By Clay Merrill
clay@newsroom.byu.edu
BYU student Joy Gardner is used to being stared at -- on the screen.
Since March 24, audiences have watched Gardner play Laneah, the Nephite girl who witnesses Jesus Christ visit the Americas in the film 'The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd' playing at Legacy Theater in Salt Lake City.
Gardner, 21, is a senior from Gainesville, Fla., majoring in music, dance, theater.
Gardner began performing at a young age.
'I started performing when I was 6 but started showing interest in performing when I began to talk at the age of 2,' she said.
Singing was her passion as a child.
'At the age of 10, I would write melodies and have people arrange them into pieces so I could sing them in church,' she said.
Gardner began performing in school and community productions and in her Stake choir, the Zion's Youth Choir.
'That was the point where I really grew to love performing sacred music,' she said.
At 15, she started listening to contemporary Christian music and decided that's what she wanted to do.
'I wanted to share with the youth the testimony that I had.'
Gardner came to BYU and performed with the Young Ambassadors from 1996 to 1997.
'I learned how to serve through the performing aspects. It wasn't about me anymore. It was about serving and using my talents to share the gospel and be an instrument in God's hands,' she said.
After touring in South Africa with the Young Ambassadors, she signed a four-month contract with a cruise line, Holland America, as a lead singer.
It was while working there that she decided to turn her performing focus around.
'I decided that instead of serving myself that I would serve my Heavenly Father,' Gardner said.
Barta Heiner from the Theater and Media Arts Department informed Gardner about tryouts for a film about the Book of Mormon.
'I had no idea what I was getting into. I had no film experience whatsoever,' Gardner said.
Keith Merrill, the director of the film, said Gardner had just what they wanted.
'She brought the right balance of elements. She had the look and her audition was great. She read the lines from the scene where she is telling her mother that she is beginning to believe in the prophet, and I knew she was it,' he said.
Gardner received the part and filmed from March to May of 1999 in Hawaii and California.
Gardner said that the part of Laneah fit her.
'Laneah is basically like me. She has this whole conversion process that she goes through. Even though I have been a member of the church my whole life, I still had to decide in high school if I believed the church was true,' she said.
Heiner, who became Gardner's acting coach during the filming, said that Gardner got the part because of her talent.
'She was picked for the part because she has a good look and good emotion. She also had a good rapport with her co-star Jeremy Hoop,' Heiner said.
She also said that Gardner is very versatile.
'She is a very hard worker. She is versatile, a great singer and great to work with. She is very fun. I would love to work with her again,' Heiner said.
Merrill said he was impressed with her transition from theater to film.
'The fact that she came to us from music theater which is a completely different art form from film and stepped up to the part is remarkable,' he said.
Gardner will be graduating in April. Her future plans include playing Mary in a musical called 'Come Lord Jesus' which will be performed at the Conference Center this fall.
Also, Deseret Book has asked her to record an album that should be finished within the next year.
Gardner said the experience of performing in 'The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd' was humbling for her.
'I really felt neat feelings like the presence of angels on the set. I felt really humbled that I would be asked to depict a scene where someone would be at the feet of the Savior,' she said.
Gardner said that the experience has changed her professional focus.
'It has changed my attitude about the type of work I want to do. I really want to do uplifting religious material like this,' she said.