The jock, the princess, the rebel, the geek and the heartthrob — sound familiar?
While it may be reminiscent of the 1980s classic "The Breakfast Club," for five Indiana teens, this was much more than one Saturday detention. For 10 months during their final year in high school, filmmaker Nanette Burstein and her crew followed Colin Clemens, Megan Krizmanich, Hannah Bailey, Jake Tusing and Mitch Reinholt, documenting every moment of their senior year and all the drama that came along with it for the movie "American Teen."
"They sent out questionnaires to every single senior," Clemens recalled, describing the selection process. "You filled it out, you turned it in, and if they thought you were interesting, they gave you a call." From there, Burstein followed 10 to 15 people, including the five who made the final cut.
"We actually didn't know who all was being filmed at the time," Reinholt said. "But she filmed us through graduation, and we didn't hear from her until right before Sundance in January when she invited us to go out to the festival. Paramount Vantage picked up the film, and we are spending a summer promoting the movie, so it's been pretty cool."
Their sudden rise to fame certainly wasn't anticipated, but don't mistake them for your typical Hollywood actors. These stories are real and show aspects of teen life that adolescents across America face on a regular basis.
Krizmanich, the daughter of a prominent local surgeon, finds herself in some tough situations in the film. "I get in trouble my senior year a lot, and it's all captured on film," said the popular student council vice president, recalling her vandalizing incident. "I think everybody makes mistakes, but I made mine in front of a camera that's now being shared with thousands of people, so that's my one regret."
However, her delinquent behavior doesn't come without a sympathetic backstory. "In the movie, I'm the princess [and] a little bit of a mean girl," she admitted. "But you realize that there's a lot of pressure on me, and I'm not just a mean girl for fun." In addition to the building tension as she awaits an acceptance letter from the family alma mater, Notre Dame, she must also cope with her sister's tragic suicide. "It had happened two years beforehand, and Nanette had asked me to talk about it. About halfway through the interview, I asked to turn off the camera. I couldn't talk about it anymore."
Reinholt, labeled the heartthrob, also has difficulty within his stereotyped role. "Obviously, my negative moment would be breaking up with Hannah in a text message, which is definitely something I'm not proud of," he responded when asked about ending his relationship with the film's artsy rebel. "My most common question after screenings is 'Why did you break up with Hannah?' I admit to making a mistake, [but] I think at the time, it seemed like an easy escape."
Though they may have sometimes been immature in their actions, they've all done some growing up in the two years since the documentary was filmed. Krizmanich and Reinholt now spend lots of time in the library as pre-med students (Megan at Notre Dame and Mitch at Indiana University), while Clemens, the designated jock, is continuing his basketball career. "I ended up getting my scholarship," revealed the athlete, who spent his first two years at Indiana Tech and is now transferring to Indiana's Manchester College. "I'm going to have a marketing degree. But after college is done, I'm going to go overseas to play some basketball and just pursue that as long as I can."
Tusing, however, isn't being the bookworm his geeky stereotype in the film would imply. He's actually taking some time off from college. "I think they call it a 'radical sabbatical,' " he laughed. "I really wanted to use that term, so there it goes."
Though they are grateful for the experience, the unlikely stars still find it hard to believe that their lives will be unfolding in theaters nationwide starting Friday (July 25). "I think if you told us that the movie would be as successful as it is right now, we probably would have laughed at you two years ago when the movie was being filmed," Krizmanich said.
Regardless of initial expectations, "American Teen" will certainly leave its mark as a real-life look into the world of teenagers, and the featured five seem to be quite pleased with the final product. "I think we're a perfect example [of overcoming stereotypes] now. The five of us are best friends," Krizmanich said with a smile. "The princess, the jock, the geek, the rebel and the heartthrob are all best friends."
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