LJ: Something Shoshana [Bean] told me is: “As an actor, you’ll get to do a lot of roles. Some you have to work really hard at, while others will come naturally to you.” 

This one came naturally.

I felt like I really knew Michael. I understood what it felt like to be an outsider. I understood what it felt like when your family doesn’t get you. I understood wanting to be with somebody who doesn’t want to be with you, but still fighting for it.

There were so many things I connected to wholeheartedly. When I auditioned, I couldn’t help but feel all of it. “Belong to Someone” wrecked me when I first heard it, because I thought, “I know exactly who this character is.”

Even growing up as a child actor, you learn to put on this identity of a “performer.” With Michael, he’s constantly reacting to everyone else’s emotions instead of allowing himself to feel his own. Then that moment comes where it bubbles up, and you just explode. I understand that all too well.

When I started reading the script for The Lost Boys, I thought, “I get this. I just have to figure out how to do this eight times a week.”