SUMMERVILLE — Life is a constant drama at the Tony and Davia Smith home.

The Summerville couple juggle their professional health care jobs and, at the same time, raise three sons, Rilynn, 15, Romyn, 12, and Reydon, 9, as they each pursue busy acting careers in the entertainment industry.

Their sons were first introduced to the entertainment field while living in Eugene in 2018, when Davia Smith, a registered nurse with 22 years of prior modeling experience, decided to answer a radio advertisement from Seattle Talent for the July 2019 International Model and Talent Association convention.

“First you go and see if you have the look that they are looking for to get prepped for the New York convention,” Davia Smith said.

At the time, Rilynn was 10 years old and Romyn was 6 years old. They went to the initial screening, and they were chosen for the New York convention. Reydon, who was only 4 years old, was too young to participate, but he was still inspired by the experience.

“In New York, the boys just swept the competition away and took 30 awards between the two of them,” Smith said. “There were also 52 managers, agents and producers that wanted to work with Rilynn and Romyn, so it was a strong start.”

Then in November 2019, Romyn was asked to audition for the role of 7-year-old Young Nando in a movie called “Yes Day” with Jennifer Garner, released in 2021.

“We sent in a cutesy video audition, and we didn’t really know what we were doing. The next day, he got a call that Jennifer had personally selected him for the role,” Smith said. “That was really his first gig.”

Simultaneously, Rilynn landed the lead role of Brian Stockman in “The Enemy of the People,” which was shooting in Ashland. However, for weather-related reasons they stopped filming in the middle of production, and then COVID happened and put the film on hold.

“But it was exciting that the boys both had acting roles at the same time,” Smith said.

Rilynn and Romyn continued to have a lot of auditions during the pandemic, but they did not do any acting because of COVID restrictions and the health risks involved.

“There was about an eight-month lag in everything, so it gave us an opportunity to move here to Summerville in January 2021,” Smith said. “Still, nothing was happening and we had almost given up on the kiddos doing this because they were so small. They were getting into sports at school here.”

Romyn Smith

Finally in March 2022, things started busting loose, and Romyn was cast in the role of Owen in “Family Ornaments,” which involved 90 days of shooting. The film was released in 2023 on TUBI.

Three days after Romyn finished shooting for this, he had to be on the set for the sci-fi thriller “Roswell Delirium,” in which he played Jeremiah Miller. That movie is currently circulating at festivals.

Two days following this, Romyn landed the role of Shane in “Circumcision,” which will be released soon.

From March until August 2022, Romyn’s acting schedule was constant, and then in August, he won the leading role of kid genius Max Kelvin in “Max vs. the Metaverse,” a TV series that ran on Amazon Prime during the 2022-23 season.

In 2022 Romyn also played in six episodes of the TV series “Dhar Mann,” and in 2023 he did some short films: “American Body,” playing Young Kyle, and “Suspended,” playing Young Bryson, for which he won an international award, Best Young Actor, in October 2023.

When Romyn landed the series “Max vs. the Metaverse,” Davia Smith let go of her job at Grande Ronde Hospital and now works three days a week as a traveling nurse.

Tony Smith works at the La Grande hospital as a respiratory therapist full-time, but he’s very supportive of Davia and their sons as they travel to filming sites and make frequent trips to California.

“The boys train with three different Los Angeles coaches, depending on what they’re working on — a comedy, drama, or Disneyesque film,” Smith said. “This training prepares the boys for successful video auditions and learning to get into their characters.”

Romyn has his own methodology for that.

“The way I get into character varies and changes with each new film, however, there are constant steps to this process,” he said. “One of them being finding and creating the character in my mind.”

Romyn imagines every aspect that might build the character’s personality, including his favorite food, movie, color, candle scent, his insecurities — anything that character may like or be feeling.

“After this is done, I write it all down so that I won’t forget it,” he said. “Then I memorize it to ensure that I can truly become the character as soon as the director yells, ‘action.’”

