Photo by Bryant Jager
Maturing Youth is about “an under-achieving, unemployed 30-year-old man (Sean Kaufman aka Roger) enjoys his freedom of non-responsibility through his vices. However, his life is thrown into a whirlwind when his ex-girlfriend (Kim Paris aka Sadie) interrupts his life with a surprise: their illegitimate toddler son. And when she disappears, it gives him the ultimatum to begrudgingly face fatherhood, or to continue living a life void of responsibility.” (SOURCE: IMDb)
We had an opportunity to chat with lead Sean Kaufman, who plays Roger in the film. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Sean! Thank you for granting the interview. Congrats on your role as Roger in the “Maturing Youth” movie. What should the audience expect to see?
Thank you right back! Roger is such a treat. I’d say you can expect the unexpected from Maturing Youth; it’s such a potent mixture of drama with comedy, and it has a salient message or two for you to take away from it. That being said, there are storytelling devices used in Maturing Youth that really require the audience to suspend its disbelief, but this really makes it a much more impactful film. Too often we watch a film and if it doesn’t match our experience of everyday life, we reject it, but I invite everyone to lean into the imaginary here. It’s a work of fiction, but it certainly has real-world inspiration.
Tell us about Roger. Who is he? What is his personality like?
I really love the guy! I can tell you now that everyone is going to have a different opinion about him, especially at first. He’s someone you can love to hate before you give him a chance. Early in the film, he comes off as self-centered, hedonistic, sloth-like, and opportunistic. I call it fun-seeking, but it’s my job as the actor to justify him. He loves his creature comforts, but who doesn’t? Everyone can relate to wanting, at least for a day, to chill on the couch in their pajamas, mindlessly watching television. But Roger is human! He may be intractable at first, but he is capable of change. Except with flirting. He’ll always be bad at flirting.
What role does Roger play in the movie?
As I’ve alluded to, Roger enjoys his day-to-day on the couch, not doing much other than finding ways to chill, when out of thin air his ex-girlfriend, Sadie played by Kim Paris, re-materializes before him. This alone could be the stuff of drama, but the plot thickens, as she brings some company: Roger Junior, played by child actor Joshua St. Leger. Now as you can imagine, telling someone who is essentially a child that they themselves have a child will not elicit the most enthusiastic response, but circumstances leave Roger and Junior alone together, forcing Roger to confront his new role as a father. Even now he finds ways to reject the newfound responsibility, but when his choices put Junior’s health and safety at risk, an informative visit from a house-calling doctor, Dr. Riccard played by Terrence Keene, compels Roger to understand the weight of his actions and their potential outcomes.
Was it a challenge to play Roger? Did you have to pull from experience?
Hell yes, it was a challenge! Not that it wasn’t fun because it was, but Roger and I are so different. It took weeks to really find him in me. He looks, acts, speaks, and thinks differently from me. Everything about him had to be carefully crafted to create the lazybones we now know and love. Luckily, our writer/director Divoni [Simon] was attentive to this and provided some material for inspiration. He suggested I study the classic stoner film The Big Lebowski and made a playlist of music that Roger would listen to which included Sir Mix-a-Lot, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Cypress Hill, and others. The real tough part though is in not judging the character you’re playing. It’s almost like playing the villain: you don’t hate them – you try to justify them. So for playing Roger, I spend most of the time trying to figure out why he did things and then embraced him. He’s not a bad guy, he just has a way of life he likes and, like any of us, is reluctant to stray from that.
How did you get the role?
