In TNT's new sci-fi drama Falling Skies, humanity is on the run from invading aliens who apparently didn't take etiquette lessons from E.T. –– we're pretty sure the little guy would say blasting people to bits and capturing young kids is a no no. It wasn't easy, but Ology was able to navigate laser beams and poor phone reception to catch up with Connor Jessup who plays Ben Mason, one of the unlucky humans captured in the invasion, and chatted about what it was like for the 16-year-old actor to work with Noah Wyle, how he became a quadruple threat actor/writer/director/producer combo (, and why kids should never stop reading. Listen to this guy, he might be humanity's best hope for survival someday.
Also, read our alien war correspondent Josh Harrison's glowing Falling Skies review (the glow isn't just from laser beam residue –– it's good!).
Ology: In Falling Skies your dad is played by Noah Wyle. What was it like working with him?
Oh he was a really, really great guy. Not only is he a very experienced actor but he's also just a really nice person. He's a very compassionate actor and he cares about the project, not himself. So if he thinks that another character should be featured in a scene more than him then he'll say that and make sure that that happens. He just brings a sort of calm confidence to every scene he's in and it's infectious and rubs off. It just makes shooting and being on set that much more of a rewarding experience.
Do you feel like you learned anything working with him?
Oh yeah, of course. I'm relatively inexperienced and he's the exact opposite. He's been working nonstop for the last 20 years and that experience, he just brings such a calm air of confidence to every scene, and working with him has really helped grow my confidence as an actor and grow my level of calm, I guess. And that infectious calmness that he brought to every scene stayed with me and it's proved invaluable.
You said you were inexperienced but it looks like you've done quite a lot in your short time as an actor and also as a director, producer, and writer. What made you branch out into so many different paths?
I'm a huge film buff, I love everything about films whether it's direction, obviously acting, writing and production. I think when you love movies there are a lot of paths you can go down and I'm interested in all those paths. I'm an actor, yeah, but I've also worked on projects writing, directing and also producing.
[Connor recently wrote, produced, directed and edited the shorts Something and I Don't Hurt Anymore!, and wrote/directed the play “Pushing Normal” in which he won an Award of Distinction for the script at the 2010 Sears Drama Festival. He also produced the indie film Amy George, which premiered at the Wisconsin International Film Festival on April 3]
Do you feel like writing your own material gives you a different appreciation for when you're acting?
It does, because I think as an actor you're often looking at scripts strictly from an actor's perspective which is, how do these lines work out, how do I want to say this? There are a lot of different considerations as an actor, and when you're writing you look at it in a different light. Instead of just your character there's also story structure, scene composition, and fluidity of dialogue and things like that. And as an actor you can help facilitate that because I think that's helpful that as an actor you have a little bit of knowledge about writing and directing. I think that any kind of knowledge you have about filmmaking as an actor helps on any project or role.
So when you were on the set of Falling Skies were you looking at it through the eyes of an actor and also a writer and director? And do you feel like you learned anything about wearing those other hats?
I think that when you have those experiences and interests you kind of naturally look at it through all those different perspectives. Although I work primarily as an actor on Falling Skies, I couldn't help but try to learn from the other cast and directors and the writers because these are people who are doing this as a profession and have been doing this for decades in some cases. There's no better place to learn than to be on a set like that.
What are some of your favorite films?
It changes from day to day, really. I mean, right now I would say Lost in Translation, Magnolia, Network, The Third Man, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Empire of the Son, Being John Malkovich. [laughs] I watch way too many movies.
Why are you such a film buff?
I grew up watching the classics, I think I must have watched The Wizard of Oz a hundred and fifty times. There's something about movies I think that speaks to our imaginations. And at the same time, I think they're an incredible set of tools to convey the human condition. And that's fascinating to me how there are people, hundreds of people, working together to show you, the viewer, one cohesive presentation.
If you could go back to one of your favorite movies and play one of its roles, which one do you think you would do?
I think I would probably play Christian Bale's role in Empire of the Sun. It was a Steven Spielberg movie from 1987 and I think it was Christian Bale's first part and it was an absolutely incredible part and he did an absolutely incredible job.
Would you ever try to write a role for yourself that would contain elements of that role?
I don't really see myself writing any scenes that I would be in as well. I think I have a difficult time separating the kind of character that I want to portray with the kind of character that's asked for in a scene. As a writer, it's easier to be objective if you're not writing for yourself and you're not thinking about what lines sound good for me to say.
I saw that you're also a big reader. What kind of books are you interested in?
Kind of the same thing as movies. Growing up I was kind of a voracious reader because reading has the power to, through the work of one person, transport you to other worlds or other characters' lives. And you can learn so much from books and there are so many things and so many different people who are so much more intelligent, experienced, and worldly than I am and they have these stories to tell in the same way that movies tell those stories. I just eat all that up.
