On the 21st February, Jacob Laval’s latest project The Unbreakable Boy will release in the United States through Lionsgate, in which Jacob will be portraying Austin LeRette. The Unbreakable Boy is a biographical coming-of-age feature film based on Scott LeRette’s book of the same name, telling the story of Jacob’s character Austin LeRette, who has osteogenesis imperfecta and autism. For the film, Jacob worked closely with his on-screen family Zachary Levi (Scott LeRette), Meghann Fahy (Teresa LeRette) and Gavin Warren (Logan LeRette), with the film directed by Jon Gunn, and whilst Jacob was filming, the real LeRette family visited set numerous times. Further screen roles for Jacob have included playing Conor Stump in HBO Max film 8-Bit Christmas, Seldon Wishnow in HBO mini-series The Plot Against America, and being in the cast of the Emmy-nominated Netflix special John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch and Sesame Street. Jacob made his Broadway debut in the Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ play The Rose Tattoo in 2019 playing Bruno, with the production starring Marisa Tomei. We found out from Jacob about the upcoming biographical film The Unbreakable Boy, portraying Austin LeRette in the film and his time as Seldon Wishnow in The Plot Against America.
Can you tell us about the upcoming biographical coming-of-age feature film The Unbreakable Boy, which is being released in the United States through Lionsgate on 21st February?
The Unbreakable Boy is an inspirational and true story. It is based on the book of the same name, by Scott LeRette. The story tells of how Scott met his wife Teresa and how they got together, had two sons and found out that their oldest son, Austin had both osteogenesis imperfecta and was also autistic. It’s basically a story of them learning to deal with their struggles and hardships together as a family and in their faith.
What are you looking forward to for having The Unbreakable Boy be released next month and who do you think will enjoy watching it?
I think I’m most excited about everyone finally getting to see the story. It’s a story I think many will enjoy seeing because so many people can relate to it on some level. For example, it deals with autism, substance abuse issues, financial problems, and bullying, just to name a few things.
How would you describe your character Austin LeRette and what drew you to the role?
What drew me most to Austin is that he is such a positive force of energy who looks for the best in everyone. He can take what we might consider to be a small moment and turn it into the best moment ever.
How was it telling the story of The Unbreakable Boy?
It was an honour to play Austin in the movie. I’m very grateful to our director Jon Gunn and the LeRette family, as well as Lionsgate and Kingdom Story for allowing me to be a part of this amazing production!
What was it like working opposite Zachary Levi as your on-screen father Scott LeRette and with the rest of the cast, which includes Meghann Fahy and Patricia Heaton?
I really enjoyed working with the entire cast! Zachary was so great as Scott! Meghann was such a great “on-screen” mom and Patricia was so much fun as my grandmother. I also got to spend a lot of time with Gavin Warren, who plays Logan LeRette, my brother, and Pilot Bunch, who plays Tyler. Everyone I worked with was great!
How did you feel finding out you’d booked the role of Austin LeRette and how did you prepare for filming?
I was ecstatic. The audition was pretty difficult, and I was proud of myself for booking it. I worked with Dana Berger, my acting coach, who also came with us to the set, and I became close buddies with Austin himself. First, we Zoomed and then the LeRettes actually visited the set several times, and Austin, Gavin, and I would play in the hotel when we weren’t working or doing school. Getting to know Austin helped shape the way I played him.
Do you have any favourite highlights from your time on set of The Unbreakable Boy that you can share?
I mentioned hanging with Gavin, Austin and Pilot, which was so much fun! Also, I absolutely loved doing the father/son camping trip scene! Doing the activities was so much fun. I had a great time doing the living room dance scene with Meghann! That was an awesome great energy release! And of course, I loved the flying sequence.
In 2021, you played Conor Stump in the HBO Max film 8-Bit Christmas, what was this like to work on?
That was so much fun! We got to go to Toronto, so I loved that and because the movie was about a boy trying to get an NES for Christmas, I got to hang out with a lot of other kid actors! Since we were there during COVID, not a lot was open, so I would love to go back to Toronto again sometime.
Can you tell us what it was like filming as Seldon Wishnow in the 2020 HBO mini-series The Plot Against America?
I had a wonderful experience playing Seldon, even though the topic was difficult. I got to work with some amazing actors like Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector, Azhy Robertson and Caleb Malis to name a few. Since it was my first big project, and it shot for about six months, I was so happy to get that work experience in!
You were in the cast of the Emmy-nominated Netflix special John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, how different did you find this project to your other roles?
In The Sack Lunch Bunch, I got to basically play myself in silly situations and that was so much fun! John was involved in every step and just amazing to get to work with! I loved working with David Byrne and Richard Kind too.
We shot for a couple of weeks in the summer of 2019, and it was like being in summer camp with all of us kids hanging out. Kelly, John’s assistant, got to take care of us and really had her hands full 🤣.
What did you enjoy most about being involved with Sesame Street in 2020?
I was lucky to be invited to appear on several episodes of Sesame Street, and it was such a welcoming and fun environment! They did everything they could to make us kids comfortable. And hey, who doesn’t like working Elmo? All the characters were so fun to meet!
How did you find the experience making your Broadway debut in The Rose Tattoo at the American Airlines Theatre (now Todd Haimes Theatre) as Bruno, which starred Marisa Tomei?
The Rose Tattoo was a limited run in the fall of 2019. Working on Broadway was a dream come true and one I know so many people wish for. Marisa was so wonderful with us kids and so great as Serafina, as was the rest of the cast.
Even though the schedule was eight shows a week and I was still attending school during the day, it was such an honour.
What was it like performing in the Broadway revival of a Tennessee Williams play and how was it getting into character?
Since I was 11, I don’t think I understood or appreciated that as much I as do in retrospect. Tennessee Williams is such a legend.
Getting to play a kid, as a kid, didn’t take a whole lot of prep, to be honest.
Where does your love of acting come from and how did you get into it?
Well, as my parents explain it, I always wanted a job. From the time I was two or three, I wanted to work as a cashier at every store we went to; I even argued with them once as I was waiting with them at the DMV because I wanted to fill out an application. The people who worked there thought it was so funny they gave me one. Then, we found out from a client of my dad’s that kids could get work doing background for film and TV, and since we live in NYC that was an easy process, and so it began.
How do you like to spend your time away from acting, and what are some of your favourite films, TV and theatre shows to watch?
Well, I’m a teenager so I love to play video games such as Minecraft, Block Blast (my current obsession), and I also love to play board games with my friends.
I attend a NYC public school, which I consider a rite of passage as a New York kid and I’m in, like, four after school clubs.
My favourite movies are the John Wick series, I loved Deadpool and Wolverine, I’m team Barbie over Oppenheimer, and I loved the movie Wicked! My ultimate favourites are comedies such as Dumb and Dumber and anything Jim Carrey! Oh, and The Unbreakable Boy, of course!
My favourite TV shows are Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Cobra Kai, Stranger Things and Squid Game. I also like reality shows like Survivor and I have recently gotten into The Traitors.
My favourite Broadway show is Wicked, but I also loved Cabaret!
Do you have any upcoming projects that you can tell us about and what are you hoping this year brings for you?
Right now, we are busy with the opening of The Unbreakable Boy. The strikes kind of slowed down production, which affected everyone in the business, so I’m hoping things pick up for everyone in 2025!
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