Interview: Dennis Lee (Jesus Henry Christ)

Working from his student Academy award winning short, the feature version of Jesus Henry Christ centres around a young boy named Henry James Herman (Jason Spevack) who remembers everything he learns. Singled out as an exceptional child prodigy and treated like a science experiment by adults wanting to capitalize off of him, including a college professor (Michael Sheen), whose child psychology book has ruined the life of his preteen daughter Audrey (Samantha Weinstein). Toni Collette plays Henry’s mother, a woman who also had to grow up fast due to unfortunate childhood circumstances. Filmmaker Dennis Lee borrows from both the dark and the funny, using death as a recurring motif and examining how sometimes being “extraordinary” isn’t as special as it may seem. I spoke with Lee through an email interview shortly after Tribeca wrapped.

Melissa Silvestri: How did you develop the story of Jesus Henry Christ?
Dennis Lee: Jesus Henry Christ is based off my short film of the same title that I made while at Columbia University’s graduate film program. As the short film did well, producers requested the feature version. So, I took the title and the main character, Henry James Herman, a ten year-old with a photographic memory, and placed him in an entirely different context. In 2005, the script won Tribeca’s All Access Creative Promise Award for best screenplay, and was optioned by Tribeca where it was further developed by producers Rachel Cohen and Hardy Justice. In 2009, Red Om Films optioned the script, and we made the film in the summer of 2010.

Silvestri: You spoke at one screening that your experiences as a schoolteacher influenced your writing on Jesus Henry Christ. How did that figure into your work?
Lee: As a former middle school teacher, I witnessed a pivotal point in my students’ lives. In order to fulfill their need to belong, they were searching for their identity. Who they are? Where do they belong? Do you remember what it was like going through middle school? Those were some tough years. In order to fit in, far too many of my students lost their sense of self during these years. Their individuality. I believe that this is a process each of us grow through and we grow older, and hopefully, a bit wiser. In time, we’ll regain our own sense of selves. We’ll find our place in the world.

Silvestri: What was the casting process like for the film? Toni Colette and Michael Sheen both did well, but the revelations were Jason Spevack and Samantha Weinstein, relative unknowns who carried the film.
Lee: To maximize our budget, we had to cast everyone, minus Michael and Toni, from Canada. Both Samantha and Jason are from Toronto and were short-listed by our Canadian casting director, Tina Gerussi. When Jason came in for his audition, we knew we had our Henry. He’s so much like what I had envisioned for Henry, and he grew so much to become Henry as we were filming. In Samantha’s case, she’s the complete opposite of her character. Where Audrey has built up a nearly impenetrable wall to protect herself, Samantha is all smiles. But when I called action, she immediately became Audrey. When I called cut, she went right back to being smiling Samantha. Both were an absolute joy to work with.

***Spoiler Warning Ahead***

Silvestri: There is a motif of death and tragic events throughout the film, yet it is carried off in a black comedy manner. Given that you’ve spoken of going through a personal tragedy, how do you feel when you are writing death scenes in more of a darker, yet funnier manner?
Lee: When writing the scenes, I felt unburdened. Maybe it’s due, in part, that I’ve come to accept that death is a part of life. Once you accept it, it’s no longer nearly as frightening. Until then, however, it’s a bit of a taboo subject. Always treated with respect. Treated seriously. Like in my first film. In Jesus Henry Christ, however, I want the audience to watch the tragedy, laugh, and then ask themselves, “Why am I laughing? I just saw someone die.” Laughter followed by discomfort. Or, take away the discomfort and just laugh.

Silvestri: The film echoes Little Man Tate in that a child prodigy is seen as marketable and something to nurture like a plant, and that being extraordinary or special isn’t a blessing, despite others being in awe of that person. Similarly, Henry James’ mother is treated as the “good child” because she never rebelled against her parents or made careless decisions, only choosing to be a vocal activist for feminism as an adult, and not getting to enjoy her childhood. Did you ever seen that with students who were particularly gifted in a subject and thus treated like unicorns, or perhaps that it is better to be intelligent yet remain average and unnoticed?
Lee: All children, no matter how precocious or “gifted,” need to feel protected and loved. Once they know these two most basic needs are in place, they feel safe and experiment, and find their own footing in the world. To answer your question, and to go back to a previous question, it’s about self worth. Once you have a grounded sense of who you are, you care less, much less, about what others think of you. They don’t define you. You do.

Silvestri: How has the Tribeca Film Festival been for you?
Lee: I am so grateful and proud to be part of the Tribeca family. I am, and will always be, a New Yorker at heart.

Silvestri: What are you working on now?
Lee: My first feature film, Fireflies in the Garden, will be coming out this fall. In tone, it’s a 180 from Jesus Henry Christ. Where Jesus Henry Christ is a dramedy, Fireflies is a drama. There is one major similarity between the two. They both deal with family. How family is defined. What it means to be a family. Fireflies in the Garden means a lot to me. And I’m so very happy to say that the domestic release will differ from the international release, which, for most countries, has already occurred. The US release will be much closer to the story I originally wanted to tell.