Teen Machine has interviewed Jonathan Taylor Thomas on
his leading role in the film Tom and Huck, based on the
book The adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
1 | Tom and Huck is an unforget- | also a demanding shoot, not | ||||||
table tale of growing up in rural | only for the stunts Jonathan | |||||||
Missouri. The story centres | does, but also because he's in | |||||||
around Jonathan's character | almost every single frame of the | |||||||
Tom Sawyer, who's a good kid | film. And finally, Jonathan felt | |||||||
at heart although he longs to be | the pressure of bringing to life | |||||||
free of school, duties and res- | Tom Sawyer, one of the most | |||||||
ponsibility until he's forced to | famous boys in American | |||||||
make a life-or-death choice. | literature. | |||||||
2 | "The character is very interest- | 5 | Just as Tom Sawyer is a giant | |||||
ing and has so many different | in American literature, so is his | |||||||
sides to him," explains Jonathan | best buddy Huckleberry Finn. | |||||||
about Tom. "Of course, it does | Their friendship is central to the | |||||||
take place in 1845, so Tom's not | movie and the story. You see, | |||||||
real, real educated," he says. | Huck is the town's homeless kid | |||||||
"We tried to hit on that with the | - his father's an alcoholic and | |||||||
language he uses." But despite | he lives as he pleases down by | |||||||
Tom's impatience with formal | the Mississippi River. All the | |||||||
education, he's very creative | adults in town look down on | |||||||
when he wants to cut class or | Huck, but all the kids think he's | |||||||
get out of his duties. "Tom's very | cool because he doesn't have to | |||||||
clever and he's always thinking | go to school or church and is | |||||||
and planning out his next move. | never punished. | |||||||
That's his trademark - how | 6 | When Jonathan's character | ||||||
clever and sneaky he is." | Tom isn't fooling around with | |||||||
3 | Tom's carefree boyhood | Huck, he's chasing the new girl | ||||||
comes to an abrupt halt when | at school, Becky Thatcher. Her | |||||||
he and his friend Huckleberry | refusal to be caught by Tom | |||||||
Finn witness a murder as they're | keeps him interested throughout | |||||||
exploring the local graveyard. | the story. And, their "engage- | |||||||
The pair swear never to tell | ment" kiss is one of the film's | |||||||
anyone what they saw. That is | sweetest moments. | |||||||
until the wrong man is about to | 7 | So, how did Jonathan like | ||||||
be hanged for the crime while a | doing his first on-screen kiss? "I | |||||||
murderer goes free. | was nervous," says Jonathan | |||||||
4 | For Jonathan, the filming of | with a laugh. "It was not some- | ||||||
Tom and Huck was a consider- | thing I'm comfortable with but it | |||||||
able challenge. First, as the only | was an important part of the | |||||||
"name" star in the film, it's a very | story so you've got to do it. In | |||||||
important movie for his career. | the end, it's just like doing any | |||||||
Physically, Tom and Huck was | scene and it went fine." | |||||||
'Teen Machine', April 1996 |