As a result of successful auditioning, Romyn was offered the role of Young Elias in season 16, episode 6, of “Criminal Minds,” now streaming on Paramount Plus.

“At this point, we were told that Romyn has been on so many Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists films that he must join the union,” Davia Smith said.

There are 160,000 SAG-AFTRA members throughout the 25 locals in the United States. Members are entitled to a variety of benefits, including contracts, collective bargaining, eligibility for the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan, SAG-Producers Pension Plan, the AFTRA Retirement Fund and the iActor online casting database.

“So, Romyn went ahead and joined the union,” she said. “It’s an amazing honor to join SAG.”

However, joining SAG-AFTRA also affected Romyn’s work when the union went on strike in 2023. After the strike ended, though, Romyn was back auditioning and will appear in “Ted,” a sitcom on Peacock.

Rilynn Smith

Rilynn Smith’s performing credits also include acting in Dhar Mann Studios shows, and he’s currently working toward acquiring his SAG card. He landed the lead role of Chris in a TV pilot called “The Comic Book Club,” which hasn’t yet been released yet. He recently completed a Sega commercial where he plays Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the Sonic Superstars characters.

With some acting experience under his belt now, he knows how important audition preparation is for an actor. Rilynn said it’s enjoyable but also difficult, especially because he is given only a one-paragraph description of his character. The rest of the character he must develop and express through his acting skills.

“So, I read the scene, not memorizing the script quite yet, but just getting a feel for the character and situation,” he said.

Then comes the hard part, he said, with such limited background information provided to him: “I must get into this character’s mind and fill in all of the information that I don’t know, the good and the ugly.”

For example, if his character is supposed to be depressed, Rilynn needs to know what music the character listens to, what clothes he wears, the reason he’s depressed and when it started. He also thinks about how well that character does at home and school and everything else about the character.

“This (process) changes my mindset, causing me to feel sadness, loneliness and other feelings that I normally don’t feel,” he said. “During this process, memorization comes naturally.”

When on set, Rilynn said he must stay in the mindset to get the performance that the film requires.

“It is emotionally draining, but this technique brings my performance up to a higher level than if I would have just read and memorized the script,” he said. “There are, of course, other difficulties in my field, but I’d say preparation for the character far outweighs them.”

Reydon Smith

Reydon Smith might be the youngest, but he’s definitely following in his brothers’ footsteps with a lot of performing in the Dhar Mann series.

Recently, he landed the role as Michael in “Going For Two.” For this filming, he was flown to Omaha, Nebraska, for two weeks. The trailer isn’t out yet, but with this film credit, Reydon is now eligible to join SAG-AFTRA, which will be a boost to his young acting career.

“The most fun that I’ve had on a film production happened when working on ‘Going For Two,’” he said. “I got to fly to Nebraska in first class and I made many new friends. Additionally, if that wasn’t enough, the rap party had a buffet, dancing and karaoke.”

Reydon also performed in two short films soon to be released. Of those, “You’re Doing Great” is expected to go to Sundance, his mother said.

Like his brothers, his future is bright.

Embracing their lifestyle

The Smith brothers eagerly eat, sleep and breathe their lifestyle, and they see their future in the entertainment industry.

Rilynn wants to be a cinematographer and director, and Romyn is working on writing a feature film, which he hopes to cast within the next few years. Reydon has found his own niche in this industry and sees his future centered around acting. The brothers are managed by DreamScope Entertainment with owner/CEO Julie Abrams based out of Los Angeles.

In the Grande Ronde Valley, the brothers are beginning to be recognized in public, especially at restaurants. They graciously oblige their fans with photos. But at the end of the day, they still maintain a humble attitude, their mother said.

“We have the best of both worlds. When they are here in Summerville, they can just be boys and dirt bike,” Davia Smith said. “The boys are homeschooled, but they still attend Imbler school dances and sports and get to see their teachers and get hugs from them. They also love the Elgin Opera House.”