It's a well-deserved heat for the chameleonic Handley, who managed to grow out of his early start as a child actor (Jack Frost, the Disney Channel vehicle The Phantom of the Megaplex) by taking on increasingly daring roles in television and film, whether playing the memorably loved and loathed Marissa Cooper-obsessed Oliver on The O.C., a sexually confused young man in the gender-bending indie rom-com Zerophilia, or one of four doomed youngsters in the horror prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (directed by Battle: Los Angeles helmer Jonathan Liebesman).
Movieline spoke with Handley via telephone about his upcoming March two-fer, the grueling experience of playing LCpl. Corey Simmons in Battle: Los Angeles, which reunited him with director Liebesman, and the career strategy he's employed in his 13 years and counting as a working actor.
After filming both Skateland and Battle: Los Angeles in Shreveport, you must have a lot of local spots.
We shot Skateland in the end of 2008, in Shreveport, Louisiana just between the border of East Texas and Louisiana -- and we shot Battle: Los Angeles at the end of 2009, also in Shreveport. So I know a lot about Shreveport. Basically, the Poker Room and the El Dorado Casino were my hangouts. Riverboats. [Pauses] I left some money in Shreveport at the riverboats.
Speaking of Skateland, one of the bigger warnings for folks who haven't yet seen it seems to be that this is not Roll Bounce for white Texas teens in the '80s...
Oh my God, no. The movie's not centered around roller skating, that's the main thing you have to know. It's just the backdrop, the theme to these young adults' lives. I like to keep my character descriptions kind of short, but [my character] is kind of like a laid-back ladies' man who's got a penchant for single malt scotch and Marlboro Reds.
There's a natural intimacy to Skateland, partly due to the fact that it's a small cast and you all play lifelong friends in a small town. How did you come to join the film?
That's actually kind of a funny story. Originally, a few years back I was shooting this TV show called Hidden Palms and one of the producer's assistants was Anthony Burns, the director of Skateland. So I had ties going into the room for the audition with Tony. The script came to me as all meetings and auditions come to me, through my manager and my agency, but going in it was a very friendly room. I could sit back and do my thing, and we got a call the next day that they were interested.
That marks twice now that you've worked multiple times with the same director, in a way, now that you've also been in two of Jonathan Liebesman's films -- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, and Battle: Los Angeles. Is that sort of actor-director connection something that every performer hopes to find?
Definitely. I mean, ultimately making movies is a really, really small world. Being on sets and going to the same locations, like shooting in Shreveport, you're always working with somebody from another set that you worked with. But as far as an actor-director connection, I think those can develop and when they do they're really great, and you just cultivate it like you would any relationship or friendship. If you find that something special it helps down the line when you want to do more projects with each other.
Did you stay close with Jonathan after shooting Texas Chainsaw? That couldn't have hurt your chances when you went out for Battle: Los Angeles.
It's the same kind of thing; I went into the room and Jonathan was there with the casting director Debra Zane, who's wonderful. And again it was a very friendly room, and when it's a friendly room it's easier to relax and do your thing and not worry about the quiet producer in the corner who you think is casting all this judgment upon you. But it's always a pleasure to work with Jonathan. I saw him throughout the years between Texas Chainsaw and Battle: Los Angeles, so the relationship is there and I look forward to working with him more.
How would you describe Jonathan as a director, now that you've been in two of his films?
Jonathan is a visionary. He knows exactly what he wants, and he won't stop until he gets it. He's a madman. He gives 110% and moves so quickly. I never worked with somebody who was so... crazy isn't the right word, but he just knows what he wants and he won't stop until he gets it.
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.