Employing a good young cast, “Mean Creek” is the story of a group of kids who get together to get revenge on George (Josh Peck), the spiteful kid who seems to take pleasure in being an antagonistic jerk. As the gang’s plan for revenge unfolds, events take an unexpected, dramatic turn that changes their lives forever.
INTERVIEW WITH RORY CULKIN, CARLY SCHROEDER, AND RYAN KELLEY:
Have you ever had a similar experience to the one in this film, where you've done something bad and had to decide on whether or not to tell your parents?
RYAN KELLEY: Plenty, nothing of this magnitude. I can think of every example possible, times I've told my parents, times I haven't, times they found out about things when I didn't want them to - plenty.
RORY CULKIN: It's part of being a kid.
CARLY SCHROEDER: A lot of people want to try and hide that kids actually do these things, a lot of movies don't show that. Kids do smoke pot, kids do these things, and it's kind of like a reality, it shows a reality that things are really going on. This movie does, and it shows it's really going on because it's making them wake up and see that it's really going on. This movie shows it and others try to hide it.
RYAN KELLEY: Things like this happen all the time. It's a rare occasion that something happens like this, but it helps to show that you may want to think twice about what you're going to do.
Does this movie give you a better perspective about dealing with bullies?
RORY CULKIN: I don't think it would help us in any way. I think we learn from our lives as opposed to filming. We each put in what our experience [is] being teenagers.
What are some of the mean things you’ve experienced?
CARLY SCHROEDER: I don't remember anything except this girl informing me that I wasn't a real blonde. She was pushing me around on the playground informing me that I wasn't a real blonde. She was telling me that my mother was dying my hair when I was born. I was looking at her like, “OK, you have problems,” and I kind of like walked away. She seemed stupid.
Do you have advice for people on how to deal with bullies?
CARLY SCHROEDER: Walk away, don't give them the satisfaction.
RYAN KELLEY: I'd say get to know him, find out who he really is. In this movie, you see that his alter-ego is mean [as just] a protection for him. Every time when he's feeling like he's in danger, or someone makes fun of him, he beats them up before they can get to him. Not meaning to, we scheme against him. We end up finding out that he's a good kid, he's just never had these opportunities that we had, and we start to feel for him. This defense kind of kicks him in the butt in the end because he says things when we start to feel for him, [and] we remember why we were doing these things in the first place. I'd say be open-minded and don't judge a book by its cover.
How serious were things behind the scenes when you were filming?
RORY CULKIN: Not very. We wouldn't help each other out.
CARLY SCHROEDER: When one of us [was] getting a close up, the other people would be mooning them. I did not, I will tell you right now, I didn't.
RYAN KELLEY: We had fun, but we knew we had to be serious.
Are you trying to find other more serious roles in movies?
RORY CULKIN: I'm trying to find movie roles that would happen in real life.
CARLY SCHROEDER: Trying not to get phony, fake situations. Scripts that show teenagers as they really are and not trying to cover it up.
RORY CULKIN: This is as real as it gets, actually. That's why I was happy to find the screenplay.
What do you think of being in a movie that you couldn't get into because of its rating?
CARLY SCHROEDER: You just go up and buy a ticket for a different movie and then sneak in. I've already figured out how to get around doing that. That's no big deal.
RYAN KELLEY: That's what Jacob [Aaron Estes, director] thinks a lot of kids will do. He was recommending that the kids go do that.
RORY CULKIN: Then the movie doesn't get credit for it. Take your parents to go see it.
RYAN KELLEY: I can go see it, but I just can't be a guardian for someone under 17.
PAGE 2: On Kissing Scenes, Competition, and Future Projects
