Screen presence
Hedges creates stir with dramatic roles in ‘Boy Erased,’ ‘Ben is Back’
NEW YORK — For Lucas Hedges, “Boy, Erased” is one test he’s passed with flying colors. “Boy” is an intense drama about Christian “gay conversion therapy,” with Jared (played by Hedges), a Baptist preacher’s son, sent to a camp meant to repress homosexual urges.
For Hedges, 21, “Boy” positively answers the question: Can he — after supporting roles in “Manchester by the Sea,” “Lady Bird” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” — carry a movie?
“Boy,” Hedges said during a one-on-one interview at Essex House, “did feel like, ‘Maybe this is the next step.’ ”
It was more than just his first starring role: “I needed something that I feel I can do a good job with and that means something to me.”
The meaning came with Garrard Conley’s 2016 “Boy, Erased” memoir (“I fell in love with the book and connected with the character’s thoughts”) and with director Joel Edgerton, who adapted the book and plays the gay conversion therapist.
“Joel’s brilliant. So I felt like I had the support I needed with the director.”
In December, Hedges stars with Julia Roberts in “Ben Is Back,” written and directed by his father, no less, Peter Hedges.
“My dad lives for his kids, me and my brother (who’s in finance and has no interest in acting). He’s one of those dads who thinks his kids are the greatest thing since sliced bread.
“So it didn’t surprise me when he said he wanted me.” The big surprise came once he read the script. “I was, ‘Wow, this is really good!’ ”
When Ben, an addict with a tortured family history, shows up unexpectedly from rehab on Christmas Eve, he’s met by his ferocious, determined mother, played by Roberts.
“Ben is a different personality type for sure than Jared,” Hedges said. “Ben’s seemingly more assured but has the same kind of demons inside.
“He’s an addict but the addiction is a means of dealing with all the internal discomfort that he doesn’t know how to reckon with.” Being directed by Dad? “It was hard. But I worked to create a feeling of ‘This is my director, not my dad’ — that was really effective.
“At the end of the day we made something we’re really proud of. I was aware I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of making a film with my dad.
“I didn’t think I’d get another chance.”