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Few young actors have had the chance to explore as much range as quickly as Justice Smith.
Hes embraced the philosophical confusion.
Im like, Well, it does.
It depends on what you take away from it.
But at the same time, I mean, does anything mean anything?
This might be a good time to mention the movie Smith has coming up, which isDetective Pikachu.
Smith, like many a 23-year-old, grew up with Pokemon and has many strong feelings about them.
The play goes to some dark places with the relationship between your character and Isabelles.
Whats it like to work with her on that?Incredible.
Hes just one of the best directors Ive ever worked with.
I read the play and it was amazing.
Then, I heard Isabelle was going to do it and I just had to do it.
Had you seen a lot of her work before?Somewhat.
Id seenThe Piano Teacherand I had seenElle.
I just heard aboutMa Meretoday and I havent seen that yet.
But I want to.
Especially because it has a similar undertone to this play.
And all of them are genius.
This play has an interesting structure where different versions of events play out several times.
You make choices accordingly.
Usually the answer was, none of us know.
To take this back to a much more practical question.Im sorry!
No, no its fine.
But you speak French in the play.
Do you speak French fluently?Mais non.
Cest pas couramment.Not fluently, but a little.
Isabelle speaks to me all the time in French, though.
Shes helping me a lot with my French.
Sometimes she does talk really fast, and I have no idea what shes saying.
But Im just like, Oui, oui, oui, with my thumbs up.
I took it in school.
My grandmother was Quebecois, French Canadian.
I took it because of her.
That would be amazing.
Does Trip do much to get the cast together and bond as a group?We hang out.
Occasionally well get dinner or drinks or have lunch.
We did watchRent: Livetogether at Trips apartment.
It was Isabelle Huppert, Trip and Odessa and then a bunch of other theater kids.
I didnt know Isabelle was coming.
I had a few drinks.
Then Trip was like, Isabelles going to come, and I was like, Oh no.
I do not want her to see me like this.
Im not in a state to be professional.
But shes so relaxed and knows how to have a good time.
Did she enjoyRent: Live?No, she fell asleep.
Oh no!Yeah.
I mean, I get it.
Before you did this, you shotDetective Pikachu, which is coming out in May.
How much of that is CGI and green screens?
What was the actual process of shootingDetective Pikachulike?There wasnt a lot of green screen.
We shot in London, and for like a week in Scotland which is like a desktop background.
We shot on film so it gave it that natural grain.
So its like a noir?Yeah, exactly.
Because the Pokemon are so fantastical, to put them up against this realistic backdrop makes them pop more.
The inner child in me was having a field day.
They brought in a statue of Pikachu that was all covered in fur and it was soft and everything.
Its nose was rubber and wet.
It was a childhood dream come true.
So you were a big Pokemon kid?Huge Pokemon kid.
I collected all the cards.
I still have them in my closet somewhere.
I playedPokemon Goldon Game Boy Color.
The best one!Totodile is still my favorite Pokemon.
I have a little Totodile figurine.
They were the people who were most excited.
I was just getting response from people in their 30s.
But there are some cool ones.
I cant really say which Pokemon are in the movie or not.
Psyduck does have a prominent role in the film.
I was like, Oh no!
I hadnt even realized, Oh, Ive done three of those now.
I should probably switch it up.
I play a lot of nerds or nerdy people.
The scared nerd, the smart nerd, the weak nerd.
So Im trying to expand past that.
InAll the Bright Places,I dont play a nerd.
So, Im making waves.
