Anton Yelchin (Charlie Bartlett) Interview
What drew you to the movie?
I think it was how optimistic Charlie is. That's something you don't see every day. That's something people need. You have this amazing, charismatic, optimism that gives people enough hope and enough desire to deal with their problems. Even though it might be a simple problem, you need a person to sort of guide you. And that's the wonderful thing about this kid; that he can see that.
So you like his optimism?
Definitely; that and his honesty. He’s so real, so charming and so funny all at once. If I’m honest, I’m not optimistic all the time. But Charlie? He’s like Michael Corleone meets the character from Nights of Cabiria. I thought it was a great way to explore life. Whether I could approach life similarly is a completely different question. I think he’s an incredible person.
How did you go about approaching his character?
The role calls on everything from slapstick to drama; it left a lot of room for experimentation so I just had a lot of fun with it. My job was to figure out where Charlie found the drive from. I thought it would be really interesting to look into where his optimism came from. Obviously I could associate with a lot of things just by default because we’re both the same age. Usually when you get a character that is driven by his desire to be popular it’s not always a good thing. But in this case, just by virtue of the fact that he is who he is, Charlie turns it around and becomes popular by helping people. The whole process becomes a totally positive thing. Even though de does start off by selling Ritalin, the great thing is that he uses that to help other people. He gets his joy from helping people. So the popularity he receives, he gets legitimately. I think in the film he realises he has to sacrifice some of that because he’s not doing everything correctly.
What do you think he learns by the end of the movie?
I think he realises that his desire for attention comes because he’s never really had it – he’s been parenting himself. It’s about him realising that he still is a kid. He doesn't make all of the right decisions. The point of being a kid is that you only get to be a kid once. You don't need to get out of it faster than you should. That is his lasting lesson, is that it’s all right to just be his age.
What did you know about the drug Ritalin before shooting?
It’s all over the place. I have friends who get prescribed Ritalin when they don't need it - they just take it to get high. It's kind of frightening. But CHARLIE BARTLETT isn't about taking drugs and getting high. It's about helping people. Charlie’s intentions are to help people, not hurt them.
As a child actor did you have private tuition or attend your local school?
I went to a public high school, although there were times when I would miss half a year. But I got enough high school to know I seriously disliked it. It is such an unhealthy place. Every teenager is an incredible hormonal explosion. To put a thousand of them in one place is like putting too much hot air in a balloon! You are putting all these imbalanced people together and expecting them to learn. Whoever came up with the idea wasn’t thinking very straight. How are you are supposed to come up with healthy, normal people? It makes no sense to me. I would just try to get out as fast as I could. I chose classes that ended early!
How was working with Robert Downey Junior?
Incredible; it was of the first experiences where I would consciously sit and learn from someone. When I was younger I’d only realised what I’d learnt after the experience. But with Robert I’d sit and watch him in such utter amazement. His range and his understanding of the freedom that he has as an actor is eye-opening. Watching him experiment with what he wanted to do and finding the right thing was so incredible. It really was an amazing experience, I just loved being off camera and watching him work. I think he is like no other actor out there. Robert is in his own category. When he approaches his characters he uses his body. It's so eye-opening as to the amount of things he can achieve within the confines of the story and the scene.
What’s the best advice you have ever received?
I was complaining about something and ended the sentence with “and that’s not fair!” My dad, in his infinite wisdom, asked “ who said anything was fair?” I know it’s a cliché, but it made me realise that you shouldn’t look at life as whether it’s fair or not. It just sort of is what it is. There is something so great and simple and intelligent and wise in that statement. Yeah, man, it sucks! But there is no getting around it. Yeah, it’s not always going to work out so you just have to make what you can make of it.
You’re now working on the new Star Trek movie, how is that?
Epic. That word is so overused but you just sit there and you're : “Goddamn I'm on the Enterprise”. I’m playing Chekov who is the weirdest guy. Watching the old show makes you think how odd it was it that they brought a Russian character on right smack in the middle of the Cold War. But it’s a lot of fun. I loved the old show. They would walk up to a cave that looks like it was made out of Styrofoam and Spock says “Oh, this is definitely advanced technology”.
Starring Robert Downey Jr, Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis, Kat Dennings, Tyler Hilton, Mark Rendall, Megan Park and Jake Epstein, cool, edgy comedy Charlie Bartlett arrives in cinemas on 9th May 2008.
