John Robinson

The Beautiful Ordinary

THE BEAUTIFUL ORDINARY

John Robinson

John as stacy

John Robinson

Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival

A comedy drama set in the late 90's on the last day of school for a bunch of suburbanites.
CAST & CREW
DIRECTOR: Jess Manafort
WRITER: Jess Manafort
CAST: John Robinson, Lyndsy Fonseca, Melonie Diaz, Marnette Patterson
PRODUCERS: Judd Payne, Matthew Rhodes, Steve Gainer



Fri, Sep 14, 8:00 PM

Sep 16, 11:00 AM

http://temeculavalley.bside.com

John Robinson

Dogtown interview!!!

http://www.tribute.ca/player/?id=18389&cat=star

John Robinson "Dogtown Boy"

INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON
05.31.05
By George Merchan
John Robinson you may recognize from Gus Van Sant's critically lauded film and Palme d'Or winner, Elephant. The thesp is a young up-and-comer who, even at age 19, seems to have a deep understanding of the ins and outs of life, what's bullshit, and what really matters in the grand scheme (which was truly refreshing). He's a well-spoken and charismatic guy and, fortunately for this newb, a real delight to talk to.In Lords of Dogtown, Robinson (the dude on the left in the picture to your right) plays the role of Stacy Peralta, one of the original Z-Boys (you'll get to hear from on Thursday) who scripted the film on top of having directed and co-scribed the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys back in 2001. Peralta, being the tamer of the three skaters depicted in the film, is played with a quietness and vulnerabilty by Robinson that seems to capture the essence and spirit of the man quite nicely.

Q: So you've skated before this?

Robinson: Yeah, I grew up in Portland, Oregon and I snowboarded and wakeboarded and just did a lot of different board sports. But skateboarding... I was always scared because, you know, concrete. It's pretty unforgiving. So I never did get too into it since I was scared. But thankfully, we had 3 months of training, so immediately once I started doing that I became totally obsessed with skateboarding. Still am.

Q: Are you ready for the X-Games?

Robinson: [Laughter] Yeah, I think in about a year! What's funny about skateboarding is that there are so many good skaters out there and nowadays, it's not about talent anymore because every kid is so talented. It's more about attitude. And it's funny to see that coming out of Dogtown because Tony [Alva] was that first one to have that kind of attitude and really bring that aggression to the Xtreme sport level.

Q: How daunting is it to play a real life character who is often around the set?

Robinson: It was pretty crazy. Luckily [Stacy Peralta and I] had gotten to hang out a lot and really develop a friendship before the movie. It wasn't like we got on the set and there he was! Ah! [Laughter] I hung out with him a lot and he taught me a lot of things. He was so supportive and wasn't like "Hey, don't do that! No! Stop the cameras! I'd never do that!". Luckily we had so much time to prepare so that really every scene and every skateboard move was broken down so that we wouldn't run into that problem.

Q: Did you get banged up a lot on this?

Robinson: Halfway through filming, I was so obsessed with trying to do my own stunts and being all the stuff and I got a little too excited and was going super high in the pool. Nobody was watching me too. I was just pushing myself, trying to go higher so I could actually be in the next shot. Well, my back foot slipped off and I fell and sprained my ankle. And this was halfway through filming. I couldn't even walk the next day. My ankle was like THAT big. I was scared because I thought we were going to have to shut down shooting and all that kind of stuff. Luckily they had this doctor who did acupuncture and he relieved all the pressure. It was crazy. Not using Western medicine worked out a lot better! I just had to tape my ankle so that it was completely stiff for the whole rest of the film. And to skate, you kind of need your foot. So, it was weird learning to skate that way.

Q: How would you compare Gus Van Sant to Catherine [Hardwicke]?

Robinson: The comparison is crazy because you have a studio film and an independent film. Catherine brought so much energy to this movie every single day. She had to be more energetic than everybody. She was so passionate about everybody's story and she had to connect all these different elements and be true to all these different guys. Gus was much more calm. He's the type that would sit you down and have a very private conversation. Not that Catherine doesn't do that. She's a female. Very emotional, very sensitive woman. To have that element on a film where you have all this masculinity was exactly what we needed. Plus, their styles are totally different.

Q: In talking about Gus and Catherine, where would you put Asia Argento?

