Jack Dylan Grazer Talks Luca Guadagnino, Skateboarding, and 'Don't Tell a Soul'
Photographed by Nihat Odabasi
Styling by Oretta Corbelli
From the mind of Call Me by Your Name's Luca Guadagnino, Jack Dylan Grazer stars in the HBO series We Are Who We Are as the young protagonist Fraser. Like his character, the young actor is a city boy at heart, being born and raised in Los Angeles. His professional career began in 2015 with the TV series Tales of Halloween, but reached critical success after he played a leading role in the horror film It. Since then, the international talent has gone on to star in the superhero film Shazam!, as well as Beautiful Boy alongside Steve Carell as the younger version of Timothée Chalamet's character. Ahead of his new release Don't Tell a Soul, the debut thriller by Alex McAuley, L'OFFICIEL speaks to the young actor via Zoom about his burgeoning career and what the future holds for him as an artist.
L'OFFICIEL: How did you find working with Luca Guadagnino on We Are Who We Are?
JACK DYLAN GRAZER: I like to define him as the most articulate and linguistic director I have worked with. The way he draws pictures to describe emotions is so profound. He uses words to describe or exemplify the feeling a character is experiencing. It goes way beyond everyone I've worked with before. Luca Guadagnino is a masterful mind, a visionary. He always knows what he wants and is capable of capturing it perfectly with the camera. Working with him was a great honor.
L'O: What struck you most about him?
JDG: His method, his philosophy. He loves cinematic beauty, everything he shows us is beautiful, but at the same time his images correspond perfectly with the themes that are not always so pleasant. He is capable of transforming situations and scenes with an artistic language, because all cinema is art. He captures this essence in such a beautiful way. But it's also all real, it's uncoated. It's a natural beauty. It's so impressive what he's created. If I were to be a director, I'd like to emulate this aspect.
L'O: Do you speak Italian?
JDG: All the guys in the cast of the show took Italian lessons for the dialogues in the scenes. I attended some classes mainly to familiarize myself with the language and to learn how to pronounce the food correctly and not to feel embarrassed when ordering at the restaurants. And also because I was in love with my teacher.
L'O: For the series, you worked with the likes of Chloë Sevigny and Alice Braga. How did filming go?
JDG: They are impressive! They are such professional, kind, respectful, and wonderful people. Alice is extremely humble, modest, and humane. I have never heard her say a single bad thing. She is so full of gratitude at all times. Chloë is really sporty, she puts a lot into play. I had to slap her in the face for a scene. We did five or six takes. I felt so bad about it, but for her it wasn't a problem. But at the same time, we were both so immersed in the characters, that we had to somehow remove ourselves and let the psychology of the characters emerge. This is something I admire a lot about her. She never complained about anything.
L'O: What was it like to slap Chloë?
JDG: Initially, we were both very excited about the slap. She was like, “Yeah! Amazing!" She loves practical scenes, and I remember there was Luca saying, "I would like to do a scene like a 1920s movie. Chloë, how would you feel if Jack had to slap you?" And she firmly replied, “Of course! I'm absolutely there!" And I said, "Are you sure?" These are the moments I loved the most, not for the strong slap in itself, but those moments, visceral, raw, and truly passionate, that I had to face as an actor's experience. It was like being on stage and singing an opera out loud: a physical experience that allowed us to live a situation that is not accepted in reality, a sort of escape in the acting fiction to indirectly live these experiences through the characters.
L'O: I know that among your passions there is skateboarding and the transverse flute, how did these passions arise?
JDG: I auditioned four years ago for a movie called Mid90s. At the time, my agent told me I had to learn how to skate to get that role, and I fell in love with it from there. I didn't get the part for that movie, but I think the people who were cast were spot on and a better cast couldn't have been made. From that moment on, I started training every day with my friends and I never stopped. The passion for the flute, instead, began with a progressive rock band of the '60s and '70s called Jethro Tull. I have always been a fan of theirs. We owe them the introduction of the flute in their rock performances. They're really good. I like to play classical music, jazz, and blues, but Jethro Tull's music totally won me over.
L'O: Is there anything that fascinates you about fashion?
JDG: There are so many things that fascinate me and every day I discover new things. I wore lots of archival pieces by talented designers for We Are Who We Are: Raf Simons, Commes des Garçons, Vetements, Yohji Yamamoto, Balenciaga, Bernard Willhelm, and others. There were a lot and I can't even remember them all, but they were truly incredible. Giulia Piersanti, the costume designer, is a genius. She has worked a lot with Luca, and is very good and always looking for perfection. He was always there, even when they bleached my hair. I finished [filming] the series with a different awareness of fashion. It's not just about dressing in expensive clothes and having a label on the chest, but expressing yourself with an art form. I am a fan of all forms of art, especially when it comes to expressing your subjectivity without the need to please anyone. Luca advised me to talk to a guy Mike the Ruler, a young prodigy in the fashion scene, who can somehow be compared to Fraser, the only difference being that he's famous and Fraser isn't. I asked him "What intrigues you most about fashion?" And he replied that it is a subjective art form and not a need for exhibitionism. I loved that.
