Interview with Jack Griffo on The Thundermans
Glitter recently sat down with Jack Griffo who plays Max, the evil super villain brother on Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans, what his first acting gig was, how he and his co-star, Kira Kosarin, who plays his sister, Phoebe, first met, who is inspirations are (we bet you can’t guess who they are), who he’d love to act with and what he’s up to next. Read on to find out about this amazingly talented actor.
Glitter: What was your first acting gig?
Jack: My first acting gig was in Florida, actually when I didn’t live in LA. I did community theatre stuff, I did commercials, but my first thing that I got paid for as a professional acting gig was a production of A Christmas Story. I was 11!
Glitter: Wow! So you’ve been doing this since you were little?
Jack: Yeah! I mean, I didn’t do it seriously until I moved to LA. I just did it for fun, you know?
Glitter: Of course. You have to start somewhere.
Jack: Yes, totally!! So that was my first thing that I professionally did.
Glitter: If you could act with anyone as your co-star, who would it be and why?
Jack: Tyler Posey from Teen Wolf. I LOVE Teen Wolf!! I really want to audition for the show and get to be a guest star or something, but I have a huge man crush on him and I want to meet him.
Glitter: Are you planning on auditioning for Teen Wolf anytime?
Jack: I mean, they are on hiatus but if there is a role open I’d want to read for it but, you know, we’ll see what happens. But it’s one of my favorite shows.
Glitter: So if you weren’t acting, what would you be doing instead?
Jack: Right now, or in the future job wise?
Glitter: Hmm… both.
Jack: Right now, I’d just be going to high school! I was all set to go to high school in Florida, and it kind of just worked out that it didn’t happen that way and that I went to LA instead. So if I wasn’t here, I’d be there at high school and I’d be a junior. I’d be doing shows and production stuff. As for the future, I had plans to go to NYU and do community theatre and be on Broadway.
Glitter: So you’d still want to be doing the same business?
Jack: Yeah! Other than film and TV, I always had aspirations to be in the theater and be on Broadway, because that’s what my brothers did and that’s what I grew up watching.
Glitter: But then the plans changed!
Jack: Yes, and for the better I think. Who knows! Maybe I will go to college there one day.
Glitter: So what can you tell us about your new show on Nick, The Thundermans? What’s it about and who do you play?
Jack: I’m on set right now, actually! It’s about a family of superheroes who move to Hiddenville, which is a suburb of their big super hero town. They kind of wanted to get away from all the super hero stuff and live a normal life. So they moved to Hiddenville and they have to keep their powers a secret. It’s all about me and all my sibling trying to live their life with super powers. I play Max Thunderman, who is definitely a lot different from the other members of the family. He wants to be a super villain instead of a super hero. It sets him apart in a lot of ways. He’s a bad boy. And his twin sister, Phoebe, wants to be a super HERO, and it’s interesting because we have the same powers, but we are polar opposite, which is where a lot of the conflict comes into the show, and I think it’s really great.
Glitter: Since he’s a trouble maker and wants to be a super villain, how do you get into that mind set before you get on camera?
Jack: He’s definitely a trouble maker. The mindset really comes in the writing, we have AMAZING writers on the show, but after reading the script all week I kind of know how to play things. But to get into character, it’s not really that much of a process. It’s just getting into the mindset of Max. I’m a LOT different from Max!
Glitter: You’re not a trouble maker?
Jack: No!! I’m not really a trouble maker. And like, I never really get into trouble. I only got detention once in middle school, and it was terrible!
Glitter: Did you ever imagine yourself having your own TV show?
Jack: I always had hopes, you know? When I moved here from Florida I was 13. I always hoped that this would happen, but I was just training. I trained for two years before I really booked anything substantial. I always thought it was the best thing. I didn’t want to do anything else. Along the way I got some co-stars in things where I only had one or three lines. It was all from training and practice, and when I turned 16 I got my own show!
Glitter: How did you find out about The Thundermans? Did you just read the script and fall in love? Tell us about that.
Jack: Well, I was already with Nickelodeon. I had a failed pilot with them. We shot a pilot in August of 2012 and it just didn’t go. So I was still signed with Nick, and what happened was they put me on Marvin Marvin and See Dad Run, while I was still signed with them. And then they released me in December, and then I went over to Disney. I did Jessie, and then Nickelodeon took me back. They called, and they were like, “Hey! We have this thing going on. We really think you’d be good for this, we’re sorry the pilot last year didn’t go, but we think you should come in.”
So I went in for it and it just worked. The next time I went in was with Kira and she already had the role. Once the chemistry read rolled around I read with Kira and it was just awesome. I’ve known Kira for three years. We were already like brother and sister, so it was really cool to be able to book it.
We went to the Kids Choice Awards together, and that was the first time we were really all together as a family.
Glitter: So how did you and Kira meet? You said that you’ve known her for three years! How did that happen?
Jack: We met when I was 13. What’s so funny is that she is from Florida too, and we actually moved to LA within one week of each other. Then we did the training together at acting school. It’s crazy how things work out like that. Out of all the thousands of people!
Glitter: That is so cool! So what has been the most difficult role for you to play so far?
Jack: Honestly, this one. Everything that I’ve done was really just… me. It hasn’t been that much of a challenge, but that’s what I think is so cool about Max and The Thundermans is that I get to be challenged with these scripts and this character and be someone that I’m totally not.
I am never going to turn down work, but it’s just so much of a bonus to have this role.
Glitter: Was it hard going back from Nick to Disney then to Nick again?
Jack: I mean, not really! A lot of things have to go into signing contacts, but I ended up going back to Nickelodeon.
Glitter: What’s the difference between the two? Do you have a preference?
Jack: Really, everything is very similar. I wouldn’t say one is better than the other. I’ve never been on a set where there is crazy egos or anything.
Glitter: Awesome! So who are your inspirations, famous or otherwise?
Jack: My family. I think just being with them, and learning from my siblings. I learn a lot from them.
Glitter: Do they live with you in LA?
Jack: One of my brothers lives in LA, my sister is in Asia, my other brother lives in NYC, and my other brother lives in Tennessee.
Glitter: Do you miss your family when you work?
Jack: Yeah! It’s really rare to get all of us together. We are trying to do it around the holidays.
Glitter: Let’s go back to Kira a little bit. So, you guys are really close, but what is it like having to play a sibling rivalry? Your characters aren’t exactly perfectly fond of each other but you sometimes get along.
Jack: It’s just like real life! We are as close as siblings in real life. It’s real!
Glitter: What’s next for you? Do you have any other plans besides continuing with the show?
Jack: I have Jinxed coming on Nickelodeon next month, and that’s really cool. Other than that, I’m just finishing the first season of The Thundermans. Once the new year starts, we will know if we are going to do a second season, or just a continuation of the first season.
Glitter: Well, I hope it keeps going! You’re great at what you do.
Jack: Thank you so much!! Nice talking!
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