Maxwell Jenkins considers Anupam Kher his guardian angel. \u201cWhenever I encounter any kind of struggle, he always gives me a call,\u201d says the 19-year-old actor on a video call from Chicago. \u201cI worked with him when I was nine years old on A Family Man<\/i>, which also starred Gerard Butler, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Gretchen Mol.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning bhangra for a year and a half, (when?)<\/b>got Maxwell to watch Hindi films. \u201cThey showed us some pretty great Bollywood films. I know I sound pretty mainstream for saying this, but DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge<\/i>) was phenomenal. I\u2019ve seen it twice. I was shocked to see Anupam in the film. He was in every Bollywood film I watched!\u201d<\/p>\n \nNicolas Cage, Maxwell Jenkins and Jaeden Martell in a still from \u2018Arcadian\u2019 <\/div>\n Maxwell plays Thomas in Arcadian<\/i>, a post-apocalyptic thriller. \u201cI remember falling in love with the character of Thomas right off the bat because it was unlike any character I had done before. I was intrigued at the opportunity of playing a character who is not squeaky clean, who isn\u2019t necessarily the hero at all times. One of my favourite things to hear is when people tell me they hated Thomas,\u201d he laughs. <\/p>\n A call with the director, Benjamin Brewer, sealed the deal. \u201cWe talked for about an hour and a half and maybe just 10 minutes of that conversation was about the movie. The rest of our conversation was about comic books, school and growing up. I was starting the process of applying to colleges, which is crazy to think about now because I\u2019m going into my sophomore year of university. So yeah, I read the script, fell in love with the character, talked with Ben and next thing I knew, I was in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas, Maxwell says, is one of two twins who, unlike his brother, Joseph, (played by Jaeden Martell), leads with his body. \u201cHe is like any kid today, experiencing growing pains and trying to stretch out his arms in a world that doesn\u2019t let him. The stakes are different; when Thomas makes mistakes, people die and loved ones get hurt.\u201d <\/p>\n Today\u2019s constructs do not necessarily account for mistakes, Maxwell says. \u201cEveryone\u2019s lives are so much more public, because of social media. Mistakes are costlier and out in the open and affect more than one person. Thomas can be a little bit hot-headed. He thinks he\u2019s invincible until he\u2019s not. At the end of the day, he\u2019s a teenager who loves his brother, and is struggling to find independence in a world that doesn\u2019t account for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Nicolas Cage plays the boys\u2019 father. \u201cNic was incredible. He\u2019s a phenomenal actor, a great person and super generous. On set, he is collaborative and wants to hear your thoughts and ideas. If he says something that you disagree with, or envision another way, he wants to hear that. We rewrote and went over so many different options, that it feels like we filmed three different movies in 20 days. He is a history buff and in between takes, he wouldn\u2019t just disappear into his trailer. He\u2019d stay on set and talk to us; it made the filming process fun.\u201d <\/p>\n Cage\u2019s first day on set was about a week into filming. \u201cHe had come from filming another project. I think it was a Dream Scenario. We didn\u2019t get a chance to meet face to face before filming, other than a quick hello. It is the first time you see our dynamic in the film. I\u2019m running in late and the line is scripted as \u2018Thomas you are late\u2019 and I was expecting something along those lines. I come running in and Nic gets in my face yelling \u2018Thomas, you\u2019re late!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Maxwell who was running full speed, stopped dead in his tracks. \u201cThere were slide marks in the grass from where I stopped! That\u2019s the type of type of actor Nic is, he gives 110% to every moment. That\u2019s one of my favourite moments because it set the tone for how we would approach the role and was a valuable lesson for me, both in acting and outside of it.\u201d <\/p>\n \nMaxwell Jenkins in a still from \u2018Arcadian\u2019 <\/div>\n Arcadian <\/i>centres around the bond between the brothers, Maxwell says. \u201cJaeden and I understood, we\u2019re going to need to get pretty close to make this believable. That wasn\u2019t too hard as Jaeden and I got close super fast. We went golfing together. We were in the middle of the woods in Ireland so we\u2019d just hang out together and run the scenes. Jaeden, Ben, Sadie (Soverall who plays Thomas\u2019 love interest, Charlotte) and I, had about a week where we were constantly rehearsing and going over scenes to establish these character dynamics.\u201d<\/p>\n For a science fiction-horror film, Maxwell says, you do not want to fall into the trap of loading it up with action and forgetting about character work. \u201cWe wanted to make sure that the character work drove the action by establishing these connections beforehand. So you end up with a film that has horror, gore and action that\u2019s driven by the choices and dynamics of the characters.\u201d <\/p>\n Growing up in his family\u2019s travelling circus, Maxwell describes himself as a physical person. \u201cOftentimes my way into characters is through the physicality. Characters that have that element to them are always fun to play, so long as they are character-driven and have unique, layered backgrounds. I love to explore different things. I grew up playing Will Robinson (Lost in Space<\/i>), who is squeaky clean, not the most physically gifted, cerebral, who leads with his heart and mind.\u201d Stepping into the role of a polar opposite like Thomas, Maxwell says was a chance to push the envelope. <\/p>\n Maxwell played young Jack Reacher in the first season of the wildly popular Reacher<\/i>. \u201cAs far as I know, I\u2019m not in the new season. I probably got a little bit too tall, a little bit too big,\u201d he says with a laugh. In the pipeline is The Bondsman <\/i>for Amazon Blumhouse. \u201cIt stars Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Nettles as my parents and Beth Grant as my grandmother. Like any Blumhouse project, there are some fun thrills. It was shot in Georgia and I got to see a cool part of the country that I\u2019d never seen before. Last year I did a film called This Too Shall Pass<\/i>. They are two exciting, totally different projects.\u201d <\/p>\n Maxwell says his dream role would be to play a Jedi. \u201cI grew up as a total nerd. Before I got sucked into the acting world, I would go to these conventions to get my cape and shield signed and take photos with my childhood heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n Arcadian is currently streaming on Lionsgate Play<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Love at first sight<\/h4>\n
![\"Nicolas](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/jvag1b\/article68480870.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/Arcadian%20Stills%203.jpg\" "\\"Nicolas")
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\nPatrick Redmond\n<\/p>\nTwin tales<\/h4>\n
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Setting the tone<\/h4>\n
Brothers in arms<\/h4>\n
![\"Maxwell](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/8g0x9f\/article68480872.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/Arcadian%20Stills%204%201.jpg\" "\\"Maxwell")
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\n| Photo Credit:
\nPatrick Redmond\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/entertainment\/movies\/bn7kgi\/article68396319.ece\/alternates\/SQUARE_80\/Screenshot%202024-07-12%20154047.png\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPushing boundaries<\/h4>\n
In the pipeline<\/h4>\n
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