If past experiences act as future predictors, we are anticipating that The Boy Who Became King, will be accepted into the Sundance Film Festival for 2011 and that Christy Lee Hughes will be flashing plenty of smiles. She recalls her last Sundance experience, “Oh My God, my cheeks hurt from smiling.  I was smiling all week long and I met so many amazing people. I went to great networking events and parties and went to red carpets. I met so many really cool people. I stay in touch with them. For me, being at Sundance for the first time, I was just high on life, grateful and happy.”

In October of this year, Ms. Hughes was invited to sit on a screenwriters panel for Film Columbia, a film festival in upstate New York and she is the mother of a budding actor named Baxter who recently appeared in Startailz. Although Baxter is Christy Lee Hughes’ guy, he was cast in the role of a rambunctious lady named Chiquita, but Ms. Hughes says her dog Baxter accepted the role well.

“It was his first time on the set with mommy and he looks super cute on film. He was pretty good on the set. There were a lot of dogs and I think he just had a lot of fun. I think, because his mommy was right there that he didn’t mind. They put him in front of the camera and they made him do certain things. He was pretty good. I haven’t seen the footage or anything, as they are in post production now. Hopefully he will get to work again. It is kind of weird to have a dog that has a job, but if he can bring in some money and help pay the bills, hey, I am happy,” she says.

In some ways, four years can be a lifetime for an actor or actress and in other ways, it can go by quickly. Although she is only four years removed from her role in Beauty and the Beast the experiences that she enjoyed and what that has meant to her career is not lost on Christy Lee Hughes, “We went on tour and it was amazing. We did three shows each day, five days a week for about six months straight. It was exhausting and invigorating, but I will never forget it. It was an amazing experience for me as an actress and as a person. I got to travel throughout the country and to see parts of the country that I would never have seen. I got to meet all of these people and I had children come up to me and ask for autographs and they asked me if I really married a Beast (she giggles). It was really fun.”

Christy Lee Hughes starred in the award winning film The Boy Who Became King and we suspect it will not be much longer before we start referring to her as the Girl Who Became Queen. She has only been in Los Angeles for one year and there is already a buzz about her. She has already worked with noted directors such as Steven Spielberg and William Condon. Who is next?