Lucas Hedgesis an Oscar-nominated actor at 22, but he says it was a struggle before he could even feel comfortable in his own skin.
“I remember feeling like my dad was going through something magical,” Hedges says of his longtime filmmaker father — who wrote, directed and produced the actor’s most recent filmBen Is Back, also starringJulia Roberts.
“A lot of my career ambitions up to this point have been to try to compensate for the fact that I really didn’t feel like the person I wanted to be my whole life,” Hedges admits.
Alasdair McLellan for WSJ. Magazine
Lucas Hedges forWSJ. Magazine.Alasdair McLellan for WSJ. Magazine
Specifically, Hedges recalls, he didn’t feel comfortable revealing certain aspects of his personality and had consistent trouble fitting in with the kids around him.
“There was definitely a dream of being with somebody that never came true at that point in my life,” he tellsWSJ. Magazine. “It just didn’t feel like an option to actually betransparent with what I was going through.”
“I really was trying to find myself through all these different relationships,” Hedges adds.
Hedges says it’s rare for him to consider any actors, either alive or dead, as “somebody who I experience as being magical and ethereal and culturally historical.” (AlthoughTimothée Chalametis an exception.)
“That’s not to say I haven’t wanted to be those guys,” he clarifies.
“Mainstream audiences might think, ‘That guy’s weird,’ ” Heges muses. “Other people see [his] work and they’re like, ‘That’s amazing,’ which I guess is probably a pretty good description of a great artist’s career.”
And LaBeouf’s words for Hedges are just as praise-laden. As he tellsWSJ. Magazineof his film’s protagonist(who will play the son of LaBeouf’s character, based on the latter’s relationship with his own father), “Lucas is top 10 walking around right now.”
Ben Is Backis in theaters now.WSJ. Magazine’s Talents & Legends issue hits newsstands on January 19th.
source: people.com
