NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� When Tony Revolori, then a 17-year-old with little Hollywood experience, was beginning to shoot 鈥淭he Grand Budapest Hotel,鈥� Jason Schwartzman took him aside to give some advice.
No one knew better than Schwartzman what Revolori, who was was in for. Schwartzman was by then a regular member of Anderson鈥檚 troupe, but he was also 17 when he first broke through as Max Fischer in Anderson鈥檚 鈥淩ushmore.鈥�
鈥淗e looked at me and he said, 鈥楴one of this is going to make sense until you鈥檝e actually gone through it,鈥欌�� Revolori recalls. 鈥淵our life is going to change in no way and every way. But as long as you keep the people around you, you鈥檙e good.鈥欌��
Much has been made of Anderson鈥檚 recurring regulars, like Bill Murray, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson. But for many young actors, Anderson鈥檚 film sets have been their first real blush with moviemaking 鈥� or, at least, Anderson鈥檚 elegant style of it.
Since 鈥淩ushmore鈥� introduced Schwartzman, Anderson鈥檚 films have been nurturing, if surreal, environments for young performers and a singular rite of passage. Anderson's productions are atypically communal, with nightly feasts among cast and crew, and a spirit that can resemble summer camp. For young actors, it can be a thrilling education.
鈥淭his is one of the most powerful learning experiences I鈥檝e ever had,鈥� says Grace Edwards, one of the newcomers of
Part of the joy of 鈥淎steroid City鈥� is seeing successive generations of Anderson actors, including Schwartzman, Revolori and a new crop of young faces, assemble like homegrown players on a team of all-stars. For Schwartzman, it brings back memories of his 鈥淩ushmore鈥� audition 鈥� his first glimpse at Anderson's way of treating young actors. On his way out, Anderson asked his opinion about a wardrobe item.
鈥淲hile I was answering it, I was thinking: Why does this feel so bizarre?鈥� says Schwartzman. 鈥淚 realized because no adult other than my family had, at that age, asked me a question and really listened to the answer. I was being related to by a person who was 27. He was an adult, but not.鈥�
In the years since, the young actors who have come through Anderson鈥檚 films 鈥� often in prominent roles 鈥� have had similar encounters. Jake Ryan was just seven when he played a younger brother in 2012's 鈥淢oonrise Kingdom.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember much, but I remember feeling at home there,鈥� says Ryan, now 19. 鈥淚t felt very cozy.鈥�
鈥淎steroid City,鈥� which opens nationwide Friday, may be Anderson's most multigenerational film yet. The story but the heart of the movie concerns a fictional 1955 Southwest town where a widowed war photographer named Augie Steenbeck (Schwartzman) arrives with his bright son Woodrow (Ryan, in his third Anderson movie) and three younger daughters.
A visit with their grandfather (Tom Hanks) awaits, but first there鈥檚 a stargazer convention to commemorate a meteorite impact. The gathering has also lured a renowned movie star (Scarlett Johansson) and her intelligent daughter (Grace Edwards).
The pains, regrets and melancholies of the adult characters mingle with the fresher but no less complex experiences of the teenagers getting a taste of love, death and fellowship for the first time.
In Anderson鈥檚 films, younger characters tend to be just as adult, if not more so, than the grown-ups. Gene Hackman鈥檚 Royal Tenenbaum or George Clooney鈥檚 Fantastic Mr. Fox are far from paragons of maturity. 鈥淢oonrise Kingdom鈥� starred Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman as a pair of 12-year-old runaway romantics who sway to Fran莽oise Hardy鈥檚 鈥淟es Temps de l鈥橝mour.鈥� Revolori鈥檚 鈥渓obby boy鈥� Zero played sidekick to Fiennes鈥� concierge, M. Gustave.
In 鈥淩ushmore,鈥� Schwartzman鈥檚 Max and Bill Murray鈥檚 Herman Blume are decades apart but equal rivals in love and revenge. At the beginning of shooting, Schwartzman asked Anderson why his character looked up to Murray's.
