October 2016 - The 5: Jamison Newlander

Let's take a step back to 1987. What was the experience like to be on the set of The Lost Boys?

Okay, let me set the scene for you. I was kind of a regular kid living in L.A. I started auditioning after school and got a few gigs—a commercial, a few TV roles. But the world of feature films was tough to get into. So, when I got Lost Boys, it was a big deal for me. From the beginning it was surreal, flying up to Santa Cruz with Corey Feldman, just like we were longtime friends. We’d auditioned together and really hit it off. But still, he was Mouth in Goonies! And pretty quickly, I was hanging all the time with both Coreys, who never made me feel like a third wheel. For about a month we were all up in Santa Cruz, and it was like summer camp. So much fun. We pulled hijinks like sneaking into the hotel swimming pool after hours. Biking around town when we weren’t on set. Going to the beach, riding the roller coaster on the boardwalk. When we were on camera, everybody was really focused on making a great movie. Director Joel Schumacher demanded a lot from us. I was especially nervous at first, because I was so new acting in this high-profile movie. But pretty quickly I got the hang of it, and it was such a treat working with these awesome people. We shot the rest of the movie down in L.A. on a soundstage. And as often happens shooting a movie, we were sitting around 90% of the time. There was a lot of time to just hang out. And we all really got to know each other well.

What was it about the character, Alan Frog, that you enjoyed?

I enjoyed being tough. I wasn’t really a tough kid at all in real life. I was always on the short side. But through the magic of film I was able to be this badass.

You've developed a loyal fan base. What do your fans mean to you?

I love to meet Lost Boys and Frog Brothers fans in different cities and hear their stories of when they first saw the movie. How they came to love it. There are couples who saw it as their first date, and it’s been a part of their relationship for years and years. That kind of stuff is really rewarding. I also love interacting with my fans on Twitter. There’s just a lot of mutual love in my twittersphere. I feel like I have the best fans in the world.

Your experience has lead you to work in front of and behind the camera. Which side do you enjoy more?

The world in front of the camera is the world for me. I love being on set, seeing all of the mayhem behind the camera. People running around like crazy. And then on the other side, in front of the camera is this imaginary world that’s full of beautiful possibilities. Where everything is placed exactly where it’s supposed to be. I like to be in that world. I’ve directed and produced, and I’m not very good at either. Though I do love to write, also.

What upcoming projects do you have?

I have three films in the hopper. I play a dad for the first time in a horror movie coming out next year called Waking Nightmare, with Diane Franklin and Shelly Regner. I have another horror flick called Running With Fear, also set to come out in 2017. And I stepped out of the horror genre for the first time in a long time to do a romantic comedy called Otherwise Engaged. I also do a biweekly podcast called “The Jamison Newlander and Some Other Guy Show,” which has been a really nice way to keep fans up to speed on my career—and do some whacky comedy while I’m at it.