Conway native scores breakout role in Inherent Vice

Q&A with Jordan Christian Hearn

Conway native Jordan Christian Hearn, right, with Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from Inherent Vice
Conway native Jordan Christian Hearn, right, with Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from Inherent Vice

When Conway native Jordan Christian Hearn moved to Los Angeles a few years ago, he wasn’t quite sure where the adventure would take him. He certainly didn’t expect to have a role in a Paul Thomas Anderson film alongside Academy Award-nominated Joaquin Phoenix — at least not for his first feature film.

Hearn snagged the role of Denis, a scraggly sidekick character in Anderson’s newest film, Inherent Vice, which opened in theaters Friday. The role has Hearn in a star-studded cast with the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Benecio Del Toro, Jena Malone, Martin Short and Josh Brolin, in addition to Phoenix.

Even during a busy opening weekend for Inherent Vice, Hearn, 23, was able to set aside some time to reflect on what he says has so far been a “surreal” experience.

Q: Tell me about your life in Conway and central Arkansas. Did you perform much here?

A: I went to Conway High, and I definitely still maintain my Wampus Cat pride. Talking about our mascot has actually proven to be a great ice breaker out here because no has ever heard of anything like it before. I was in a couple of plays at [the University of Central Arkansas] when I was younger (The Christmas Carol and The King and I), but after that I took a break from theater and acting altogether for almost a decade. I also played bass in a metal/punk band in high school, and we played gigs around town at Soundstage, Vino’s and The Village in Little Rock, and pretty much anywhere anyone would let us set up. I remember playing house shows for friends and standing on top of a couch as a makeshift stage.

Q: When did you move to Los Angeles, and what were you hoping to find there?

A: I moved to LA in April 2010, about 10 months after I graduated from Conway High. I’ve always been drawn to the arts, whether it was acting, music, writing, painting, whatever, and even though I didn’t know exactly what it was I was searching for in LA when I first moved out, I just knew there was so much opportunity in so many different facets of the artistic industry. I wanted to try my hand at anything and everything that came along. Plus, I knew there would be no better time for me to go explore the big city than right out of high school with no debt, no job, nothing to keep from going on an adventure. I had actually made a pact with my parents, if nothing had panned out for me after three years I would come home and begin attending college. I booked Inherent Vice about one month after my three-year anniversary in LA.

Q: People are calling this role your big break. How did the opportunity come along?

A: I had been in a folk band for a couple years, and we were actually doing some great things, but I needed another creative outlet — and a better way to pay the rent. I decided to start auditioning for commercials because it seemed fairly easy. You didn’t need to have the years of training and studying most actors endure to hone their craft. It was simple — show up, smile, say a line or two, and you’re done.

Around that same time, Paul and his casting director had been looking for the character of Denis for almost four months — I’ve heard they auditioned over 1,000 actors. They were to the point they were pulling people off the streets and searching the low-level agencies. Luckily, I had that super long, hippie hair they were looking for, and my agent at the time (Courtney Peldon) convinced them they should meet me. I showed up, really hit it off with the casting director, and she called me back again a couple days later so Paul and Joaquin could meet me. I think they wanted to see if we had any chemistry, figure out if we worked well together. Joaquin and I read lines for a bit, and Paul directed us. He had us do some improv and I remember making everyone laugh. Halfway through a scene Paul stopped me and threw a bag of tobacco and Zig-Zags at me, asking me to roll him a joint (putting me through some kind of stoner sidekick test, ya know). Next thing I know I’m getting the phone call that they want me for the part. The casting director’s exact words were, “You’re about to have the best summer of your life.” And two days later we began shooting (that lasted for about 4 1/2 months).

It truly was the wildest summer of my entire life, and it still blows my mind every time I look back on it, and how fast it all happened.

Q: Tell me a bit about your character, Denis. I read you didn’t shower for 5 1/2 months for the part!

