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]