SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Everyone is somehow connected to Kevin Bacon, according to the famous Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon parlour game. But not many people can say they have stolen his car.
James Freedson-Jackson is one of the few who can, though it happened in a movie of course. In the new film “Cop Car,” in theaters Aug. 7 and on video on demand Aug. 14, the 13-year-old South Orange native plays a wayward youth who comes across an abandoned police vehicle with his friend and decides to take it on a joyride. But what starts out as an afternoon of fun soon turns deadly when the corrupt sheriff who owns the car, played by Bacon, starts desperately hunting the boys down, willing to do anything it takes to get back the car and what he is keeping in its trunk.
Though they might have played adversaries onscreen, James told the News-Record that his relationship with Bacon on the set was a completely different story. In fact, he said the Golden Globe-winning star was fun to be around.
“Kevin’s a really cool guy and a really cool actor,” James said in an Aug. 2 phone interview. “During a break off camera he would tell us only clean jokes. He taught us how to drum. He has a band called the Bacon Brothers, so he would teach us songs from that. And I actually went to one of his concerts recently because he was in South Orange at SOPAC, and we went backstage afterwards and we talked about the movie and how we were all really excited for it to come out.”
The whole experience making “Cop Car” was exciting for James, as it was his first feature film. Though he has been performing for most of his life — his past credits include singing with Bruno Mars during the Super Bowl halftime show as well as appearing in “Oliver” at the Paper Mill Playhouse — the young actor said he had never done anything close to starring in a lead role in a movie, so he spent much of the time watching others and learning how to behave on set. He said the biggest lessons he took away were always to be prepared and to get along with co-stars.
The latter rule was easy for him to follow when it came to Hays Welford, the other young star of the film. James said they became close friends during the course of filming and remain so today, and that Hays even attended his bar mitzvah. He added that said the two plan to become screenwriting partners when they grow up, demonstrating the type of bond they formed on set.
“It’s nice to have your own kind around to talk to,” James said. “We were already best friends when we first met. On the car trip to our hotel that we were going to stay at, we were just talking all about old movies. Everything we talked about we totally related.”
James was not so similar to his “Cop Car” character Travis. In order to get into character, he said he would think about what kind of a boy would be dumb enough to do things such as steal a police vehicle and jokingly point a loaded gun at his friend, all while having a ton of laughs. As a result, he said he was able to create a character that was mischievous yet innocent at the same time.
One scene not so innocent, however, was the cursing contest between the two young characters, which James actually counted as his favorite part of filming because it gave him the chance to say words he never says in his actual life.
In fact, his father John Freedson told the News-Record that his son was actually reluctant to curse until he gave him
permission. But even Freedson had to admit some of those swears were quite inappropriate, though James had an answer to that.
“I said ‘Yeah, you know what’s inappropriate? Seventh grade,’” James recalled.
Cursing contests or not, Freedson said watching his son act in the film was an amazing experience. As a producer for the cult favorite “Forbidden Broadway” parody show, he said he has watched James grow up in the theater and always knew he was talented. But seeing him on the big screen for the first time when “Cop Car” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival was something else entirely, he said.
“The first time they did a close-up on his face, I got very choked up,” Freedson said in an Aug. 2 phone interview. “It was partly because I know that face — I’ve known it since the day he was born. He has a little freckle under his eye, and you can see it on the screen. I thought ‘That’s our boy.’ It was just very moving to see. And, of course, I was very proud of the work that he did.”
Freedson added that he is proud to support James as he continues to pursue a professional acting career, which he is well on his way to doing. Aside from “Cop Car,” he recently appeared in an episode of the popular NBC series “The Blacklist” and will soon be seen in the upcoming Marvel-Netflix series “AKA Jessica Jones,” in which he plays a villain as a child.
Looking ahead, James said he dreams of attending New York University’s film school and Yale University’s drama school. But until then, he said he will continue to live the life of a normal boy in South Orange, making movies with his friend and only talking about his acting career if someone asks him about it.
As for that career, James said he loves working and hopes to do so for the rest of his life. And he said he’d like to continue playing the complex characters that his critically-acclaimed performance in “Cop Car” demonstrated he is capable of taking on.
“When you’re doing that intense kind of stuff, it’s really fun,” James said. “It’s really fun to act intense, to be a different person for a day or two or month even. It’s fun to do those kinds of things. It’s fun to change your way of living for a little bit and put yourself in other people’s shoes.”