Angel face

Sydney Angel possesses poise -- the kind of poise your mother talked about others having when you were a child. You weren't certain exactly what it was, but you were pretty sure it was desirable and very sure you didn't have it and didn't know how to get it.

The 11-year-old from Bedford has enough confidence to go around to all her fellow sixth-graders at Bedford Elementary School and then some. It's been bolstered in the last year, she said, by her experiences as a model and performer on the national stage.

"Before, I didn't like to talk in crowds and I didn't feel comfortable with people alone," she said. "Now, I'm more outgoing. And I didn't like to dance in front of people. But now, it's like I go on stage and I just do it."

What Sydney has done that's not only helped her composure and self-assurance but put money in her bank account are an appearance in a national print advertisement for Toys"R"Us, a performance in a yet-to-be shown online commercial for Crayola and a modeling job for a packaging company.

Conducting herself with an aplomb beyond her years is just one of the things she's learned from going on casting calls, call backs, auditions and photo shoots in New York. She's also learned how to walk the runway, that sometimes envy can trump friendship, and that you should not stare at people on the street in New York, even if they're wearing a Speedo swimsuit and nothing else.

"We saw a guy in New York with long braids in a Speedo walking down the street. My mom said: 'Stop staring, Sydney.' I like to stare at people; it's a habit. But if you stare at them, they will stare back and it's really scary," she said.

Frequent trips have turned Sydney into a street-wise (she's memorized all the street names) part-time New Yorker whose favorite landmark is Macy's. She loves the Big Apple, she said, but after a while the city gets boring and she starts to miss home.

Home is Bedford, where she lives with her parents, Renae and Rex, and 16-year-old brother Keenan. Keenan was with Sydney and their mother at a mall in Lynchburg when Sydney entered both their names in a drawing for an audition with a modeling agency.

Their names were drawn and soon they found themselves auditioning at a Lynchburg hotel for a modeling agency out of Newport News. Sydney and Keenan were interviewed, asked to walk down a make-believe runway and read as if they were appearing in a commercial.

"After that, we went home and they said in a few hours, they'll tell us if we made it through to New York," Sydney recalled.

They did. From September 2008 to July 2009, the brother and sister "practiced" modeling and appearing in commercials at the Lynchburg hotel.

In July, they took off for New York, where they had portfolios worked up, photos taken and meetings with representatives from a number of modeling agencies. The potential models/actors walked/performed for those representatives, who then decided whom they might be interested in signing.

Sydney got callbacks from 16 out of 20 agencies. Keenan didn't receive as many because, according to his mother, he's at an in-between age that makes it difficult to get bookings. But, Syndey said, he's been encouraging her and often gives positive feedback on her Facebook page.

Before leaving New York, Sydney and Renae met with representatives of Product Model Management, who immediately began setting Sydney up with castings. Sydney did not sign a contract, however.

"We just didn't feel like it was the right thing to do, based on her age," Renae explained. "She might be moving into the teen look soon, and [Product Model Management] works with a lot of kids."

A week after returning to Bedford, Sydney and her mom were back in New York, where she went on more casting calls and secured the print ad for Toys"R"Us, which paid $200, and the Internet ad for Crayola, for which she earned $250. The packaging photo session paid $1,000. All the money Sydney has earned so far has gone toward paying her expenses or into a trust account, said Renae.

Sydney linked her success to "the way I walked" and the way she talked when interviewing for jobs.

"Some girls were shy and some were nervous," she recalled. "I did the talking; some other girls had their mom talk for them," she said.

Renae agreed that her daughter's self-confidence has been a factor, but said the self-assurance she displays in New York dissipates when Sydney returns home and interacts with her peers at school, where her friendships have unraveled somewhat.

"When I started going to New York, it started to change. Mom told me not to say anything about what I was doing, but I told one really good friend," Sydney recalled. "She told everybody."

At first, her friends were dubious, she said.

"Some believed me, others thought I was lying or bragging."

They called her "Crayon," referring to the online commercial she had booked. She thought maybe she didn't want to do it anymore.

"I learned to ignore it," she said. "I feel like I want to do it because it could open up some really good opportunities for me."

On one of her six trips to New York, Sydney auditioned for a play. She got a callback, but took herself out of contention for the part.

"I didn't feel comfortable with that script. There was a lot of language in that script and it was for a 15-year-old girl. I am 11."

Sydney has stage experience. She's appeared in productions at her church and with the Little Towne Players. When not stocking her stage performance resume, she plays soccer, volleyball and tennis.

She's realistic about her future in a profession that can be fleeting and extremely competitive.

Sydney said she knows body changes and influences beyond her control could dictate her future as a commercial model. If it doesn't work out, that's OK with her, she said. She has other plans.

"I want to be oncologist, because I feel like I want to help people," she said. "Modeling is not helping people, its's just helping me."

While Sydney waits for more auditions and modeling assignments, she's busy maintaining her straight-A average, performing with her church dance group, playing indoor soccer and California dreaming.

What she wants to do next is head to the West Coast to give television or film a shot.

"A couple of agencies there want her to come out for pilot season, but that runs from February to June, and I don't see school letting her miss that many days," said Renae. "It's a big decision, but I won't say we're not going to do it."