Hi! I'm the kid with the eye patch from Moonrise Kingdom! AMA!

Edward Norton is one of my favorite actors. Did you enjoy working with him? Is he a stand-up guy or a complete dick? In between?

Kind of in-between.

What is it like to suck at Dota?

I've come to terms with it, as painful a discovery as it may be.

What was the best and worst part of filming Moonrise Kingdom?

The best part was definitely meeting all of these new and fantastic people and going through these crazy-ass new experiences together, as most of us were new to the whole "acting" thing. The funniest were the "stage parents" of the kids who had been acting for a while. They were like the dog owners from Best in Show.

Is it true that Bill Murray magically appears where he is needed ?

Did you have any interaction with him?

Is he behind you right now? Or me?

Yes.

He was a whooole lot of fun at a pool party. It was amazing.

Probably.

What it very social between the actors of the same age like Kara, Jared etc. ?

There was a fantastic dynamic between us all. We were all amazing friends, we all hung out, and pretty much everyone had a crush on Kara. lol

Did you switch eye patches to fuck with Wes?

I respected him too much to fuck with him. But that would've been funny.

Other than Moonrise Kingdom, what's your favourite Wes Anderson movie?

What was Bill Murray like??

Probably Rushmore or Grand Budapest. Bill Murray was fantastic. He was incredibly supportive, hilarious, and was the life of the party. He knew the crew very well from all the other Wes movies, so more often than not you could find him having a beer with the prop guy.

Is Wes Anderson a nice guy? I heard he's kind of a dick.

He was fantastic, but he was kinda shy. Ed Norton wasn't shy.

Thanks, I really wanted to believe that. Please elaborate about Norton.

He always tried to step on Wes's toes. Saying stuff like, "Yeah that sounds great but I think it would be way better if we did this other thing instead." He would proceed to direct the entire scene.

But Wes Anderson continues to cast him, why do you think that is?
You do have to admit, he is a talented actor.

Weren't there rumors of him doing the same thing while shooting 2008 Hulk?

He's a fantastic actor. And yes, he did this during Hulk.

How would you rate Wes Anderson as a director?

He's incredible. He isn't pushy, he's extremely nice, and his direction is fantastic. He never told anyone in the troop "You're the mean one" or anything like that. He just let us be us and it worked.

What was the audition like?

Did you have to coldread? or perform a monologue?

Coldreads.

Not counting your talent agent audition, have you ever had to audition with a monologue anywhere?

I also am an actor (on IMDB and everything!), getting by on background work and student films as I live in Tampa, FL and I HATE monologues. I feel much more at ease doing cold reads.

When I move to LA after I finish my BFA in Theater Performance, I just wanna know what to expect audition-wise.

I have never had to do a read with a monologue, but I haven't really auditioned for theater, which is where I assume you'll need to the most.

I saw the film with my mom. What was it like to work with actors that were much older than you, such as Ed Norton and Bruce Willis?

They were almost all (Norton was a control freak) incredibly nice, supportive, and friendly.

As someone who didn't see the movie how would you summarize it in 1 to 2 sentences?

Girl and boy fall in love, run away, and the local boy scout troupe has to go search for them.

How'd you get into movies? Supportive parents?

Lucky casting.

Hi! I understand you shot the movie in Newport, RI, where I live. What was your favorite part there?

Flo's fish shack. OH GOD THE MOUTHGASMS...

What was your favorite scene in the movie, whether you were in it or not?

Thanks for the AMA! I loved Moonrise Kingdom. It's a wonderful movie. (:

Definitely the Treehouse scene.

Have you continued on with bugling? Can we expect an album soon?

They never gave me the bugle back, and I never got a new one. You may have just inspired me to make an entirely bugle album. I do play drums though.

I eagerly await my autographed copy. Take care!

Thanks! :)

Do you play drums in a band?

Not like a really organized band, but me and a 2 friends get together semi-frequently and play Jazz together. We have Drums, Piano, and Trumpet.

if you were trapped on a deserted island with a mermaid would you rather the mermaid be top half human, bottom half fish or top half fish and bottom half human?

Top human, bottom fish.

Huge fan of the movie and your character! How was it working with Wes Anderson on set? And also how was it to have to wear an eyepatch the entire movie?

Wes was fantastic, and after a while, you get used to not having depth perception.

How was the audition process for the movie?

It was kinda crazy. The casting director went to many different schools, one of them being mine, and I read for a few different parts. Then, we didn't hear from them for a while. Then, they called us back saying that the callback would be "soon." That very same day, I was admitted to the hospital due to really shitty lung function. Two weeks in the hospital, and we hadn't gotten a date. We were terrified that we would have to bring my IV pump into the city for the audition. Luckily, the callback was a few weeks afterwards. It was overall exhilarating and a bit stressy.

How are you doing today?

Pretty good. A bit sick tho :P

Moonrise Kingdom was a wonderful surprise. I had my doubts about it, but it won me over in a few minutes flat. So thanks for being a part of that fun, quirky, movie. My question is about Edward Norton, I hear he has a bit of a reputation for being temperamental and kind of a handful to work with. Care to comment on that?

What you've heard is totally true.

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Thanks!

How old where you when it was filmed? Do you keep in touch with any of the other casted kids?

I was 12, and yes. I hung out with Skotak (Gabe) last week.

Hey I'm a huge fan of Moonrise Kingdom, it was great.

When you're not acting do you have any favourite video games that you like to play?

YES! My favorite games include Borderlands 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Kingdom Hearts, and League of Legends (silver 5 top main).

Your only story (that I saw on here) of Edward Norton being a douche (stepping on Anderson's toes) didn't sound that bad. Do you have any better examples? You seem to say it quite a bit for only that one example

I was exaggerating, although he did do this multiple times.

The 55 patch in the center of the hats looks a lot like SS. Is that deliberate?

no

Two of my favorite actors, Edward Norton and Bruce Willis, were in Moonrise Kingdom. I'm a 26 year old aspiring film maker. Probably will never get the opportunity to work with them. What's it like to work with Norton and Willis?

I've gone into detail about Norton in some other comments. Bruce Willis was very quiet but was very cooperative and friendly, and very down to earth.

The only detail I've seen you go into about Norton was that you said he was a cock. Can you give me more detail? Tell us a Norton story!

There have been Norton stories in other comments.

The only story I read was the one where he tried to step on Anderson's toes. Alright, give us a Bruce Willis story! Did you shake his hand? Did you ask him about Die Hard?

When we were shooting the scene where Bruce Willis was describing the stab wound while in the police car, one of the tires popped. We sat there for about a half-hour, and just talked to Bruce. We asked him about acting in general, and I don't think we ever talked about Die Hard. A colossal wasted opportunity by my 12-year-old self.

Have you been to r/gonewild yet?

benjikendel please leave