Some people might be surprised to hear this, but Tom Hiddleston is not the only star of Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck.” He’s not even the only Chuck! In Flanagan’s sweeping Stephen King adaptation, four different actors play everyman Chuck throughout various periods of his life. There’s Hiddleston, of course, as adult Chuck; Cody Flanagan (Mike and co-star Kate Siegel’s real-life child) as kid Chuck; Jacob Tremblay as teen Chuck; and first-time film actor Benjamin Pajak as tween Chuck.
It’s Pajak who will likely capture the most attention for his work here, even as he acts alongside legends like Mark Hamill and Mia Sara, thanks to his wonderfully open-hearted performance, plus plenty of dancing. While Pajak, just 12 years old at the time of filming, is no stranger to acting (he did, after all, appear on Broadway in “The Music Man” with Hugh Jackman in 2022), the film is his very first film role. It’s an auspicious one at that, the kind of star-making role you simply know when you see.
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One thing Pajak didn’t know initially: He and Hiddleston were playing the same role. How’s that for a Hollywood twist?
Ahead, Pajak tells IndieWire about getting the role, still being a scaredy-cat when it comes to horror, what he learned from his iconic co-stars, and even gets a little lesson in the sweeping cast of “The Mickey Mouse Club.”
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
IndieWire: Benjamin, are you aware of how many nice things people say about you? Like, true Hollywood legends like Mark Hamill and Mia Sara just gush over you.
Benjamin Pajak: I am so grateful for everything that they’ve said about me and about the film, too. I had such an amazing time working with Mark and Mia, and they’ve both been such inspirations to me, and they’ve motivated me to keep doing good work throughout the projects that I’ve been doing. But no, I just can’t say how grateful enough … I could say it a million times to them. They’ve just been so kind.
I worked with Mark for a little bit more time than with Mia, but I still had amazing relationships with both of them. The one thing that always kind of stuck out to me when we were filming Mark really always kind of stayed in his character. He wasn’t Method, he wasn’t one of those actors where you have to call them by their [character] names and talk to them like that, but it was just amazing to see him transform into this character. He’s unrecognizable in the best way in this film, and that’s the thing that I got to take from it.
I spoke to Mark last week, and he told this story about how, on your last day on set, you wrote him a thank you note, and you wrote, “Thank you for being the best scene partner.” He was so taken with this, but it’s a very funny thing to say.
[Laughs] That definitely sounds like my writing.
Were you actively looking for a film role or a screen role when “The Life of Chuck” came to you?
I had been auditioning at the time. I had a theater background, I had been on Broadway, and I did “Oliver” at New York City Center. I had been in the mix for a couple things, but when “Chuck” came around, it was the first [screen] audition that had dancing in it. I was like, “Maybe it’s a movie musical?” And when I got the role, I was like, “Whoa, this is really original. This is really good stuff.”
I met Mike after the auditions on Zoom, and we both kind of geeked out about working with Luke Skywalker. When I got the audition, seeing Tom and Mark’s name [already] on it, I felt I had to put everything into it.
Did you have to dance on Zoom?
I think there was a thing in the sides where I had to do a dance move or something, and I was on the couch, and I did something with my hands or something. I guess Mike thought that was prime dancing. I don’t know how he thought that I was a dancer from that, but thank you, Mike.
At what point did you get to read the whole script?
I got the [full] script fairly close to when I flew down to Alabama [to shoot it]. I read my part first, and I got connected with that, and I started learning all my lines. And I think it was after the fact of filming that I read the full thing, and I read the novella after it. I felt so connected with the material after. I felt that I should have read the full thing before I actually did the movie. I got into Stephen King. I got into a Stephen King hole for a while.
I think, after reading the script, it kind of changed my perspective on filmmaking and writing. I also think it’s one of those movies that you have to see a couple times to get. You’re going to find something different every single time you see it. People should go and see it in theaters for that reason because there’s so many things. There’s so many little nuances that you’re going to find every time that you’re going to love every time.
What’s it like to think, “I’m playing young Tom Hiddleston”?
I didn’t know because I didn’t know who Tom was playing. [Laughs] I thought Tom was some leading role in the script, because I had only read my part. But when I found out that Mark and Tom were both going to be in it, those are two of my favorite actors, and I kind of freaked out a little bit.
You obviously didn’t get to work with Tom, but did you spend time with any of the other Chucks?
I did meet Cody. Cody’s so cute. I met Jacob briefly, too. He was there because I think he was mirroring Mike for a few days, which was really neat. I had watched Jacob in everything that he’s done, and I think he’s incredible in everything he does. It was so cool because we got to take a picture together, and I sent it to my grandmother, and she’s like, “You guys look so similar. Are you sure it’s just not you scaled up a little bit?” I was like, “No, that’s Jacob.”
What was your preparation process for this, your first movie?
