Marcus senior stars in star-studded Christmas movie – Cross Timbers Gazette | Southern Denton County | flower hill

Claire Capek has filmed hundreds of auditions. She’s also memorized thousands of pages of scripts, wowed casting directors almost at every turn, and held her head up despite her fair share of no callbacks — all with the belief that her first major acting breakthrough was somewhere out there in the universe.

Well, her big break finally came. And now 17-year-old Marcus High School Senior is playing the waiting game again.

Only this time it’s for the world premiere date.

Capek will star alongside Candace Cameron Bure and Marc Blucas in “A Christmas…Present,” which is scheduled to air November 27 on the Great American Family channel. In the film, Maggie Larson (Bure) is a busy Type A mom and successful real estate agent who travels with her husband (Blucas) and children to spend Christmas with her widowed brother and daughter. Through a series of transformative events, Maggie learns to slow down and embrace the reason for the season.

Capek plays Bure’s daughter, Becca Larson. She hopes this will be the first significant domino to fall in her budding career.

“Hopefully. It’s exciting,” Capek said.[Filming a movie] honestly didn’t feel long enough; it passed quickly. But it’s exciting and I love everyone I work with. They were all so nice and welcoming. I’m happy every time I’m on set.”

“A Christmas…Present” is part of the Great American Family network’s Christmas programming, which began October 21 and will air Christmas movies every day through the end of the year. This particular film made headlines considering it’s Bures – most people know her as DJ Tanner from Full House – as the first original Christmas film since leaving Hallmark. She signed with Great American Media in April to develop, produce and star in films and television.

The opportunity to work with such a high-calibre cast is huge for Capek. The 5ft 10in strawberry blonde from Highland Village was first spotted at the age of 5 doing an impromptu runway walk for a children’s magazine. By the time she got to the front of the runway, the judges had already pulled her aside and were smitten with the pint-sized diva.

She was signed to the Kim Dawson Agency and graced the cover of North Texas Child magazine when she was 6 years old. This early success launched a fairly successful modeling career, during which Capek modeled for JC Penny, American Girl, Academy Sports catalogues, and various other opportunities. Two years ago, she added 42 Model Management to the modeling management list. But she stayed with Kim Dawson for acting and continues to train with Cathryn Sullivan’s Acting for Film to perfect her craft.

Until recently, she was always oh so close to a big break.

“She has regular acting auditions and has done several videos and short films. But the challenge was that during her 11 years of non-stop training on Cathryn Sullivan’s Acting for Film, she always came very close to a bigger opportunity, but never had that one big break,” said Claire’s mother, Shannon. “There just haven’t been many acting perfect fits for a 5-10 redhead.”

She added, “To be told no a hundred times and finally get this one means a lot.”

Claire agreed.

“It’s been a big roller coaster because I’ve always been working and doing something,” Claire said of her modeling and acting career. “I remember getting that script and treating it like another audition. I told myself, as always, I would do my best and let it go into the universe. I honestly didn’t think about it after that because I’ve learned after years of auditioning that it’s the best way not to stress about it. But then I got the email from my agent about a call back.”

Claire auditioned for “A Christmas…Present” on August 29 and received her first call back about a week later. Ironically, the Zoom video recall was scheduled for the same day the Capeks were scheduled for the annual St. Ann’s Carnival at their church in Coppell.

Claire and Shannon brought all their gear and settled into an empty room for the recall.

“We’ve always prayed for the right job at the right time and for the right people to surround her,” Shannon said. “The fact that the recall was for a Christian film – and it took place in our church – was an amazing sign.”

Claire was quickly offered the role of Becca Larson. Despite being 8 inches taller than Bure, her height perfectly suited her father on set, Marc Blucas. They began filming on September 22nd and Claire finished her last day on set at 2:15am on October 12th

From there it was back to reality to take her midterm exams and prepare for the homecoming dance.

And in a few days she’ll probably be throwing the biggest local premiere party ever.

“It’s going to be an exciting time to get it all wrapped up and on TV,” Claire said. “We will watch.”