Five minutes with Joel Courtney

Check out this interview with Australia's "Dolly".

Five minutes with Joel Courtney

We sat down with Super 8 star Joel Courtney to find out all about his debut film and what it's like being one of Hollywood's hottest upcoming actors.

What was it like working with the film's director JJ Abrams?
It was so much fun! JJ is so brilliant — he's a genius. I've loved his work for quite a while. I loved Lost and Alias and I'm so grateful I was able to be a part of this one.

What was the auditioning process like?
It was crazy! I had no idea what to expect in the audition room. I just went in and had to audition three different times.

How did you find out you got the role?
Well I was down in Los Angeles when JJ offered it to me in person. I was just bouncing around I had so much energy. I was so happy.

Did you ever get nervous on set because this was your first movie?
Yes, I was kind of nervous that I would mess up and get it wrong because there's so many people just waiting for you to get it right. It's really nerve-racking!

What was the hardest stunt you had to do? Did you do all your own stunts?
My hardest stunt was when we were jumping over that fence in the backyard! I had so much adrenaline. I was running too fast and I had to slow down and that was really hard for me because if I slowed down I would do the jump differently and I would mess it up and fall every time!

Did you and the rest of the cast hang out between shooting?
When I went into the audition process, half of it was acting inside the audition room and the other half was acting outside. They wanted to see who would bond together on-screen. As soon as I met Riley [Griffiths], Ryan [Lee] and Zach [Mills], I knew I had bonded with them immediately. When we finished the movie we were like brothers.

Do you ever get star struck?
The closest I've ever been to being star struck was when I met Steven Spielberg. It was awesome! When he came to the set, Riley and I were in between filming and he walked over and told us that we were doing a really good job. We were just so happy!

How did you continue with school while you were filming?
We had an on-set teacher and we were getting a good amount of school in every day and as soon as the film was done I just went back to school.

What did your classmates think of the film?
They were like really weird about it. I'm from a really small town so there are only a couple of actors. So my friends thought it was really weird.

Can you believe all of this? No, it's so surreal! I haven't been able to wrap my head around it yet.