Robinson: She's awesome. She has the same energy as Catherine. She had to do an independent film where she fought like everything to get that film made. Everyday she had to fight for more money and she had all these cameos from all these different actors. I mean, I definitely have to give her respect. Not to mention that she's also starring as well as directing. She had quite the task to do. [Asia and Catherine] live like 2 blocks from each other. I don't think they've ever met. That'd be interesting! [Laughter]

Q: Where do you go from that? Gus... Asia... Catherine... What do you want to do now?

Robinson: Paul Thomas Anderson! [Laughter] You know, it's exciting for me. I got such a huge leg up with Gus and being dropped in with such a respected filmmaker. He really started my passion for good films and good filmmaking. I really want to be careful with what I choose. You know, I finished this movie and went back to school. I have like 4 weeks of school left, just flying back and forth between here and Portland, Oregon. I don't want to do a film until I finish school. So I'm hoping once this movie comes out, I can go and really focus on that and see what I can do. I want to go to college. I figure I'm so young, I want to be smart in all the decisions I make. It's too easy to just take the paychecks, you know?

Q: Were you into acting before Elephant?

Robinson: Yeah, I did about 6 years of acting classes. In Portland, there's one agency for like Fred Myer commercials. I never wanted to do stuff like that. No reason for it. But I just loved acting and took every semester of acting in high school. Then, accidentaly, I just wanted to be an extra on this Gus Van Sant movie. That'd be cool. And I ended up being in the casting for it. It just happend. It was just a huge dream come true. I feel so fortunate to have that, especially since I've grown up always wanting to be an actor.

Q: After you come off something like this and you're hanging out with these guys who helped establish this lifestyle for a lot of people, do you look at the whole Tony Hawk thing and the corporate aspect differently now?

Robinson: Yeah. I mean, it's funny because everyone has their own ambitions. People make different decisions. We met Tony Hawk and he's a real nice guy... and sponsored by McDonalds. It's a very different lifestyle than I would take, but I don't know. It's hard to judge people that way. I don't know what's really driving him. I don't know what he's doing with that. I can only know me.

Q: Is there anything that would actually keep you from going to college at this point?

Robinson: I don't think so. Unless it was Gus Van Sant who offered me a 6 picture deal. [Laughter] I have so much time, you know? You come down here and you see that so many actors don't go to college and for me, being an actor, it's like you have to have the tools of life to understand what you're doing in your scenes and stuff like that. To not go to college and learn about different things, it's like you're losing a step to other actors. I think having a liberal arts education is as important to an actor as it is to simply being a person. You know? As a human being. As an American. [Laughter]

Moving Pictures Magazine interviews actor John Robinson

Moving Pictures Magazine interviews actor John Robinson, who is attending the L.A. Film Festival with two films: The Beautiful Ordinary and Transformers.

http://www.movingpicturesmagazine.com/videoaudio/mpminterviews/johnrobinson

John Robinson in "Transformers" Photos.

Jessica Manafort to Direct "Beautiful Ordinary"

( John Robinson is Bailey in Beautiful Ordinary)

Jessica Manafort To Direct 'Beautiful Ordinary'

Jessica Manafort is directing the teen comedy drama The Beautiful Ordinary, according to the Hollywood Reporter.The movie, which Manafort also wrote, revolves around the relationship dynamics of a group of suburban teens on the last day of school in 1999.Casting is under way, with an eye for a shoot this month in Wilmington, N.C. Manafort is a 23-year-old graduate from the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, where she won numerous awards for her short film "Liminality

Terry Richardson "Son of a Bitch"

