Kim and Mitch Orsburn, of Wheatfield, have learned to start paying attention to the ending credits whenever they are watching movies and television shows.
"We're always looking for Carly's name," said Kim Orsburn, who is the godmother of 16-year-old Carly Schroeder, the teenage actress who got her start doing TV commercials when she just 6 years old and still living with her parents, Kelli and Paul, in Valparaiso. "It's exciting to be able to say you know someone you're watching in a big-screen movie."
Carly's newest movie, "Gracie," premiered Monday in downtown Chicago at the AMC River East 21 Theater. The Osburns were among the 27 family members from the region who made the trek to the Windy City to screen the film with Carly.
At Carly's side was the film's director, Davis Guggenheim, who won an Academy Award last year for directing "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's documentary on global warming.
Guggenheim also is the husband of Elisabeth Shue, who stars as Carly's mother in the new film and whose life story the movie is based on.
"We did a national search for just the right actress for this role to play 'Gracie,' and Carly was absolutely the one to play my wife," Guggenheim said.
"We didn't have a big budget or a lot of money to make this picture, but we did have a good story and plenty of heart."
The inspirational film is set in 1978 and tells the story of a teenage girl who overcomes the loss of her brother to continue his love of the sport of soccer during a time when females were not welcome in many male-dominated athletic teams.
Elisabeth Shue also served as the producer of the film. Her actor brother Andrew Shue, of "Melrose Place" fame, also stars in the film. He helped raise the finances for its production.
"It was a little intense to be playing the part of Elisabeth in the film and have her play my mom in the film and have her as my boss and producer," Carly said in the theater lobby before the film premiere.
"But I'm not easily intimidated, which was one of the reasons they wanted to cast me in this role. I was someone who was competing to be on the boys wrestling team when I was 13 years old, so I could really identify with this part."
Carly and her mother, Kelli, arrived in Chicago late Sunday, attended the premiere and had to be up at 5 a.m. today to fly to Philadelphia for the next premiere event.
"Chicago is the eighth city of our 17-city national tour to promote the film before it officially opens nationwide on June 1," Carly said.
She also had the chance to work with her real-life younger brother Hunter, 12, who plays one of her younger brothers in "Gracie."
While Carly and her mother are continuing on the movie's promotional tour, Hunter is staying behind to spend the summer with his grandma Jean Hunter in Wheatfield and help the farming family in the fields.
"I like being in Indiana more than California anyway," Hunter said. "There are more things to do."
Once Carly is finished with "Gracie" publicity, she travels to Hawaii to begin filming her next project, which she hasn't officially announced.
