Logan Lerman may take a note or two from Kyle Chandler on his next project. The actor — who has a resume longer than some twice his age — stars opposite the Friday Night Lights alum in the new drama The Vanishing of Sidney Hall.
“I can lose myself watching Kyle in a role and not be distracted by his celebrity or his personal life, which is a wonderful thing. And on top of that he’s just a fantastic actor and a great person and has such an interesting approach to creating his characters. I learned so much from him and have so much respect for that guy,” Lerman, 26, exclusively tells Us Weekly. “I was blown away by his approach.”
How so? Chandler, 52, rode his motorcycle to set on the first day — and brought his own props. “He showed up with all of his little tools and things that inspired him and I thought that was such a cool and unique approach that you don’t see often,” Lerman adds. “He builds his characters that way and so it’s a marvelous thing to observe.”
The Noah actor plays the title role in the Shawn Christensen-directed film. Sidney disappears after writing a bestselling novel and tries to remain unnoticed while a detective (Chandler) tries to figure out why a series of arsons are connected to the author’s books.
For Lerman, playing Sidney at 30 was more intriguing than his high school years. “In terms of relating to his youthful spirit and idealism at 18 or 19 — it was interesting for me to explore — but not as attractive as the complicated mess that followed,” he explains.
To play an older Sidney, Lerman underwent a nearly unrecognizable transformation — thanks to a long, shaggy wig.
“Originally we had these grand ideas that I can grow my hair out and gain all this weight and then take a month off, lose the weight and cut off my hair. But that’s unrealistic,” he tells Us. “We only had like 25 or 27 days to shoot the film. We had a couple of hours in between separating each age. We were shooting 18 in the morning and 24 at night. … So it was a really tough challenge.”
Although Lerman tends to focus on what’s next after wrapping a movie, he hopes that this one “provokes an emotional response” from viewers. “I don’t have any expectations. I’m always surprised to hear others interpret the work rather than hoping that they feel a certain thing or question a certain thing after leaving the theater most of the time,” he says.
“And in regards to that line that ‘life can change in a millisecond,'” he adds of Sidney’s quote, “if it provokes a response where your chest tightens and maybe you feel something — then that’s all I can really ask for. And if it triggers a thought in the viewers mind that might make them feel alive or in that moment or more present then that’s a pretty f—king cool thing. And I hope that people feel something when they’re watching it.”
The Vanishing of Sidney Hall is now available on DIRECTV ahead of its theatrical release on March 2nd from A24.
