Interview: Jake Tusing, Star of American Teen
Rated by 6 members
Editor's Note: Because the new documentary American Teen is about real life in high school, we talked to one of the film's subjects about his take on high school pressures, cliques, friendship, and dating -- as well as what parents can do to help make life easier on their teens.
Jake Tusing did not enjoy high school. A loner who felt awkward and shy in social situations, Tusing spent a lot of time playing video games -- the one scenario in which he "could always get the girl." Still, as a senior at his high school in Warsaw, Indiana, Tusing decided that he would do whatever it took to finally get a girlfriend -- and maybe not face so much loneliness. His determination -- not to mention his good sense of humor -- helped land him a role as one of the subjects of American Teen, a documentary that made waves at the Sundance Film Festival before being picked up by Paramount Vantage. The film releases in theaters on June 25. In the documentary, director Nanette Burstein follows five Warsaw high schoolers for their pivotal senior year, during the 2005-06 academic year. The five teen stories Burstein chose to highlight were culled from more than 1,000 hours of footage.
We talked to Jake -- now taking a year off from college as he decides what career he'd like to pursue -- about his high school experience, and his advice for parents with teens going through the trials and tribulations of adolescent life.
We think, after seeing this movie, parents will want to know what they can do to make high-school drama a little easier on their children. Was there anything your parents did that helped you get through the loneliness of your high school years?
Well, we weren't close in the traditional sense. We didn't have dinner together every night, but they were always very supportive, very open, and always let me have my space. They let me make my own mistakes so I could learn from them and let me do the things I felt I wanted to do. That's why I was in the documentary. I said I wanted to do it and they said to go for it. So I always really appreciated that they gave me my space.
Were there ever days you thought, "I don't want to go back to that place"?
No. There's very little you can do without a high school diploma. You keep going and figure that as long as you get out of town, everyone else does too. You'll never see these people again if you don't want to. High school is its own little world -- right down to having people who seem like criminals and some who are politicians -- but once you get out, all of that dissolves. After high school, nothing, including yourself -- is so focused on you.
Which of your classmates' stories surprised you the most?
Megan [Krizmanich, a popular, involved, successful senior]. Going through high school with her, I thought she had the perfect life. But in my opinion, she had it a lot worse than me. She was under so much pressure, from herself, from her dad, from her clique of friends.
What do you take away from learning that about someone whose life seems so perfect on the outside?
[From the film], you see that everyone goes through the same thing. If ever you feel like you're alone in your situation, know that you're not.
I admired how you decided you were going to get a date and you just started asking girls out instead of staying on the sidelines. It's not something I'd think someone who calls themselves shy could do with such determination. What made you decide to go for it like that?
I'm not a conversationalist and I didn't go to a lot of social gatherings, so I needed to ask [a girl] out to a movie [so I had] some time to think and get my head together. I just started asking girls out because I don't have any tact and I was tired of being alone, so I decided to just go for it.
What can you tell parents about talking to kids about dating? Was that something your parents did?
Oh, if I had a date, my mom wanted to know all about it. It was nice to know she cared but it was the last thing I wanted to talk about. She still does it: "How did it go?" "What did you do?" But even if the date was good, I don't want to talk about it.
Watching the movie, it seems as though you really had no one your age to talk to at all. But in a few scenes, you're having conversations with kids in the band. Did you have any friends in the band, or another group?
I did have a few close friends in the band. But I definitely made more friends when I got out of high school than I had while I was there. I'm friends now with people I never met in school by meeting them on Facebook.
Why do you think you had so few friends? You're a nice, funny guy.
I now know that I never made an effort to talk to people. I would pre-judge them and never bothered to meet them. Like Colin [Clemens, the star basketball player who is in American Teen]. I heard he was a great guy but because of my vision of him, I never tried to tak to him.
So was your scene at the school dance, when you refused to dance with your date, Molly, pretty dead-on? Did you see the more popular kids and just feel glued to you seat?
Yes, I never moved from my chair, until maybe the end of the night when almost everyone had gone and it was just me and a few friends -- they got me on the dance floor. And I hated it. Molly was mad and had every reason to be.
For someone entering high school this year, do you have a solid piece of advice about making the experience a little easier?
To make life easier, give people a chance. And as hard as it can be, try not to care what other people think because your opinion is the only one that matters.
You're traveling around the country with the other kids from the documentary -- the jock, the heartthrob, the rebel, and the princess, as they're called in the film. It seems like -- after seeing you with them after the screening -- you all get along. How does it feel to have this new friendship with them, after coming from such different high-school worlds?
I really am glad I finally got a chance to know them. I get along better with these people than with anyone I hung out with in high school. They're the people I wish I met in high school.
Have you learned anything from these friendships?
After high school, I really feel like stereotypes dissolve and people can just be themselves.
Do you think you'll stay in touch?
Cheesy as it sounds, I hope we're friends forever.
I've seen some references to you and the other students as the new "Breakfast Club." Do you have a name for your group?
We sometimes refer to ourselves as The Teens.
