Clothing and Costumes Worn by Child Actors: Joseph Mazzello - (US, 1983- )


Figure 1.--This image shows Joseph in "Three Wishes" (1995). He effectively plays a boy having difficultly growing up without his dad.

Joseph is sometimes credited as Joe. He has had an incredible impressive career as a child star, appearing in both blockbusters like "Jurasic Park" (1993) and more sensitive films like "Shawdowlands" (1993) in the same year. He was especially impressive in ""Radio Flyer" (1992). We do not know a lot about Joseph's film career. One reader tells us that he was noe of the best child actors from the 1990s. He played with Sean Mummy in ">Three Wishes" starring Kevin Costner. A film set in the mid-1950s with a surprising ending. Joseph gave an incredible performance alongside Elijah Wood in "Radio Flyer". Joseph was about 7-years old at the time. In the film, his single mother's boyfriend physically abused him. A very heavy role for an 7-year old! A very unusual ending too. You might remember him as the chatty kid in "Jurassic Park". Another great film he starred in was "Simon Birch". The setting being in the mid-50s has good examples of period clothing.

Parents

His parents operated a dance studio. He and his sisters took dance lessons there.

Siblings

Joseph has a brother John and an older sister, Mary.

Childhood

Joseph was born September 21, 1983 in Rhinebeck, New York and grew up there. It is a picture perfect small town right out of middle America. He also lived in Hyde Park. Joseph took and early interest in show business. He memorized the Roger and Hammerstein musicals when he was 5 years old.

Childhood Clothes


Education

Joseph was an excellent student. He attended the University of Souther California, of course studying film.

Acting Skill

Joseph was one of the best young actors of the 90's and early 2000's. His acting range was impressive and was able to very convincingly convey heartrending grief like few other American child actors. This was especially true in scenes from "Shadowlands", with Anthony Hopkins, "Star Kid", "Simon Birch", and "Three Wishes" (which statted Patrick Swayze, rather than Kevin Costner). Joesph looked younger than his actual age and was able to play a 12-year old in "Simon Birch" when according to one source he was 15. His aunt tells us this is not correct. She indicates, "Joseph was 13 when he started filming 'Simon Birch' and celebrated his 14th birthday in the middle of shooting the film." [Mazzello] It will be interesting to see if he progresses (or has interest) in adult roles in the future.

Film Career

Joseph is sometimes credited as Joe. He has had an incredible impressive career as a child star, appearing in major films with some of the most important Hollywwid stars and directors. He has appeared in both blockbusters like "Jurasic Park" (1993) and more sensitive films like "Shawdowlands" (1993) in the same year. He was especially impressive in ""Radio Flyer" (1992). We do not know a lot about Joseph's film career. One reader tells us that he was noe of the best child actors from the 1990s. He played with Seth Mumy in "Three Wishes" starring Patrick Swayze. A film set in the mid-1950s with a surprising ending. Joseph gave an incredible performance alongside Elijah Wood in "Radio Flyer". Joseph was about 7-years old at the time the film began shooting. In the film, his single mother's boyfriend physically abused him. A very heavy role for an 7-year old! A very unusual ending too. You might remember him as the chatty kid in "Jurassic Park". Another great film he starred in was "Simon Birch". The setting being in the mid-50s has good examples of period clothing. He has appeared with some of the biggest Hollywood stars. He also caught the eye if Steven Spielberg who altered ages of the children in "Jurassic Park" so Joseph could play Tim. Joseph was was going to play Jack in the Peter Pan adaptation "Hook", but was not big enough. So Spielberg changed the script so Joseph could play Tim. His work with Speilberg on "Jurasic Park" interested him in directing.

Sources

Mazzello, Virginia. E-mail message, July 24, 2009.






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Created: 11:33 PM 12/11/2004
Last updated: 6:05 PM 7/24/2009