AMFM MAGAZINE: You’re relatively new to the acting limelight, how are you enjoying it?
Luke Prael: It’s very cool. You can learn a lot from show business. I like going on auditions and working on movies. It has been a very cool experience.
AMFM: Your acting roles have been coming pretty quickly in succession. Did you have training in acting as a kid? I know you’re still a kid….(laughs)
Luke: I took acting classes from when I was 3-5. Then I stopped doing it went to school In the 5th grade, I had a lot of my friends in this business like Sterling [Jerins, who plays Christine in the movie], and she was doing movies like World War Z and going to London and Thailand for all these movies. And my Dad is an actor, so in the 5th grade I said “I want to do this.”
So he said “cool” and I started doing an acting class with Katy Capiello. She runs The Arts Effect in New York. I started doing her class, then modeling for Wilhelmina. Then I joined Innovative in the 7th grade. A month in, I get this short called a Boy In a Backpack and then I get a call for Boarding School.
AMFM: The two feature movies that you have done, Eighth Grade and Boarding School – they’re very distinct, how did you enjoy your experience with Boarding School, it’s kind of a dark subject manner.
Luke: Boarding School was a fun gig. Jacob is a very interesting and difficult character. I think that playing him was difficult because he’s very complicated. He’s manipulative, he’s a murderer…yeah, very difficult but also fun.
AMFM: How were you able to connect with those twists and turns in his complicated nature?
Luke: I guess like he is a kid that feels bullied and left out, and even the smallest things in your life, even if they are a little bit relatable to your character… I mean I don’t have anything related to Jacob, but let’s say there was a time in my life that I felt very lonely and bullied at school. I could take how I felt at that time and put it into when I was playing Jacob.
AMFM: Are Horror movies your type of movie? I know some people who play certain roles it’s completely not the type of movie they would watch for entertainment themselves. Do you actually like Horror?
Luke: Yes. I was in New Hampshire with Kobi and Kadin [George] a few weeks ago, who are also in the movie – they play Lenny and Calvin in it. We watched movies like Ghostland, and The Conjuring. My friend Sterling is in the Conjuring. I like those movies, but I don’t watch them a lot because they do scare me. But I always like them because you feel engaged – they make you feel scared.
AMFM: How was working with Boaz [Yakin] as a director? This was his first foray into horror as well. Did you learn from each other about horror and how was that working relationship?
Luke: Before this, I didn’t know who he was, but I was always a big fan of his movies. Remember The Titans is one of my favorite movies, and I really like Fresh. Collaborating with Boaz on a scary movie, I really learned a lot from it. We both learned from each other, but he has a lot of knowledge on the Holocaust before the movie started. It was very cool working with him.
AMFM: I am hesitatant to give away too many spoilers, but this movie takes a lot of twists and turns. You don’t get a lot of the unexpected in Horror, it kind of goes the same way all the time, but not this one – not wanting to give away too many spoilers, but the idea of the Holocaust in this movie…how did that make you feel?
Luke: I’ve always liked WWII movies, like Schindler’s List, Holocaust movies like that…it was a very interesting tie to the modern-day sequence…getting the power from my grandmother and stuff. It was definitely an interesting thing to put in a movie.
AMFM: And how was it working with your friend Sterling?
Luke: Sterling always is a great actor, and it was a lot fun on set and we always joked around with our acting coach, JoAnne [Fregalette Jansen]. We both learned from each other and doing scenes with each other was ver fun.
AMFM: How was it different from your normal relationship, because you’ve known her for a long time. Was there anything different with your interaction on set? Was it easier or harder because you know each other so well?
Luke: It was very easy, she’s very focused on set. When the cameras are ready, we’re both very focused because we want to do a good job. In between scenes we had a normal relationship. It was fun working with her.
AMFM: What is your next project?
Luke: I’m auditioning right now, we’ll see what comes of it.
AMFM: Thanks for talking to us Luke, I’m sure you’ll have a very long career. BOARDING SCHOOL was very dark and intense and you did a great job as Jacob. Thanks so much –[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
