Chase Crawford – Powerful Force

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  I screen tested last week for a big feature film, and am waiting to find out if I got it.

Q.  What can you tell us about the premise for the movie The Covenant and about your character?

A.  Well, The Covenant refers to our family ancestors in the seventeenth century who inherited and passed on the same power our characters possess.  Therefore, they decided to create a covenant of silence to never tell anyone or let anyone know about the vast power.  The powers are passed down to the first born male of each family throughout the generations.  My character, Tyler, is the youngest of the group and is best friends with Reid in general.  The two of us are always abusing our powers for selfish reasons and mainly because we are seventeen year old high school teenagers.  Tyler’s more happy-go-lucky, not really worried about the situation until later in the film.

Q.  What made you want to be a part of this project?

A.  After I read the script, I knew the role was me.  So, I put a lot of time into preparing, despite the fact that studio films rarely cast unknown actors in big budget films, and they ended up liking me from the beginning.  After about six days the deal was done, and I was on cloud nine for a few days.  I also realized there hasn’t been this type of film made recently, and I was confident if the visual effects were all clean and in place, this movie could be a big hit.

Q.  Do you have a memorable moment from working on the film?

A.  Oh wow, I could bore you for a few hours with “most interesting” moments on this movie.  Besides the fact that the five of us became best friends through this, and still hang out all the time, I guess one of the funniest times I had was when we were in the middle of some field in Montreal, Canada.  It was freezing cold and the four of us were shooting a part where Toby is driving the Hummer and he has to back up fast for a couple of hundred yards.  So, we start screaming and blasting the music and having fun, and Toby’s is flooring it in reverse.  After a few seconds I’m like, “Alright man, I think that’s good.”  Well, Toby decided to give it a little more gas and we shot up an angled embankment and knocked out a big electrical box!  I’ll never forget that one, it was freezing!

Q.  Why should viewers take the time to check out the movie?

A.  I think The Covenant can appeal to a wide demographic because the movie was made purely for entertainment.  Yes, it is similar to a modern day Lost Boys, but in reality it is like nothing else that’s out there, I mean its a total thriller.  I think a huge part of what makes the movie special is that it makes you want to go grab some popcorn and have a few hours of guilty pleasure complete with a kickass soundtrack and some really awesome visual effects.  Girls might go see it for the guys and guys might go see it for the action, but overall it potentially appeals to all ages, and I think you should definitely give it a shot this fall.

Q.  What was it about your role in the film that you found really challenging?

A.  You know my role in general was not too difficult because being in a tight group of friends and having fun in high school was only a few years ago for me, so I got to re-live that dream again to some extent you could say… but this being my first big project, I initially found it challenging to juggle movements like hitting certain marks and hitting certain beats at the right time while being in the moment and being as free as I could.  I got over that pretty quickly though.

Q.  How was getting to work with the director Renny Harlin?

A.  Renny was great, always enthusiastic, always pumping people up and making people laugh even when it was zero degrees at three in the morning.  And, as actors, he let us play some and basically do the scenes like we wanted them.  Then, off the set, he was always hanging out with us and kicking back.

Q.  When taking on a role, how do you get yourself into that character?

A.  Well, that is a difficult question to answer because it completely depends on the character.  As far as Tyler, the only big thing I felt was crucial for me was to become great friends with these guys.  Of course we instantly all did so it took off a lot of the pressure.  It was basically like doing a film with your best friends, so we all definitely had that chemistry there like we had grown up together.  As far as other roles, I try to shed light on characters that most people wouldn’t think of, and that’s what is so fun and exciting to me.  You have to create your own concept and completely trust your abilities without listening to everyone along the way.  I like to go about things in abstract, unforeseen paths.  When you can surprise people in such a way that they say, “I never would have thought of that,” then that for me is the reward.  That’s generally not an easy task because people have seen it all these days.

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  I grew up playing golf and I still love it, I try and get out as much as possible with friends.  But, I love all sports and I am extremely excited about this years football season, especially my Cowboys, (being from Dallas and all).  So, you can expect me to spend many nights screaming at the TV and pulling my hair out, sort of like when my Dallas Mavericks couldn’t pull off the finals this year.   I love spending time at the gym also, its quite therapeutic for anyone I believe.  For me, the feeling is unbelievable and working out will always be a big part of my lifestyle.  And as for lately I am very social, but I am enjoying spending more time with myself, I have come to see how important that is for my own state of mind.  But, you can always get me to watch a movie anytime.

Q.  Do you have a latest obsession?  Are you into any particular music group, book, sport or activity?

A.  One of my latest obsessions are these Sudoku puzzles I’ve been hearing of, I love numbers and am mathematically oriented.  So, I’ll sit for hours working on those stupid things.  Lately I’ve been obsessive with grilling, I love to grill out with friends.  To me, there’s nothing like a few good friends, music and a couple pounds of teriyaki marinated steaks and chicken.  As far as music goes, the list is too long, but recently I’ve been listening to a lot of the White Stripes, I love them.