  She's a natural in front of the camera.  And she honestly earns our sympathies... [her] earnestness ..."

                -- Kevin Courrier, Globe and Mail

"Coleman is impressive as the beatific child."

-- Michael H. Kleinschrodt, New Orleans Times-Picayune

"the crowd broke into...applause three times as Cody (precious Holliston Coleman) stood up to the malevolent Stark." 

-- Hap Erstein, Palm Beach Post

"Cody,…drawing appreciative cheers from the audience…" 

-- Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Daily News

“beatific little girl …enchanting child actor Holliston Coleman" 

-- Tribune/ Get Out, Phoenix

“The…one who shows…enthusiasm is young Holliston Coleman.” 

-- James Berardinelli, colossus.net

“…Coleman is a gifted actress.” 

-- Christopher Null, filmcritic.com

" Holliston Coleman (Cody) gives a great show. She’s very convincing and I felt for her.  Impressive ”  

--www.joblo.com

" Holliston Coleman is cute.... the little girl is darling.  

-- RossAnthony.com

 “Holliston Coleman is appealing...” 

-- Kathryn Jenson White, Daily Oklahoman 

 “…a cute little redhead with almost as many dimples as freckles…” 

-- Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Holliston Coleman                SAG

Hair:  Red   Eyes: Hazel   DOB: 6/30/92   Height: 5’1”   Weight: 95 lbs          

Coast to Coast Talent Group, Meredith Fine             (323) 845-9200

FILM

Bless the Child                       Title Lead - “the Child”            Paramount            Toronto

            Kim Basinger, Christina Ricci, Ian Holm

miss lettie and me                  Title Lead - “Me”                 TNT                 Atlanta

            Mary Tyler Moore, Burt Reynolds

Lilo & stitch II         Animation            Voice-over for “Aleka”            DISNEY         Los Angeles

A CAROL CHRISTMAS                        Lead as “Lily”                            Hallmark          Los Angeles

            Tori Spelling, William Shatner