I recently had the opportunity to interview Ryan Lee, one of the young stars for the upcoming Super 8. If you’ve read our summer movie preview, you know how excited I am for the film. J.J. Abrams is known for his secretive approach to writing and directing, perhaps being best known for his television work on Alias and Flixist-favorite, LOST, as well as his very successful and highly-acclaimed reboot of the Star Trek film franchise. One of the first questions asked Ryan was about the auditions for Super 8, to which he shared some insight on the process:
First, when I auditioned, it had nothing to do with Super 8. Back then, I didn’t know Super 8 even existed. It was a script about a boy and a girl who were fighting over math homework, which had nothing to do with Super 8. I mean, once I got to California and I got the call back after that audition, they were calling this project we were doing, Darling. Even that was secretive. I had no idea. After that audition, I had another callback and we had to sign a letter of confidentiality and I think that’s when we started getting more into like… It wasn’t Super 8, because I had no idea. It was more… he wanted more how well we did dramatic [roles], how well we do comedy, and so it was a different script. And then, after two more callbacks, that’s when J.J. took me to a room and told me, face to face, I had the part.
It’s interesting to see how many smoke and mirrors Abrams put up even during the initial audition process to ensure full secrecy for Super 8. Check back on Thursday for the full interview in preparation for Super 8‘s release this Friday.