Terry Richardson is an international celebrity as well as one of the most prolific and compelling photographers of his generation. Known for his uncanny ability to cut to the raw essence of whomever appears before his lens, Mr. Richardson's vision is at once humorous, tragic, often beautiful, and always provocative.
Born in New York City and raised in Hollywood, Terry began photographing his environment while attending Hollywood High School and playing in a punk rock band. And he hasn't stopped shooting since. Mr. Richardson has lensed campaigns for such clients as Gucci, Sisley, Miu Miu, Levi's, Eres, Chloe, APC, Carolina Herrera, Nike, and Kenneth Cole. Terry's editorial work has appeared in magazines such as Vogue, French Vogue, British Vogue, Japanese Vogue, I-D, Dazed and Confused, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, W, and Purple, as well as a host of worldwidepublications too numerous to mention.
Mr. Richardson is also a favorite among famous actors and musicians. His impressive list of subjects includes Daniel Day Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Leonardo DiCaprio, Vincent Gallo, Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Sharon Stone, Mickey Rourke, Jay Z, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Mena Suvari, Johnny Knoxville, Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Maggie Gylenhall, Karl Lagerfeld, Pharell Williams, Chloe Sevigny, and many others.
Terry has been the subject of numerous group shows as well as one man shows at such esteemed galleries as The Alleged Gallery in New York City, The Shine Gallery in London, Gallery Emanuel Perriton in Paris, The Parco Gallery in Japan, and most recently, Deitch Projects also in New York City.
Many books have also been published throughout the span of Terry's career. His first book, entitled Hysteric Glamour, was published in 1998; this was followed by Son of Bob in 1999, Feared by Men Desired by Women in 2000, Too Much in 2001, and 2004 saw the publishing of both Terryworld and Kibosh.
Terry has recently made the transition from still photography to film as well, helming music videos for Primal Scream, Death in Vegas, and Whirlwind Heat in addition to television commercials for Tommy Hilfiger and the internet company Wanadoo. His feature film debut "Son of a Bitch," is currently in development and is sure to captivate audiences with its stark portrayal of a father and son's struggle with love and hate.
Whatever the medium, Terry Richardson continues to prove that he is a true American Original.

Myspace.com/Johnrobinsonfans

http://www.myspace.com/johnrobinsonfans

http://www.myspace.com/johnrobinsonfans2

John Robinson and Sprouse.

The John Robinson Fanlisting

http://sunshine.in-a-dream.com/jrobinson

John Robinson

Fanmail Alerts - New Photo.

Actress Whitney Able, John Robinson and guest attend the opening reception for "Stories:" New Photographs by Shalon Goss at a private venue on July 26, 2007 in Hollywood, California.

Hoy Fanmail, me envio esta foto.

Espero que muy pronto tengamos mas novedades, mientras tanto esta foto nos indica que no todo anda mal o no.

"El rubio efebo de John Robinson"

Aunque el tiempo pase, siempre quedan detalles dificil de olvida, y mas aun dificil de no comentar.

Hoy en los 10 Momentos de Van Sant, catalogaro a john como el "rubio efebo"
y quizas tengan razon, porque si esta pelicula no tuviera ese efebo no tendria ningun sentido, porque sin el, simplemente no seria lo mismo.
"Pero nadie se a preguntado porque paso ese efebo" o simplemente nos dejamos engañar por las apariencias... Tenemos que ver el lado positivo de las cosa, porque si no fuera por la hermosura de este chico, no existira ese hermoso efebo.

En conclusion es simplemente el rubio efebo de John.

John Robinson

:http://www.hollywood.com/

"Ni imagina el exito que tendria"

Una de las primeras entrevistas que me mandaron de John Robinson es de FIND ARTICLES y entre sus 10,000,000 articulos, ellos tuvieron la amabilidad de mandarme esta gran entrevista del año 2003. Cuando apenas este adolescente de esprititud ni se imaginaba el exito que tendria tanto èl, como Gus Van Sant.

John Robinson: gunshots stilled the halls of Columbine High School four years ago. This month, Gus Van Sant's film Elephant makes us look again at our schools. Here's the actor who helps explain the madness - Interview.

As the many before-they-were-stars TV programs reveal, most young actors make their way up the Hollywood food chain by way of commercials or bit parts In shows and movies. Not John Robinson. In his film debut--and first acting job--the Portland, Oregon, high school junior plays a pivotal role in Gus Van Sant's Elephant. Inspired by the Columbine school shootings and rendered in a slightly improvisational style, the film has drawn wildly mixed responses: Some have called it irresponsible, while others effusively praise the director far tackling a difficult subject. The folks at this past spring's Cannes film festival fell into the latter camp, awarding Elephant the coveted Palme d'Or, and Van Sant the director's prize. Sure to incite debate as it hits theaters this month, the picture is a brilliant Introduction for Robinson, who just days after this interview landed his second role, in director Asia Argento's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things.
SARA SWITZER: Hi, John. How are you?

