by Nathaniel R
the cast of Super 8
Remember Super 8? The sci-fi adventure was released ten years ago today. It was supposed to be a big Spielberg-size event (he produced it) and establish JJ Abrams as a successor. Things didn't quite work out that way, even though it was a decent-sized hit. Abrams retreated back into other people's franchises (Star Wars) where he'd begun as a film director (Mission Impossible and Star Trek). Super 8 grossed $127 million domestically (and another $100 million plus overseas) making it a success but probably not what Paramount was expecting stateside. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and The Smurfs both outgrossed it, keeping it outside the top 20 of its year. Still the sci-fi adventure had its fans and people by and large loved the young cast. And who knows. Perhaps it reengineered pop culture's DNA enough that five years later audiences turned Stranger Things into a phenomenon. Both are about a quartet of nerdy young boys, and the girl they're in awe of / a bit scared by, dealing with otherwordly forces in the Midwest. They're even set just four years apart Super 8 in 1979 and Stranger Things begins in 1983.
Super 8 is streaming on Paramount+ at the moment. We didn't have time to rewatch the whole movie though we skimmed to refresh the memory. Elle's "acting" debut in the movie within the movie is still a terrifically explosive scene. Anyway, we thought it might be interesting to see how the cast is faring today in their mid-twenties. Let's take them in billing order...
ELLE FANNING was the youngest of the cast at 13 but she was the elder statesman when it came to the movies, having been acting professionally since the age of 2 (playing her sister Dakota's younger self in I Am Sam. Now 23, Elle is a ubiquitous star if not quite a powerhouse headliner. Despite her fame, she hasn't carried a hit yet, generally supporting a bigger star in ensembles. When she does lead, as in The Neon Demon (2016) it's for indies and arthouse fare. She's also found success in the wild west of the streaming wars with Golden Globe and Independent Spirit nominations for her leading work in Hulu's period comedy The Great. Next up: Crime drama miniseries called The Girl From Plainville, and presumably another season of The Great. But it might be another year before we get her back on the big screen. She's completed the WW II era drama The Nightingale which is set in France but unfortunately it keeps getting pushed back for release. That's the long awaited (by fans at least) first onscreen duet for the Fanning sisters and is directed by the fine French actress Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds). Elle has also signed on to play 70s movie star Ali MacGraw in Barry Levinson's true Hollywood drama Francis and the Godfather. The latter has high expectations given the pedigree of the story, the director, and the cast already assembled.
JOEL COURTNEY was 15 when he carried Super 8 as the recently motherless son of the town Sheriff (Kyle Chandler). He won strong reviews but it's hard to find good roles when you're a teenager. Perhaps wisely he didn't push too hard, making about one movie a year though none had the profile of Super 8. At 25 now he's the right age to start the trek back (if you will) to leading man status if he can catch mainstream Hollywood's attention again. Next up: Netflix's The Kissing Booth 3, and an indie thriller called Pursued, and a Christian drama about hippies in the 70s called Jesus Revolution.
GABRIEL BASSO was the oldest of the teenage cast just six months shy of 17 when the film premiered and he was a regular on a successful TV show at the time (The Big C with Laura Linney). For Super 8 he played Martin, the leading actor of the young filmmaking team. He's only worked sporadically since then but with what appears to be fairly sturdy instincts for choosing projects (at least on paper) to set him up for a long-haul. He followed up Super 8 with a well-liked indie The Kings of Summer and then tried his hand at horror, action comedy, indie dramas, and a crime drama. And then he took a few years off. Unfortunately what looked like a star-making role on paper to re-introduce him as an all grown-up leading man prospect didn't pan out. Imagine it on paper though: an Oscar winning director's new drama starring two Oscar favourites but you have the leading role. The film was Hillbilly Elegy. Ooops. He turns 27 this December. Next up: Unknown.
RILEY GRIFFITHS, than 14, played Charles, the writer/director of the zombie film the kids are making within Super 8. He never made another movie afterwards. In college he played football for Montana State University.
RYAN LEE, 15 when he played Cary, stuck with acting. He hasn't worked much in the past couple of years (but then who did last year?) but appeared in several movies (Goosebumps) and television shows (Brockmire, The Son, Trophy Wife) since Super 8. Next up: the horror comedy Black Friday! which stars Bruce Campbell and is due in November.
ZACH MILLS, then 15, played the oft forgotten sixth member of the friend group, Preston. Unfortunately he's often holding equipment in the background and out of focus in group shots. And then he disappears from the adventure in the back half of the movie though he's really fun as a (purposefully) bad actor in scenes from the zombie movie within the movie, which plays during Super 8's closing credits. Other than Fanning, he had worked the most before Super 8 (nine prior movies as a child actor) but Super 8 was his last picture. He didn't act again... at least not for cameras; we couldn't find any information on what he's been up to since. But a lot of child actors give up the profession. Show business is tough and it's not for everyone.
And that's it for the young cast. But before we go we must talk Kyle Chandler...
When Super 8 premiered he felt like a leading man about to happen and got top billing in this film at least. Friday Night Lights had aired its last episode just four months before Super 8's debut and he would win a long overdue Emmy award three months after that. The timing was perfect for a transition to movie star. But that didn't happen. He certainly gets a lot of work but it's usually in supporting roles (Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, The Wolf of Wall Street, Carol, followed as well as against type performance in The Spectacular Now as a terrible drunk father) in which he was usually excellent if not always given much room to stretch. After that first wave of movies he dove back into series work with Bloodline. After that series ended it was back to the movies for more supporting roles (First Man, Game Night, Godzilla: King of Monsters). It's a solid, even enviable, career but we still wish there was more!
His screen presence is traditionally masculine with a very charismatic gravitas which he brings beautiful texture to. He often projects moral authority but it's flexible enough that his 'good guys' can be both awe inspiring and conflicted simultaneously and it's probably why his occassional assholes arrive with a true jolt. Impatience, warmth, exhaustion, morality, and sensitivity often swim around together in his performances. There's really no one like him. He's not lacking for work so this feels like demanding a lavish dessert rather than sustenance but what filmmaker will step up and give him a big interesting part to chew into that he can then be showered with awards for? We're (impatiently) waiting.
Did you see Super 8 back in the day? How invested are you in Elle Fanning and Kyle Chandler's careers?