Justice Smith

Dimitri: Congratulations on the film Sharper on Apple TV+. Tell us what it’s like to be the opening character, in the opening scene and be the introduction of the film.

Justice: It’s really cool. I know that whenever my team sends me a script and they send me the role to look at, I’m always on the edge of my seat to see when that character comes in. Having him appear on the first page, I was like, “Okay, he must be important to the plot, otherwise we wouldn’t be following him so closely and so immediately.” It’s a true forehander film and Tom’s storyline really grabbed me, and I couldn’t stop reading the script when I got it because normally it’s hard for me to get through a script in one sitting. I get distracted easily. After Tom’s chapter, I was like, “Whoa, I have to see what happens next.”

Dimitri: It brings back the murder mystery feel. Tt’s such a great suspense that we’re actually missing in the films these days. I love the individual story progressions as well. Having the individual stories which roll perfectly into each other and then the character just keeps coming up and up and up, in my opinion, it’s tastefully done. The writers’ Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka did a beautiful job and Ben Caron just nailed it directing the film.

Justice: Ben is incredible. I loved working with him. He very much speaks my language. He cares about character, and that’s always important to me, working with the director that they care about the character first. Of course, obviously, he’s made a visually stunning film as well, but he always directs through inside out, through what the character’s intentions are. I love perspective-based film. I think it’s really interesting to showcase the way people’s pathologies work. I feel like it’s a lot easier for audiences to recognize who their hero is and who their villain is when the story just follows one character, but when you have a perspective-based film, it blurs those lines.
You see the justification behind everyone, and I love that because I think that’s how life is. No one is really the hero or the bad guy. We’re all just doing our own story.

Dimitri: You said Tom’s character grabbed your attention right from the script. How much can you relate to the character?

Justice: Yes, absolutely. I look for the character in my body. When I read a script, I’m always looking to see if some part of my body is immediately ringing because then I know that I’ll have an in. I’ll know how to connect to him. There are sometimes I read scripture, I’m like, I don’t instantly know this guy, which is why I have to pass on this, but that doesn’t mean the story isn’t something that I’m familiar with. It’s just there are just certain characters that I read where I instantly know this is how I would want to play him and this is what I would want to do. Tom was so similar to a lot of other characters that I had played. I play a lot of characters who are emotionally fraught and– How do I put this in a political correct way? I play a lot of characters who are, let’s say, desperate for love. I’ll say that. Desperate for connection. I was like, “Oh yes, I could easily do this.” The main draw for me to do the film was working with Julianne Moore. I really wanted to work with her.

Dimitri: Oh yes, absolutely. Julianne Moore shines, she absolutely shines in the film. You have an amazing cast – just brilliant Sebastian Stan, Julianne Moore, who also a producer on the film. Love John Lithgow, and of course Briana Middleton. Can you tell us what was like working with them?

Justice: Well, okay. First, Briana is the person I worked with the most and she is unlike any other actors I’ve worked with, so incredible. She’s three or four years younger than me, but her soul is like 80 years older than me. She’s such a professional, and I always tell her she’s a proper actress. She’s a proper sit down at a round table and talk about the craft actress. I don’t even think she fully agrees with that, but that’s just her energy. She cares so much about the work and it’s just effortless, our connection. She’s a great friend of mine now, and I love her dearly, but I cannot wait to work with her again. I hope it comes soon, but yes, really a lot of high praise for her.
Julie, I wanted to work with her, which is why I did the film. I also wanted to work with Apple and work with A24 too, but she was a big draw for me, and she was exactly how I– Well, I don’t even know what I expected, but she exceeded those expectations. It was like watching a craftsman. She’s very upfront with her process, she’s not like– Well, at least I don’t know how much she is someone who works behind closed doors on the character and then comes to set because on set, she’s actively creating the character in front of you and unafraid to be vulnerable or make a mistake or whatever.
She hardly ever does make mistakes, but it’s like she’ll try lines out and she’ll be like, “Oh, that doesn’t sound right,” and then she’ll try it a different way, or she’ll make another choice, or she’s just like a bottomless well of creativity. I was like, “Oh, this is a masterclass. I’m learning so much.” Yes, she was incredible. John, I worked with only one day, but he was so sweet. I remember after we did our first couple of takes, we were waiting for the next setup and I forget exactly what he did, but it was some sort of gesture of affirmation. He put his hand on my shoulder, or I think he might even have verbally told me like, “Oh, that was really great. That was really good what you did.”
It was exactly the validation I needed. When they say action, I’m in the scene. I’m not thinking about the celebrity politics and the business. All that stuff washes away. I love acting so much, and it’s very easy for me to immerse in the moment. When they say cut, of course, all of those things come flooding back. I’m like, “Ooh, I’m working with John Lithgow. Ooh, that’s crazy. This is really cool.” To get that validation from him meant a lot because while it may not be something that I need in order to do my work, it’s like a cherry on top. It’s like, wow, okay. [chuckles] I’m doing a good job. That’s awesome.

