Charlie Plummer: Interview and Spring 2018 Menswear Editorial

CULTURE

CHARLIE PLUMMER, TALENT ON THE RISE, SUITS UP IN SPRING’S BEST MENSWEAR LOOKS

Emerging actor Charlie Plummer talks his latest projects, being the face of Dior Homme, and test-drives Spring 2018’s sharpest menswear looks.

PHOTOGRAPY AND INTERVIEW

by TATIJANA SHOAN

STYLED

by STACEY JONES

GROOMING

by JOANNA PENSINGER

for THE WALL GROUP

Charlie Plummer has been ready to work since he was 10 years old, appearing in stage productions, television shows, and films. The little baby-faced boy from shows like Boardwalk Empire and Granite Flats has now turned into a chiseled teenager with looks that got him cast as the new face of the Dior Homme summer ’18 campaign. Looks aside, it’s Charlie’s evolution as an actor, and absolute commitment to his roles, that get heads turning and won him the Best Actor Prize at Les Arcs European Film Festival, and the coveted Best Young Actor or Actress award at The Venice Film Festival for the film Lean on Pete, which opens in theaters this year.

I watched Charlie casually look through the clothes he was going to wear for the shoot, Spring 2018’s sharpest men’s looks, where he responded positively to everything while examining the intricate details many may miss. He struck me as someone that doesn’t take things for granted, which is certainly true for his acting after witnessing role after role being tackled with total commitment and truth. His effortless translation of the characters he plays on screen make every word he utters spellbinding. At 19 years old, this actor has been in over nine films—not including the films slated to come out, or are currently in production—and a handful of television shows. There is no denying that Charlie is paving his way to the top of Hollywood’s food chain, and we are here to take the ride with him.

AS IF: As a child, what did you dream of becoming when you grew up?

Charlie Plummer: A lot of different things. I was a weird kid. I would go to the opera, I loved the opera, and my favorite movie when I was two years old was Moulin Rouge—I just loved the theatrics. My parents were in theater, so I grew up surrounded by that, but I also played sports. I knew I wanted to act when I was around 10. I was obsessed with films and the theater, and the kind of theatrical essence of certain films like Moulin Rouge were so attractive to me. I loved how grand things could be.

You were drawn to the spectacle.

Yes, and I was a really shy kid growing up, so being a part of something where I got to play a character that was so different from who I was gave me an excuse to be big, dance and sing, and do crazy things that I didn’t feel comfortable doing within my own body.

What was your first entrée into the business?

Theater was, which I did for about three to four years. I first met my manager when I was around 10 years old, and I told her I never wanted to do film, TV, or commercials. I never did commercials, but I eventually did do film and TV. Theater was all I knew, and it’s what my parents did. There was something that freaked me out about film and TV that I didn’t really understand.

charlie-plummer-bottega-veneta-shirt-pants

Bottega Veneta camel/nero cotton shirt, camel silk shirt, cotton pant | Van’s shoes Charlie’s own.

Do you understand what that trepidation was now?

It was something about the camera. What I love about theater are the relationships between the actors and the stage, the costumes, and the audience. I love how a performance can be dependent on who your audience is. I love that collaboration, and that unexpected behavior of an audience and what they brought to my performance. The idea of taking that component out was scary to me. Though I do remember the moment of really falling in love with it film. I remember just realizing, “Oh my god, you can capture so much more on film.” In film, the audience can get so close to your eyeball, or your mouth, whereas they can’t on stage. On stage an actor has to have that broad kind of feeling no matter what, so everyone in the audience can see you— with film, everything can be so delicate and intimate.  

What do you like about acting?

Acting is completely about empathy and compassion and is at the heart of things, and that’s what always exists for me. I love the opportunity to connect with so many people, not just with the character and their own struggle and feelings, but also with the audience and the other actors. For me, it’s all about connecting, empathy, and compassion, and I think those are the most important things in the world. That’s what has been the driving force for me and why I want to do it for the rest of my life.

“I don’t care if I have two lines, or no lines in the movie. I’m happy to be a stand-in, or an extra, as long as I get to be in the same room with people I admire.”

The characters you have played are tortured young souls. I’d like to know how you prepare for these roles.

If the scripts weren’t truthful, if I didn’t have directors who have a vision of what they wanted and an understanding of the material, then it would have been really, really difficult for me to bring the characters to life in a sincere way. I am really fascinated by human beings, and I have given a great fortune to play these complex characters that do suffer sometimes, but also experience great joy. Rather than seeing these characters so differently than who I am, I bridge the gap between us. I see the connections, and I take it one step, one day, one moment at a time, and that’s my goal with every project and scene.