JOHN ROBINSON: Pretty good.

SS: Tell me about your background. You're completely new to all this, right?

JR: Yeah. Prior to Elephant I'd taken about six years of acting classes in Portland, but there's not a huge market there. The only thing we have is commercial stuff, and that didn't really appeal to me. So this is really a dream come true.

SS: How did this role come about?

JR: There was an open casting call in Portland, and about 3,000 kids showed up. I stood in line for, like, four hours, and I started talking to one of the production assistants and asked, "How do I get my face seen?" He pointed out this lady and said, "Go say hi to her." It was the casting director. So I went up to her and asked something random like "What are you guys looking for?" And she took my picture.

SS: And that was it?

JR: Well, then I went into the casting room and talked to her. I told her everything about my life schoolwise and about the pressures that go on in high school, not even knowing that the movie was going to be based on these emotions. About two months after that, Gus [Van Sant] called me and said, "I want to show you the script that I've written." He wrote the script after meeting all the kids. It was so cool. He'd ask, "How would you feel about this situation?" I'd tell him what I thought, and he'd say, "Okay, that's what I want you to do." He had so much trust in us.

SS: So he used the information he gathered from those conversations--

JR: --To feed his script. Right.

SS: And I understand the actors were asked to draw on and even use their own specific life experiences. How was that for you?

JR: As a kid who loves acting, to be able to have a part of you in a movie is just great, you know? And to have my parents see it and to have Gus say to them, "He's acting," and my mom say back, "No, he's not acting. That's just John," well, that was amazing. [laughs]

SS: Oftentimes I think it's hard for actors or writers when they draw on personal experiences. There can be a sense of betrayal when you are asked to put aspects of your own life on display. Did you feel that?

JR: Definitely. I felt like I was betraying my family. But I knew that trying to explain my emotions in a movie like this was more important than leaving them unspoken.

SS: What was the vibe like on the set of Elephant? Was there a lot of discussion among the kids about school violence?

JR: Yeah. On the set it was a big topic. We couldn't ignore the fact that we were making a movie that touched lives. And to show that in a movie is something that has to be done poetically, not horrifically. Being in this movie was risky because I was afraid that when it came out it might appear like we were mocking the situation or in some way trying to prove something. And that wasn't the case.

SS: So there was discussion about how audiences might react?

JR: Oh, absolutely. Scene by scene.

SS: What is high school like for you?

JR: There are so many pressures on a teen to be the perfect kid, and I definitely feel that. I think everybody in high school goes through a period of "I can't be what everybody wants me to be." Being a teenager is a growing process. Our minds are expanding, and we're getting a grasp of the world in front of us. To be in a society where you're supposed to perform a certain way and where there's a specific path to our lives ... sometimes you lose track of where it's going.

SS: How did Columbine affect you?

JR: It was so frightening. And the media took off with it, like everything else, so it instilled more fear in people. You're looking around at school for kids [like the ones who committed the shootings], and you feel wrong for doing that, you know?.

SS: Do you feel that you're making a statement by being a part of this film?

JR: if there is a statement, it's that we should learn something from all this, and the lesson shouldn't go unspoken. Everyone wants to pinpoint what went on [at Columbine] and why, but that's not what we're doing. We aren't explaining anything. We are showing a detached view of the situation that lets the viewer decide, because who are we to say what happened and why?

SS: At the press conference in Cannes, after winning the Palme d'Or and the director's prize, Gus was asked whether the film might be interpreted as anti-American. What are your feelings about that?

JR: I didn't feel that we were making an anti-American film. That was not what Gus was trying to do. And remember, that was at an international film festival.

SS: Are you nervous about how the film will be received here in the U.S.?

JR: I'm nervous because I hope it doesn't instill fear--I mean, it's a hard movie to watch. But as far as taking a stand, I'm not nervous.

SS: So, ultimately, how do you think the film will affect people?

JR: I think it will bring back discussion about Columbine. When Columbine happened it was the topic of the week, and we shouldn't have just moved on to something else. Whether people like the film or not, it's going to make them think about what happened.

SS: What's next for you?