Dimitri: Exactly, I totally agree with you. It’s massive feeling. I produce and write, also presented Best Foreign Film Award to Bong Joon Ho for Parasite at the Critic Choice Awards in 2020 and to Alfonso Cuaron for Roma in 2019. You get to talk to them afterwards, get to know them closer. It’s validation that you don’t really need, but when you get it, it’s so cool and refreshing, and it just makes you feel good about what you do. We’re on the younger side. Those guys, they’ve been around. [laughs]

Justice: [laughs] Yes. Exactly, you know?

Dimitri: We’ll be giving the validation to the next generations of actors, producers, writers, whoever, so it’s exactly the same thing. I totally understand where you’re coming from.

Justice: You want to know that you’re going to keep the craft alive.

Dimitri: Absolutely.

Justice: We’re doing a good job and being their predecessor. It’s nice.

Dimitri: The production was done by the infamous A24 and distribution by Apple TV+ is there any theatrical release or straight to Apple? What was it like to work with A24?

Justice: I know that when I first got the script, they told me that Apple was attached and that A24 was attached as–

Dimitri: Okay, so it was already attached at that point?

Justice: Yes. I think Apple is the– Gosh, I’m not a producer at all, so I don’t know who’s distributing and who’s the production company and who’s yadda, yadda, yadda. We worked with a production company called Picturestart, who are also phenomenal, and I love them dearly, and I still talk to them to this day, but I had always wanted to work with A24 because the content that they release is original. Apple too. They’re like these pioneers of originality, I think. I felt like as a culture, we were slowly drifting away from the original content.
I think a lot of studios were afraid to put money behind original ideas, so a lot of the money was backing sequels and remakes. There’s a big nostalgia wave right now, so a lot of reboots. Those things are great too, but I think that we were missing– there was a hole that needed to be filled of original content. I think A24 really like– they let out of the gate– What’s the expression? They jumped out the gate. What’s the expression?
They came out the gate with original content. They came out the gate taking big swings and now anytime you hear, oh, A24 did that film, you know what you’re going to expect? You know that you’re not going to watch something that’s panned or formulaic. You’re going to watch something that’s going to be trippy or–

Dimitri: An original. Exactly. Absolutely original.

Justice: Yes. That’s why I really wanted to work with them, and now I’ve got to work with them two times. I worked with them on this other film. I did After Sharper, which hasn’t been released yet. Yes, I just really enjoy abstract content. I really enjoy like a thinker. I really enjoy that kind of stuff, and so I wanted to be in more movies like that.

Dimitri: We need more original content and we need more– not mass– How can I say? Personally, I love Apple because they do put out such great content. No disregard to others. Everyone’s doing the best what they can do for themselves, but Apple really established themselves in a very good position without trying to flood the market.

Justice: I think other streaming services should take note. I think it’s a really bold formula, and I think it pays off.

Dimitri: How do you feel about same-day releases in theatres and platforms?

Justice: I don’t mind it. I think it’s ridiculous that– The awards rules about movies have to be in theaters in order for them to qualify, I think that’s a little silly. Let me say first, I love going to the theater. I love the communal experience of us all committing to a story. I think that there’s nothing like it. At the same time, what streaming did for society during the pandemic was like– it kept so many people sane. In a world where that didn’t exist, of course, there were other things that we could do, but I think that humans need story– Storytelling is as old as time.

