By Aimee Levinson
This month, the children’s network Nickelodeon features Manhasset local Timothy Colombos. The 10-year-old Shelter Rock student is starring on the evening soap opera, WITS Academy. WITS Academy, explains Colombos, “is a spinoff of [the movie] Every Witch Way and is about witches and wizards in training at the most esteemed school in the Magic Realm.” Colombos plays the character Ethan who is a wizard in training with a passion for “magical challenges” but is often manipulated by his, “…twin sister named Emily and [his] Guardian Ruby.” The set-up allows for an interesting conflict and a challenging roll where Ethan must stay true to himself and complete his training.
This is not Colombos’ first professional role. He also starred in a cell phone commercial that ran on national television. Ann Graf of The Actor’s Garage has contributed to his success. Graf knows the life of a performer well because she was a standup comic and actress before deciding that sharing the art she loved so much was what she wanted to do. The 10-year-acting coach veteran first met Colombos when his parents brought him in for classes when he was eight. Graf reflected on her first experiences with Colombos stating that, “All the kids [she teaches] are very special and each has their own gift. Colombos was so fun, engaging, and just wanted to learn everything about it. He was passionate and would try anything. He took great cues and had insight to the energy and flow of the scenes. After a week [she] knew, this kid is an actor.” This wasn’t the first time Graf identified a star in her midst. She has had other successes such as Cree Cicchino from the Nickelodeon show Game Shakers and Ben Hyland who was cast in the hit movie Marley and Me along with many others. Yet when you ask her about her job, Graf will respond and say that she “has the best job in the world” and she gets most of her joy, not from seeing students make it big, which of course she delights in, but from letting kids know that “who they are is awesome and that we can use all of their quirks and differences to act.”
The process to get cast is somewhat elaborate. Every so often Graf holds a “showcase where there are about 22 agents.” If the agents like one of her students they receive a call back and hopefully a job. When an agent finds a position they think would fit they send over the script and ask for an audition. More recently, self tapes have become popular where an actor or actress will tape the scene and send it to the agency without having to fly all over the country to perform it live. This is how Colombos got cast. Together Graf and Colombos prepared to get him ready for his WITS Academy audition and in Colombos’ words helped him to “feel really confident” in his abilities.
After sending in his tape for the role of a character named Ben, he received a “callback for the roll of Ben and the role of Ethan.” Colombos then got another callback to “audition in front of the producers in Los Angeles” and then a “chemistry read and final audition” down in Miami. It took them only a week to decide that this Manhasset boy was perfect for the role of Ethan.
In his spare time, when he isn’t jet setting and making kids laugh all across the country, Colombos is just like any regular boy. He loves to play basketball as he puts it, “anywhere, anytime.” He also loves to travel with his parents, Nicholas and Alexandra, and his siblings Michael, 13, and Amalia, 6. Obvious to anyone, Colombos is a boy that makes Manhasset smile with pride.
WITS Academy can be seen every weeknight in the month of October on Nickelodeon and on www.nickelodeon.com. For interest in Ann Graf’s The Actor’s Garage visit www.theactorsgarage.com.
