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Nancy Mills
NYT Syndicate
During his two decades of performing, Logan Lerman has figured out how to deal with the indignities of Hollywood.
"There are pressures to conform to a certain life or to another person's view of what you should be doing or how you should be presented," he said."In my teenage years I learned to speak up for myself.
"I don't want to be turned into a product," Lerman said."I want to be myself."
Now the 24-year-old actor brings this hard-won knowledge to Indignation, a drama based on Philip Roth's 2008 novel of the same name. In a way he is playing Roth, whose own experiences as a young man inspired this coming-of-age story, but his own perspective also came into play.
"My character, Marcus Messner, and I both grew up in religious Jewish homes," Lerman said, speaking by telephone from his Los Angeles home."We both also questioned the religion we were born into.
"I'm not as smart as Marcus," he continued,"and I don't harbour as much resentment as he does. That was more a reflection of the time period."
Indignation, which will open in limited release on July 29, is set in the early 1950s at a conservative college in Ohio. Marcus, the son of a Newark butcher, enrols at the school and attempts to assimilate, which involves falling in love with a beautiful, blonde gentile named Olivia (Sarah Gadon) and clashing with an officious college dean (Tracy Letts).
"It's a love story for sure," Lerman said."The relationship between Marcus and Olivia drives the whole story."
Playing the leading man in a love story is new terrain for Lerman, who is best known as the star of Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and its sequel, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013). He also starred in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), a high-school coming-of-age story.
Indignation moves Lerman into college and gives his character adult problems.
"It's about a young man growing up in a time where he had to repress his thoughts and feelings in order to stay safe," the actor said."There's this looming presence of the Korean War. Marcus is fortunate enough to be able to go to college ” going to college means you don't go to war.
"Yet he feels that his dignity is being taken away from him," Lerman added."He's indignant about the way the college administration is treating him and all the other students."
For the young actor the high point of Indignation was a 14-page scene he had with Letts. A noted playwright, Letts received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for August: Osage County (2008) and, as an actor, won a Tony Award for his portrayal of George in a revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (2013).
"That scene is a battle of the minds," Lerman said."I had to memorize the dialogue, understand every word and reference, and have it all make sense to me. I was excited to play it, but extremely stressed out with the material. I had to get it right and do justice to the words.
"I haven't felt that challenged in a long time."
Lerman grew up in Beverly Hills, California, and has spent much of his life in front of a camera. When he was 4 he got an agent, and soon he was appearing in commercials. His mother managed his early career.
"I don't really know why I was acting," he said."I think I showed an interest in performance, and I ended up auditioning and working my way up the ladder."
Although he made his film debut at 8, playing the youngest son of Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot (2000), Lerman is dismissive of his early work.
"I was a prop," he said."It was, 'Bring in the kid. Take him out of school and put him in the shot.'"
He went on to play the young versions of Gibson's character in What Women Want (2000) and of Ashton Kutcher's character in The Butterfly Effect (2004).
"The real changing point for me came when I was 12," Lerman recalled."Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) came out. Those were the first movies I saw in theatres that really shook me.
"That's when I started becoming passionate about filmmaking," he continued."I didn't really care for acting. I was more interested in learning about the process. I wanted to be on set more, so that I could learn about the different departments."
Making The Number 23 (2007), the 15-year-old found a mentor in Jim Carrey.
"He played my father, and I spent a lot of time with him," Lerman said."He really opened my eyes. He taught me how to approach a character and find the interesting takes on a scene. There's never just one way to approach material. That's when I fell in love with acting."
He paused, then backtracked.
"I'm not in love with acting," he said."It's not an enjoyable experience for me. It's very stressful. But I love filmmaking, and I love the responsibility I have as an actor."
Unlike many other child performers, who have had rough transitions to adulthood, Lerman appears to have his life under control.
"Going to the clubs ... I'm not that guy," he said."I take my work too seriously. I have to slap myself in the face and say 'Stop!'"
For the past decade Lerman has worked hard to develop his skills. He bypassed college in order to take roles in 3:10 to Yuma (2007), My One and Only (2009) and then the Percy Jackson franchise, which brought him international fame.
"I loved those Percy Jackson films," Lerman said."They were very physically challenging, with all the stunts, but I had so much fun making them. If a third one came along, of course I'd do it, although I'd be surprised if they would make one because it's been so long."
Playing that fantasy hero boosted Lerman's bankability.
"Without those films I wouldn't have the value to justify the financing of Indignation or my next film, Sidney Hall," he said.
His co-starring role in David Ayer's Fury (2014), which starred Brad Pitt, also helped. Lerman played a World War II soldier trained as a clerk/typist but then sent into combat to replace one of the crew in a Sherman tank.
"I just gave myself to that movie in a way I've never done before," the young actor said,"and I learned a lot. There were five guys in the tank, and we gave 100 percent of our lives for a year to this world and the story David Ayer was trying to tell."
Having moved successfully to adult roles and substantive drama, Lerman's next move is to develop his producing skills. He served as an executive producer on Indignation, and plans to expand his scope in that area.
"As an actor I'm just a shade of colour the director can manipulate," he said."As a producer I'm involved in key decision-making. I feel more comfortable challenging the director and having creative debates."
Lerman continues his producing role in the upcoming drama Sidney Hall, in which he also stars.
"It's about three different time periods in the life of a guy who writes a successful book at a young age and then disappears," he explained."You discover what happened and why he disappeared."
Right now the young actor is on a quest to find good stories to tell.
"Young people can get pressured into doing a project based on international value or numbers, rather than words on the page," Lerman said."I'm someone who wants to make bold films and challenge myself. I want to separate myself from other young actors."
