Rising star Josh Peck’s in a good mood when we speak by phone (he’s in LA - hey, where else?), and he almost laughs when I tell him that prior to seeing The Wackness I wasn’t entirely sure what the titular expression actually meant.
“It’s a word that’s been used in a lot - a lot - of rap music,” he states, “and I’ve of course heard it used in its other form, which is just ‘wack’… I just had to interpret it for myself.”
So at what point in the pre-production were you cast in the film by writer/director Jonathan Levine?
“About six weeks before the production began. The director and I were, like, two white boy hip hop-heads from New York. I was really lucky and he just offered me the part. And I got involved, you know, pretty close to the start date.”
Six weeks? That is definitely “pretty close to the start date”, and seems an awfully short time to get to the heart of any character. And, considering that you always list him as your very favourite actor, how was the prospect of working with Ben Kingsley (as flawed psychologist Dr Squires to Peck’s protagonist Luke), on top of all the other pressures?
“I was concerned… No, I don’t think that concerned quite describes it: ‘utterly stunted with fear’ and ‘paralysed by the whole idea’ is more like it. To share the screen with someone of his stature and experience and ability… My absolute favourite actor, yes… To be able to go back to New York, which I really love, and make a movie that’s so very close to my heart and to, also, be able to do it with my all-time favourite actor: it was a bit of a grand-slam moment, you know? And yet I still felt my stomach kind of drop to my feet and I didn’t know what to do with myself for a while.”
And yet Kingsley (who’s frequently dared to toy with his somewhat saintly image in recent years and play plenty of flawed types - and even baddies, as in Sexy Beast) is a very giving actor and, by all reports, a real gentleman, Josh. Am I right?
“No question. When you’re dealing with someone with that kind of talent and you’re able to just accept the weight of their brilliance and their willingness, and to be alive with them in that moment and share that, if you can do that and remove your ego from the equation then they can just make you such a better actor. I think that he told the director that he would follow my lead and let me dictate how scenes would go, and I think the movie really benefits from that, especially as our characters are like that too, really.”
What about the other cast members? Famke Janssen (appearing as Kingsley’s missus), a hippie-like Mary-Kate Olsen and Method Man?
“Famke and I have one scene together, and I played with her dog Licorice a lot… Really cool lady - and hot. And Mary-Kate: she embodies… um… You know when you sort of get over that idea of like ‘The Cool Crowd’ at high school and realise that they never existed or that you never wanted to be a part of it anyway? And the lines get blurred when you leave high school? And then I meet someone like Mary-Kate and I realise, oh my God, that I’m so far away from The Cool Crowd! She’s so amazing and I was so impressed by her work ethic. A lovely person. And I’m the 12th member of the Wu-Tang Clan and the first Jewish member. I was just inducted. So Method Man and I were like this [I assume he crosses his fingers here, or something], and we spent copious amounts of time together.”
I don’t want to get moral on Josh - but how does he feel about the fact that his ‘hero’ Luke Shapiro is, despite his humanity and his almost sweetly naïve aspect, a drug dealer, and how this has caused a little controversy around the movie?
“It’s a weighted question. I think I can say that many people who are forced to sell drugs are a victim of their circumstance. If they had different opportunities or a different environment or upbringing then, who knows, they might have become Young Republicans… But instead they saw capitalism in its purest form - supply and demand, and what people want - and then they supplied it. There’s also the double standard that I’m going to fall victim to - but at least he only sells pot! But I know that that’s not exactly the most PC answer.”
Josh at this point starts to discuss some of his upcoming projects.
“I did this movie with the girl from The Wackness, Olivia Thirlby, called Safety Glass, and it also stars Steve Coogan and it’s about the 1987 Challenger disaster…”
Steve Coogan? In a dramatic role?
“He’s great. He lets some of that comedy energy bleed into being a dramatic actor, you know?... And I did a Christmas movie for the Nickelodeon show that I do [Merry Christmas, Drake And Josh, a TV movie following on from the very popular and long-running Drake And Josh], and I’m reprising my voice role in Ice Age 3 as well… You know, man, I’m really very lucky to be working!”
The Wackness is now showing.