Which books have made an impact on you?
My favorites are Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, Kafka. But those books are more recent –– when I was younger I was a huge fan of sci-fi and fantasy and Harry Potter and Ender's Game.
I know there's been a discussion going on about whether or not books, particularly books for young adults, are being too violent.
I think I read an article on that recently about young adult novels.
Yeah, exactly, it was in the Wall Street Journal. Did you have any opinion on that?
I think that [the article's author] was, unfortunately, commenting on how these books were so dark and I think she used the word ugly to describe certain young adult books. And I would say that, as a teenager, unfortunately our world is not always rainbows and sunshine. There are hard times and during our development we can have ugly experiences and dark times and I think books can speak to that and act as friends, act as... almost counselors for people who are going through these struggles and are extremely helpful.
I think there was a whole Twitter trend talking of people whose lives have been changed by young adults books, have been deeply affected. I think that [the article's author] didn't give teenagers enough credit. I think we're smarter than that. I think it's kind of the same argument where I don't think video games are negative either. I know people talk about how much more violent video games are these days and if teenagers play these games they're going to go start massacring people. I think we're smarter than that. I think video games are tools for us to express ourselves and for us to try to understand ourselves. The best books do that. If they're violent then they're violent and if they're not, they're not, but I don't think teenagers are childish.
Do you think that there's any danger that a dark book will push a troubled kid over the edge?
Possibly, but anything could push someone over the edge. I've read a lot of YA novels in recent years and most of them are dark but not irreparably dark. Most of them have dark characters or dark plot elements or dark settings but the actual message is positive. Very few books are dark just for the sake of being dark. And I think that these kinds of novels, teenagers associate with it because it is dark, but at the same time they realize that something good could can come of this. The ending of the book is good or the lesson is good, the moral is good. I think that more than anything, it can pull kids, who might otherwise have fallen, out of that darkness. I think books and particularly YA books are incredible tools of therapy. It's quite the opposite of what the journalist was saying.
I think it's incredible the fact that kids are reading anything [laughs] even violent books, is a good thing. Nothing bad can come from reading, I think. I'm always worried that kids aren't reading enough these days. And I see that all the time. But if people are reading then I'm kind of relieved.
I completely agree. Actually, I feel relieved to hear you say that and hear that teenagers are thinking that, although I'm not sure I believe that you're 16. You seem to have a wealth of experience and knowledge already.
I suppose it's a front, but I have been lucky enough to do a lot of traveling and have a lot of experiences in my life already that a lot of people haven't had. I've worked with a lot of different people on a lot of different sets; I've travelled the world. I spent a lot of my growing years with people who are much older than me as opposed to people who are my age. I've spent a lot more time on set than I have in schools, and I think that has its benefits and helped mature me, but at the same time it has its downsides as well, which I'll probably notice when I'm older.
So you don't necessarily regret it now?
No, I've always kind of been a bit of an old soul. Not that that's necessarily a good thing, but I've always associated more with people in their twenties, thirties, and forties than I have with people who are my age. So for me it's kind of a blessing because the people I get to work with everyday are my favorite people, though I think it can also go in a negative way. I have heard stories of people who have had similar experiences who think, when they're older, "Hey, I wish I'd spent more time with my peers, or I wish I'd gone to that dance or that prom." I guess they feel like they missed out on a more typical upbringing. Maybe I will feel that later, but at this point in my life I don't feel like I'm regretting anything.
Has your prom already happened or is it still coming up?
No, my official "big" prom is next summer. I'm only in grade eleven.
Do you think you're going to make it to your prom?
No, I don't have a lot of interest in going. I'm not big on gatherings of large people. And again, I've spent a lot of time away from school so I don't really have a lot of close friends or relationships at my school so I don't really feel the need to go to something like that. But if I can make it, I'll make it, but I doubt it.
So what's your next project?
Well, I just finished filming the feature indie film Bye, Bye Blackbird in Canada. And I'm actually flying down this weekend to L.A. for the premiere of Falling Skies. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll do well and we'll get picked up, and if we get picked up then we'll start shooting in a couple of months. So that's kind of what's next on my docket.
Well, congratulations and best of of luck.
Thank you.
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Falling Skies airs Sunday nights at 10PM/9PM Central Time on TNT.
Follow Connor Jessup on Twitter: @connorjessup
Check out other exclusive Ology interviews, including stars from Teen Wolf, One Tree Hill, The Real World, 90210, Twilight, Degrassi, Skins, Top Chef, and more!
Follow Matt Marquez on Twitter: @mattmarquez
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