鈥淎nd he says, 鈥榃ell, I don鈥檛 think he looks up to him. I think he sees eye-to-eye with him,鈥欌�� remembers Schwartzman. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the funny thing about these movies. They鈥檙e not for kids, but they are, in a weird way. It鈥檚 like they鈥檙e for kids when they grow up.鈥�
When Edwards, 18, was auditioning for 鈥淎steroid City,鈥� Anderson had her first read from 鈥淢oonrise Kingdom鈥� 鈥� both the part of 12-year-old Suzy and her mother, played by Frances McDormand. Once she landed the role, Anderson handed her books about Hollywood in the 1950s to read and films to watch.
鈥淚 watched some Jodie Foster films because he figured the character was very sensible and very much a Jodie Foster-like personality,鈥� Edwards says. 鈥淗e wanted me to get a strong sense of what she was like on screen.鈥�
Revolori describes Anderson as almost 鈥渁 pseudo father.鈥� After 鈥淕rand Budapest鈥� came out, they continued to regularly email. Revolori depended on Anderson's advice in navigating his career.
鈥淚 think he enjoys working with young performers and discovering someone that he sees talent in and giving them an opportunity. I sure as hell am very, very thankful for it. It obviously kind of made my career there,鈥� Revolori says, chuckling.
鈥淪omebody like Tony 鈥� and exactly the same with Jake and Grace 鈥� they are wildly prepared,鈥� says Anderson himself. 鈥淏ut they also have young minds. The brain tissue is younger. They can remember everything. So their knowledge of the script is so ready and enhanced. They tend to be interesting just as animals. We鈥檝e never seen them before. They鈥檙e new, young people and they鈥檙e still forming themselves.鈥�
Anderson鈥檚 young actors don鈥檛 always know what he鈥檚 seen in them. But his young protagonists are invariably clever, precocious kids that are in some ways stand-ins for the director, who grew up a brainy child of divorce with a Super 8 camera in hand.
鈥淥ne thing that really stuck out was he said Woodrow 鈥� and the other stargazers, for that matter 鈥� are very intelligent,鈥� Ryan says. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 that intelligence that makes them sort of outsiders from their would-be peers. There鈥檚 a sense of loneliness in all five of them. And after meeting each other, there鈥檚 a sense of: 鈥榃ow, everyone鈥檚 like me. This is how it鈥檚 supposed to be.鈥欌��
More often than not, the actors Anderson casts are likewise full of passions and curiosities, and able to recite dialogue at a good clip. Edwards envisions acting in movies like the European films she and Anderson would discuss.
鈥淕oing home after was strange,鈥� says Edwards, who lives in Bismarck, North Dakota. 鈥淚 have no right to compare it to a soldier coming home from the front but there is a similar aspect.鈥�
Revolori, now 27, has been reluctant to turn mentor, even though he's remained in the company, returning in and 鈥淎steroid City.鈥�
鈥淚 feel like I have to keep proving myself in his films. They鈥檙e always the best times so I never not want to be called back,鈥� says Revolori. 鈥淓very time I do get called back I鈥檓 like, 鈥榊ou better be on your A-game.鈥� And I wonder if anyone else feels that way.
鈥淏ut I do feel like I鈥檓 part of his family.鈥�
For Anderson and Schwartzman, 鈥淎steroid City鈥� marks just how far they鈥檝e come since they met. In the film, Schwartzman鈥檚 manner, accent and movement are unlike anything he鈥檚 done before 鈥� a father, and a far cry from Max Fischer.
鈥淲hen we made 鈥楻ushmore,鈥� he relied a lot on me,鈥� says Anderson. 鈥淣ow, in a way, he doesn鈥檛 rely on me at all. He went to the set every day whether he was working or not in costume 鈥� not something I asked him to do. He had a ritual for how to prepare each day that I wasn鈥檛 even aware of. There was nothing like that back when we met. He鈥檚 on a totally different level.鈥�
Schwartzman, 42, wasn't even sure he could pull off the part. He worked extensively with a dialect coach and even used a moisturizing clay to mold his face into a more rigid expression.
"When you know someone for so long, there鈥檚 really no hiding,鈥� Schwartzman says of Anderson. 鈥淩eading the script, it was definitely like: I don鈥檛 know how to do this. I felt like what he was saying by giving this to me was: 鈥業 think you have this in you.鈥欌��
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
