And other times, as a concerned parent, Lisa passes on jobs for Colton for other reasons. "We have actually turned a couple of things down. I'm pretty open with the material he does, as long as he feels comfortable with it. We have on a couple, and not many, maybe two or three incidences where reading the script I was like, 'I do not want to have to explain this to him! It's so far above anything he needs to know about right now,'" she laughed.

Even though Passions can cross the line from time to time, Lisa has never worried about the material affecting her son, as she explained, "Everything on his end has been great. It's been a really good experience for him." Which also extends to the people he spends most of his time on set with, including, "Eric (Martsolf, Ethan) and Lindsay (Hartley, Theresa), they're really great for him to work with. And Eva (Tamargo, Pilar) she's been great. They spend time talking to him and playing with him and things like that on set. He's formed some really good bonds there and even some of the crewmembers. They're great with him. They give him little gifts, props that they've used that they don't need. They're like 'Here Colton take this home!'"

Working steadily on Passions, going to auditions and booking jobs in between doesn't leave room for a lot of extra time, but that doesn't mean his education suffers. Attending an accommodating school definitely helps out, as when they know Colton will be absent, his teachers give him homework to complete with his on set teacher and while waiting for auditions. According to Lisa, "As long as we bring the report card in, they count it as an excused absence."

One absence they can already plan for is the week Colton goes on the Farewell to Harmony Fan Cruise in April. His first cruise, Colton is looking forward to the trip and previewed, "I know they're gonna have like me and a couple of the cast members, we're gonna be talking and giving out autographs and they're gonna do like a trivia. A couple of us will be like some hosts. A lot of stuff actually I think. It will definitely be fun."

Lisa of course will be chaperoning her son, who will be in good company, as Colton's on screen father (Eric Martsolf), grandmother (Eva Tamargo) and aunt (Emily Harper) will be attending the cruise as well.

As for the future, Colton will soon be appearing in the film Southern Baptist Sissies which is slated for a 2009 release. Colton filled me in on his role, saying, "I play the younger role of one of the main characters and it's actually kind of funny because I'm hanging out with a bunch of other kids and we're all kind of like, gay, so it's actually kind of funny. It's when they're first discovering that they're kind of like that."

Hoping to take on future roles in action and comedy movies, Colton enjoyed his experience in this dramedy quipping, "I thought it was actually pretty fun to play. Luckily I didn't have to smooch any boys."

It was such a pleasure to speak with Lisa and Colton Shires. I'd like to thank them for talking with me and wish Colton a very long and successful acting career.

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