Exclusive Interview With Ryan Lee On This Is 40

Ryan Lee burst into prominence at the young age of 14 with his role in J.J. Abrams' 2011 film Super 8. Prior to that Lee had appeared in various TV shows and smaller films since his first credited role in 2006. Now at 16, the budding star's latest film is Judd Apatow's This Is 40.

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We Got This Covered: Now you’ve gotten to work with two directors, in Apatow and Abrams, who are regarded as geniuses of their respective genres. What has working with such great directors been like for you?

Ryan Lee: It’s pretty crazy. You hear a bunch of horror stories about directors, but I’ve been pretty lucky so far just to have worked with these great directors who are awesome guys, who really treat you how they would want to be treated, it’s been awesome.

We Got This Covered: You just shot a pilot for Trophy Wife. How’d that go?

Ryan Lee: Yeah, well that’s a working title, I don’t know if that will stay the same. It was awesome though. Television and film are completely different, so coming off of those movies and coming to this pilot was really cool. I got to work with Marcia Gay Harden, who plays my real mom in the show, and then Malin Akerman plays my step mom who is the trophy wife to my dad, Bradley Whitford. There’s this entire family with ex-wives and they all cross paths in really cool and clever ways. It was a lot of fun to shoot.

We Got This Covered: Do you have anything else you know of coming up that you can tell us about?

Ryan Lee: Nothing that’s set in stone. In this business it’s hurry up and wait. Half of the stuff doesn’t even have names. You just gotta cross your fingers and hope it works out since so many things have to fall in place.

We Got This Covered: Alright, I’ve got to ask. Everyone else is weighing in on it, so how would  you feel about a role in Star Wars: Episode VII?

Ryan Lee: Oh my goodness! Of course I would do it. Yeah! Didn’t they say they’re getting the whole cast back with Princess Leia and everybody? That’d be awesome! What’s everybody else saying?

We Got This Covered: Well Robert Pattinson said he’d play Jar Jar for a chance to be in the films. Would you go that far?

Ryan Lee: Oh yeah! I’ll go with him for sure!

That concludes our interview with Ryan but we’d like to thank him for taking the time to talk with us. Be sure to check out This Is 40, in theatres this Friday.


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