GEEKchocolate

Geek Chocolate – You had a brief part in Star Trek Generations, you had a supporting role in Heroes, and you were the iconic role of John Connor in the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. What’s it like being a veteran of the science fiction genre?

Thomas Dekker – I love it. It’s weird, people ask me if I choose these genre parts because I’ve done a lot of horror, a lot of sci-fi, but I really haven’t, it’s just sort of come my way, maybe because they’re parts that I’m right for. I love the opportunity that science fiction and fantasy and horror brings you, because you get to go into the realms of drama. I’m actually one of the few actors who likes exposition. It’s a true talent to be able to explain what is going on when it’s very complicated and do it naturalistically, so I actually enjoy that. Most actors hate that.

GC – You recently worked with the enfant terrible of alternative cinema Greg Araki, on the film Kaboom. How aware of his reputation were you, and what was he like to work with?

TD – Well, I was very aware of him, I’d been a fan of his since I was about fifteen, and I’d asked three years before Kaboom even was going to be made to just meet him as a fan, which I did, and he was very nice. I just told him how much I admired his work, particularly his early stuff like Doom Generation, Nowhere, all the nihilistic stuff. I was a bit of an angry teen. To work with him was not what I expected. I really thought he would be kind of aggressive, or a crazy kind of kook, and he’s a very quiet, very pensive, normal guy, which is almost creepier when you think of what he does.

GC - His recent projects have moved marginally more towards mainstream, so he has mellowed then?

TD – I don’t know about mellowed, though, I don’t know. I mean, Kaboom is a pretty crazy movie. What is it? Is it a comedy, is it a sex movie? Is it a cult movie?

GC – Why do there have to be definitions?

TD – Exactly. Well, that’s what he’s all about, you know. He’s all aout breaking it down.

GC – Heroes became a huge hit very quickly. Had you been given the opportunity to continue longer as Zach, would you have taken it, or did you not see much progression for the character beyond sidekick?

TD – Heroes was a very confusing role for me. I still don’t know really who I was supposed to be playing. I don’t think they knew who I was supposed to be playing. I can sort of say this now because enough time has gone by. It was very muddled. Originally it was supposed to be a girl was the sidekick, then it was supposed to be the guy that was in love with her, then it was the gay best friend, and nobody really decided or knew what it was, so I just sort of felt like I had been bounced around. I was a recurring on Heroes and a regular on Terminator, I just left to go do John Connor, because it was appealing, obviously, but sure, if that hadn’t come along, and we’d kind of really decided who and what he was, I’d have continued with Heroes.