L'O: Did you find some common ground between you and Fraser?
JDG: In the process of personifying Fraser, I saw that there were aspects of Jack that mixed together. It's a pretty confusing part of the process, but one that I accepted wholeheartedly because it's part of the challenge. For more than six and a half months, I immersed myself in his character and, after filming, all of a sudden I had to re-enter my real life. I had to find and recognize myself by having bits of Fraser that still persisted. So I decided to ask myself his own questions. It was a perfectly normal step to take. Even if I didn't get the role of Fraser, these are questions everyone should be asking. Maybe it was a coincidence, probably even if I hadn't shot this series I would have found myself faced with these questions, because life is like that. The key to the reading is in the title We Are Who We Are, a constant journey to discover oneself. While many questions always remain unanswered, the importance lies in the process of trying to understand why you are who you are.
L'O: I know you work a lot with music and have created a playlist for every role you played. What did you listen to to immerse yourself in the Fraser universe?
JDG: The first playlist was created even before I arrived in Italy, as soon as I knew I had the part and it was the one I listened to while I was flying. At first, it was very indie, but then it grew over time as I discovered Fraser and lived in Italy. I remember one day I was walking down the street and I met these two ladies who were listening to Mina and I immediately Shazammed the song and added it to my playlist. Clearly, Blood Orange were also part of the playlist and played a significant role within the season. I also shared a lot of musical references with Tom Mercier playing the role of Jonathan. I remember there was also Kanye West, Klaus Naomi, and Frank Ocean.
L'O: And what are Jack's musical references?
JDG: I really like rock giants: The Who, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Jefferson Airplane, Rolling Stones, but my musical tastes are versatile. I go from classical music to rap. Every song shapes me and transports me to perceive true essence and emotions.
L'O: Who are the directors you would like to collaborate with in the future?
JDG: I would love to work with Martin Scorsese. I met him when I was in Italy because the spectacular Francesca Scorsese who was part of the cast is his daughter. At that moment, I was thrilled. He's my favorite director ever. He's awesome and he's super smart. I'd like to work with Wes Anderson, and also David Lynch.
L'O: Had you ever been to Italy before shooting the series? What are the things that you liked the most?
JDG: Oh my God! No, it was my first time. I love food, people's energy, they always transmit passion to me and all Italians are very warm. Italy is so different from California and LA, people don't squeeze your cheeks here. They're less physical, while Italians get attached to people with ease. Italian culture is wonderful—art, architecture. I love everything.
L'O: Your new film Don't Tell a Soul comes out in 2021. What can you say about it?
JDG: It's a thriller I starred in alongside Rainn Wilson, Fionn Whitehead, and Mena Suvari. They are really talented actors. The film is directed by Alex McAuley, who wrote a super cool 2017 film called Flowers, but this is his first directorial debut. The story is truly unique and it was a privilege to work on this feature. The cast became a real family and we built an amazing relationship and a wonderful story. And I'm excited that people will see it.
L'O: Did you enjoy working with Alex McAuley?
JDG: Of course! He is great, he has had a lot of experiences in life that have led him to relate and empathize with many different people and that's the reason he is a good director. Despite being so young, he is full of wisdom and is very empathetic. I can't wait for people to go to Don't Tell a Soul to understand how good he was.
L'O: What relationship do you have with social networks?
JDG: I'm not that interconnected with social media. For example, if I spend more than an hour on Instagram I feel blocked and I realize that I find it hard to break away from it, which is why I like more to take time for myself. Basically, I use social media for two reasons, the first is business, and the second is for fun to show my evolution with skating.
L'O: With the fisheye?
JDG: Yes with the fisheye! Exactly! I love it.
L'O: In your filmography there is It, Shazam!, and Me, Myself and I—is there a genre that you like in particular?
JDG: I try to extend my approach to every genre. Comedy is really fun. I like drama, too, because its very challenging. Horror is very funny because you have to show intense emotions. I just can't choose. I'm just grateful and honored that the directors see me as a versatile actor.
L'O: Who are actors that you look up to?
JDG: My favorite actor of all time is Robin Williams. But I also like old school actors like Ernest Borgnine, Jack Lemmon. I like Jennifer Jason Leigh, Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, and Chadwick Boseman. Steve Carell, who I collaborated with on Beautiful Boy—I remember when I got the part and found out he was going to play my dad I cried a lot. There are many actors who constantly inspire me. It would be interesting to work with Leonardo DiCaprio or Willem Dafoe as well, but there are so many and aspiring to work with them is a strong motivation for the future.
L'O: Do you have any goals for the future?
JDG: Just keep doing what I love to do as much as I can. As long as I live, I want to act, live to the fullest, and tell stories. I live for it. Looking in the mirror, perceiving a complication and separating it from myself, expanding small facets of myself, communicating, and transmitting stories. I realize that I am very lucky and grateful to have found all the opportunities that I have had and that I would like to carry on forever.
GROOMING Sonia Lee for Exclusive Artists using Oribe Haircare
PHOTO ASSISTANTS Kinsey Ball and Can Susluoglu
PRODUCTION Mpunto Comunicazione International
