'Earth to Echo' Star Teo Halm on How to Cry on Cue

It's always nice to have people here that have fans. I guess. You have behind the cameras there are some people watching and happy that they get to see you. Yeah, a couple of them. Wait, I saw Noah. Wait, I saw on your Twitter something about if you'll be happy when you walk down the street and someone recognizes you?

Oh my gosh. Yeah, no, I uh I I tweeted uh I my my goal is to get noticed on the street and just say, no. Like, they'll be like, Are you Tay? I'll be like, I'm sorry. What are you talking about?

Wait, Have you is this not happened yet?

Honestly, I mean, like, I I my Twitter's been getting like much like, it's been growing fast, but I haven't been noticed, like, on the street yet. So, if you see me on the street, say hi.

Okay. I want to go back to your Twitter a little bit because you have expressions on your Twitter, and I feel like you're a bit of a freestyler or something in the way that you tweet. So, I want you to just break down these words for me because I have no clue what this is.

This is going to be something that I'm probably going to regret tweeting.

No, no. They're really cute. Like, All right. Fasho?

Fasho. Oh, for for like, yeah. No, I got 9,000 I hit 9,000 on Twitter and it's just kind of something I say with my friends. So I thought It's like short for uh for sure. Not like 9K fashion. So, like, for sure. Yeah, fasho.

Okay. But I'm Yeah. I can't really say that and be smooth. What's "on point"?

Okay. Say you're doing an impression of like you're you're uh you're kind of like pretending to be someone else. If that impression is "on point," that means it's like good. It's not like "on point" like

Got it. Okay. What do you have the full context of that tweet?

I don't have the whole tweet. I just have the "on point" part. "On point."

All right. What's next? Tryna? Or is it T R Y N A? Tryna.

Oh. Oh my God. Tryna. Tryna. Is it like trying to? Yeah, yeah. I'm just I feel like I'm trying to be like some like hood dude, and I'm just like too like white to do that. But, um, I feel like when I tweet them, I sound smoother than they actually come out.

So, Earth to Echo. It's such a cute movie. What's that? You threw me for a loop. I actually believed you for a second. I was like, wait.

One of the many that I'm in.

Um, such a cute movie. And Echo is so adorable and you kind of have a little bit of a like a sweet bond with him. Um, and your character you're a little bit, I'd say, awkward, maybe?

He's pretty awkward and shy, and uh, to be honest, like, he's a polar opposite of what I am. Alex is he's a foster kid. And so I I can really like, you know, process that and and play that. So I just decided to rather than overact it, just to underact it and just play him as I'd like just talk as me.

Now, when you say totally opposite from you, then how would you describe yourself?

In complete honesty, I am pretty talkative. I wouldn't I mean, people like call me like obnoxious and stuff, but, uh, I just I'm a blabbermouth.

Just random people. People you know really well. Family.

Okay. Family and good friends. And your dad's here. I don't know if he'll agree with that. Yes? No? Nod if yes or no. Yeah. No. He's saying no. He's saying no. Um, but I I just like I I'm very, you know, I state my opinions and stuff. I'm pretty vocal. Alex, my character, I guess he just likes to, you know, keep it ever like all of his emotions and everything in because, you know, he's a foster kid and he's been let down.

All right, here's how it goes. One beep is yes. Two beeps are no. Watch. Is one beep, yes? You know, that's so tight. Are we in a barn? Okay, I have a question. Are we going to die tonight? Why isn't it answering? Yeah, when you guys were filming, um, how how did it actually work with sort of like the special effects and, you know, the little echo. Was he did they have like a little ping-pong ball that you were supposed to act opposite or what was the situation on set?

Yeah, I mean, Echo um, they use an animatronic like little robot, but they couldn't use that all the time because they, you know, it could only do like certain things, maybe like move its eyes around. I had to pretend, you know, because they did a lot of stuff with CGI. So I didn't always have Echo to act off of. You know, I'm not going to ruin anything, but there's this one particular scene where like I'm it's like an emotional scene with Echo. And like I'm just kind of just staring at the palm of my hand like talking and like crying.

