Chris Massoglia is
"The Vampire's Assistant"
by Lynn Barker
 17-year-old Minnesota native Chris Massoglia admits that "blood and guts" movies aren't his thing but he's very happy with his lead role as Darren Shan in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant based upon three of the popular novels. We had a great chat with the cute dark-haired actor about the Halloween spookiness of being in a grave and coffin for the film, working with characters that aren't really there on set and how he and co-star Josh Hutcherson had a blast playing basketball and buddying around In Louisiana while shooting the film.
We found out who his fave "freak" is, if he would he actually date a hot girl.... who had a monkey tail and what kind of life he looks forward to with his pals once he can move away from home. Things got very "real" when Chris scolded his sis for playing her music while he was trying to do the interview with us. Most of us can relate to dealing with family! Chris loves his and missed them while shooting for four months!
AGW: What was the process of getting the part and did you and Josh have to read together?
Chris: When I first auditioned, Josh had already been cast. I was one of the very last people to audition for the role of Darren. I was out in L.A. and my manager called about the movie. I auditioned, got a call-back, met the director and we talked for like four hours and I got the part. It was a unique experience.
AGW: Are you a fan of horror films?
Chris: I like the older horror films. I'm not a huge fan of more recent horror with all the gore. I'm not a huge blood and guts fan. I don't mind being scared but some of the blood and guts is too much for me.
AGW: Which of Darren's powers would you love to have?
Chris: If I could choose any of Darren's powers it would probably be the ability to flit. It's the coolest thing in the movie and very unique to the "Cirque du Freak" vampires. It's a combination of slowing down time and running really fast. It's a very cool method of transportation.
AGW: In real life, are you the guy who behaves or the troublemaker like the Steve character?
Chris: I would say I'm more the guy who behaves but, like Darren in the film, he wants to do what's right but he steals the spider and does other stuff. Obviously, we all have our own little issues. I'm the oldest of four so I kind of have to be the responsible big brother, good example. But, obviously, I'm not perfect.
AGW: Darren makes a huge sacrifice to save his friend's life.. could you do something that brave to save a friend?
Chris: I think I would. Depending upon the friend and the situation. I think Darren, in this film really has a lot of guilt because of Steve's.... (he pauses) Hey, Katie, be quiet!
AGW: Do you have your family out in L.A. with you?
Chris: Yeah, my sister is playing music.. Sorry, I think Darren has a lot of guilt because he thinks what happened to Steve was his fault and also he doesn't really believe that he'll become half vampire. He's like 'oh that doesn't exist' and when it happens, it's a bigger shock.
AGW: Had you read any of the "Cirque" novels before being hired?
Chris: When I first auditioned I had not read the books but I have a lot of friends who were really into the book series and I told them I was auditioning for "Cirque du Freak" and they were like 'Oh my gosh, you're auditioning for Darren Shan? That's crazy. No way!'. I'm like 'okay, that's cool then'. The movie is actually based on the first three books so I went to the book store then.
AGW: Darren has a lot of voice/over narration during the film. Was it fun or difficult recording all that or doing ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)?
 Chris: Yeah, ADR for this movie was pretty crazy. We had I think twelve ADR sessions for me. I'm not the best at enunciating sometimes. I'll slur my words on set or there were a couple of times where I had a Minnesota accent. But, the biggest thing was the narration and it changed I think three times throughout the film. It was really good. I liked the end narration. I think it worked really well.
AGW: Which so-called "freak" most intrigued you and why?
Chris: In the film I really like Evra the Snake Boy and I have a lot of scenes with him (Patrick Fugit) and Patrick was really, really good, I thought. He was really funny. There were a lot of scenes that we did that didn't make the cut because they weren't that essential to the story but I'm looking forward to seeing the behind-the-scenes stuff (on the DVD or Blu-Ray). That character is just cool.
AGW: In your fight scenes, were you doing wire work? Was anyone hurt?
Chris: It was a lot of fun. We were up on harnesses. Both me and Josh were suspended in the air facing each other and they'd pull us back in opposite directions and let us go. We'd be fighting in mid-air. We did a lot of rehearsals and some stunt doubles would show us exactly what we'd be doing and we copied that.
AGW: What was actually on set with you and what did you have to imagine? Was there an Octa the spider there for you?
Chris: Yeah, the CGI characters like Octa and Harkat (tiny fellow with a hood), they would show me pictures of what they thought the characters would be like. For Harkat they had a puppet that they actually used in the film a couple of times and it was kind of funny. They would show me what it was going to be doing and where it would walk and then put marks on the ground for me to look at and I could imagine. For Octa they had an actual stuffed spider, kind of Octa-sized and brightly-colored. It was cool so I got to use that mental image in place of Octa.
AGW: When you were even younger and thought of leaving home and being on your own, what was your dream? Or are you really on your own yet?
Chris: I'm still dreaming that dream in a way. I'm 17. I don't dream that much about it because I really like my family and they're really cool people. Me and my friends sometimes talk about 'oh, how cool would it be to rent an apartment and the five of us live there, have it be a guys' house. That would be really fun.
AGW: Did you and Josh Hutcherson become good buds right away or was there a rivalry?
Chris: Josh had this membership to this club and we played basketball and it was fun. Josh is really athletic and I'm decently athletic too so we were on the same team a lot then played against each other of course. But, when I first got the movie I was like 'whoa, Josh is gonna be in this and I don't know what he's gonna be like because he's done a lot of movies. I hope he's not a Hollywood brat'. But he was really awesome. He's very, very nice and we hit it off right away. Josh is one of those people who makes it "unawkward" and goes for the conversation and is really good relating to people so he made it easy for me.
AGW: How was shooting in New Orleans and Baton Rouge... spooky at night? Weren't you in a real cemetery?
Chris: Yeah, we filmed in a real cemetery and we were doing all night shoots too so it was six in the afternoon to like four in the morning. It definitely has a scary vibe going on.
AGW: How weird was it to get in a grave and in a coffin in the film?
Chris: It was a little weird. I thought the grave stuff was really cool because they were doing a fight scene the whole time and it was really cool to watch. I wasn't thinking about being in the grave but the coffin was cool because they made it perfectly for my size. I never really was in the coffin the whole way with the lid closed. They had a side open so I didn't feel trapped.
AGW: Could you fall for a girl who looks really cute and hot but has a monkey tail like Rebecca?
Chris: (laughs) I don't know. Yeah, I'm not sure. I guess. I don't think it's that big a deal.
AGW: You are 16 now so did you have to have high school classes on set?
Chris: Actually, I graduated high school early when I was fourteen. I was home-schooled.
AGW: Wow, you're smart then. Do you want to go to college some day?
Chris: We'll see. I think this year is the determining factor. Right now I'm going to on-line college and that works pretty well for acting and traveling. If this movie does well and The Hole comes out and I keep getting work, I'll probably continue going to online college. If not, I'm interested in being on a campus for a little while.
AGW: What kinds of music are you into now?
Chris: I like older stuff. Beatles, the Eagles and the Monkees.
AGW: Where would you go and do on a first date?
Chris: Probably something mellow like a coffee shop so I could get to know the person. Nothing too intense. No 100 dollar romantic dinners.
AGW: What was the biggest challenge of the film for you personally?
Chris: The hardest thing for me was just being away from my friends for such a long time. We were filming for almost four months so it was a long shoot and I was there every day except for two and the weekends for 12 hours working. Everybody has this fantasy of what it's like to be an actor and yeah, it's a lot of fun and I really love doing it but there are times when you have to buckle down and get the work done.
pictures
courtesy of and copyright Universal Pictures, 2009 |
