Good Ol’ Gran’s
When he was young, Marvin was a successful child actor. He started off by featuring in commercials and having a line or two in television shows. His real fame came when, at the age of 6, he was made the face of Good Ol’ Gran’s Pastries. His performance in that series of commercials was, and still is to this day, impeccable. He had very few lines but my, did he have screen presence. He would take a bite of the pastry, smile, and say, “Thanks, Gran.”
Throughout his childhood and early teens he had more starring roles. While I was not exactly envious of his fame, I did want a piece of it. Marvin was able to pull a few strings and set up auditions and screentests for me. However, when the camera was on, my nerves took over and I would bomb out spectacularly. I was I was able to have the consolation of being Marvin’s stand-in on several features.
While I was struggling to break into the child star game, Marvin was going from strength to strength. The epitome of his fame came when he was invited to ride in a convertible at the 1995 AFL Grand Final. It looked as though Marvin had it all. Everything he touched turn to gold and received universal acclaim.
It was not until Marvin turned fifteen that the cracks started to appear in his career. He was not what you would call a teenage heartthrob and while he still had a baby-face, he did not possess the cuteness of his Good Ol’ Gran days. Still, his agent at the time was able to land him the role of Devon McBallister in the ill-fated Home Alone 7. Before filming, Marvin turned to me for advice.
“Should I do this?” he asked me. Now, at 15, I was a failed child-star, but Marvin trusted my instincts. If it wasn’t for me, Marvin would never have appeared on Heartbreak High, as Drazic’s young cousin, a performance which earned him a Logie nomination as best guest star.
I pondered on this question for a moment. Then I said to Marvin, “Let me ask you this: if you make this movie, what are people going to expect? Do you think you’ve still got it?”
Marvin went quiet. “I’m doing it,” he said, much against my better judgement. “I’m making the picture.” It was savaged by the critics and even worse by the fans. As a result, the film was removed from Home Alone canon.
Things were never the same for Marvin after that. In a last-ditched attempt to save his career, Marvin returned to Good Ol’ Gran’s at the age of 21. Having a young man with stubble and a deep voice smiling to the camera and saying, thanks, Gran, simply did not achieve the same result as it did fifteen years earlier. Not only did it put the last nail in the coffin of his acting career, but it sent Good Ol’ Gran’s out of business. It was shame. You could never get a decent profiterole or pain au chocolat anywhere after that. To this day I’m still not sure which is the more regrettable.
