Taylor Handley on Skateland, Battle: Los Angeles, and Navigating His Hollywood Career

Jonathan reportedly put an unusual amount of effort into his pitch for Battle: Los Angeles before getting the directing gig.

It was amazing, the presentation. At the first read-through in Shreveport they played us Jonathan's presentation and it was like a mini-movie itself. Everyone was all there together -- Neal Moritz and his camp, and Jonathan and all the actors, and we watched the presentation on the big screen. I remember we all looked at each other and we were like, 'Holy sh*t, this is going to be crazy.' It was pretty extraordinary. He got into detail with me about how he came up with the concept for the aliens and all the work and detail he put into it was pretty mind-blowing.

And then you got to dive into boot camp! Did you really sleep in a tent with your entire cast to get ready for filming?

Oh, yeah. The first day of boot camp we pitched a tent and all 16 of us slept on these little cots in a row with drill sergeants in our ear about where to put our equipment. Then we'd wake up at 5 a.m. and go through physical training. We'd eat, shower up, and then it was just running drills all day for 8-10 hours in full gear. By the time 8 or 9 o'clock came around, we were exhausted. We really went through the ringer on that. But it was great. It got us into perfect shape, because filming this movie was... the physical energy everybody had to put in was crazy. I remember one day, it didn't make the cut in the movie, we were running up and down this sand dune at a 30 degree angle. Up and down, up and down for ten hours. And our camera guy is going up and down with us, too. I think everybody put on 5 or 10 pounds of muscle. And it really helped us with the filming of the movie.

I imagine that kind of immersive training allows you to lose yourself in the muscle memory of how to be a soldier once the camera's running.

Oh, it was imperative that we knew what we were doing. We needed to know how to load our weapons and run the drills and CQB [close-quarters battle], all this stuff in order to make it real.

What was your boot camp nickname?

My nickname was Point Break, because of my character in the movie. My character's pretty basic; he's an automatic weapon-toting grunt in the Marine Corps. with alien blood on his brain, you know? And he saves up all his money for a surf trip, that's why he's in the Marine Corps.

Based on the first few trailers alone, the film's drawn comparisons to movies like District 9, Black Hawk Down, and Independence Day. How do you think Battle: LA sets itself apart?

What I like about it is that it focuses on a specific group of Marines who are deployed into downtown Los Angeles, and you get to be with these guys every step of the way. In doing so, you get to know each and every one of them and the relationships between them, and how tight these guys are. So when you do lose one of your friends, or you lose a man in your squad, how much it hurts. But at the end of the day it's all about finishing the mission as well. You get to know these guys, and I think in some of these other movies you're dealing with the President and the world as a whole. This is really just about the Marines and their mission, having to extract civilians.

Were you given any specific references to study, or did you find any on your own?

When were there we all got together and saw The Hurt Locker, but the movies you described were all mentioned. People were watching them to get a sense of how the military moves, because as actors it's really important for us to portray them correctly.

You began acting at a young age, appeared in a Disney movie, moved into teen roles and progressed into more mature roles in film and television. How much of a strategy have you had along the way -- how careful have you had to be with your career choices?

Honestly, I wish there was a road map of how to be successful in this business. At the end of the day it seems like a crap shoot some days, and some days it seems like it's meant to be. I started when I was 13, and at that early age you just kind of do whatever comes your way. Fortunately for me, I was able to book some good jobs and start developing a good representation team. It's just really all about doing good work, and if good writing comes your way and you're able to do it the best, then you go after it with everything you've got. Sometimes there are disappointments; there's a lot of competition out there, but that's why you've got to keep up on your game and just do it.

Those transitory years between being a child actor and then a teenager, then moving from teenage characters into adult roles, seem very much like pivotal moments in an actor's career.

It's definitely true. There are all kinds of transitions you have to go through. Sometimes you're at the younger part of a transition and sometimes you're at the older part of a transition going into the younger part of the new transition. It's crazy, but as I said, you just have to keep up on your own game, look for the best work, and go after it with all you have. Maybe you're lucky, maybe you're not.

How do you keep up on your game?

You've got to go to classes, you have to keep up with your relationships, there has to be constant communication about what's going on within your team.

I saved the best question for last: Are you aware of the YouTube videos out there dedicated to you? They're out there, mostly set to rock and roll love ballads. It's really quite impressive.

Wow. I've never YouTubed myself, and I'm actually scared to do it. I think I may just let sleeping dogs lie on this one. [Laughs] Someone did send me one of them before, and I was kind of creeped out so I never investigated further.

Battle: Los Angeles opens nationwide March 11; Skateland opens in limited release March 25.

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