It gave me a different outlook. I mean, every time I’d question [something] I’d go even deeper. More questions [would] appear. I’m still trying to find out who I am, even today. I’m finding out exactly what I believe in and things like that.”
The Challenges of Starring in “The Dust Factory:” “It hit home on a personal basis and it was challenging to portray that. Whenever I would get different opinions or ask questions, I’d only get more questions. That was challenging as an actor and as a person growing up.”
Bonding with Co-Star Hayden Panettiere: “I bugged the heck out of her, she bugged the heck out of me. (Laughing) We had a blast. There was one time towards the end of the shoot… I’m from a family of 15 so I don’t have the best knowledge of crazy food - and we don’t eat sushi so I didn’t know what Wasabi was. And we’re eating and for whatever reason we had ordered out and she had this big thing of Wasabi, but she told me it was guacamole. And she was playing around with me saying I didn’t know what guacamole was. I said, “Are you stupid? I know what guacamole is.” She’s like, “Oh, yeah, really? I bet you’ve never tasted it.” And I took spoonful of Wasabi and put it in my mouth and pretty much swallowed it. I don’t know if you’ve tasted Wasabi, but I almost wanted to die. And of course Hayden’s laughing. You know, I couldn’t even talk at that time. There’s just moments like that that we had a blast.”
On the Difficulties of Playing a Character Who Doesn’t Speak for Portions of the Film: “It was even a lot harder than I expected. Going in to it I didn’t give it much thought. I mean, I gave it a lot of thought but I just figured it would be a lot easier than it ever turned out to be. It was one of the most challenging things because talking is a huge part of communication in portraying yourself. So is expression, but me personally, my expressions are not big. If I was to try and do big expressions, like a huge smile or a big grin on my face if I was happy, that’s not for real. That’s not natural. Doing subtle movement in the eyes or subtle facial expressions to get the point across or to make them understand what he’s saying was a lot harder than I ever thought. There were a couple of takes where my mouth would work – I’d say, ‘Yes,’ but not say it, just word it. [Director Eric Small’s] like, ‘Ryan, you can’t do that.’ I wouldn’t even know consciously that I was doing that. “
Why Teenagers Might Like “The Dust Factory:” “What’s great about ‘The Dust Factory’ is pretty much every teenager can relate to it in some way, shape, or form, you know? Some teenagers say they know who they are and they know what they believe 100%. I don’t think that’s the case. I think you always wonder. And that’s what ‘The Dust Factory’ does. It’s a young kid going toward adulthood and trying to figure out the meaning of everything, whether it’s God, whether it’s life, whether it’s family, whether it’s what he’s going to be when he grows up. It’s also got the magical first friendship, first kiss, first little romance kind of thing in there too.”
Sorting Through Scripts and Choosing Roles: “The general idea that I do when I look at a script is that first off, I look for roles that will most likely challenge me as an actor. That’s what I try for. It doesn’t always happen. Sometimes there are roles that aren’t necessarily challenging but are just good roles, or just a good script in general. Or good actors to work with – things like that. Not being an established actor yet, sometimes money comes into play. For the most part, right now I’m looking for roles that challenge me as an actor, whether it’s emotionally or physically or completely different and out of the ordinary.“
"The Dust Factory" is rated PG and was written and directed by Eric Small.
"The Dust Factory" DVD will be released on March 22, 2005 and features deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, a behind the scenes featurette, and a music video starring Hayden Panettiere and Watt White.
