Indiwire's "The Playlist" Interview: ‘Super 8’ Star Joel Courtney Was Just Looking For A Commercial Gig And $100
From Indiwire's "The Playlist":
Of the varied critical reactions to “Super 8,” everyone does seem to concur on one thing: that the film’s young leads give some strong performances. But, with the exception of Elle Fanning—who at the age of just 13 has already built herself a solid resume—most of the group are new faces, most notably “Super 8”’s lead, Joel Courtney.
In what sounds like a classic case of Hollywood Discoveries, Joel, who had never acted professionally before, was on a trip to Los Angeles to visit his brother (actor Caleb Courtney), with the idea to audition for a few commercials, and incidentally ended up with the lead role in a summer blockbuster from J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg. Doing press for the film this past week, we had the chance to hear more from Courtney on working with one his favorite directors, his new career and what the future holds.
The jump to the big screen was a surprise for Courtney, as well as many of his friends, “Some of my friends believed me and some of my friends didn’t and when I didn’t show up at school, that’s when it kicked in for them and it really kicked in when they saw the trailer during the Super Bowl.” But the actor admits that’s when it started to hit for him as well. Watching the game with his best friend, he remembers rewinding the spot several times, “I think we watched [the trailer] like 5 times!”
But stardom is all very new to Courtney. “I’d had like, 6 acting classes before [being cast],” he admits, “I’ve only wanted to act for like, a year and a half, it’s my brother who’s wanted to act for a long time. I came down to visit him in L.A… I wanted to get an audition for a commercial and $100, that was my goal for the summer. And, uh,” he laughs, “I got ‘Super 8’.” But the audition process wasn’t as simple as Courtney suggests. He, as well as the rest of the cast, went through multiple tests, reading lines solo and then with other actors so that Abrams could find a group that really fit together as best friends, “[the day of the first audition] I had 2 immediate call backs. Then a while later they had me come back so I was like, ‘well they’re having me come back so that’s good,’ but I came back 11 times, and a lot of them were chemistry auditions, to see who would be really good friends. J.J. really wanted [the chemistry] to be spot on so a lot of the auditions were like hanging out with all the other actors to see who the chemistry would be the best with.”
Of the varied critical reactions to “Super 8,” everyone does seem to concur on one thing: that the film’s young leads give some strong performances. But, with the exception of Elle Fanning—who at the age of just 13 has already built herself a solid resume—most of the group are new faces, most notably “Super 8”’s lead, Joel Courtney.
In what sounds like a classic case of Hollywood Discoveries, Joel, who had never acted professionally before, was on a trip to Los Angeles to visit his brother (actor Caleb Courtney), with the idea to audition for a few commercials, and incidentally ended up with the lead role in a summer blockbuster from J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg. Doing press for the film this past week, we had the chance to hear more from Courtney on working with one his favorite directors, his new career and what the future holds.
Catch the entire interview over at Indiwire's "The Playlist".