Adventure of a lifetime
Film roles offer range of experiences for 12-yearold Oakes Fegley
In his relatively short film career, Oakes Fegley has shared scenes with Robert Redford, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken and Robert DeNiro.
He’s anchored three major Hollywood movies, beginning with the Disney adventure “Pete’s Dragon” last year and continuing with the DeNiro comedy “The War With Grandpa” due in 2018.
But, for the 12-year-old Fegley, one of biggest thrills of shooting his new movie “Wonderstruck” came between takes when he was left to his own devices at New York’s Museum of Natural History where pivotal scenes were shot.
“I’ve been to the Museum, which is probably my favorite museum, many, many times with my family and I have probably seen almost all of it,” says Fegley.
“But to be able to film there at night when no one was around was really an honor. Normally, when you’re there, you can hear all these people talking and giving their opinions. But to be there and have it be so quiet, and just have this personal experience with the Museum: that was so cool.”
It’s appropriate that Fegley was infatuated with the Museum’s ever-popular exhibits since, in many ways, the movie is a celebration of the ways that such facilities can spark the imagination.
Adapted from Brian Selznick’s (“Hugo”) critically acclaimed novel by director Todd Haynes (“Carol”), “Wonderstruck” (opening Oct. 27) pivots on two 12-year-olds - Ben (Fegley) and Rose (newcomer Millicent Simmonds) - who are growing up decades apart. Ben lives in Minnesota in 1977 while Rose lives in Hoboken in 1927.
“Wonderstruck” follows both youngsters on an adventure of a lifetime. Rose, who suffers from hearing loss, takes a ferry to Manhattan to try to track down a silent screen actress.
Ben, meanwhile, faces an avalanche of tragedy. He loses his mother (Michelle Williams), becomes deaf after being struck by lightning, and heads to New York via bus to try to locate his missing father. Once in the Big Apple, he befriends a fellow tweener named Jamie (Jaden Michael).
For both Ben and Rose, the action culminates in the Museum of Natural History and the Queens Museum, which houses a 895,000-building diorama built for the 1964’s World’s Fair. Julianne Moore plays Rose’s mother in 1927 and a museum employee in 1977.
“Wonderstruck” not only advances parallel plots, it also features two vastly different production styles. The 1927 segments were shot in black and white and are largely silent while the 1977 plot features color and sounds.
As soon as Fegley read Selznick’s screenplay, he was captivated by the strange and magical tale.
“I went up to the New York for the auditions and I thought it was such an interesting role and then they called me back,” relates Fegley, a native of Allentown, Pa. “I met Todd Haynes, who was awesome. And then Todd just sent us an email saying that I got it. I’m pretty hyped at how well the movie came out.”
While “Pete’s Dragon” gave Fegley the opportunity to do many of his own stunts and imagine sharing scenes with a giant, friendly dragon, “Wonderstruck”
provided different kinds of challenges.
One of the key pieces of the puzzle for Fegley was figuring out what it feels like to live with hearing loss.
“Todd and I walked around New York wearing headphones with Millicent,” says the actor. “We couldn’t hear anything. We walked around in a trance, almost. We could hear no sounds in a city that is filled with sounds. To hear – or rather not hear – New York City was incredible.”
Another way Fegley prepared
was to watch movies from the 1970s, including documentaries on the New York City blackout of 1977 and “French Connection,” which Haynes suggested he check out.
Fegley was happy to do his homework for the movie but, in other ways, the role came naturally to him.
“Ben is a lot like me,” says Fegley. “I’m not deaf and I haven’t lost a parent but I think I added a lot myself into Ben. I was able to play around with Ben, and determine how he felt, in general.
Todd guided us really well and helped me understand Ben’s perspective.”
Fegley enjoyed working with both Moore and Williams. “Julianne puts so much time into everything she does. You will never meet another actress quite like her,” he says.
“And Michelle has a unique way of going through life too. She and I had a lot of conversations about [our mother/son relationship]. She is an incredible person.”
Not long after wrapping “Wonderstruck,” Fegley netted
the starring role alongside DeNiro in “War With Grandpa.” He plays a youngster who loses his room to his grandfather and then comes up with a series of schemes to get it back.
“It was such incredible fun to do this role,” says Fegley of the film which costars Christopher Walken and Uma Thurman. “I get to play all sorts of different pranks on Robert DeNiro. It’s very funny. I get to scream at him and get very mad at him. So that was really enjoyable.”