Dimitri: Absolutely.

Justice: It is like the purest form of entertainment. I mean, reading is an incredible thing, but I think streaming really helped us fulfill that human need during the pandemic. As things go back to normal, I love that people still have the option to watch things in the privacy of their home. I know that while I love going to theater, I don’t always love going outside. I really love my house, and I love being in my house. I feel like there is almost an intimacy that I have with certain films watching them at home. Not to mention, there are certain folk in our society who going outside or going to the movie theater is a real chore. There are people who aren’t as mobile as other people. There are people who, for a variety of reasons, can’t really leave their house.

Dimitri: Sure.

Justice: I don’t agree with cinema purists when they shit on streaming. At the same time, I think the experience of going to a theater is unmatched. I don’t think anything can beat that, but I don’t see anything wrong with watching your movies at home. If you want to watch your movies at home, watch them at home.

Dimitri: They can coexist. This is the best thing, they can coexist in the best format. To me, for example, I watched your film while preparing for the interview, and really enjoyed it. Actually, I would love to actually watch it on the big screen now. love rewatching films. It’s my pleasure and it’s my guilty pleasure just rewatching. Sometimes you have the catalog of some new stuff and you go like, “I’m just going to play something that I really, really love.”

Justice: Yes, exactly. There are also so many movies that I’ve seen where I know if I hadn’t seen them in my own way, then I wouldn’t have enjoyed that. I do have a distraction issue. I should get it checked out. I don’t know what’s going.
There are certain movies where I’m like, “I love this movie, but I cannot finish it in one sitting. I love this movie, but I have to pause it and I have to do something else for 20 minutes or whatever.” Because I got that experience to watch it on my own terms, it made the movie that much better. Do you know what I mean?

Dimitri: Absolutely.

Justice: I say I have a distractional problem, but there are people who have all kinds of neurodivergence, who cannot just sit in a theater and watch a two-hour film, who need to take breaks in order to enjoy it. I say I’m happy that they have access to stories now.

Dimitri: Exactly. Do you have any other projects coming up?

Justice: Dungeons and Dragons is coming out in March, big blockbuster family kind of movie, action, adventure, very funny, very good. I watched it the other day. I really enjoyed it. I don’t always enjoy my films, but I really enjoyed it. I have another movie for A24 called I Saw The TV Glow. I don’t know if that’s coming out this year. I think it might come out next year.

Dimitri: When you were younger, did you enjoy D&D? I actually interviewed some actors from Dungeons and Dragons community. There is a massive D&D community among the– DB Weiss, I interviewed Joe Manganiello, he’s a massive player. Plus I did so many kids from Stranger Things. D&D is such a big thing in it as well. Were you into D&D when you were younger?

Justice: No. I knew what it was, but I didn’t really know how to play. I didn’t really have friends, so I also didn’t really know who to play with. I did play it once before we started shooting. We played as a cast and our campaign took place after the events of the film. It was a really fun character study, but we all played as our characters. I realized in playing, I was like, “Oh, this is literally a bunch of friends sitting in a room improvising. We’re just all making up a story.” I didn’t know how much liberty you have in that game. My character shits on the floor, and everyone’s like, “Okay.” I don’t know what that will do, but sure, you can do that. You can do whatever you want. It’s imaginary.
I think that freedom, it’s exhilarating. I hope I get to play again soon. We’ve been talking as a cast about maybe playing again soon. I feel like I am a D&D player for a living. Acting is basically D&D. They’re very similar.

Dimitri: Absolutely.

Justice: You create a character and you make a backstory and then you play as that character. The only difference is dice, really. Dice and I guess–

Dimitri: That’s a director. The dice is a director.

Justice: Dice is the director. What a beautiful metaphor. That is so true.

Dimitri: Whichever way he feels like, he throws it and goes like, “Today we’re going to have the fun stuff, tomorrow, maybe not as much fun.”

Justice: Yes, exactly that. I hope I get to play again.

Dimitri: What do you do in your spare time? You’re busy, obviously, so do you have any hobbies, or what do you enjoy in your spare time?

