Schoolgirl superstars

Press, 25 February 1987, Page 17

Schoolgirl superstars

Allison Smith and Ari Meyers, both aged 17, who play Jennie Lowell and Emma McArdle in “Kate and Allie,” both harbour a love of acting which is at odds with the notoriety of being an actress.

The hit comedy show about two divorcees living in the same house with their two daughters, has shot schoolgirls Smith and Meyers to instant superstardom, and they do not want any of it “I don't enjoy being in the spotlight” says Meyers. “That’s one of the downfalls of acting. I hate it”

“I want people to know who I really am,” says Smith. “I’m scared people will think I’m only a

showbiz kid who just goes to work and reads her lines. I want people to know I wasn’t forced into show business.”

Ttie two take acting very seriously indeed, but their commitment to overachieving means that their schoolwork does not suffer in any way. “Tm definitely an under-achiever,” says Smith, though her family disagrees. “I thought I was an over-achiever until I met Ari. She’s always studying. She studies on the set It’s just sick.” Every week-end, Meyers goes to the public library, where she can study in peace and quiet Her senior year courses load .her down with physics, calculus. British

poetry, economics, political science and advanced French. During the week, she crams in more study between her hours on the set and her 7 a_m_ aerobics courses.

Their charm certainly rubs off on their co-stars. Says Jane Curtin: “They’re incredibly talented and just plain terrific kids.” And Susan Saint James: “They’re one of the joys of working on this show.”

Neither of the teen-age stars is without a background in the world she inhabits. At nine, Smith was in the chorus of the Broadway version of “Evita,” and soon after she got the lead in the musical “Annie.”

At a mere four-years-

old, Meyers created her first play for her nursery school, which she scripted, wrote the songs, directed and choreographed. At five, she was modelling. Unlike Smith, however, she did not follow her inclinations towards acting to the fun extent

Ironically, both stars come from broken homes. Meyers is an only child, who lives with her divorced mother in a Manhattan apartment Smith’s mother has been separated from her husband for five years, and Smith is the youngest of six children. Allison Smith and Ari Meyers feature on “Kate and Allie,” tonight at 8.30 on One.