This story about “The Fabelmans” star Gabriel LaBelle first appeared in the Race Begins issue of awards magazine TheWrap.
When he walked into TheWrap’s studio at the Toronto International Film Festival in September wearing a tracksuit and sporting a big smile, Gabriel LaBelle was a 19-year-old Canadian actor who had never done an interview before. And more specifically, when he arrived at TIFF, he was an unknown who had done a handful of roles since he made his acting debut at the age of 11 on the Canadian television series “Motive.”
But when he left Toronto a few days later and after many interviews, he was the star of “The Fabelmans,” the film that would win the festival’s People’s Choice Award and become an instant awards favorite. The film, written by Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner and based on Spielberg’s own experiences growing up as an aspiring filmmaker, stars Michelle Williams, PaulDano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch, among others. But at the center is LaBelle as Sammy Fabelman, a fictional version of the teenager who would become the most successful director of the last half century.
A month and a half after TIFF, I sat down with LaBelle again, this time in a small coffee shop on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. The smile hasn’t faded in the intervening six weeks, and he’s still such an enthusiastic talker that a conversation in a small area of sidewalk tables was more like moderating an impromptu public Q&A with a young rising star. .
You have moved to Los Angeles now.
Yes, after filming the movie. You know, there’s the trope of how to go to LA and start a life and stuff. And before I came here, I just thought, “Oh, you don’t have to do that as an actor. I’m from Vancouver, that’s enough.” But you have to, right? I am realizing that. When I was in Vancouver, it was almost an extracurricular activity to audition. They led me towards them, sometimes I caught them, but it was only part of what I did. I didn’t really take it seriously until the last three years or so. I never put bets on it.
Well, “The Fabelmans” must be a “Welcome to the big leagues, kid” kind of moment.
Yes. (laughs) That’s a lot.
Your father is an actor and director. Was acting something around you or something you really wanted to do yourself?
I always knew I wanted to do it. I started doing camp musical theater when I was 8 years old, and then I started taking regular kids acting classes and some sleepover camps. I was one of the youngest children in the camp; the other kids were older than me and cooler than me, but they treated me like another friend, and that was a lot of fun. And the older girls would play with my long curly hair, which was awesome. (laughs) I just realized, “Oh, this is perfect for me. I want to keep doing it. How do I keep doing it? Oh, there’s an acting class in the fall, I want to do that.” I always knew that I’m not really supposed to do anything else, but in high school he also played sports and was involved in extracurricular activities. Acting wasn’t a focus until he wanted to go to college to study theater and drama. So I started thinking, ‘Oh, there’s a chance I won’t get into this school (Concordia University), so I have to make sure this monologue is good.’ It was through training through that monologue that I started to understand what you need to do as an actor. I got into school but COVID hit so I was down for a year. And not being able to do anything for a year, not going to school, not being able to get a job, just being inside my home without being able to see anyone for a year, all I did was watch movies and interview actors.
What did you learn from watching interviews with actors?
It was a change of perspective, to see acting as work and as a mental challenge. It was, “I like this guy. Why is that person successful? It was a lot to watch a lot of actor roundtables and read a lot of books and find out what they were really doing. For a while, you think that acting is just saying words and that some people say the words better than others. And then you realize it’s a lot of serious work. And when the opportunity came to audition for “The Fabelmans,” I really wanted it.
But you didn’t know much about the project at the time.
No. It said: “UNTITLED AMBLIN FILM.” That could be anything. Two short scenes. I send it off and then find out two days later: “Oh, I think Spielberg is directing this.” And then, “And I think it’s about his life. And I think that role is him.” (laughs) So I keep calling every other day: “Any feedback? Any feedback?” Nothing, nothing, nothing. And then I read articles saying that Steven Spielberg is making a movie about his life with Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, and Seth Rogan. And I’m like, “Oh my gosh. I guess I I didn’t get it.” But two months later, in May, I get a text asking for a full-body photo. And then later that day, they say, “Cindy Tolan, the casting director, would like to call you back. Here’s another scene.” It’s in two days, so I don’t do anything. I don’t have dinner with my family: I’m in my room getting ready, and the next day, I stack books on the dining room table and put my laptop on top for the Zoom. I have my tripod filming myself on my phone separately, and I kick my dad out of the house. It goes well, and the next day they say, “Okay, Steven would like to meet with you. Here’s a four-page monologue.” .
And at this point, the “show up and say words” stage is over.
Yes Yes. At this point, I’m really diving into what preparation is. But the writing was so perfect that it was easy to figure out what he had to prepare. And then I put that in my head for two days before every audition and callback. I did Zoom with Steven and it was two scenes, each five minutes long, two different takes. It’s 25 minutes, but the Zoom lasted an hour. So for 35 minutes, he and I talked about what this movie means to him, what his life was like, what my life in Vancouver is like. It was great, and I felt really good about what I had done. I thought, “If I don’t get it, then he’s just looking for a different type of character and there’s nothing I can do about it.” And then the next day I got it.
And then the work really began.
Exactly. The nerves really kicked in once I got the script. While I was auditioning, the character was called “Teenage Sammy,” and I’m thinking, “as opposed to an adult.” And then I get the script and it’s like, he’s a little kid for 30 pages and then he’s 14. So I figure for the next 20 to 30 pages, it’ll be me, and then he’ll be an adult. Three different acts, like “Moonlight” or something. I’m folding every page I’m on to keep track of the scenes I have to memorize and learn. And eventually I stop folding them, because I’m into everything. (laughs) Nobody told me that. While I was auditioning, it was “Teenage Sammy, support.” But no, I’m the leader of this. I’m the one. And the actual work started, but it was great because I could Zoom in on the person I’m emulating and figure out who they are as a person in reference to the script. And they sent me a lot of old 8mm footage of him and his family that he shot or someone else shot.
After reading the script, did you have a list of questions you wanted to ask Steven?
Yes Yes. It was all in reference to, “Did this really happen?” “That you thought?” “What did you feel?” “What were your opinions about your mom or your dad or your uncle or your sisters?” A lot of talking about the script, but also, “What movies did you see right now? What movies do you want me to watch? He was an amazing resource for building a character, but I’m not impersonating him. In terms of the way he talks, I’m going to have my own voice. It’s like, there’s Steven and me and Sammy, and we’re all like a Venn diagram, I guess.
Did you learn to make movies with the kind of equipment you used in the ’60s?
Yeah, I learned how to cut and splice and use editing machines and projectors and how to load and unload cameras. Because making a movie back then was hard. It was this enormous physical labor, and it took an incredible amount of time. That’s what makes it really cool, because he started doing that when he was 6 years old and then by the time he was 16, he has 10 years of experience. When he’s 26, when he’s doing Jaws, he was so good because he knows it on an instinctual level and he’s really obsessed with it.
Where do you want your career to go after playing Steven Spielberg?
After “Fablemans”, I was in “American Gigolo”. And then I shot this movie called “The Snack Shack” all summer in Nebraska. I just want to be a part of good movies. I would like to do movies for the next few years, and then I would like to do some theater. Mix cinema with theater. I will direct at some point.
I was going to ask you if after playing an aspiring director, you wanted to direct.
I wanted to direct before that. I think I know that I will at some point since I was 12 or 13 years old. But seeing Steven is really inspiring. He’s just walking around with a camera, figuring out what to do that day with his coworkers and his friends. I wanted to do it beforehand, but it’s very validating to watch.
I guess that’s as high as the bar goes.
It is and it is hard to understand that sometimes. Sometimes I worry about being pampered. (laughs) ME am being pampered!
Read more of the Race Begins issue here.