Are you one of those people that can cry on cue? How did that how did that

I feel like if I answer yes, you're going to make me cry.

I'm not far from I'm trying to be Barbara Walters here. I won't try to make you cry. I'll like,

Um, I I most people like get really into it. I have this like scientific way of crying like I kind of just put my breathing in a way that irritates my eyes and makes me tear up.

Wait, this is you need to teach me how to do this. So that I could fake cry if I ever get pulled over by a cop or, you know. I know I was I know a good one. Not that that would ever happen and drive the speed limit, kids.

I I used to do this. I don't do it anymore. I put my hands over my face and it kind of puts my breath into my eyes. I'm not saying my breath's bad. I'm saying like that, no. See, this is my awkward side.

Should I try it?

Yeah, let's go for it. I Yeah. You just breathe in you kind of just like breathe into your hands and it goes like up in your eyes and it yeah.

You can edit tears in after. That's a good little tip, though. I do appreciate that. Um, were you really the hand model in the poster for Earth to Echo?

Oh my gosh, I there was this big complication. I thought I was cuz that like if you look at it, that is my thumb. I feel like that's me. And then I talked to the director. He's like, No, it's a hand model. I'm I was really sad. Like I don't know why I got so sad about. I'm like, That should be my hand right there. I was like, cuz I Yeah, no. I had an argument with my dad. He's like, That's not your hand. I'm like, That is my hand. And uh, you know like,

So you called the director to settle the bet?

Yeah, no. I really thought, you know, I was trying to get like residuals off that or something.

Do you get them?

No. I'm sure the hand model does, though.

Some Swedish hand model named like guy Is making the money that you should be making for your finger. It's just all wrong. Okay. Um, besides this movie, James Franco Yes. Cast you not once but twice in two movies that you have coming out. So What do you mean two I'm not Stop doing this to me.

Oh, no. Uh, James, yeah, I mean, it started out with a one of the movies I did called Bukowski, which is a it's an adaptation of Charles Bukowski, the poet, his life. So I played his best friend in the movie. And then he was producing another movie called Memoria. I I played this like pretty pretty like rough character who, um, you know, skates around, he smokes cigarettes. So I think like Again, don't try this at home, kids. Uh, I it was playing a different role like that. It was pretty interesting. James was super funny. And he I mean, his directing style. He was really cool because, you know, he's an actor and he gets what actors go through on set.

Pretty big bragging rights.

Yeah. Pretty cool. James Franco is the homie, now.

Is he? Do you call him? That's me trying to use lingo that I can't really use sounding smoothly. You didn't pull it off. It was good. You grew up doing musical theater. Is that true?

Oh geez. Those were the dark days in my life. Uh, Sound of Music?

A little Sound of Music?

I did Sound of Music and the Music Man. I thought I could sing. I really did. And oh my gosh. For so long, I thought I could sing. I really did. And like

So you were cast. So you must be able to sing.

Yeah, but it's like a kid's summer camp, so they have to kind of like, you know, they're not going to leave kids out and say, You suck at singing. Get out of this camp. Uh, I have I'm going to tell this story. The worst time in my life was I I thought I could sing. So I serenaded this girl over video chat who I liked. And then it somehow was recorded and I saw it five years later, and I like I wanted to cry. My voice was so bad.

Not even this cry? Like

Yeah, no, like I could literally like cry right now just remembering. I'm going to use that in future films.

Do you have a crush on any females in Hollywood?

Uh, that's hard. I would have to say I mean, I mean, I feel like all of my my crushes in uh in Hollywood are like married and pregnant. So I like, you know, first you got like Mila Kunis, Scarlett Johansson. Just everyone. Like everybody's out of reach, especially because I'm only 15. But for all of you super models out there, one day I will be above the age of 18 and ready to mingle.

I don't know what to say to that. I could talk to you all day. This is just I feel like I could learn a lot about that. Give me a call when some 19. Cut that out of the. We're ending it right there.

All right. Thank you so much. And you too.