Logan Lerman Resurrects Percy Jackson

So great to have you here, Logan. You walked in and you said two words, holy something.

Yeah, holy shit. This place is insane.

Do you really like it?

Yeah, it's really nice. I kinda think it's like a nightclub.

It is like a-- it's very blue. I mean over there, you guys don't see that on camera, but it's very blue over here. We'll pan to it later so people don't see it. Yeah. A lot of blue lights. Yes. And we have our celebrity pillow.

Yeah, a lot of people's faces on pillows. It kinda wigged you out when you walked in.

Yeah, no, I'm just, you know, sensory overload. It's nice. It's cool. So second installment of this film. I know you said it's epic and bigger than before.

It is, yeah.

In what, in what sense?

Oh, in every sense. I mean, you know, if you're gonna make a sequel to uh, Percy Jackson, you gotta make it bigger and uh, please the fans. So uh, we've uh, you know, the stakes are are raised and uh, the creatures are bigger, uh, yeah, the conflict's bigger.

So compared to the first one, because I know the first one there was a ton of green screen. I know there's a ton in this, but you said too that they actually built a lot of the monsters. So you're not acting opposite a tennis ball through the entire film.

Yeah. Not through the entire film. Yeah.

Only part of the film. A part of the film. I mean, a good portion of it is green screen. You have fun acting opposite a tennis ball? They give so much, don't they?

Yeah, they give a lot, you know. I mean, yeah, I mean it's not too bad. But yeah, yeah, I mean there were a lot of uh, actors that were in like prosthetic makeup and stuff like that, dressed up as the characters and then retouched with uh, with visual effects and stuff. See, that's a job I would not want to have. 15 hours of of makeup a day. It's it's really intense. And these uh, these guys uh, yeah, suffered through it for for the scenes and stuff like that. So, pretty gnarly.

Yeah, yeah. And you have some new you have some new people. You have Leven, who we just had in here.

Yeah, yeah.

And she's a real, I mean she's a real surfer. So water is like her thing. Are you, even though you're playing the son of Poseidon, are you a water guy or no?

Uh, yeah, I mean I like I like the water, but I'm not I'm not like Leven. I'm not like, you know, surfing and everything.

So I know you grew up, you grew up acting. I mean you grew up at what age? Because I think I read that you took sort of a hiatus at one point. Because I think when you start that young, you just go, okay, this is great, this is fun.

Yeah. Yeah, I was just doing it. I was just like, hey, it gets me out of school.

It wasn't like you were two going, I wanna be the next Russell Crowe.

No. No, no. No, I wasn't like serious about it or anything. I just kinda started, you know, I grew up in LA and uh, it's uh, it's really accessible to try it out. So.

It's not like people who jump on a bus or a plane and.

No, it's not like it's not like a big risk. There wasn't like

You can go around the corner and go to an audition and then go back to school.

Yeah, it wasn't like a big, you know, you know, leap of faith or anything. It was just like, oh, it's here and you can audition and stuff. And I did and I I just got work at a young age. And um, but yeah, yeah, there was a period of time where I had like a bad experience on a film as a kid. And um, yeah, I just I I quit. I was like, I don't wanna do this anymore. I'm eight years old. I'm quitting. I'm out of here. I'm not doing this anymore. Yeah, yeah. Like, sorry guys. I'm leaving.

You worked with, I mean so, like Russell Crowe and Jim Carrey and so many great actors working, you know, growing up. Did you, do you get starstruck ever? Um, at this point, or you just like, oh,

I mean, with people like like, I mean I wouldn't typically uh, think that I would be like starstruck by, but sometimes, yeah.

Who who is who would be somebody that, or somebody you've met. Didn't you meet Paul McCartney once?

Yeah, that was the biggest. That was the biggest moment in my life.

Biggest moment of your life? I'd say yeah. Not young Hollywood. Like you said holy.

I know. This is holy. Paul McCartney's like. It's a whole other holy. No, he's like the biggest inspirations like ever. But um, yeah, I'm a big fan of his. Yeah, it was that that was really cool.

What did you say to him? What did he say to you?

Uh, you know, actually he he was at a uh, a screening of uh, of a movie that I did. And uh, he was very complimentary and really nice and um, yeah, it was weird to get compliments from uh, from a guy you respect so much and like admire. So I was just like thank you, you know, I love you.

You told him you loved him? That's a good icebreaker.

I might have. I might have said that. I don't really remember exactly. But I was like, in my mind, I'm like, oh my God. It was It was all a big bog. Take me with you.

Yeah. So speaking of big names, I know you've got a lot of other films coming out too. Perks of Being a Wallflower. I think so many people sort of said, wow, like who's that guy? Off of that film, do you still get a lot of feedback off of that role?

Yeah, I mean that that film opened up a lot of doors for me. And um, you know, for me it was just a a lucky uh, a lucky find that I just jumped on and uh, I really liked it.

So beyond acting, do you see yourself directing, producing, down the road?

Um, yeah, yeah, those are all things that I that I aspire to do. Um, all of which, you know, I mean, takes time and uh, takes the right timing and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, I mean hopefully there'll be a period of time where I feel comfortable enough to dive into those, I guess, mediums.

Well I know this film is all about gods and goddesses. Who would you sort of say is your god or goddess of film, like either a director?

Oh, I mean, I I uh, I mean there's a long list of uh, of gods for me in terms of, you know, filmmakers and stuff like that. I guess, you know, like David Fincher, I'm a huge fan of, grew up really really loving his work. Paul Thomas Anderson, people like that.

So the this time around was it easier?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it was a lot easier cause uh, I mean, we basically, you know, laid out the groundwork on the first movie and asked all the questions, you know, about Percy's background and we um, you know, I learned how to sword fight and fight and all those things and uh,

Cause you use that in your life all the time, right?

All the time. Yeah. You'd be really surprised. It really comes in handy, doesn't it? It's old school, but that's the way I roll. And um, I uh, no, yeah, no, but yeah, it was a lot easier um, jumping into the second film and and uh, I mean with that training on the first one and everything, so.

Yeah. And how many more do we have to expect? How many more Percy installments?

Uh, that I guess that's up to uh, up to the

That's up to America.

It's up to the America. It's up to the world. I mean, uh, you know, I uh, I'm I'm a I'm a fan of the series and um, and if it does well and people see it and fans like it and people like it then we can do a bunch of them.

Well, I know you have a lot of fans here at Young Hollywood and we thank you for coming in.

Yeah. Oh, thank you.

Come back anytime to our little nightclub.

Thank you very much. No, thanks for having me.