interview - KEVIN ZEGERS
Five Questions with Kevin Zegers
By Natalia Wysocka
Chances are you first saw Woodstock, Ontario’s Kevin Zegers travelling across the States as the estranged son of a transsexual (Felicity Huffman) in 2005’s indie hit Transamerica.
This month the 23-year-old plays Jordie in director Carl Bessai’s Normal. The film takes place two years after Jordie was behind the wheel of a stolen car when it crashed, killing his best friend Nicky. Jordie, Nicky’s mom (Carrie-Anne Moss) and a professor involved in the accident (Callum Keith Rennie) are still trying to come to terms with what happened.
Zegers was at last September’s Toronto International Film Festival when he answered these five questions.
Did you start to get good scripts instantly after Transamerica?
“It happened pretty quick, I was surprised — as soon as people feel like they don’t need to challenge you to act, they just know you’re good, and capable.”
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Kevin Zegers and Camille Sullivan
in Normal
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Like Transamerica, Normal is about difficult family relationships. Is that a subject that appeals to you?
"I think I play, sort of, somebody who has something going on in
their head for a while. I do that well. There’s something tragic about
me, that’s what Carl said when he hired me. “And I don’t know what it
is, I feel like I’ve had a pretty good life, but I feel like I’m able
to do a lot without saying a lot, don’t have to say a bunch of dialogue
to get the story across. And pain, and all that stuff, is so much
easier to play just with your eyes and your face.”
So your acting process is more emotional than physical?
“Yes. I don’t go over the lines a hundred times to get it perfect.
But the tone of your voice, the way you move your body, all these
things, you can drastically change somebody. Even if it’s just a little
thing, if somebody notices something, a reaction to somebody touching
you, it’s sort of minor but I think audiences notice that we have these
reactions.”
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Where do you get your inspiration?
“I go sit in the park and just watch people, and then I can use little bits from my friends, from things they do. It just works for me.”
People have been calling you the new Tobey Maguire. How do you feel about that?
“Everyone keeps saying all this stuff! It’s great if people are talking about me, it’s good for me, they must see something. I don’t know exactly what it is, obviously. I’m bringing something to their table that they like, they enjoy watching. I’m just gonna try not to mess it up, I’m gonna keep working hard.”
Natalia Wysocka is the deputy editor of Famous Québec.