My Day on the Set of How to Eat Fried Worms

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Will with an edible worm. The prop coordinator went to great lengths to make these look real. He even wrapped a string around it to resemble the lines you see on a real worm! (Photo: Jackie English)

Recently, I was on the set of the new movie How to Eat Fried Worms. I couldn't believe all the action that happens on a movie set! Everyone had a lot of work to do, from the actors to the cameramen. Just watching this busy crew was like seeing an action movie! Even the crew's high-tech gadgets were like something out of a spy movie!

The crew had filled Zilker Elementary School in Austin, Texas, with tons of movie-making equipment. I had to stay in one place so I would not get run over by all the cameras, lights, props, and crew members. And just as I was ready to ask a question, someone would yell "Quiet, please" and the busy room would suddenly become still.

While I watched the scene being filmed in the school's library, I realized how little is seen through the camera lens. The view through the lens is only a small portion of the room where the scene is being shot. My eyes were taking in way more than will ever be seen on the screen.

As the actors delivered their lines, the director, just out of camera view, gave them directions about which way to look, how loud to talk, and how they should be positioned.

The highlight of my day was when I visited the Green Room, or actors' trailer, a cool place where the kid actors go for a break.

The room had X-Box, foosball, and DVDs. This is where I got to hang out with the kid actors who weren't busy filming. We even had a big lunch together and birthday cake for actress Hallie Kate Eisenberg, who turned 13 the day I was on the set.

After meeting these kids, I realized that even though they have an awesome job, they are just kids who enjoy doing the same things that we all do.

This story would not be complete unless I told you something about worms. Even before the filming for this movie began, the prop coordinator was busy developing a recipe for edible worms. When you see this movie, you won't believe how real the worms look.

How they look is one thing, but how they taste... well, they taste real, too. Yuck! Maybe these edible worms are not so edible after all! I feel really sorry for Billy (Luke Benward), the boy in the movie who has to eat 10 worms. (For the record, these worms were not fried.)

Many of your favorite kid stars are in this movie. They include Luke Benward from Because of Winn-Dixie and Hallie Kate Eisenberg from Bicentennial Man, The Insider, and TNT's The Goodbye Girl. Also included are Philip Daniel Bolden from Are We There Yet? and Johnson Family Vacation; Alexander Gould, the voice of Nemo in Finding Nemo; Ryan Malgarini from Freaky Friday; and Austin Rogers from Curb Your Enthusiasm.

I can't wait to see this movie. Watch for How to Eat Fried Worms in theaters in spring 2006. You'll never want to see another worm again (and you certainly won't want to eat one)!

Get more secrets from the set of How to Eat Fried Worms!

Will Striipling is a member of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.

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