  Gaelan Connell was after a small part in Bandslam but wound up in the lead opposite Vanessa Hudgens (top left) and Aly Michalka. |
NEW YORK — Gaelan Connell thought he’d try out for the small role of a cellist in the coming-of-age rock movie, Bandslam. He’s had a bit of acting experience, and he really does play the cello.
Instead, he wound up starring in the movie.
Connell, 20, is the lead in Bandslam opposite current ‘It’ girls Vanessa (High School Musical) Hudgens and Aly Michalka, the Aly of the platinum recording artists Aly & AJ.
Connell plays the new kid at school, a nerd with a lot of musical knowledge; Hudgens is the emo classmate he fancies; and Michalka plays a senior he coaches when her rock band competes in a battle-of-the-bands. Bandslam opens in theatres on Friday.
According to Connell, he auditioned for the filmmakers and was finally told by director Todd Graff, “You’re weird enough for the role.”
He dropped out of his first year film studies at New York University to do the movie, which was filmed in Austin, Tex.
“I went to Austin and this crazy thing happened that flipped my life upside down,” Connell says. “It’s pretty amazing for the first movie you do, to be in almost every scene, and then, unfortunately, to have to kiss these two superstar women.” He adds, “Unfortunately for them, clearly,” and he laughs.
Asked where his acting inspiration came from, Connell says, “I would say my dad, who became a big corporate lawyer after his acting dreams failed. They say actors either become politicians or lawyers,” he says, with mock gravity. “Or do they say that? Let’s pretend they do.”
Let’s talk about the fact that Connell plays that cello, not to mention his skills in chess, fencing, horseback riding, sailing and skiing.
“I feel like someone let my mom write my bio,” the Baltimore native says, jokingly. “She’s like, ‘Did you know he can skip?’”
His dad, Connell says, is thrilled that he landed the lead in Bandslam. “He sends these kind of embarrassing family e-mails whenever he finds anything on gossip sites. It’s awkward,” says Connell, laughing. “And he copies my two brothers. Thing is, I have these two brothers who, no matter what I do, I’m always going to be the lazy one. The oldest one made the whole family look stupid by going to Harvard, and he’s a doctor now. The middle brother is like 25, and I thought he could screw it up and make me look good, but no-o-o-o — he decided to join the Peace Corps and go to Morocco. So it’s like, ‘Hey Gaelan! What did you do today? Not go to college?’ Thanks, guys.”
Despite his self-deprecating humour, Connell is an accomplished young man who speaks perfect French and lists Saint Saens among his favourite composers. He’s also lead singer and guitarist in the band Exist, and he’s working with another band called Sweet 16. Bandslam director Todd Graff and Connell are both music fiends, and Connell says he tried and failed to make a mix CD that would surprise Graff.
“He knows everything about music. The only song on the CD I made that he didn’t know was one by my band, and he ended up putting it on the Bandslam soundtrack — which is pretty exciting.”
Bandslam isn’t actually Connell’s first movie. His fluency in French is what got him cast, at age 10, in the Lasse Hallstrom movie Chocolat.
“It was totally magical, hanging out with Carrie-Anne Moss and Johnny Depp. But then, it was like, I had to do some other acting thing or I’d always be known as that kid from Chocolat,” he says. “I thought maybe I should try this acting, so I did a lot of theatre stuff, and being in Baltimore, it’s like, ‘You have to do John Waters,’ so I did a part in A Dirty Shame — which I could never see because it’s NC-17! And then I got to New York for NYU and it was like, “Oh, you’re the one actor who hasn’t been in Law & Order, so I got a small part on Law & Order.”
For the future, Connell is considering his next role and is busy with his own film company, Optimal Entertainment. Otherwise, he says, “I think I’m going to give in and move to L.A. Because I’m not going to NYU right now.”
liz.braun@sunmedia.ca
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