Being in the moment is a great challenge. Your job requires you to be in the moment for hours on end, performance after performance.

Right, and being confident enough. It’s so important that I’m confident in what I’m saying, in what I’m doing, and in knowing who I am, because when I am just trying to grapple with what’s going on in my environment, it’s really challenging to constantly look back and go, "Oh,was that the right thing to do," or I look forward and go, "Oh, my god I have no idea what I am going to do next." If I can cancel all that out and just be, even if being is just sitting quietly on a couch, closing my eyes, and just giving all of my energy to that.

What role are you most proud of?

I love the movie Lean on Pete, and I’m just proud of the work I did with the director Andrew Haigh and the other actors. It’s a film that I will hopefully be able to look back on and be proud of. I’m most proud of my performance in a film when I can understand it more and more each time I watch it. I also did this film called King Jack when I was 15 and I am very proud of that performance. I am really grateful for it because it is such a moment in time in my life, and the way Felix Thompson directed and captured the moments is so beautiful, and the other actors are incredible. It was the first time that I felt like I really owned what I was doing.

“Selfishly I would love to eventually play a superhero or supervillain. The Joker is one of my all-time favorites, or a villain in the Star Wars series, but that’s the little kid inside me talking.”

What has been the most valuable piece of advice given to you by an actor or director?

I have gotten a lot of really good advice. I remember the last time I saw Ridley [Scott], he said to me, “No rock 'n' roll!” (laughs). I think he was talking about keeping the focus on my work and the importance of that, and in this moment of my life, I am really realizing how important that is. He is a guy who is always focused on the work, and I think that is why he’s always working. His work is what drives him, and he has to be strict with himself.

What role would you love to play?

All of them! Selfishly I would love to eventually play a superhero or supervillain. The Joker is one of my all-time favorites, or a villain in the Star Wars series, but that’s the little kid inside me talking. For me, it’s all about—right now especially—the people I get to work with, like the directors, writers, and other actors. I don’t care if I have two lines in the movie, or no lines in the movie. I’m happy to be a stand-in, or an extra, as long as I get to be in the same room with people I admire.

Dior Homme cotton serge double-breasted jacket with “signature” hand-stitched buttonhole, and “Christian Dior Atelier” label at sleeve, satin “Christian Dior Atelier” narrow scarf, ottoman narrow pant, and sneakers | Tiffany & Co. (left hand) gold Tiffany T two ring and square ring, gold oval link bracelet, gold Atlas pierced cuff, gold Paloma's Groove wide ring, rose gold Tiffany T two ring, necklace with ring Charlie’s own | Tiffany & Co. (right hand) gold oval link bracelet; gold Tiffany T square ring and gold Tiffany T.

You were made one of the new faces of the Dior Homme summer ’18 campaign.

It was a crazy week because I had just come back to New York from the Venice Film Festival where I won the award for Best Young Actor for Lean on Pete. I got a 6:00 am call from my agents congratulating me, and they mentioned offhand that Dior wants to do a campaign with me and fly me out for a few days to do the photo. And I was like, "Oh, that's great!” I really didn’t understand, because I really don’t know much about fashion or that world at all, so I didn’t understand how wonderful and incredible the opportunity was at the time.

Has that experience opened a new window to understanding the acting world?

It certainly is another world. I spoke to Chloë Sevigny who is in Lean on Pete with me. We spoke about fashion and how, if you work well with it, it can be so helpful to your acting and your career. It can give you a lot of connections, but I think it also goes back to the playfulness, at least for me, when I started as a kid and in theater. I remember this one time during my first play when we got our costumes for the first time and I immediately put it on, even though we weren’t supposed to, and I got in trouble. But, I was so excited to try it on! There is something about the clothes and the hair that flips a switch in me and it becomes much easier to become another person and have fun with that. It gets me out of my head a little bit more.

What’s next? You have Lean on Pete coming out, and you are filming a lot, so tell me about some of the projects you are working on.

I shot a wonderful film in Toronto in November, it’s a really sad story that I won’t get too much into. I just got back from Vancouver doing a film called Spontaneous with Katherine Langford who was in 13 Reasons Why, and I had the best time working on that. It’s very different than anything I have done. It’s a really cool, wonderful script with a really, really cool premise. I’m leaving in a week for Los Angeles to start this film called Gully and the director is this guy called Nabil Elderkin, who is a music video director. He’s done a lot of stuff for Kanye West and Frank Ocean, and it’s a very intense film. And I have another film right after that, so I’m going to be busy! I don’t know when these films are coming out because they are almost all independent films that could premier at festivals or come out in 10 years—who knows! I am sure things will change in the next month or by the time this comes out.