It was pretty traditional, but not without some excitement. One morning I found the casting notice on Backstage.com and submitted for Roger. They sent me the full script along with my sides and I prepared for a fun scene, where Roger does some clunky flirting with Maggie [Rae’l Ba] and Mae [Darleen Rae Fontaine] in his living room (around page 12). But when I arrived, the production team asked me to start with the scene on page 18 (okay, I don’t remember the exact pages, but hopefully you’re picking up what I’m putting down). At least I had read the whole script (take away: always do this when possible!) and generally knew the scene. So I asked if I could step outside for 5-10 minutes to “eyeball this,” and our producer [Chase Michael Pallante] was very understanding and accommodated me while another actor auditioned. When I came back in the room, we filmed my sort of cold-read audition of the scene where Sadie convinces Roger that Junior is his son and he agrees to let them stay. A few days later were the callbacks and chemistry reads, where I finally got to try out those scenes with the Maggie’s and Mae’s, too! And the rest is now on film!
The subject matter of the movie is intense. How does the movie production bring something new to the story?
The underlying themes of Maturing Youth are actually universal. Growing up, taking on responsibility, understanding consequences, parenthood – all of these are concepts that everyone is familiar with (even if you’re not a parent) and have been explored in stories many times over. But this film is a fresh look at those themes through a modern lens. Roger can be extremely stubborn when he wants to be, so it takes more than just Sadie’s shaming of him to wake him to his responsibility – the film uses anachronism, having a doctor making house calls in today’s day and age, to focus Roger on what’s most important. I think this is a brilliant way to evoke this change and usher Roger into a “maturing youth”.
What is going to surprise people about Roger?
I think people might be surprised first by how adamantly Roger opposes his responsibility – the way he treats Sadie and Junior is pretty rough if I’m being honest. But this sets the audience up for a bigger surprise later on.
Without giving anything away, what’s your favorite line of dialogue and why?
“Mission accomplished. Sort of.” This line is the button on a really nice moment of levity after a lot of heavy conflicts, so it should give everyone watching something to laugh about!
When looking back on the production, what resonated with you the most and why?
It actually wasn’t until we just wrapped that I realized that this made an impact on me, but the idea of unconditional love in fatherhood is the most powerful aspect of the film to me. It’s not my place to reveal his identity, but another person working on the film shared with me how Roger and I made him feel about his relationship with his own son, and how much those scenes resonated with him. It was in this moment that I really knew Maturing Youth was more important and bigger than I’d yet considered. It’s not just some short film. It’s my hope that this continues to stand out and have an impact on our audience.
In your opinion, what scene in the movie is going to blow people away and why?
I won’t say much about this, because you need to see it for yourself, but I am so excited for people to experience the scene with Dr. Riccard. There was magic on set that night and it was captured on film.
What do you enjoy most about your character and role?
I love a role that stretches me and forces me to grow not only as an actor but also as a person. Roger did just that. On one hand, he is someone I had to actively try to like at first. That alone was really cool. It’s kind of like making a friend with someone you never thought you’d get along with. But then, on the other hand, working on Roger taught me a lot about personal responsibility, the depths of my fear of loss, and the meaning of unconditional love. It was also just flat out fun to play a stoner bumbling around with a little kid!
Do you have anything else you would like to share about the movie?
I think I’ve already said more than I’m really allowed to at this time! But I really hope people enjoy it and beyond that, that it resonates for them the same ways it resonates for me. It’s a special project to me, being my first film and being so full of meaning. Plus it’s pretty funny between all of the conflicts!
If you’d like to see some of me acting in person, check out Suddenly, a play I’m acting in with Live Source Theatre Group at HERE Arts Center Oct. 5-20, 2018, in SoHo! We’re very excited to premiere this adaptation of the 1954 screenplay by the same title.
And if you’d like to keep up with me, my acting or other artistic endeavors, I enthusiastically invite you and anyone reading this to follow my pages on Facebook and Instagram @seanzie91 and to check out my website www.SeanAKaufman.com. Stop by and leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
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Connect with Maturing Youth:
Hashtag: #maturingyouth
Facebook: www.facebook.com/maturingyouth
Instagram: www.instagram.com/maturingyouthfilm
Web: www.MATURINGYOUTH.com
Featured Image Credit: Bryant Jager courtesy of R&F Entertainment.
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