GILROY
– Joshua Fargher is what you might call a model student – but
not in the sense you might think. It’s not so much because he has
good grades, but it’s the fact he actually is model.
GILROY – Joshua Fargher is what you might call a model student – but not in the sense you might think. It’s not so much because he has good grades, but it’s the fact he actually is model.
The 10-year-old fourth-grader at Luigi Aprea may be the only kid in his school that actually has an agent.
Fargher went to a modeling agency tryout a year and a half ago, and was one of about 100 of 500 people who got jobs as models. For him, standing out in front of people just comes naturally.
“I got into acting when I was 5, doing shows with John Biceglie.” Fargher said. “I like acting and being in front of the camera.”
Fargher has been in nine of Biceglie’s Gilroy kid’s theater performances, including playing Michael in “Peter Pan,” and roles in “Little Shoppe of Garlic,” “Summer in the City,” “Gone With the Wind” and “Cinderella.”
Now, as a model, Fargher often is going to San Francisco to do shoots for companies like Dockers, “Better Homes and Gardens,” Macy’s and even a TV commercials for TechTV. But Fargher was really surprised when his agent, Teri Donner from the Stars Agency in San Francisco, called about doing a commercial just minutes from his house – at Bonfante Gardens.
“I was really surprised because usually we have to leave at 5 in the morning,” he said. “For his one I only had to get up at 7:30.”
Fargher, along with 15 other kids and seven adults, were filmed riding the Banana Split, Quicksilver, paddleboats and the train for cameramen filming the commercial, which is airing on the KSBW network.
“I think I was the only kid from Gilroy, but two came from Hollister,” Fargher said. “I never would have met them before, so it was kind of fun.”
Fargher said photo shoots can take anywhere from one hour to three days, but he has to keep up with his missed schoolwork while he works.
“They have teachers during your shoot,” he said. “If you have a break, you do homework.”
But there’s plenty of upside to his job. The youngster makes an astounding $100 per hour as a model and already is networking with other actors and models.
“I met a guy from ‘Zoolander,’ a couple of models from L.A. and this guy named Bonzi, who is going to be in a movie,” Fargher said.
While Fargher keeps seeing his photos in magazines and advertisements, he isn’t getting a big head about it.
“To see yourself in a magazine is funny,” he said. “You’d never thing you’d ever see yourself in a magazine or on a commercial.”
Jessica Fargher, Josh’s sister, said he is made to be a model.
“He loves doing this,” she said. “It’s just him.”
Fargher often talks with his sister’s friend, Crystal, a woman from Gilroy who also is a model and lives in Los Angeles. She often calls to talk to him about acting, share in successes and help each other out with failures.
“She’s kind of his inspiration,” Jessica Fargher said.
Fargher said he already has plans for the future.
“I want to be an actor,” said Fargher, who is a big Jim Carrey fan. “I want to go to L.A. or New York.”
