"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.