With the Sundance Film Festival kicking off this weekend, one of the most buzzed about films is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut Don Jon's Addiction, which chronicles the everyday happenings of a modern day Don Juan named Jon (played by Joseph Gordan-Levitt) and his struggle to overcome porn addiction.
I caught up with actor Jeremy Luke who plays one of Jon's best buddies. Check out our really fun interview below!
Hi Jeremy! So tell me about your character Danny.
Basically, Danny and Joe's character Jon, and Bobby who's Rob Brown's character, are womanizers. We go out, we objectify women, we go out and we're not really there yet as far as maturity goes. But we're getting there and I think Joe'[s character] is the one to come around. And basically, Joe's character, his M.O. is that he's a modern-day Don Juan. He gets all the 9's and the 10's. And I go for the 2's and the 3's.
What kind of prep and research went into that? (laughs)
I went out to nightclubs a lot when I was in my early 20's, so I think I did a lot of research over a long period of time (laughs). I used to pick up women, but it's not that easy if you're 5'5 going in the club. Because all the girls are 5'5 but they're three inches taller with you, so they're really 5'8 with heels. But we rehearsed at a Prince concert. We actually rehearsed the club scenes when we saw Prince live. There were about 100 people there. And we started doing the scenes while we there.
You're a gym guy anyway, but did you have to bulk up at all for this role?
I'm not really that big of a gym guy, actually. I don't lift weights. I know what I look like, Sharon. I know I'm a hunk.
I saw on Twitter you talk about the gym!
Oh, you saw that I go to the... Oh, I run at the gym. I don't lift weights. I did start lifting weights, but Joe got... Joe looks like... Joe's the guy. He's like a beast, right?
Yes! (laughs) So what was it like working Joe as an actor and as a director?
The thing with Joe is, he's really great because he understands actors. He speaks the same language. We rehearsed for this film, which was cool because a lot of times you get on set and the rehearsal is actual camera rehearsal. With Joe, we had time to rehearse. And the thing with him, I really trusted him. Obviously, he's like... that guy's going to win an Academy Award at some point. He's great. So I have full trust in him. And I usually don't, you know, where I'm kind of like teetering because a lot of directors don't know how to direct actors. But he's an actor, first and foremost.
You'd be surprised, he had his shit worked out from top to bottom. It was amazing because he'd be engaging you in a scene and he was great in the scene, and then he'd jump out of it and give us notes. I'm sitting there like, "How are you fucking doing this?" He'll be totally looking at me, then they're would be a camera rehearsal and the camera would come to the line, it wouldn't make the line—and he's like totally engaged with me in a scene, I remember, on the couch— and then he'd be like, "Cut!" The guy, seriously, he's young and he's a young director, but he's been in the business for 25 years. He definitely knows his shit.
How much did you know about him prior to working together?
I started to watch a lot of his movies after, but I saw 500 Days of Summer. That movie made me cry almost. It's like a chick flick for guys.
Haha! It's a good film!
Great film. It's an awesome film. And this year, the kid just slam-dunked it.
So tell me about how you got involved with the project.
A couple of different ways. I hang out at this bar called Birds, me and my buddy Joey. I walked into the bar and there was this guy who was there who was a friend of another guy he was with who was the first assistant director of the film. He said, "I saw you in this movie and they're casting for Joseph Gordon-Levitt's two best friends. You and your buddy should bring your stuff in." And I was like, "They're casting out of Jersey? They're definitely going to make Garden State or something. Yeah, whatever."
So he kind of put the word in Joe's ear. So then I got called in for casting. Then I went to casting and [the casting director] was like "Come back and meet Joe." I'm like, "Who's Joe?" She's like, "Joseph Gordon-Levitt." I was like,"Oh cool." I was the last person to audition. But the good thing, talking about Joe as a director, when we were auditioning there were like five guys in front of me and I had to wait like an hour and 15 minutes to go into the room because Joe was workshopping all these guys. He was just giving everyone a really good opportunity to stretch and flex and do their thing. He's workinng with actors in a way an actor would like a director to work with them.
And the cast on this film is great. Who else did you work with a lot on set?
I was with Rob Brown a lot. I was with Scarlett [Johansson]. We had a couple scenes with Scarlett. She was great. Really savvy girl. She was fun. She does a terrific job. She plays Barbara. She does a great job. I'm really from New York, but she really captured the essence of these girls.
And this is your first time at Sundance, right?
Yeah, I've never been at Sundance. I've been acting for 15 years, I've been acting out here [in L.A.] for 12 years, so this is my first time going to Sundance. So I'm super excited. And I'm going with the king of Sundance, Joe (laughs). He's literally hosting Sundance.
Is he?
He's like the host for the gala. The guy's all over the place.
Haha! So are you more nervous or excited?
I'm going to see the movie for the first time the night of the premiere, so I'm sure I'll be a little weirded out seeing it because I'm seeing myself for the first time, you know? But I'll just weirded out that first time and then I think I'll be OK.
I'm sure you will. So why should people go see this film?
Joe showed me the trailer for international. It's sexy. It's a sexy movie. Joe's got no shirt on. He's tan. He's jacked up. ScarJo's in it. She's got this really trashy accent. She looks hot. Also, it deals with porn addiction. Nobody really talks about that, but it's a big thing.
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment!