Finding Faith: Young Malvernite Sees Star Rise As Movie Opens in Theaters

There is a tiny star in the village of Malverne that is shining even brighter this holiday season, reminding all the dreamers of the world to have a little 'faith.'

At only 6 years old, Malvernite Faith Wladyka is starring in Blue Valentine, a major motion picture that opened in theaters this week along with powerhouse performers Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling.

How did she land this break-out role? In the early spring of 2009, the adorable actress – then only 5 - walked into an audition and told the casting director her latest dream.

"I was immediately struck by her," said the film's director Derek Cianfrance, who recalled watching Faith's casting reel, one of thousands submitted during a nationwide search from 2008 to 2009 for a young actress to play the part of Frankie, Williams' and Gosling's daughter.

Cianfrance explained that when auditioning young children, he instructs his casting director to ask the kids, "What did you dream about last night?"

"Faith has such a rich imagination and she knew just what she dreamed about and wanted to explain every detail, although it came out in such a convoluted way," Cianfrance said. "I realized she was special. She was 'it'."

She learned that she had landed a callback for the role when she was in Disney World ofcourse, the place known for making dreams come true. Faith's fearless, fun and genuine personality was the perfect fit for the part.(Although she did have to part with 13 inches of her hair, which she donated to Locks of Love. )The little girl inside of her brought a playfulness to the set, while she also conveyed the confidence of someone five times her age.

"The chaos she would bring to a scene was something that we all drew from," Cianfrance said. "I wasn't looking for a perfect little girl..She kept us all real."

In setting out to film Blue Valentine, which looks at a family that is falling apart as young love sours into bitterness, Cianfrance wanted the performers to be as raw and authentic as possible.

Stating that he has "an allergy toward fake stuff in movies," Cianfrance worked on developing the family of Faith, Williams and Gosling even before the cameras started taping. For a month, he spent everyday from 8am to 7pm with Michelle, Ryan and Faith living in a house in Pennsylvania.

"I tried to develop memories with them, so that once we started rolling they would have this collective consciousness – shared memories," Cianfrance said. "They just became this little family. It was beautiful."

Michelle and Ryan took Faith on fishing trips and even celebrated her pretend birthday, buying her presents and singing to her as they lit candles on a frosted cake. Neither of these scenes appear in the movie, but they helped to strengthen the bond among the characters and created some of Faith's favorite moments on the set.

"I helped Ryan catch a fish," she said during a recent interview at her home in Malverne, where she was surrounded by her parents, Dawn and Tony, and her two younger siblings. "It was a small fish though….and we did get to pretend it was my birthday and I also got keep some of the presents like a pink water gun."

They also took Faith to an amusement park, but her mother, Dawn, was always close by during the three weeks she spent filming and playing house with the big-name actors.

"She ended up loving them," said Dawn, although she was not surprised that her daughter embraced her 'new' family so easily. "She has always been friendly and outgoing."

Before the Wladyka family moved to Malverne in 2005, they lived in Battery Park City and when Faith was only a baby, the family's sitter, also an aspiring actress, remarked that she was such an easy-going baby, who would be perfect for movies.

Still, in diapers, Faith landed a Johnson & Johnson ad and has since appeared in several clothing catalogues, an episode of One Life to Live and a commercial for Sony with Justin Timberlake and Peyton Manning, but Blue Valentine was her first venture to the big screen. And this was no kid flick.

The film flips back and forth between the past, when a more youthful, ambitious Cindy (Williams), and a charismatic, handsome Dean (Gosling) fall madly in love, to the present, when only five years later, their relationship is disintegrating before their eyes. Cianfrance describes it as the love story for today's 30-something married couples.

While he admits there is a place for movies that capture the surreal, he said, "Fantasy sets up our lives for disappointment. We are never going to be like the people on the screen."

Through Blue Valentine he aimed to create a story moviegoers could relate to. Like many Americans, the once smitten and optimistic love birds find themselves struggling to cope with the stress of raising a child while both holding down jobs, dealing with family crisis and trying to keep the flame alive in their marriage.

They are forced to confront the realities of their parents failed marriages, consider the impact their feuding has on their young daughter and question whether there is any hope of rekindling their lost love.

"It's a movie by the people, for the people," he said. "I wanted to talk to people honestly and make them realize they're not alone."

Cianfrance was inspired to create the film after living through his parents divorce when he was 20.

"When I was a kid my two biggest nightmares were nuclear war and my parents splitting up," Cianfrance said.

It was around this time in his early 20s that Cianfrance was also starting to date. "I needed to confront all those things that scared me before I could have a relationship of my own," he said.

The first script for Blue Valentine was born in 1998 , but Cianfrance would have to wait over a decade to see his vision become a reality.

"I kept casting Frankies, but they would grow up on me," he said as he recalled the years that passed until the film finally went into production.

During this time he shot documentaries and continued to tweak his script, until he finally received word that Blue Valentine would begin shooting. A couple months after Valentine's Day in 2009, he found little Faith.

 "I feel [finding Faith] was one of the reasons we had to wait 12 years," he added.

The film has been on the road for the past year, generating buzz at several film festivals including Sundance and Cannes, where Faith had her first experiences walking the red carpet and even received a stuffed bear from one of her fans. She also had the chance to meet starlet Emma Roberts at one of the premiere parties, who she has since added to her list of on-screen idols, which includes Miley Cyrus, Miranda Cosgrove and ofcourse, co-stars Michelle and Ryan.

Faith's stardom is also rising. She has nearly 500 fans already on her Facebook fan page and the film only opened to general audiences this Wednesday, but she stays very grounded.

When not auditioning, working or promoting her movie, she has a very normal life here in Malverne. She attends , where she is currently in the first grade, takes dance classes at and plays with her brother, sister and two dogs. Although even she can't deny that it's been pretty fun, as she says with a giggle, "getting famous."

Blue Valentine opened Dec. 29 at select theaters in New York and Los Angeles and is expected to be released in an additional 18-20 locations in the following week, with the potential to expand even more. Check your local listings and visit www.bluevalentinethemovie.com for further details.