ACTING ROLES MULTIPLY VALENCIA GIRL MAKES MARK.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Except for her starring role in a new NBC sitcom, her appearance in more than a dozen other TV shows and commercials, and her coming feature film, Abigail Mavity is a typical 8-year-old kid.

Wearing bright yellow socks, pink nail polish and a Snoopy ring, Abigail jumps rope through the spacious kitchen of her Valencia home and does somersaults on the overstuffed furniture in the front room.

``I'd like to be a monkey so I can climb up things,'' she said, scaling a large window sill. ``You can tell I've been around chimpanzees because I know all their secrets of climbing.''

Abigail recently finished filming a Disney channel movie called ``The Jennie Project'' about a family that adopts a baby chimpanzee, and she is leaving for Florida next month to begin filming a new feature movie directed by Victor Nunez called ``Coastlines.''

Abigail's natural charm and spirited personality have made her successful, according to actor Justin Louis, who plays her older brother in ``The Fighting Fitzgeralds'' sitcom.

``She's just so honest and real,'' he said. ``Child actors haven't been corrupted by life and haven't built any walls yet. Abby's completely uninhibited and very smart and outgoing. When the audience is here, she's extra excited.''

When she's not putting in 8 1/2-hour days on the set, Abigail said she likes to go shoe shopping at Valencia Town Center Mall, and she attends classes at the Santa Clarita Ballet Academy.

``I like being busy,'' she said. ``I just like working, but pretty soon I might get sick of it.''

One of 10 children, Abigail taught herself to read when she was 3. At a photographer's suggestion, she soon began taking acting lessons and enjoyed them, said her mother, Sue Mavity.

``I think most of the people who are successful in this business are intelligent,'' Mavity said. ``If she hadn't been reading at such an early age, all of this probably wouldn't have evolved.''

Mavity said she allows her daughter to do as much or as little acting work as she chooses.

``If she didn't enjoy it, we wouldn't be doing this,'' she said. ``And I can't be there during her auditions, so all that's happened is because of her. If anything, I feel like I'm trying to hold her back.''

Abigail began appearing in television shows and commercials at 5. Last year she was so busy in Hollywood that the family decided to move from Arizona to Santa Clarita, Mavity said.

The young star is tutored three hours each day, and she said her favorite subject is science ``because it has all this weird, disgusting stuff in it.''

However, Abigail said she has no interest in any career but acting.

``I want to do this forever,'' she said. ``Once you start you just can't stop.''

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5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Actress Abigail Mavity, 8, chats with her mom, Sue, in their home at Valencia. At right, Abigail marks the beginning of a scene on NBC's ``The Fighting Fitzgeralds'' situation comedy, in which she has a leading role.

(3 -- 4) Left, Actress Abigail Mavity jumps rope at home in Valencia and is at the center of a scene in ``The Fighting Fitzgeralds'' at Paramount Studios.

(5) Lots of pillows are comfy for an actress at home. Abigail Mavity is schooled at the studio but takes ballet classes in Santa Clarita.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer