Talia Akiva after her costume fitting on Monday.

Photo provided by Rachel Akiva

Most kids don’t have to check in with George Clooney before getting their braces off.

But then again, most kids haven’t been cast to play the movie star’s daughter in a film called “The Ides of March,” either.

Ann Arbor’s Talia Akiva, 9, a third grader at Eberwhite Elementary, will play Beth Morris, daughter of presidential candidate Mike Morris (Clooney), in the film.

“Ides” started shooting in Ann Arbor on Monday, and is reportedly shooting in three different University of Michigan campus locations this week. Clooney is both directing and acting in the film.

“She (Talia) had braces on up until last week,” said Rachel Akiva, Talia’s mother, who noted that she’d previously been instructed not to trim Talia’s hair before the shoot. “We went to the orthodontist and they said, ‘Guess what? … Phase one is done, (the braces) can come off.’ And I said, ‘Actually, I don’t know if we can take them off.’ It was this weird, ethical mom moment. I thought, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ She was cast with them on, but I feel really silly saying, ‘Leave her braces on.’”

But that’s what they decided to do, in the moment. Phone calls then passed back and forth between Talia’s agent and Clooney’s film team.

“We spent the day waiting to see if George wanted the braces or not,” said Rachel Akiva. “And then, apparently, he said it didn’t matter. So I called the orthodontist, and it's usually hard to get in, but they know the whole story, and they were like, ‘So what does Clooney want?’”

Talia Akiva’s journey to being cast in “Ides” began when she appeared as Gretl in the Encore Theatre’s August 2010 production of “The Sound of Music.” The family of a young castmate, who had an agent, suggested Talia might want to seek representation with the same agency.

Talia auditioned and indeed landed an agent. The first audition she was called in for, on December 14, 2010? “The Ides of March.”

“She auditioned with them, and then we waited and waited and waited and thought, ‘Oh, it’s such a long shot, it’s not going to happen,’” said Rachel Akiva.

“Our agent said they probably won’t call you if you didn’t get it, so we thought I didn’t get it,” said Talia Akiva.

But when Clooney came to the Detroit area to hand-pick featured extras for the film, he also looked at the videotaped auditions for the role of his daughter and chose Talia — no callbacks or interviews necessary.

What did Talia have to for the audition?

“They had me play school and pretend to sleep,” she said.

“Easiest audition she’s ever had in her life,” said Rachel Akiva. “Which is the funniest thing, because for all of these (Young People’s Theatre) things, she prepares all this music, or she prepares a monologue.”

But weeks had passed with no word, until January 21, when her mother arrived at Eberwhite to pick up Talia from school.

“I was on the phone talking to them as I was walking into school, trying to be all chill on the phone,” said Rachel Akiva, turning to her daughter. “ … And then I went to your classroom, and you came out. And I think I said something like, ‘Guess what?’ And it was like you knew.”

“Because I’d been waiting and waiting,” said Talia.

Neither Talia nor her family have seen a page of the "Ides"' screenplay, but the agent provided a rundown of the scenes that she’ll be involved in this week.

“At this point, she has no lines,” said Rachel Akiva, who will be on the “Ides” set with her daughter throughout her portion of the shoot. “ … We think she’s sleeping on (Clooney’s) lap in the back of the car, while he’s having some hushed conversation with his wife. … And there’s another scene with him standing up at the podium, which I’m thinking will be Tuesday (at the Power Center), when they’ll be using 1,300 extras, and it’s some presidential rally. She’s standing at the podium with him then. And then she’s playing school with her mother in another scene. … We’re hoping … that there will be one line. It all changes if she opens her mouth. She can join the Screen Actors Guild, and she’s invited to the premiere. So we just have to cross our fingers.”

Besides “Ides,” Talia is now in rehearsals for YPT’s production of “Beauty and the Beast,” playing Chip’s puppy; recently starred as Scout in Ann Arbor Civic Theatre’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”; and will likely audition soon for a feature film called “Still I Rise,” scheduled to be shot in Pittsburgh. (Talia began acting with YPT at age 4.)

Talia met Clooney for the first time on Monday, when she visited the production’s base camp for a costume fitting — not that she knew who the Oscar-winning actor was before she landed the role.

“(Among) all of my friends, everybody’s flipping out, and (Talia)’s like, ‘Who are these people?’” said Rachel Akiva.

But based on others' reaction to her casting news, Talia's getting the idea. “Everybody wants to come (to the shoot),” said Talia. “My hairdresser, my dentist, my tutor — everybody.”

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.