Jesse LaVercombe, actor and screenwriter, chatted about his latest film projects, which include “Float” and “Code 8: Part II.”
‘Float’
On serving as a screenwriter on “Float,” which was directed by Sherren Lee, LaVercombe said, “‘Float’ was cool. I got to see it a couple of times; this was my first writing project, and my first time collaborating with Sherren Lee, Jeff Chan and Chris Paré. It really laid the groundwork for future collaborations.”
“We have been working together on a few of these projects ever since. It was a fun time; it’s my first feature film to have come out. I learned so much about the moviemaking experience,” he elaborated.
“I am very lucky,” he admitted. “This is the first feature that I wrote. I feel like this industry has been good to me, which I feel grateful for.”
‘Code 8: Part II’
LaVercombe noted that the Netflix film “Code 8: Part II,” which was directed by Jeff Chan, was a “great” experience for him. “Writing it was a very collaborative process. Sherren and I have been working with Chris earlier, and Chris was in charge of the writing process,” he said.
“A lot of us were contributing, and he was juggling a lot of different ideas. The movie was being broken as we wrote it in a very dynamic process. I really enjoyed this process. I think ‘Code 8’ is a different offering to the landscape of superhero movies,” he said.
“We are very grateful to be hitting No. 1 in so many different countries around the world,” he acknowledged.
LaVercombe continued, “I think it has a lot of action, momentum, and it’s a bit grittier than a lot of movies. It is about underdogs punching above their weight. They are good or bad and they are fighting for their own existences and what they believe in. All of that is really working for it, so I am really proud of the process and I’m also proud of the product that we wrote about.”
“This Netflix movie was a lot of fun,” he admitted. “I think we got so lucky with the cast of this movie. All of them really pieced together a clear arc, and that really helps the whole thing.”
“Every one of them has really moments of being funny. It felt really well-cast, and we have dream Toronto talent that is both established with Stephen Amell, Robbie Amell, and Jean Yoon, and other up-and-coming talent. We are representing our city well as far as our acting talent. I am proud to be a part of that community in that way,” he elaborated.
Short film ‘The Things You Think I’m Thinking’
He opened up about the short “The Things You Think I’m Thinking,” which he wrote, and was directed by Sherren Lee.
“That was a long time ago,” he recalled. “It was fun for me to act in that too. That was the first real film that I wrote and was a proper short film. That movie is very special because of Prince Amponsah, who is the star of it.”
He continued, “Prince was reviving his career after a fire accident that left him very burned and without both of his hands. I am very proud of this movie for playing a character who was overcoming that, and moving on with their lives, and not being defined by that.”
“It all comes back to empathy and understanding each other even if our experiences are very different. I was very happy with this movie,” he acknowledged.
The digital age
On being an actor and filmmaker in the digital age, he responded, “My writing career never existed before then.”
“As a consumer, there is just so much to see. I feel like I’m always drowning in recommendations. I am actively trying to make more time in my life to watch TV. When a movie had a bit of a moment, that’s a useful thing for an audience,” he expressed.
Success
On his definition of the word success, LaVercombe said, “I already feel very grateful for what I get to do right now. I’ve been able to support myself doing work with people who I really enjoy working with and learning from.”
“I want to be supportive of the people around me and to spend time with people that I like and a lot of that is outside of my career. I feel very lucky that I get to work with people I respect, and I enjoy their company,” he said.
“Success is in the journey and it is pretty fun, especially when you don’t know where it’s going to go, and then, it comes out and people respond in a positive way; that’s incredibly gratifying,” he concluded.
To learn more about Jesse LaVercombe, check out his official homepage, IMDb page, and follow him on Instagram.