A: Denis is just another one of those dirty hippies. He loves to surf, he loves hanging out at the beach, but most of all he loves pizza. He’s Doc Sportello’s (played by Joaquin) sidekick, basically. They refer to him at times as Doc’s “muscle.” He’s an innocent, good-natured kind of dude who really never knows exactly what’s going on … he’s just always along for the ride. Even though he’s often off in his own world and out of it, he really does care about Doc and does his best to have his back.

Paul and I had a conversation my first day on set and decided it was best for the character if I didn’t shower or shave, spent as much time at the beach as I could, and also lost 20 pounds. He thought I was too muscular for the role, and explained, “People just didn’t look like beefcakes back then — guess there were different vitamins in the pizza.” Which is ironic because before the movie I’d been working out, trying to be that typical jacked guy with washboard abs you always see in movies — I thought that’s how you made it Hollywood. It was a grueling couple of weeks losing the weight, but I’ve never been so determined to accomplish something in my life. Obviously, in the end, it was worth it. As far as the lack of bathing, I LOVED IT. I had the best excuse in the world to wake up every day, throw on a T-shirt and ball cap, and head out the door without a second thought about what my hair looked like or anything.

Q: How does it feel to have this first big part under your belt?

A: I honestly feel so, so blessed to have had something like this fall in my lap on one of my first auditions. I mean, I was just getting started. I’d only decided to get “back in the ring” and try my hand at acting again a couple of months previous. People spend years and years, their entire lives, even, out here going to classes and auditions looking for a break, and I happened to get mine right out of the gate.

From here, the most important thing to me is to make sure I do something positive with the opportunity I’ve been given. Sounds cliche, but I want to make a difference in others’ lives, show them that you can accomplish the things you put your mind to, and no matter how scary the circumstances are, chasing your dreams is one of the most rewarding things you can do in this life. I mean, I am living, walking proof that you can actually achieve the incredible things you’ve always written off as impossible. You just have to try. You’ll never know what could’ve been if you don’t. This role has really given me a platform to be a positive force in people’s lives, and that makes me more excited than just about anything else.

Q: What are you hoping to focus on next?

A: I really want a challenge. I love the fact that my role in Inherent Vice took me so far out of my comfort zone and made me do things I’d never had to do before. I love doing period pieces, partially because I love history, but diving into other cultures, language, dress — all of it is so much fun. There are so many great stories and characters out there, and I’m open to just about all of them. I’d love to tell the stories of some of history’s true heroes, but by the same token, there’s something inside of me that thinks it would be interesting to play the villain as well. Maybe that’s me wanting to be like Heath Ledger — haha.

Q: What does it feel like to know that your friends and family back here in Arkansas will finally get to see the film? Do you think that will make it kind of more real?

A: I am beyond excited for all my friends and family back home to see the film! It’s been such a big part of my life for the past couple years, and even though all of my close friends and family have known about it and we’ve talked about the whole experience at length, it’s hard to understand without being able to see for themselves. And I think that’s mostly because it’s just so surreal. Everyone always tells me about how crazy it is, and I don’t think they realize it's even 10 times crazier to me. I keep thinking to myself that it will all start to set in soon. I couldn’t believe it when I booked [the film], and I told myself it would start to feel real once I was on set for a couple months. Then I thought it would feel real when I finally saw it for the first time. Now the only thing left is it coming out and everyone else seeing it in theaters, and still … !

I keep waiting to have an epiphany of a moment, and I think because it’s just been a dream come true it will always seem like a dream to me. I can say that since it came out Friday I’ve been getting a ton of calls and messages from people back home, and family all over the country who went to see it, and that is starting to feel real in a way that I’ve never experienced before.

To keep up with Hearn, follow him on Instagram and Twitter.


Select a theater below to see where Inherent Vice is playing near you:

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Joaquin Phoenix was an Academy Award winner. The copy has been corrected to reflect that Phoenix has been nominated for an Academy Award.

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