Sparks fly for Raeford girl making her big screen debut in 'The Shift'

A young girl with big dreams and a big personality is on the big screen this weekend.

Kara Mae Khan of Raeford plays a part in "The Shift," a science-fiction thriller written and directed by Brock Heasley and produced by Angel Studios. The movie stars Neal McDonough, Kristoffer Polaha, Elizabeth Tabish and Sean Astin.

Kara, 10, has a flair for performing. Kara was in pageants for years and caught the eye of a talent agency. Her agent suggested the role in "The Shift" for her.

"They really liked my spark," Kara said of her audition.

Kara is in fifth grade and enjoys putting on a show. She's a gymnast, likes to sing and is the president of her class at school.

"She was born charismatic," said Kara's mom, Kristen. "She just lights up a room. Her eyes sparkle. Her face sparkles and that shows really well on camera."

She's still absorbing the excitement surrounding the movie after attending a premiere in Los Angeles.

"One of my cousins still can't even believe it," Kara said. "They're still telling me, 'no, you're not in that movie. You're faking it.' They're coming to the premiere, so I'm going to get to prove him wrong."

"The Shift" was filmed in Birmingham, Alabama in March. Kara plays a daughter of a primary character who tries to help the main character. The experience marked her first time on a movie set and working with directors and producers who wanted a certain effect.

"At first it was a little hard to get what they pictured, but then after a few takes, me and the girl I was with, we finally got it and we just kept doing films and filming it just so we could see which one looked the best," she said. "And that took a few takes because me and her, we burst out laughing randomly, so that was kind of fun."

In 2019, Kara played a girl who dropped her ice cream cone in an episode of NBC’s "Council of Dads."

"I was a little girl that dropped her ice cream and I felt bad because the same woman had to pick it up like so many times," she said. "I felt bad because the same woman had to pick it up so many times because we had to keep taking it," Kara remembered.

Kara also enjoys spending time with her sister and parents and embraces the support from family in her journey. Her favorite shows include "Outer Banks" and "iCarly." Her favorite movie is E.T.

To celebrate Kara's opening weekend, a red carpet premiere was held at MarketFair 15 in Fayetteville on Thursday.

"I was really, really excited and nervous at the same time," Kara said. "But it turned out really good. I loved it so much. It was so great filming."