Local actress Madeline Lupi wins Hollywood Youth Oscar

Madeline Lupi, 16, of Stockholm has won Best Teen Actress in a Short Film at the Young Artist Academy Awards, considered the “Youth Oscars of Hollywood,” at the virtual celebration on Nov. 21.

She won for the Ryan Callaway-directed short film, “The Ghost in the Darkness,” a horror/thriller about Youtuber Morgan, who stumbles upon a camera in the deep woods, containing footage of a Satanic ritual and possible murder. When the police dismiss it as a fake, she and her friend Amber set out to prove otherwise, putting themselves right in harm’s way. Lupi plays the role of Kayla, the little sister of the main character, who antagonizes her.

A junior at Wallkill Valley Regional High School, Madeline said her character is a strong female with a sassy attitude.

“I enjoy playing sassy characters who are independent and opinionated, especially because I’m a little sister myself, who idolizes my sister, so I feel connected to this character,” she said.

Ryan Callaway, producer and director of the film, said Madeline has appeared in his last five feature films. Her previous performance in “Messenger of Wrath” earned her a nomination for the 2018 Young Artist Awards, and “The Girl in the Cornfield” earned her two nominations, including the 2017 Young Entertainer’s Awards and Hollywood’s 2017 Young Artist Awards.

“In terms of pure acting ability and what she brings to her characters, Madeline is easily either one of the best, or the best actress I’ve had the pleasure of working with,” he said. “She’s ridiculously smart for her age, and her understanding of acting is light years ahead of what it should be.”

Madeline became interested in acting because her older sister was an actress. “Being the younger sibling, I wanted to be just like her,” she said. “Once I tried acting, I immediately fell in love with being different characters and letting my creativity run wild.”

Since 1978, the Young Artist Academy has produced Hollywood’s first and longest-running youth awards, held in Los Angeles. Affectionately called the “Youth Oscars” by The Huffington Post, the academy has worked with some of the biggest names in entertainment, and is the only youth awards to be structured the same as major associations and guilds, with membership and peer voting. See list of 2020 winners at youngartistawards.org.

Madeline enjoys acting in the horror genre and is currently shooting another film with Callaway titled “Lets Not Meet in the Woods,” which will be out in early 2021.You can watch “The Ghost in the Darkness,” directed by Callaway on Amazon Prime.

For more information visit MadelineLupi.com and IMDB.me/MadelineLupi.