Name, Age, and State: Samuel L. Collins, 14 years old, Florida

Job-title: Actor for television show, Samuel L. Collins and the Search for Biblical Truths

Web/blog site URL: www.SearchforBiblicalTruths.com

Give us your job description in 25 words or less. Wear my costume and do what my parents and the Director tell me to do. Sometimes I get to perform stunts and I really like that!

Describe a typical workday. Wake up in some far away destination, grab a shower, eat breakfast and read over the shooting scripts for the day and then head out. Every day of shooting is different: one day I could be shooting on the streets of a large international city such as Singapore and on another day I could be shooting in the rain forests of Bali.

We’ll travel using different modes of transportation and we hand-carry ALL of the gear. We have a small crew so everyone is required to participate in the lugging of equipment, props and anything else that might come along. I enjoy the ride and continue to memorize lines along the way. We’ll often stop the bus along a road and jump out and shoot something that looks interesting. That’s always a lot of fun watching as the locals try to figure out what we’re up to.

We usually head out between 6am-9am (which always depends on the shooting schedule) and we don’t finish until 10-11pm. They are long, tedious days and I often have to shoot scenes over and over. It’s always the same: One angle, then another, then a mid-shot and then a close-up.

I fall into bed and repeat it all again tomorrow. My longest work schedule was 28 days in a row in three different countries and continents. I slept on the planes to catch up.

What led you to realize that you wanted to do this type of work? My parents developed the series so I didn’t ask; they told me what the series was going to be about. I like the fact that I can add ideas into the story as it develops and that I get to work with my sister Katie. She’s a lot of fun to be around. I don’t know that I want to do this full time as an adult. As a kid; it’s lots of fun, but I’m not sure it would be that much fun as an adult.

Did you have any heroes or mentors in your industry that you admired? I admire Harrison Ford, who coincidentally plays “Indiana Jones” like me but his stunts are grander. I’ve seen him interviewed and he always takes his roles seriously and does his best.

What type of education or training was required to land your job? I think most actors go to acting school, but I didn’t. In the beginning I got in trouble for looking into the camera but now I’m use to it being four inches away from my face and I’m not as nervous. I’m not sure they can really teach you to be an actor– I think you either are, or you’re not.

What do you love most about your job? Travel, travel and more travel. It’s pretty cool working on the streets of Singapore and Berlin, Germany. And I love that we film in these exotic places, too. Bali was amazing and I got to ride an elephant and be painted by one too.

What one part of your job do you wish you could hire someone else to do? Carry the equipment. When we traveled into Berlin we had 12 suitcases and we had to lug them through the airport and onto the Metro railway, then change trains into the city and then lug them by hand to our hotel. Yup, I’d hire some hands to help.

What advice would you give to teenagers wanting to get into your field of work? Go do some commercials or work as an extra to see if you really like it, because it’s a LOT of work; more work than I ever imagined.

How does your job allow you to use your God-given gifts? I think so: I love to laugh and make jokes and I try to just be myself and ad-lib into the show. I’m not a comedian or anything but I do like to joke around. My sister says I’m a ham.

Do you have any hobbies or off-hours pursuits that teenagers would find of interest? Legos: I love to build them and design them into Star Wars ships and launch pads and cities. Mom says I’m a mechanical engineer and that the designing helps my brain do what it does best- design stuff. I’ve had a pen business since I was nine years old. I take wood and I own a lathe and turn them into beautiful wood pens. It’s a good way to make money and I’ve designed my own special ‘Sam’s pen’.