Nell Minow: May 2009 Archives

Jason Dolley plays Newt in the Disney Channel's popular series "Cory in the House" and stars in "Hatching Pete," now out on DVD with another family-friendly feature, "Dadnapped." Jason found time to talk to me between finals in his college classes, and I really enjoyed our conversation, especially his frank and sincere discussion of his faith and his description of what it was like to play the guy inside the chicken suit.

Where are you from originally?

I grew up in Southern California, Simi Valley. I've lived in the same house all my life. I have two older brothers who have moved away, but I still live with my mom and dad. I graduated from high school early and now I am going to college at Moorpark community college, 15 minutes away from the house.

Tell me about "Hatching Pete!"

It has me and Michael Musso and the basic story is best friends. He is normally the school mascot and he asks my character to sub in for him one night. Pete is very shy but he blossoms in the chicken suit. They don't tell anyone it's him, so that's where it gets complicated.

Is it difficult to act in a chicken mascot costume?

It is tough! Even before filming began we went to mascot boot camp. The San Diego chicken from the Padres gave us "how to be a chicken" lessons. I had a lot of fun with it and that was good because my character was supposed to have fun. It was stuffier than anything, but well worth it. I had a blast! There are things you don't think about -- you have to make your movements really big because it is all in the body language. Small movements normally people would make, you had to blow it up. I did not do everything. I'm not really athletic. We had four chickens not including Mitchell, a dance chicken to do the dance routines and Ted the pro chicken would do some of the game stuff.

And how did you get started as an actor?

My first job was an AFI short film, "Chasing Daylight," when I was 11 and I made a couple of commercials that never aired. For me, the acting bug got started when we would play dress-up. It didn't have to be Halloween. We'd get dressed up and we'd become the people whose costumes we wore.

What was your favorite Halloween costume?

I was Darth Vadar three years in a row!

Did you study acting?

I started taking classes when I got an agent. But I learned from the best when I did a series called "Sweet Savages" where I played the youngest boy. Mel Gibson was the director, he was hilarious and kept throwing in little things for us to do. I learned a lot.

The wonderful Warner Archive has released another movie I remember fondly, Bye Bye Braverman. Director Sidney Lumet, showing the same feel for the city evident in his other films like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Serpico," made this film about four New York Jewish intellectuals on their way to a funeral. They bicker, they get lost, they consider the meaning of life. Not much happens, but a lot happens.

It's not a classic by any means, but it has moments of enormous richness and poignancy and beautiful performances by everyone involved, especially Phyllis Newman, Zohra Lampert, and Godfrey Cambridge in smaller roles. And of course New York City playing the lead.

There is no movie I am more excited about right now than the Spike Jonze-directed "Where the Wild Things Are," opening this fall and based on the classic children's book by Maurice Sendak. Having watched the trailer several times, I was thrilled to get a chance for more information on "We Love You So," a new blog from Jonze about the film. It is a lot of fun to peek behind the scenes and hear his thoughts on some of the movies that influenced the look of the film. And it is worth visiting the site just to take a look at this photo Jonze found on Flickr of an adorable costume made for a real-life Max by his mom, who calls herself Kitjule1010.

Let the wild rumpus start!