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Rhett on the set
By Elizabeth Bush
May 7, 2008 - 10:53:33 AM

elizabeth bush Daniel Island resident Rhett Cuthbert, cast as a “troubled teen” on the Lifetime television show Army Wives, waits patiently on the set for his scene.

There is an enormous portrait of a young, almost mystical angel hanging prominently in the dining room of the Cuthbert home on Daniel Island. The brightly colored canvas has a captivating presence, one that draws you in because it is curiously different, interesting and intriguing. Such is the case with the artist himself, 14-year-old Rhett Cuthbert, an eighth-grader at the Daniel Island School with a passion for acting and art.

His talents recently landed him on the set of Army Wives, a Lifetime television show filmed in and around the former Navy Base in North Charleston. Rhett, cast as a troubled teen, came dressed in purple jeans, a grey tank top, a bullet-studded belt, silver chains around his neck and a bandana wrapped beneath his tousled hair. They were his own clothes, the same styles he normally wears, and did not need to be replaced with items from the show’s wardrobe department.

"When I was a lot younger than I am now, I just started liking all of the acting and stuff I was seeing in movies, so I thought, I wonder if I could do that?" said Rhett. "I always like to be crazy and express myself more than most people, and be more outgoing and funny. So that’s a good way to do it."

Those expressions caught the eye of Richard Futch, casting director for Army Wives and one of Rhett’s acting teachers. When the role came up in the script, Rhett immediately made Futch’s short list of possibilities. After coming in to talk with the casting team, he got the part.

Elizabeth Bush In addition to acting and art, Rhett also enjoys music. This space in the family’s detached garage, colorfully splattered with Rhett’s own graffiti art, is the perfect venue for drum practice.

"Background!" yelled the director on the set last week, at the start of a scene on a basketball court. "Action!"

The warm sun beat down on cast and crew as Rhett sat on the sidelines with his family watching the action unfold. He waited patiently for his scene, during which he would simply nod his head and shake hands with Sterling Brown, who plays one of the show’s main characters. Even though his time on screen would last just a few minutes, it was enough to make an impression.

"It was just the whole experience," said Rhett of his ten hour day on the set. "I got to miss school so I could go be on TV!...I liked all of it. I had a really fun experience. I met some people and I got to see it all go down. "

Rhett’s mother, deLeisseline Cuthbert, was especially impressed with the Army Wives team.

"Even Catherine Bell (one of the show’s stars) came over and said ‘Hi, my name is Catherine’. Everybody was just so nice. Nobody had this ‘I’m the star, don’t talk to me’ mentality."

"I’m just real proud of him," added Rhett’s father, Simons Cuthbert. "And I’m glad he has the opportunity to pursue something he is passionate about right here in town."

Being on a set, or stage, is certainly nothing new for Rhett. He started doing school and church plays when he was 9 years old. Within a year he was performing with Charleston Stage at the Dock Street Theatre.

"I just wanted to keep on getting bigger roles and do more stuff," he said. "Wearing the costumes, and you know, doing different dialogues and things like that."

He is also currently participating in a teenage version of Charleston’s popular "Have Nots" improv team. Does he ever get cold feet performing in front of other people?

"I’ve never really had stage fright," he said with confidence. "I just like to kind of go up there and show off… And if you think about it, it’s not scary at all. You’re just going up there talking, people see you, and you have conversations about it. It’s about you. So you just feel like you accomplish something."

"He was just sort of in his element," added deLeisseline of Rhett’s Army Wives performance. "He wasn’t nervous. I wasn’t nervous for him. I was the kid that was hiding in the bathroom not wanting to give oral book reports in high school, so it amazes me that at age 10 he went before five directors at Charleston Stage to audition for a show. Where did that come from? He’s just comfortable with it and I’m glad he has a channel for it."

elizabeth bush This portrait of an angel, painted by Rhett, hangs in the dining room of his home in Center Park.

Rhett’s creative channel, a burst of personal expression in the form of clothing and art, has definitely been known to attract attention. Whether it’s his punk-themed hairstyles or "hard rock" attire, this teenager is all about making a statement.

"I definitely like to be crazy with it," he said. "Every once in a while go all out and do stuff that other people wouldn’t do, or wear things that other people wouldn’t wear. It’s what I like to do."

"He wore costumes everywhere," said deLeisseline of Rhett’s younger days. "He wore costumes to church, to the grocery store. It was like ‘OK, come on Superman’. I have a picture holding Sarah Grace (Rhett’s sister) as a newborn baby, and he’s there in a Bat Man costume at age four! He would just get into the role, so I knew back then that something was going to come of this."

Telling Rhett to change his ways was simply not an option, said deLeisseline.

"I just wanted to celebrate his artistic ability," she said. "Because a lot of people wouldn’t let their kids. (They’d say) you’re gonna play football instead. This just sort of blossomed and we just ran with it."

Last summer, Rhett got the experience of a lifetime when he traveled to Orlando, Fla. to participate in the Actors, Models and Talent Competition, considered to be the "Olympics" of the industry. His success there led to a three-year contract with an agent based in Los Angeles. While the timing wasn’t quite right for Rhett to accept the contract, he hopes to try again in the near future. He’s currently waiting to hear if he’s been accepted to the School of the Arts in North Charleston.

As for Rhett’s mesmerizing painting in the Cuthbert’s dining room? The artist believes its meaning is simple.

"It’s a little angel dude just chilling," he said, looking up at the image on the wall.

But his mother sees more.

"I think it’s a self-portrait," she added.

Falling around the angel beneath the clouds are heart-shaped "droplets" of rain, symbolic perhaps of the love that surrounds Rhett. With the support of his family and unmistakable talent, it would seem the sky is the limit for this rising star.