JR: I've been reading a lot of scripts. I've been in touch with an associate producer of Elephant, JT LeRoy [the novelist and an occasional Interview contributor], and Asia Argento, who's directing [the film adaptation of LeRoy's book] The Heart Is Deceitful Above Aft Things. It's such an amazing project, and I feel like it's along the lines of Elephant, the way it tells a sad, horrific story. Nothing's final, but I met with her a couple of days ago. She has a view just like Gus does. So, that movie will be shot shortly--with or without me. [both laugh] But hopefully with me.

Emo guitarist("Elephant's" John Robinson)

In high school, every night can feel like the most important night of your life. The luster still remains eight years later in NYU grad Jess Manafort's debut feature, which follows nearly 20 teens on the last day of senior year, 1999. As high school zeitgeist stories go, "The Beautiful Ordinary" holds no great secrets or revelations, no iconic characters or "American Pie"-style set pieces, but it demonstrates considerable promise on the part of its director and her up-and-coming cast. These are talents to watch; as soon as one breaks out, pic could become a hot commodity.
From "American Graffiti" to "Dazed and Confused," every generation has its signature "school's out for summer" movie, and pic would probably do the trick for the Y2K crowd if 1998's "Can't Hardly Wait" hadn't already staked out the territory a decade earlier. Manafort herself graduated from high school in 2000 and conveys from personal experience how it felt to party like it's 1999, but times haven't changed enough to qualify her semi-personal entry as a period piece. Whereas most debut features tend to be too earnest, "The Beautiful Ordinary" suffers from the opposite problem: It's not really about anything -- except perhaps how a bunch of beautiful, popular New Jersey teens resort to breaking the rules to stave off boredom.
Rather than providing a central character or romance to root for, Manafort aims to be as all-inclusive as possible, implying that sexual desire and drugs go a long way toward melting the boundaries between separatist cliques seen in pics like "Mean Girls." Here, the head cheerleader (Marnette Patterson) isn't above dating a total geek, and a giddy freshman-to-be (Alexa Vega) stands a real chance at hooking up with an older emo guitarist ("Elephant's" John Robinson).
Some of the teens are college-bound, while others are too busy living the dream to think that far ahead, but they all get along just fine. (Only the jocks, who crash a keg party late in the game, are unwelcome.) While their kids are busy getting into trouble, the adults aren't so much absentee as oblivious (typified by concerned parents David Temple and Moira Kelly). When one mother frets that NYU will introduce her innocent little girl to sex and drugs, the daughter is tempted to reply, "I'm not a virgin, I already have a tattoo and I do a ton of drugs here."
But Manafort is no moralist; nor is she interested in Larry Clark-style sensationalism (though she does employ his gifted cinematographer, Steve Gainer, to impressive effect). Parents may be alarmed by the underage characters' constant, always-casual use of pot, alcohol and shrooms, but younger auds will surely recognize a certain truthfulness in the depiction -- particularly if they happen to be from affluent, all-white Jersey neighborhoods.
A lone Asian guy (Charles Chen) floats through the movie taking snapshots of all the revelry, which pays off in pic's most elaborate camera move: a crane shot that drifts up to a second-story window, then pans across the photos drying on a clothesline inside. HD cinematography is exceptional throughout, made all the more mesmerizing by Manafort's choice in music, a blend of late-'90s alt rock and original score from Sofia Coppola collaborator Dustin O'Halloran. Her dynamic, engaging style swoops from room to room, passing fluidly between one group of characters and the next, finding humor at every turn.
It's no easy task to wrangle an ensemble of this size, and even though numerous characters seem interchangeable at first, Manafort somehow manages to elicit distinctive personalities and performances from her entire cast. They may be shallow and superficial personalities, but it's still refreshing to spend this much time with a bunch of attractive teens and not have to worry about a serial killer picking them off one by one.
Just as "Can't Hardly Wait" helped launch the careers of half a dozen young stars, "The Beautiful Ordinary" boasts a full lineup of talented teens, including Brie Larson (a scene-stealer as one delinquent senior's bossy younger sister), "Big Love's" Douglas Smith (who demonstrates an unforgettable party trick) and comedy natural Chris Marquette. And with the right material to engage her, Manafort is no less likely to succeed on her side of the camera

"Lords of Dogtown"

"La Ciudad y Los Perros"

John RobInson