Opelika teen Ian Foreman recently made waves at the 40th Anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival this year by debuting not one, but two, feature films — “I Saw the TV Glow” and “Exhibiting Forgiveness” — during the star-studded event.

Foreman, 13, first began taking acting classes in 2020, thinking of it more as a way to get out of the house and make friends than as a possible career path. That all changed though when his talent became clear to those around him, and he was signed with an agent after only a few short months.

“Before COVID started, I was a very big fan of basketball,” said Foreman. “I wanted to be a basketball player, but then COVID started so I couldn’t. I had nothing to do. I couldn’t go to school, so I didn’t really have any friends. Then my mom got me into acting classes, and I started to enjoy it and was doing pretty well. The rest is history.”

Foreman’s first major role was portraying Isaiah Cole in Showtime’s “Let The Right One In” series in 2022, and shortly after he landed his roles in the A24 horror film “I Saw the TV Glow,” and “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” an emotional drama starring heavyweights like André Holland, Andra Day, John Earl Jelks and Aunjanue Ellis Taylor. Both films premiered before sold-out audiences of up to 900 attendees during the opening weekend of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

“My experience at Sundance was amazing,” Foreman said of attending the festival, which is the largest independent film festival in the United States. “Being able to go was pretty surreal because I met so many people that I have looked up to. It was nice having two films there, and I was very happy to finally be able to watch them. Definitely an amazing experience. 10/10; would go again.”

Foreman’s double debut of two films during the 2024 event was an achievement on its own, but the strict age restrictions at Sundance make the 13-year-old’s success even more noteworthy. When asked what advice he’d give to other young actors looking to pursue a career in the field, Foreman said resilience is key.

“In this industry, you have to stay resilient because you’re going to get a lot of ‘no’s,” said Foreman. “It took me at least a thousand ‘no’s before I got a ‘yes,’ but as long as you take the ‘no’ and use that ‘no’ as motivation for the next audition, you’ll get there soon.”

With 2024 already a huge year for him, Foreman still has additional projects in the works, including a film called “A Wonderful Way with Dragons”. For the young actor, being successful with such an early start in the industry was a surprise, but a welcome one.

“My family was definitely surprised because when I started, we didn’t think it was going to come this far,” said Foreman. “I’m happy that I stayed with this, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me later.”