Star Apps: Kat Candler and Josh Wiggins of 'Hellion'
The Wilsons are the family Norman Rockwell forgot to paint. Hollis (Aaron Paul) is an alcohol-addicted, emotionally withdrawn widower. His delinquent son, Jacob (newcomer Josh Wiggins), is on a collision course with the law. Younger son Wes (Deke Garner), who is following in his brother's missteps, is ordered by Child Protective Services to live with his aunt Pam (Juliette Lewis). Writer-director Kat Candler doesn't shy away from this dissolving Texas family's struggles in her gripping new film, "Hellion." I chatted with Kat Candler and Josh Wiggins about this edgy indie and their favorite apps.
Kat Candler
Actors Aaron Paul and Josh Wiggins break bad in Kat Candler's Hellion.
(Credit: IFC)
How did "Hellion" morph from a short to a feature film?
When I set out to make the short, I had no expectation that we'd be screening a feature at festivals. I hadn't made anything in a little while, and I just wanted to play again. So after we wrapped, I just loved the characters so much and loved this world, so I wanted to live there a lot longer than six minutes. Someone mentioned on the set that they thought the world was Port Arthur, in southeast Texas. My producer said he grew up there -- that's his hometown. He took me down there, and his parents showed us around and introduced us to everyone. I really started breathing that world, and my story wheel started spinning out of control, and I started growing the story from there. The story grew out of locations and people that I would meet and stories they would tell. Then 10, 15 drafts later, I had a story.
What was it about the male-dominated story that appealed to you so much?
There was a project that I was in the middle of casting when we decided to make "Hellion" a priority, and that was about an all-girl punk band. So, I definitely write women's stuff, but I've always been a fan of... I had a brother two years older, and he was in the Boy Scouts [of America], and we'd go camping. My dad set a lot of fires, legally, and I loved setting fires, too. It's fun. Maybe it's me reliving a past I didn't have and wish I had. I was more like Wes's character and was very quiet. I obeyed everything anyone ever told me to do. Telling stories in general, you get to live in the world of these characters that aren't you, and situations that aren't you. The most exciting thing to me as a writer is finding a world I'm not necessarily a part of and jumping in, head first, and trying to figure it out.
In the short, Wes is the main character, but Jacob becomes the focus in the feature film. Why did the title character shift from the younger to the older brother?
I wanted a character who was going to have a lot more growth and a bigger arc, and he was this trouble-making kid that was always raising hell. I thought that character had much further to go than the younger one. I was interested in that hell-raising boy and how he got to that place.
What are your top five mobile apps?
1. Gmail for checking my email.
2. Twitter and Instagram for my social media.
3. Camera+ for photo editing.
4. Flixster, 'cause I go to movies all the time.
5. IMDb, because I'm always looking up who's that guy in that movie.
Josh Wiggins
Hellion star Josh Wiggins looks like a young Matt Damon and has the acting chops of a young Leonardo DiCaprio.
(Credit: IFC)
Before becoming an actor, you spent your free time making YouTube videos with a friend. Were you trying to get discovered?
It just started out as something fun to do over the summer with my friend. As we kept doing it, it evolved into something we took more seriously. We started writing scripts for it and started developing a love for movies with it. I didn't plan on acting. I knew I wanted to do something in film -- a director was my first thought. When I got approached with this, it was out of nowhere. I had never seriously acted before, but I built up the nerve to go for it. I'm glad I did.
How did you go from not acting to a role that would intimidate more seasoned actors?
It was definitely intimidating. From day one, I was worried about the pizza scene, where I yell at Hollis about everything he's done. But when you get there, everyone makes you feel very comfortable. When you're comfortable, you believe in yourself more, and you're able to go to these places that you weren't able to go to earlier. You now know where you're going and how to get there.
Seeing the movie, [spoiler alert] I would have thought it was the scene where you shoot your friend during the home invasion. What was that scene like? Had you ever handled a gun before?
Yeah, I am from Texas, so of course we know our way around a gun. But that whole day of shooting was crazy. It was triple-digit temperatures, and we're inside with no A/C in jackets and jeans yelling at each other -- that alone helped with the intensity.
Did you draw from personal experience for any part of this role?
I have four brothers, so I know what the brother connection is like and didn't want to make it as "I love you" and "You're the best," because that's not how it is. And Kat knows that, too, which is why she wrote it that way. But I love my family. If anything happened to them, I'd be mortified. I'm the second to youngest. One of my brothers taught me how to swim and ride a bike. They're also really good at keeping you grounded. Knowing that everyone is not lollipops and rainbows out there, your brothers are there to be mean to you sometimes.
How have they responded to all the attention you've been getting from this film?
They've been very supportive. I owe a lot of it to them, because they're the ones that helped me out with the YouTube videos, and they were generally more than willing. But sometimes I had to force them, and they did.
What are your top five mobile apps?
1. Instagram for taking pictures and doing little captions and seeing what other people are doing.
2. iFunny, a little app that has all these funny pictures on it.
3. I'm getting into Twitter, but I am far from a tweetaholic.
4. Moviefone, 'cause I can get the latest info on all the latest movies.
5. Netflix, to watch movies on my phone when I'm at the airport.
