ZEN MCGRATH

“The Son”

Despite the star power of Hugh Jackman, Anthony Hopkins and Laura Dern, some of the most scene-stealing work in director and co-writer Florian Zeller’s “The Son” comes from newcomer Mcgrath.

It’s an emotionally intense role that deals with mental illness and generational trauma. But the actor doesn’t agree with some commentary that his character, Nicholas, should be used as a stand-in for what many teens and young adults are going through as we emerge from the pandemic. “Each and every individual has their own problems and this example can’t be applied to everyone,” Mcgrath says.

The middle of three fantastically named acting siblings (older brother: Gulliver; younger brother: Winta; Mcgrath’s first name is actually Augustus) — the 20-year-old Melbourne, Australia,

native got into the business on a whim when he replaced his older brother in the film “Aloft” after a production shut-down caused him to age out of the part. Now, with this breakthrough role, he says his brothers and friends are extra handy to have around “to make fun of me” as he adjusts to the surrealness of doing Instagram campaigns for Dior or seeing his face on billboards.

Still, he’s pragmatic enough to say he can’t define his dream role quite yet “because you can never know what you’re gonna work on next until a script comes along.”

— Whitney Friedlander

Reps: Agency: Artist Rights Group; Management: Emma Raciti Management

Influences: Gulliver Mcgrath, Timothée Chalamet, Jennifer Lawrence, Lucas Hedges, Christoph Waltz