WB: You're a
wonderful actor who happens to be 12 years old.Transcript of interview with Joseph Cross from "Jack Frost" website.
WB: You're a
wonderful actor who happens to be 12 years old.
JC: Thank you.
WB: You're welcome. Um, when did you know you were going to be an actor?
JC: I guess in third grade. I started to want to do it.
WB: What happened?
JC: I saw some movies and I thought, "You know how did those kids get in there?" and I thought it was just like, I didn't think a normal person could try to get into it and my parents told me that they could and so I wanted to try it and I did.
WB: How do you...How do you do what you do in the movies? In other words, you're laughing, you're crying, you're feeling things...How do you do that?
JC: I try to think of, uh, different things. Like I try to think of like... When you're really really happy you think of a joke somebody told you. When I feel sad I think when my Grandma died... um, things like that.
WB: So when Jack dies in the movie you were thinking of your Grandma?
JC: Yeah...Um...yeah.
WB: Was that painful to do?
JC: Well, the thing is, I have more...The good memories of my Grandma, they outdo, I guess, the bad memory of her dying. But I try to remember what it was like when she died. It's hard because you get upset. But...
WB: Have you seen this movie with an audience?
JC: Yeah, I saw it last night.
WB: Did you like it?
JC: Yeah, everybody seemed to be really into it.
WB: You were watching the audience too?
JC: Yeah. I was watching with the audience and being in the audience.
WB: They liked your job so obviously they liked you and they liked it alot.
JC: Yeah, they did.
WB: You've done another movie with Michael Keaton also?
JC: Yeah, I did "Desperate Measures" with him.
WB: Did you audition again or did he say "I want to work with Joseph?" or...
JC: No, I auditioned both times.
WB: Did you know you would get this? Did you feel you would get this?
JC: Um, not really. The thing is alot of times when I think "Yeah, I got that!" that I think I'll get that, I don't get it. But when I think, "Oh, there's no way that I'll ever get that!", I get it. So that's a good sign I guess, if that's how you want to think!
WB: This movie's called "Jack Frost" but it really could be called "Charlie Frost", because to me it's a story about a boy who leaves his father and has to find strength and courage. Did you get any kind of a message like that while you were making the movie?
JC: I thought that Charlie had to be very mature, which alot of times he really wasn't. The way he just totally disrepected his friends and he stopped caring about everything. Didn't care about hockey, didn't care about his friends, didn't care about school. Went from an A student to a D student...
WB: What did you like about the story?
JC: Um, I liked...I liked the whole thing where his dad gets to have a second chance. That, you know, it would be great if all parents got that...if all parents who didn't do what they were capable of doing as a parent got a second chance. So I think that that's pretty cool.
WB: It is. Uh, the snowman...working with the snowman, did you actually have a big puppet you were working with or...?
JC: Yeah, it was a big puppet! Like have you talked with the snowman?
WB: Not yet.
JC: It's a big puppet, animatronics and everything. It's really interesting.
WB: Did you forget that it was a puppet after a while? Did you start thinking it was real?
JC: Definitely. It feels like it's a real person because everything they do in sequence, like it's ...like, I don't know, where if you want to shake his hand, then you look around and then the person in charge would move quickly and his hand would do something.
WB: That's great.
JC: Uh Huh.
WB: I have to go. I wish you alot of luck.
JC: Okay, thank you.
WB: It was a wonderful movie. Nice to meet you.