Boyhood: Ellar Coltrane on Vanquishing Social Media

Ellar Coltrane IS Boyhood. Richard Linklater found Coltrane when he was six years old and started filming a movie every year until Coltrane was 18. Boyhood represents 12 years of Mason (Coltrane)’s life, as well as his family portrayed by Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Lorelei Linklater. Ellar Coltrane is all grown up now, and since the end of the movie has added to his appearance in the form of a nose ring through the center between both nostrils. I got an interview with Coltrane in Los Angeles to discuss what is, up to this point, his life’s work.

Related: Boyhood Co-Star Lorelei Linklater’s Therapeutic Interview

CraveOnline: Is the nose piece new?

Ellar Coltrane: It’s new.

What prompted that addition?

I don’t know. I felt like it.

So it’s one thing to commit to 12 years of acting in a movie. At what point did you learn that there would be press obligations also?

[Laughs] Yeah, that’s the thing, isn’t it? I’ve seen the other side of filmmaking for so long and this is an equal part of making a film and certainly getting people to see it. It’s very different. It’s very strange. I didn’t really realize until the film came out and I started doing interviews and stuff. It’s very bizarre.

How are you finding the process now?

It’s becoming hard for me just because the film is very dear to me and very personal and intimate. For so long it was just that. It wasn’t even a film. It was just this thing that we were creating together and something that we all put a lot of ourselves into. To dissect it is bizarre. It’s hard.

I hope I’ll make it pleasurable for you and I’m really glad we get a chance to talk about it. As you’re sharing the film, are you finding that your personal journey also represents youth for a lot of men who view the film?

Definitely. I think so, and not just for me but for everyone. Even though it is Boyhood and it’s through Mason’s eyes, it’s not just his story and it’s not just the story of any character. It’s just life and the way time passes. That’s something that, no matter what your situation is or who you are, everyone experiences that passage of time and wonders about how you’re changing and how your experiences are changing you and what things mean to you in the long run. That’s something I think a lot of people relate to, it seems.

As Mason tries to figure out who he is, were you also in the process of figuring out who you are?

Of course. I mean, there’s a lot of it that I wasn’t aware of because I was just in the thick of it as well and going through my own kind of things. Also, I think that’s a lot of why so much of what Mason goes through is so genuine is because it kind of allowed us, all of us, all of the characters and actors, we were able to implant elements of our own experience into the characters and use that to flesh them out.

The teenage sleepover scene really scared me when they’re in the construction site. I thought something bad was going to happen. What were your reflections on that scene and how that’s a part of boys getting into trouble, but also being healthy?

Yeah, that is, whether we like it or not, that dynamic and that way that guys treat each other is definitely part of growing up, at least in this culture. It’s hard to watch. Boys are mean. But certainly the tension that people feel, I never expected that.

But they’ve got sharp objects and they’re throwing them around.

Even still, you just do dangerous shit when you’re a kid. You do stuff like that and none of us ever killed anybody or hurt ourselves terribly so I don’t think we really meant it that way.

I’m amazed that I haven’t caused a horrible accident in my past.

I know, watching that reflected in the film definitely makes me think God, we’re so lucky. We’re so lucky that we haven’t killed ourselves with all the stupid shit we do.

Is that just chance? Some people get hurt in their lives. Is that just chance, whoever makes it?

I guess. I think so and intention. I don’t know. It both is and it isn’t. It’s definitely chance and luck but there’s also a lot more in play I think.

You got a part in Fast Food Nation. How did that work out while you were shooting Boyhood?

I think it was just kind of a little thing to do, just something fun. Just something for [Linklater] to give me, but I think he intentionally didn’t want to cast me in any major role in anything because I think some of the magic of what he achieved with this film is that Lorelei and I weren’t actors. We weren’t in movies. We had never seen ourselves on a screen before so it remained in this very different kind of place for us. Once you have that image of yourself up on the screen, your experience changes pretty drastically I think. So, I can’t really tell you why he put me in that movie.

Did you notice you were getting longer passages of dialogue as you got older?

Well, it’s not really that I was getting them because the reason I have more dialogue is because I was able to be a part of writing more dialogue. We were always a large part of writing the dialogue and making the scenes, the inner workings of the scenes. So Mason’s kind of engagement in life and development into a person very much is a result of my engagement in the project and in the process of crafting Mason as a character.

At what year did you start becoming more involved with writing?

It was very gradual. I think, according to Ethan, the campout year, the one where me and him were camping out in the woods, that was apparently the first year I was a part of it. I think I was 11, maybe 12.

So when he has a conspiracy theory about technology and social media, was that you?

Yeah, very much so. Those weren’t exactly my words, but very much I feel that way. Social media is pretty evil.

Have you changed your relationship with it at all?

Well, I haven’t been on any social media in a long time. Around that time, I guess, is when I kind of did away with all of it. I kind of have tried to vanquish my relationship with social media as much as possible. Interacting with people is bizarre enough. I just don’t feel the need to process it through a computer.

What doors have opened now that Boyhood is getting screened?

I don’t know. It’s all kind of happening right now. I think I’m starting to get other acting opportunities. It’s all about finding the right thing to do for me so we’ll see.

Are you going on more auditions?

Some.

After 12 years of having a steady gig, I guess you could call it, how do you find the process of essentially selling yourself trying to get the next part?

Right, it’s very weird. And the thing is I don’t want to do that. I don’t want acting as a job. I’m not interested in a career just for the sake of a career. It’s not about money really for me. I don’t have anyone to support. If I had a child, I’m sure I would feel differently, but I don’t. I’m pretty happy with my state of life so it’s really just about creating art for me. That’s really the only thing I crave is just the creative process. So it’s just a matter of finding the right project and finding something that is sincere, expresses humanity.

What other careers might you pursue?

I don’t know. Painting, drawing, music and photography. I kind of want to do everything so we’ll see.

Are you in college now?

No. I certainly want to go but I’m probably going to take a little break after Boyhood’s done.

Did Richard Linklater give you any homework viewing he wanted you watch as a film education over the years?

Not really. Rick almost wanted to be as little of an actor as possible I think. As I got older, there was a certain point when he hooked me up with an acting coach that I studied with for a year or two. But as far as the placement in cinema and cinema history, I think he purposely wanted to keep that out of my head and keep it present, and less about it being a movie and more about it being a project.