I took a lot away from personal experience, because there’s a lot of the grandparents’ connection in the film that [feels close to me], because I feel very connected with my grandparents in real life. I spent so much time with Mark in the film, and I took that from my grandfather and my grandmother and put it into the film.
I did watch a lot of movies. I saw a little bit of Mike’s work. I’m not a huge horror fan, I’m a scaredy-cat, as a lot of my friends know, but I watched a lot of Mike projects, and I got the feel for it. I love his direction and his writing. I just got really pumped to do the project.
Do you remember what you did on your first day on set?
My first day was just dance, I think, because I did dance boot camp for about three weeks with Mandy [Moore]. Mia came in for a little bit, and Trinity [Bliss], who I danced with in the film.
I think it was Tom’s second day filming that I went to meet everyone on set for the first time, which was totally Mandy’s idea. I didn’t think that I had the right to go on set and see Tom Hiddleston dance, but I’ll never forget that. That was the best thing I ever got to do. I got to take so many things from Tom, the subtle way that he moved his hips or how he used his face in his dance, and I got to put that into my performance. I’m so grateful that I got to be there for that day. And also, it was really cool to see Loki dance.
He’s such a good dancer. I don’t think I realized that.
I don’t think anybody knew! I think he danced briefly on a late-night show, and that’s how Mike found Tom [for the role].
What was dance boot camp with the great Mandy Moore like?
Every single day, getting to work with Mandy was so much fun. Even if I were to mess a dance move up or something, because I know I definitely stepped on Trinity’s feet multiple times dancing, she would say, “It’s fine. Just do it again. Pick yourself up, and we’ll do it again, and you’ll get it right.”
I had known she did “La La Land,” and that’s one of my favorite movies. The choreography in that is spectacular, and I was like, well, if she can make Ryan Gosling into a dancer, she can turn me into a dancer.
Ryan Gosling was on “The Mickey Mouse Club” as a kid.
What? How did I not know this?
You are a little young for this. This was my youth. It was Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears.
Oh, my God.
Keri Russell.
What?
I knew that one would get you. You need to go back and watch the ’90s-era “Mickey Mouse Club.” Dancing, singing, they do little sketches, they have a little soap opera. I think you’ll love it.
You’re right, Keri Russell did get me!
You’re still dancing, you’re dancing all over your Instagram.
I love dancing now. I did “Music Man” a few years ago, and Mandy’s friends with Warren Carlyle, who was the choreographer for that, and Mandy was like, “Where’d you get your dance experience from?” And I said in a nervous voice back when my voice wasn’t changed, “Well, I was choreographed by Warren Carlyle,” and she was like, “Warren? I love Warren. We go way back.”
When we made the Warren connection, that kind of made Mandy be like, “So you know how to do this, and you know how to do this?” She kind of took some stuff that she knew that I knew how to do from Warren and put it into the performance.
I think having all the dance experience back from my theater days kind of gave me a little head start because, when I read the script the first time, seeing all the different dance styles kind of threw me off. I didn’t even know samba existed. I called up all my dancer friends, and I was like, “Hey, can you teach me how to do some of these moves?”
Everyone loves the dancing, of course, but you also get to share this really lovely scene with Kate Siegel, where she’s giving this monologue that kind of sums up the whole film. What was it like to act in those moments?
I think we did four shots. We did my coverage, her coverage, and then we did one of the both of us just looking down the barrel of the camera. I think we only did her monologue about four times, and every single time, it got better and better. I just kept on thinking, “How do you memorize all that?”
I was amazed by Kate’s acting. I had never really been that close to someone in a scene. We were inches away. And being that close to someone’s face, you see what they’re thinking. Being in that moment, seeing Kate do that scene, was one of the most amazing experiences that I’ve ever had.
What are you hoping audiences feel and think about when they leave the theater after seeing the film?
There’s so much that you’re going to feel when you leave this film. The first time that I saw it at TIFF, I just felt everything, but the thing I felt the most was just utter joy. I just felt so glad that I got to be there in the moment and see it. I wasn’t looking at the audience because I was crying myself, but Mark said that there were grown-ups with tears in their eyes. Hearing that, that kind of changed something in my head, saying, “Wow, people really feel connected to this, and people really want to see this movie, and people really want to experience what they just experienced again and again and again.”
What’s next for you?
I have two films coming out this year, sometime. One of them is called “Playdate,” directed by Luke Greenfield. It’s starring Kevin James and Alan Ritchson. And my other film this year is “Tiny Fugitives,” directed by Michael Lewen with Johnny Knoxville. And I think that already kind of tells you what it will be like. [Laughs]
As someone who is still fairly early in their film career, what is the big dream for you, the people you want to work with and projects you want to do?
I want to work with Mike again. If I only had a chance to work with Mike my entire career, I would do it. I want to do another “Chuck.” I think that would be amazing. I want to do another “Chuck”!
Neon expands “The Life of Chuck” in theaters on Friday, June 13.
