Interview: Jacob Kogan

Fans of MTV2’s cult TV show Wondershowzen should recognize young actor Jacob Kogan as the kid who bounced around ground zero harassing unsuspecting tourists with water cameras, asking them to tell jokes, then sarcastically berating them for their mediocre efforts.  But Jacob isn’t that sardonic in real life, in fact, he’s quite good-natured and obviously intelligent.

After Wondershowzen ended Jacob landed the title role in George Ratliff’s new film Joshua. The film also stars Sam Rockwell and Vera Farminga who play an upper west-side couple expecting their second child.  Problem is, their first child (Joshua) is a hyper-intelligent sociopath who’s got a biblical case of sibling rivalry.

Although Jacob has done some disturbing things on screen, in real life he’s actually very down-to-earth. I met him in New York and we talked about film, music and being manipulated by Vera Farminga.

Benjamin Crossley-Marra: How old were you when you first started acting?
Jacob Kogan: Well when I was four I was in a playgroup (you know a bunch of toddlers getting together) and one of the mothers was a casting agent and she wanted me to audition for this Lasse Hallström film.  So I auditioned and it was between me and this other kid who eventually got the part.  But the financing fell through and the film was never made.  But after that I became a lot more interested in movies, I began to watch a lot of movies and they became one of my great passions.  So I kept asking my parents if I could get into acting and they kept saying “no” because I think they were sacred.  When I was seven, they finally said “yes” and they got me an agent and I’ve been acting ever since. 

BCM: How old are you now?
JK: Twelve, I just turned twelve May 28th.

BCM: How was filming a movie like Joshua different then making a show like Wondershowzen? 
JK: Well it’s completely different from Wondershowzen because number one: Wondershozen is a television show and number two: it’s (for the most part) unscripted.  I mean it’s very loosely scripted, it’s mostly improvisation and doing crazy incoherent stuff that’s hilarious, you know, very comedic. Whereas Joshua is a psychological thriller, it has funny moments but it’s definitely not a comedy.  It’s a lot more plot driven and I couldn’t imagine any similarities between the two.

BCM: Which process did you like more?
JK: I couldn’t really choose because I really haven’t had that much experience yet.  But I mean they’re both very different.  With improvisation you can really be yourself and do whatever you want.  In Wondershowzen there were really no distinct characters, it was all just being crazy and saying whatever you wanted and if it was funny they’d put it in.  It was really crazy and fun.  Plus you’d get to do all this whacky stuff you would never do in real life like squirting people in the face with a water camera at ground zero.  With Joshua it’s very different because it’s a movie and you have to closely follow the script and it’s a lot of hard work.  But it’s very fulfilling hard work once completed.  You have to really get into the character and into his mindset.  All the while they’re filming you have to be thinking like your character, not pretending to be the character, you have to actually become that character.  I think that’s harder then improvising.

BCM: How was it working with Sam Rockwell and Vera Farminga?
JK: It was great because this was my first movie so it was kind of uncomfortable, I felt weird.  But they were just so nice and so sweet.  I mean Sam and Vera are so great.  Sam taught me a lot about acting, we did all these acting exercises.  He really taught me about method acting, like how to think about what was going through my character’s head.  Vera was really sweet but um, one day I had to cry for a scene and everyone was nervous that I wasn’t going to be able to do it.  So they kept manipulating me throughout the day and I was kind of suspicious that they were up to something.  For example, Sam would make me laugh and then George (Ratliff) would cut and get mad at me for ruining the take.  Then Vera pulled me aside and started to tell me (because this was one of the last days of filming) that I was never going to see any of them again after this.  Which of course made me sad but, because I knew Vera pretty well by then, I could tell they were messing with me.

BCM: What kind of director is George Ratliff?
JK: I haven’t really worked with too many other directors so it’s hard to say.  But he was great.  I expect many directors when they’re on set and something goes wrong get really mad.  He never got mad except the time he was pretending to be mad to get me to cry.  But other then that whenever anything bad happened on the set he would just fix it.  He never let his anger get in the way because he never got angry.  I think one of the reasons that happened is because he co-wrote the script and had a very clear vision of what he wanted.  He imagined it in his head exactly as it came out I think.  So whenever something interfered with his vision he knew how to get rid of it. 

BCM: What do you think of your character in the film?
JK: Joshua is unbelievably smart, a child prodigy in many ways, you know he’s amazing at the piano and school etc. He’s so intelligent and because he’s so smart I think he realizes that he doesn’t need to love his parents.  He realizes it’s customary to love your parents, but he loves his uncle a lot more. Then when his baby sister is born his parents begin to care for her more then him, so that’s another thing that drives him away from them.  He’s doing all these evil things because he wants to get away from his parents and he needs to find love in his life and he’ll go to great lengths to get exactly the kind of love he wants. 

BCM: Did you watch any films to prepare for the role?
JK: I saw The Good Son before we started filming and Macaulay Culkin plays the evil kid in that movie and in some ways he’s very similar to Joshua but he’s also very different.  They’re both very central, focused and clam, they’re not crazy, bloodthirsty villains who are craving power.  But I feel that Macaulay Culkin’s character was a lot more evil.  He had less of a goal then Joshua, less of a clear vision of what he was doing.  He was calm, but he was less certain of what he was trying to do. 

BCM: What sort of films do you like?
JK: I don’t really watch horror, which is weird, and sometimes I just fall for the dumb comedies.  I also love intense dramas; my favorite movie of all time is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  I also really like Ray and Finding Neverland, movies with a really strong storyline and a lot of drama.  The acting also has to be very good for me to enjoy it too.  Of course I also like dumb action flicks, I think everyone loves dumb action flicks. 

BCM: Are there any directors you’d like to work with or dream projects?
JK: I’ve got a callback for a movie called Choke based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk.  Sam Rockwell’s actually playing the main character and I’d be playing his former self.  He’s a sex addict and I’m basically telling how he became one and it’ll be a really interesting role.  I know I can’t get too excited yet because it’s just one callback but it would be a lot of fun to do that.  I’d get to work with Sam again, which is fun because he’s such a great actor and I met the director and he seems really nice.  I hope I get it. 

BCM: What kinds of things do you like to do besides acting? 
JK: Well I like to socialize, I have a big group of friends and I like to hang out with them. I couldn’t really be happy without my friends, so I really value the time we spend together.  I also really love music, just as much as I love film. I’m in a band called Flake and it’s my three friends and I.  It’s such a great experience for us and we get together at least once a week.  It’s very productive as well and we have a great chemistry together which helps us get a lot of work done. 

BCM: Do you want to continue acting for the rest of your life?
JK: When I was little I wanted to be a director, but now I know how much work it takes to be a director, it seems really challenging.  Of course I also want to be a musician.  So I’m kind of torn between film and music.  I’m really torn because I think it’d be really hard to do both. 

Fox Searchlight Pictures releases Joshua in theatres on July 6th.