Kid Rock
by Lynn Hirschberg
You have been a working actor since you were 5 years old. When you were that young, how did you know that this was what you wanted to do with your life? I had an epiphany during a performance of “The Wizard of Oz.” It was my first play — an ambitious production for the first grade. I was the scarecrow, and I thought there was some sort of chemistry between me and Dorothy — and I remember the moment. It was the first laugh I ever got. I was walking arm in arm with Dorothy and I fell to my knees. Big laugh. She smiled at me, and that was it. I grew up in L.A., and some of the kids in my class already had managers. They asked if I was interested, and I started going on one or two auditions a day. I instantly loved the work so much, except for commercials. I did a few of those, and you had to behave like you were sky-high on happy drugs.
Did your parents have an opinion about their son becoming a child actor?
My mom repeatedly told me this was something I did not have to do. It was a full-time job for me and a full-time job for her. She really dedicated herself to my career, but it was always my choice.
When you were 13, you were cast on the show “Third Rock From the Sun” as the brainiest of four aliens who arrive on Earth to study the natives.
I was the youngest in the cast, but the oldest in terms of intelligence. I was so happy about that show. It meant I was going to work all the time, and my favorite thing is to work. I did the show and I still went to Van Nuys High School. It was the most responsible time of my life.
Being a TV star must have made you popular in high school.
When people at school would ask me if I was on a show, I would lie. I had all these issues about my work. If someone told me that they saw me, it ruined my day. I was not interested in fame or what they now call “celebrity.” At the time, I was really neurotic. I wanted to believe in the art and craft of acting.
But at the very least, a TV career would get you a lot of dates.
Only with the wrong girls. All I wanted was a cool girlfriend I could make out with and have long conversations with. That was nearly impossible to find.
In the final season of “Third Rock,” you left and went to Columbia for college.
I was studying for the SAT’s and learning lines. I only applied to one school. I loved New York City. I had made “The Juror” here when I was 14. I played Demi Moore’s son, and while a 14-year-old kid is stranded in L.A., unable to drive, in New York I could go everywhere. When I arrived at Columbia, I gave up acting and became interested in all things French. French poetry, French history, French literature. My French classes were all about storytelling.
Did you watch a lot of French films?
I related heavily to “The 400 Blows,” but I was especially attracted to the women in French films, especially Godard’s. There is something about the shape of a woman’s mouth when she speaks French that is extremely erotic.
Maybe you should make a film in French.
I would love that. I have had dreams in French. I wake up and I think I was in a French film. When I was 20, I went to Paris and tried to meet French women. It didn’t work. You can know French, but they speak a whole other language there.
At college, you changed your attitude about acting.
After two years, I regained my interest. It was hard. I then had to reinterest everyone else. I still dislike the cult of “stars.” There’s no royalty in America, so people deify actors. It’s great to admire someone who does something you like. I admire David Bowie and Albert Einstein and ... Brigitte Bardot [he laughs], but not because they are famous. During college I started to miss acting. I started auditioning for movies. That’s how I got the part in “Mysterious Skin.”
In that movie, you play a gay hustler. It was a bold decision to take on that role. Were you nervous?
I find it very strange when people say, “How could you make that movie?” I never had any trepidation. When I read the script, I thought the director, Gregg Araki, would want me for another part, the sensitive boy. He said, “No — I want you to be sexy.” I had not heard that a lot. I was always cast as the friend or the nice guy. It’s really great when someone says, “I want you to be the sexy one.”
In “Stop Loss,” which comes out next year, you play a soldier in the current Iraq war. What was the most interesting thing about playing a soldier?
As the child of two peace activists, I had never considered that I might identify with someone who willingly goes to war. But I started to understand how much courage it takes to be a soldier. These guys lay down their lives for each other. There are nine men in my squad in the film, and I’ll die for them and they’ll die for me. That’s unlike anything I’ve ever known.
It’s interesting that critics consider it riskier from a career standpoint to play a gay hustler than a soldier in an unpopular war, or a psychotic hit man, which you play in your next film, “Killshot.”
As an actor, you have to be open-minded. That’s one of the great aspects of the job. In the real world, people make judgments all the time. But as an actor, you can’t judge. I would rather play someone who is different from me. You can’t be a bigot and be a great actor.
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