Last month, I sat down with the up-and-comer to discuss how shocked he was that people found Kids to be a comedy, what exactly is going on with the troubled remake of Red Dawn, and how he feels when he loses out on a major role (in what turned out to be a prescient conversation).
Lisa says you're not at all like Laser in real life. How so?
I'm definitely more outgoing and more confident than Laser, I think. Laser's kind of going through an identity crisis -- he's figuring out who he is and how he fits into the world and his family. I'm still doing that as well, but I think that he's definitely more insecure than I am.
So how do you tap into that?
Lisa wrote the characters spectacularly, so playing them wasn't as hard as they normally would be, because she's incredible. As an actor, you're always playing different people, so you yourself are always kind of going through an identity crisis. [Laughs] It makes it easier to tap into that insecurity, I think.
I think it's interesting that Laser is the one who really wants to meet his father, Paul, yet when he does, he almost becomes bashful and retreats from it.
Definitely.
Why do you think that is?
For me, I think he just wants to keep his guard up at that point. He's not sure who Paul is, he doesn't want to let him into his life too much because he doesn't want to get hurt. He's definitely still giving Paul a chance -- he just wants to find out who he is first.
Is Paul who he had pictured?
Not at all. I think Laser had pictured some big athlete or sports guy, because Laser loves sports and he figures he must have gotten it from his dad. Then he finds this indie, grunge kind of guy who owns his restaurant and is being all organic. He's like, "What? All right, different, but I'll go with it."
He's very Silver Lake.
[Laughs] Yeah. Very Silver Lake.
Annette and Julianne were both intent on developing character backgrounds and family histories for this role. Since you play their kid, were you involved in devising all that backstory?
I didn't have any conversations with them about that. For me and Mia [Wasikowska] at least, we both have siblings, so that whole sibling thing is very easy for us to tap into. We had a week or two of rehearsals before we started shooting, and in that time, Lisa just wanted us to be together as a family. So we just kind of practiced being together. It was so easy, because we all come from such good, solid families, and that's what this movie is about: a solid family.
Do you often get that kind of rehearsal time?
It depends. Sometimes, on a small film like this, you don't always have time for a rehearsal, so I'm thankful that we got that week to get to know each other a lot. So many times, you're thrown into a situation where they say, "OK, this person's been your best friend since forever. You know everything about him. Here he is." You just have to be, "Uh, OK. Let's do it." So it's good to have that time to get to know somebody. I've been on projects before where there's no rehearsal, and you walk in on set and that's literally the first time you've ever played the character, and then I've had times where there's been three weeks of rehearsal. I like both. There's actually something interesting about having no rehearsal time -- you have to just walk in and go with your gut, which is exciting.
You're not nervous that you have so little time to get it right on a movie like this?
Oh yeah. We were shooting six pages a day sometimes, which is ridiculous. It was definitely intimidating, but because it was so crazy and we were shooting nonstop the entire time, it gave us this really awesome energy of not thinking about our characters too much. We kind of just did it -- we existed as our characters the entire time.
Were you at the Sundance premiere?
Yeah, that was my first time seeing it, actually. I was blown away. It's funny, because when I read the script, and through the entire time I was filming it, I thought it was a drama. I had no idea it was a comedy, right? All of a sudden I sit down at Sundance and I say, "Wait, this [program] says it's a comedy," and I go to the screening, and it's hilarious. What's really cool about it -- and maybe this is the reason I didn't think it would be a comedy -- is that there's no jokes. There's no setup, punchline, ta-dah. It's all situational comedy and finding the humor in everyday life.
I've had such trouble describing the movie to people, because when I describe the plot, it sounds like a downer.
It's so hard. [Laughs]
So how should I do it?
I feel like it's almost in the same realm as Little Miss Sunshine where if you listen to the story, you think, "That doesn't sound all that funny," but then you watch it, and the way the actors are with each other makes it funny. I think it's about finding the comedy in everyday life. I know my life is full of awkward pauses, and I think it's hilarious.
It's one of those films where it just looks like everyone was having a good time.
It was such a fun set. I miss it so much, honestly. We shot it all in Venice, and I just drove down there yesterday to go get something, and just seeing it all again took me back. I felt like I'd never left.
Does it feel to you like your career has kicked into a higher gear this year? Is your life suddenly scheduled to the nth degree?
I mean, sort of. I love doing publicity stuff, honestly. I just love talking. [Laughs] Honestly, I'm a very talkative person, so to talk about making the movie is fun. Right now it's a little hectic, because the premiere was last night with the Lakers game right next door to us. Madness. There were, like, twenty helicopters circling. Then next week, we fly to Michigan for half a day, and then we're touching down for three seconds and getting back on a plane and flying to New York to do a whole thing. It's a very exciting time. I mean, a lot of love went into this movie, so to see people receive it so well is very exciting.
And I'm sure it's exciting that you've been promoted to the lead for the Journey to the Center of the Earth sequel. At the same time, though, Brendan Fraser and the original director may not be coming back. What do you know about that?
Right now, they're getting the script locked down. They're shooting it sometime this fall in some exotic location like Australia or Puerto Rico, so I'm very excited about that. You know, there's been a whole lot of things going on, and I don't know all the details to them. They kind of keep me in the dark, which I'm happy about, in all honesty. All I know right now is that the script is really, really good, and they're looking at some cool people to come in and take over some roles.
So do you think Brendan would come back, or has that ship sailed?
I have no idea. I think it'd be great. I love Brendan to death, and he's a really great guy to work with, but I have no idea.
Are you frustrated that Red Dawn has been done for a while, but it's tied up in this MGM mess?
It can be tough sometimes. The good thing is that MGM is really behind it, and I'm actually doing reshoots for new scenes this week. It's really exciting to see how passionate they are; they're not going to throw it out there and just let it die. They want to wait until they get everything in order to release it.
Do you get heavily invested in that?
I think as an actor, you have to be able to forget and move on. Everyone has flops, which are hard to deal with. Everybody has big letdowns or roles they wanted and didn't get, and that rejection is hard to deal with sometimes. As an actor, it's something I've been dealing with since I was nine years old. It's normal to me.
So you got over rejection really early?
Totally. You have to! I mean, a nine-year-old kid getting told "no" from [casting directors]?
Or, "You're not physically right for this role."
And you're like, "What do you mean, not 'physically right'?"
I seriously don't know how a child actor handles that.
It's hard. I guess the way my family raised me, I've always felt loved, so I don't have to worry if I don't get the movie. It's OK. I've never felt not good enough. It's like, "I didn't get it? Oh well: I'm auditioning for another part tomorrow." That's always been my mindset. I've had some letdowns where it's like, "Aaaah, that sucks a lot." But you have to not take it personally.
[Lead Photo Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]