Actor on the verge with quick hop from first film to superhero
By Moira Macdonald
August 1, 2002 Aaron Stanford, the young star of Gary Winick’s smart new comedy “Tadpole” (opening today at the Uptown), may be the very definition of “on the verge.”

Before being cast by Winick as a literary, confused 15-year-old in love with his stepmother, the Massachusetts native had never acted in front of a camera _ his experience was limited to college theater productions at Rutgers University and a few other stage gigs.

Since then, he’s played a small role in Woody Allen’s “Hollywood Ending,” landed a recurring role as Sergei on NBC’s “Third Watch,” and shortly after our interview headed for Vancouver, B.C., to join the ensemble cast of “X-Men 2.”

Stanford recalled how he got his breakthrough role.

“I did it the old-fashioned way _ did an audition, went in, met Gary. They liked what they saw, but it was my first film and they weren’t sure if they wanted to trust me.”

After repeated callbacks, Stanford met with co-star Sigourney Weaver, who had partial casting approval. “We had good chemistry, and that’s how it happened.”

Winick recalled that he saw perhaps 25 to 30 young actors for the role, eventually narrowing it down to three or four.

“I was really looking for a specific type,” he said, “a specific Upper West Side kid.”

He’s aware of the risk it took to sign an entirely untried actor to the part, noting that some of the actors he turned down had far more experience.

“The thing about offering someone a part, especially your lead, is that unless they’re hugely accomplished, it’s always a risk.”

In person, 24-year-old Stanford bears little resemblance to his “Tadpole” character _ Oscar, at 15, is wise beyond his years but has the unformed, wide-eyed look of an adolescent.

“I was doing young acting,” said Stanford, with a very grown-up smile. Seriously, though, he explained that for most roles, “you take on character traits _ you add behaviors, you add physicalities, you add certain things to yourself.

“But one of the things I did to play younger was to strip away certain things, things you’ve actually taken on as a person as you get older.

“Also, Oscar, as a line in the movie says, is a 40-year-old trapped in a 15-year-old’s body. So while you do have to work on the physicality and the look, in reality, behind the eyes he’s a very old soul.”

Shot in 14 days in New York (in locations that included the apartment of Winick’s mother), “Tadpole” arrived at the Sundance Film Festival in January with little fanfare but quickly became an audience favorite. Winick, who won the festival’s directing award for the film, recalled the blur that was Sundance.

“Between the altitude, and what people start telling you, the gifts, the bidding war, the seven-hour negotiations, the press, the awards _ you sort of leave there after 10 days, and you really don’t think it’s real.

“Every interview I did at Sundance,” added Stanford, “they kept saying `What does this mean for you?’ and `How does this feel?’ and I really didn’t have an answer. I kept expecting to go back to New York and find that it didn’t really happen.”

The acclaim for “Tadpole” has made changes in the lives of both men. Winick is developing another film with “Tadpole” writer Heather McGowan _ “same kind of sophisticated comedy, Park Avenue kind of thing” _ for Disney, and has a trilogy of films in development at Fox Searchlight.

And Stanford’s now a comic-book hero _ thanks to Oscar. Lauren Schuler Donner, one of the “X-Men 2″ producers, was a fan of “Tadpole” and brought Stanford in to audition for her film. He’ll be playing Pyro, a young man who can control flame.

“He can create a flame, but if there’s an open flame in the room, he can change it to whatever form he wishes.”

Whether “X-Men 2″ will be a springboard to a big-time career for Stanford remains to be seen _ but for now, he’s on the verge, and looking very happy.