Justice: I love doing escape rooms. I do a lot of escape rooms around LA.

Dimitri: Oh wow. Nice.

Justice: I’ve done literally all of the escape rooms around LA. I love games. We always have friends over, we play games. I play a lot of video games. I just really like games. Right now those are my hobbies. My hobbies change from time to time. I like learning languages, but I haven’t been doing that in a long time. Anytime I go to a new country, I try to learn some of the language.

Dimitri: I guess you enjoy the books as well. You have a stack behind you.

Justice: Yes. I’ve read all these though. I need new ones.

Dimitri: All right. Okay, cool.

Justice: Some of these are silly little books, like astrology books or whatever.

Dimitri: I can’t see the names, don’t worry about it. I can see the stacks. [laughs]

Justice: [laughs] A lot of the Daodejing. I like learning about Daoism, that’s really fun, and philosophy. Some of these are research books. This is the Pokemon handbook. I have a lot of books from movies that I’ve done.

Dimitri: Oh, nice. That’s awesome.

Justice: I don’t have the D&D books here. I think I left them in Ireland. Researching for D&D was the most fun I’ve ever had on prepping for a film. You usually have to learn about all these little monsters and creatures and species, and it’s so cool.

Dimitri: Have you ever thought in the future, perhaps in 10 years, try yourself a venture into writing, directing, but still staying as an actor, but also have you ever thought about directing?

Justice: Yes. I’ve written a couple of scripts. I wrote this short film that right now I’m going to direct, and I’m trying to get it off the ground right now. I’ve been feeling the pull towards directing for a long time now. Specifically, I love working with actors. I love acting so much, and I just always wanted to work with actors. Directing is so much more than that obviously, but that’s really the thing I want to do the most. [chuckles] I’m like, “Maybe I should just be a teacher because directing is hard.” A lot of my director friends are telling me this because I’m having this issue already with my short film, which is like 15 pages, but so much of directing is meetings and telling people your idea over and over and over again.
Trying to convince people that it’s a good idea, begging for money. All stuff that’s not so fun. I guess once you do all that stuff then you get to the actual fun, which honestly acting is very similar. Oh, 80% of acting is waiting around for the camera to be set up and then 20% of it is actually acting, but the 20% that is acting is so amazing that you’re like, “Okay sure, I’ll wait. I’ll wait for four hours. That’s fine.”

Dimitri: How was your photoshoot with Mike Ruiz? Did you enjoy it?

Justice: Yes, he shot me for Emmy Magazine like seven years ago or something like that. I was doing that for The Get Down. It was me and Shameik Moore and Herizen Guardiola, who were the three main characters in the show. That shoot was so fun. It was so good to see him all these years later. We talked a lot about dogs. I have a dog now, I just recently got one. He’s really into animal rights and stuff. Yes, I really enjoyed working with him. I always enjoy working with him.

Dimitri: If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be?

Justice: Be patient. I always knew what I wanted to be in life. I was like seven and I was like, “I’m going to be an–” Even before that, I was like five and I was like, “I’m going to be an actor.” I always wanted to be an actor, a writer, and a visual artist. I wanted to draw cartoons. I still write and I still doodle, but acting became my real passion. I remember every year of my life being like, “That’s what I’m going to do.” As I kept getting older and being like, “It’s weird that it hasn’t happened yet,” it sent me into real depression because I was like, “This is what I’m meant to do and I’m not doing it.”
It was really just a matter of time and I ended up doing it, obviously. I think that if I could talk to my younger self, I’d be like, “It’s okay. Just chill.” Just like, “Enjoy your childhood, you’re good. It’s going to happen, it’s going to be great. You’re going to love it.” I’m happy though I had arts programs at my school. I went to an art school as well, and I did community theater and I just had this– I was always an actor, true and true, through and through, bone deep. I just needed to be doing that at all times. I needed to let that creative energy flow.
Anytime there was a summer or there was a year, which I wasn’t doing anything, no plays, no auditions, no nothing, it would bottle up inside me and then start to spoil. It would rot and I think it would send me into dismay. I’m happy that I made it to the other side, but that is my advice, to be patient.