With Judd Apatow's The King of Staten Island making its Blu-ray debut this week, we were recently granted an exclusive opportunity to get on the phone with actor Moises Arias to chat about his role in the hit comedy, and we also got to talking about his upcoming role in the original superhero movie Samaritan, where he'll star opposite 3x Academy Award-nominee Sylvester Stallone (Rocky; Creed).
While plot details are being kept close to the vest, the basic description reads, "A young boy comes to the realization that a famed superhero, who was thought to have gone missing after an epic battle twenty years ago, may in fact still be around."
He also shared his thoughts on reuniting with his Kings of Summer director Jordan Vogt-Roberts on a future project (maybe Metal Gear Solid?) and remained hopeful about possibly getting to play in either the Marvel or DC universe at some point in his career.
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ROHAN: You were a pretty prominent child actor, so what was that transition like for you? Coming up from Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place to tackle more adult roles. I’m sure Kings of Summer was a big part of that shift for you.
MOISES ARIAS: Definitely. Kings was when I was 18 and it was being part of a new network, which is going to affect you in different ways as an actor because I was doing something for five years straight and fell into a rhythm, fell into a way of doing things that doesn’t apply to film and to independent filmmaking, to anything really since it was a television sitcom.
It’s a very long story, I got off that show when I was 16 and that’s right in the pocket of whether you’re going to school or not and I was stressed out about that and then Kings of Summer came at the right time when I was 17/18 years old. That kind of shifted my direction, I was going to go study direction and film probably, I love photography. I haven’t stopped pursuing that passion, but I love this so much. I love being able to do things like Biaggio in Kings or Igor in King of Staten Island, because it’s difficult and I have to learn how to convey so much emotion with these roles in a very subtle way.
I’m still figuring it out, I’m still getting experience. I would never say that I’m 100% perfect in every scene, I’m very critical of myself, but I think it’s going to continue being a learning process and there are always changes that you’ll have to adapt to as an actor.
ROHAN: Kings of Summer is a really underrated gem and I’m assuming you’re still close with Jordan since you cameo’d in Kong: Skull Island. Have you guys talked about reuniting on anything? I know he’s been working hard on his Metal Gear Solid movie.
MOISES: Yeah, he’s popping. He’s amazing. I would be honored to do something with Jordan again, we do get together and every time we do, we agree that our best project is that little film we did in Ohio when we were all pretty much kids. I mean Nick, Gabe and I had just turned 18, NIck might’ve still been 17 and that was Jordan’s first film. It was a moment in time and what was made in that time was special and it’ll always be like that. I’d love to continue that and would love to work with Jordan and Nick and everyone again.
ROHAN: What’s the latest on Samaritan? Are you back filming or still waiting?
MOISES: Yeah, it’s kinda difficult. Everything I see fellow actors, it’s the same thing, no one really knows. Some people are coming back to things, but as for Samaritan, it’s all up in the air as to when we’ll get back to work. What we had done, it was a great group of people and it’s really intense and creative and a difficult endeavor so I hope we can get back to finish the second half soon.
ROHAN: Are you allowed to say anything about your character?
MOISES: *laughs* I don’t think so, can’t say anything yet.
ROHAN: Samaritan seems to be an unique take on superhero movies, but have you ever thought about a part you could play in one of these big-budget Marvel or DC movies?
MOISES: I haven’t had anything in mind, as a kid, I didn’t really buy comic books so I’m not too educated on what hasn’t been produced for television or film, but those are the most exciting films right now. I do train regularly, I would be open for any of them if the opportunity presented itself. I know my friends would kill to see me in anything Marvel or DC, but that’s definitely something I’m interested in and am looking forward to.
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