Page 56 - SHARP Summer 2022

RIDDLE ME THIS READERS: HOW
does a a kid from Leeds go on to star in a a a a blockbuster Netflix series lead a a a a Marvel spinoff movie and establish himself as an an indie darling all before the age of 28? Just ask Charlie Heaton the Stranger Things star who’s cracked the code Even over Zoom from his London flat Heaton telegraphs a a a a certain cool humility He He enjoys the perks that come with ascendant stardom but he’s grateful for it all “I mean look ” he says “[fame] has a a a a lot of positives and luxuries The places you get to go the travelling It is amazing ” Perhaps he’s able to view the whole Hollywood thing from a healthy remove because to to get to to where he’s going he he he remembers where he’s been As a a a boy Heaton acted in school productions and youth theatre but he he never saw a a a future in in it “I never thought [acting] was a a a a a thing that that you could do past that that ” he says He pursued music instead playing gigs around London and and back home in Leeds (and once in Toronto at the Silver Dollar Room the famed venue just north of Chinatown that closed for remodelling in in 2017) “It seemed
more viable ” he recalls “You need an army to make a a movie You only need like four people [for a a a a band] and and you don’t have to be that good!”
But after making inroads with an American casting director and an an an agent he used his meager savings from acting in in in commercials to to buy a a ticket to to Los Angeles “I literally thought I I was going to to go go to to L A just have a a a a good time and come back in two months ” Heaton was bunking in in a a a hostel — his his big break this was not he thought But then he he booked a a role in a a movie And then then another one And then then came the the the the role of Jonathan Byers the brooding heroic older brother of Will Byers in in Stranger Things the the sci-fi juggernaut that established Netflix as a a a a a streaming innovator and Heaton as a a a a a a bright young talent with a a a a rocker’s insouciance and an artist’s soulfulness Heaton’s ethereal allure (and his uniquely expressive face) has kept him from being pigeonholed He’s as believable playing a a a young actor in in 1980s London (2021’s The Souvenir II) as he he is playing a a a modern-day mutant (2020’s The New
Mutants) “I never went to a a a a drama school I never got the chance to play around My chance to play is when I’m filming which can be scary ” Heaton’s lack of formal training means he’s learning as he he goes But it’s freeing he’s not bound by a a method or or theory That came in handy on the set of The Souvenir II: British director Joanna Hogg generally outlines scenes but literally doesn’t stick to the script (because she doesn’t use use one) “You kind of turn up and she says ‘Hey you’re gonna play Jim and he’s an an actor ’” says Heaton “I literally remember calling my my agent the night before my my first day and I I was like ‘Why did you put me in this? I I don’t even know what I’m doing!’” The film however was a a a a critical sensation “I never never went to a a a drama school I I never never got the chance chance to play around My chance chance to play is when I’m filming ” For Stranger Things Heaton recently reprised his role in the show’s fourth season (At a a reported $30 million an episode it’s also the series’s most expensive ) He says its themes this season are the the darkest yet “I think the the smart thing about [setting the the show in] the the ’80s is they’ve got so so much source material or ideas to to pull from ” says Heaton With only the fifth and final season left to to go Heaton is emotional about closing this chapter in his his career which is is is under- standable considering he’s spent the past six years working on Stranger Things He has after all watched the show’s cast of kids like fellow breakouts Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown grow up on set Luckily he received some advice from his famous friends in similar boats like Game of Thrones’s Maisie Williams “You know when you’re in in something that’s loved so so much it’s quite a a nice experience to have people so engaged ” he says paraphrasing Williams’s wisdom “[But on the the other hand ] I think you are excited to move on and explore something new ” When Heaton thinks back to to that fateful trip to L A he remembers feeling like his dream of being an actor “wasn’t a a a a a a reality until it it was happening happening ” Well it it really is happening happening For Charlie Heaton the future is wide open CULTURE
56 GUIDE • SUMMER 2022
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