IN CONVERSATION WITH MASON GOODING

interview by JANA LETONJA

Mason Gooding is entering a defining moment in his career. After becoming a fan favourite through the Scream franchise and winning audiences over in projects ranging from Booksmart and Love, Victor to Heart Eyes and Y2K, he is now leading a slate of high-profile film projects that showcase his impressive range. This summer, he stars opposite Kevin Hart and Marcello Hernandez in Netflix’s comedy 72 Hours, before returning to screens in Gregg Araki’s provocative Sundance standout I Want Your Sex alongside Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Chase Sui Wonders, and Charli XCX. With a major studio comedy, an acclaimed indie film, and several leading roles on the horizon, Mason has firmly established himself as one of Hollywood’s most exciting young talents.

This feels like a particularly exciting moment in your career, with 72 Hours, I Want Your Sex, and several other projects arriving in quick succession. How would you describe thischapter of your life?

If I had to put it into a word, I’d say this is a period of “self-actualisation.” I feel like the work I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of up until this point was the closest thing to a professional education that is finally coalescing into a season in my career in which I get to put those lessons into practice. I feel like the hardest part of maturation, though, will be recognising when it’s time to utilise the lessons I’ve learned to empower the next generation to navigate the beginning of their careers without, hopefully, falling into the same pitfalls or ideas of grandeur that I feel I was subjected to. Part of that is discussing my fears and failures up until this point to offer a sort of warning to anyone who might watch my work and try to glean something from the greater context of my life and work to better inform how they might navigate certain situations themselves.

72 Hours has such a fun premise. What immediately appealed to you about the project?

I was lucky enough to get to meet Tim Story prior to auditioning for Mason. It was apparent from the beginning that his vision of a cultural exchange between generations was something I found fascinating. The script, upon initial reading, made me think of Pinocchio, not necessarily the Disney movie but the original collection of short stories by Carlo Collodi. I feel like 72 Hours, like Pinocchio, is a story about what we might owe each other in order to bridge that generational divide. I feel like the humour of 72 Hours stems a lot from the contrasts between how older generations might view a younger one, and, to me, this contrast has to work both ways. The “Pinocchio-ism” for this movie touches on how that contrast might also lend itself to an opportunity to learn from one another, the same way Geppetto might learn from his son patience and understanding, Kevin Hart’s character might learn from us a lesson in empathy and acceptance.

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What was it like working opposite Kevin Hart, and what did you learn from watching him on set?

Kevin has earned a great deal of praise on my part for how easily he navigated the contrasting tones on set in a way that I think only a truly gifted performer would be able to. On one side of the coin, you’ve got Marcello Hernandez, Kam Patterson and Ben Marshall who are all incredibly gifted comedians. On the other side, you have myself, who will never be shy to admit I am most comfortable in a dramatic setting. Kevin operates in such a way that meant all of us could push and pull the scene in the direction that made us most comfortable, and he would effortlessly seem to be able to manage the tone of the scene to befit a middle ground between hilarity and drama. Kevin is also very funny, it truly felt like every day on set was our own private Netflix comedy special.

Your character’s bachelor party spirals into complete chaos. Without spoilers, what can audiences expect from the film?

It’s funny how, even at face value, the “bachelor party” setting conjures a notion offamiliarity for anyone who might know what a bachelor party entails. I, for whateverreason, am not one of those people since I’ve never actually been to a bachelor party.So, in terms of spoilers, I’ll say the circumstances our characters find themselves in areso far “out there” that it’s made me afraid to think of some potential “bachelor party”stories that some people might have, assuming these writers were pulling from any real-life experiences. From my perspective, I’ll say if any bachelor party involves the groombeing naked and afraid as Mason, my character, is in the movie, then I think I’m nervousabout my first bachelor party.

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I Want Your Sex is a very different project entirely. What drew you to Gregg Araki’s vision?

I think the most attractive aspect in working with Gregg Araki would be Gregg Araki himself. His brain reminds me of a toy store so much, and I feel the sense of wonder and excitement enjoying his movies as I did when I was a kid walking through Toys’R’Us, as if the draw in opportunity that Araki offers is as appealing as the bright colours and enchanting aisles of my favourite pastime as a child. He mentioned very early on that Zap was a self-insert character, that a lot of Zap’s purpose was meant to contextualise how Araki himself might feel in the same context of an employee and employer sexual escapade. Gregg Araki is such a wonderfully eclectic guy that I knew even before reading the script that I’d have a wellspring of hilarious options to funnel his personality into the character in a way that I hope the audience will find amusing.

The film premiered at Sundance and generated a lot of conversation. What was it like seeing audiences respond to it for the first time?

I always find the most rewarding aspect in a film’s rollout is getting to engage with what people thought of the “thing” when it’s in their hands. Something I find particularly inspiring is the opportunity to share such a thought-provoking and challenging film, such as I Want Your Sex, so that I can bear witness to the conversations that follow and see if any of them rhyme with the ones I know I’ll have with my friends when the movie comes out in theatres. I hope audiences afford themselves a space to explore and fail, and possibly succeed the way the characters in the movie do. I think “going out on a limb” is what gives life its texture.

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Earlier this year, you returned as Chad Meeks-Martin in Scream 7. What has been most rewarding about growing alongside Chad across multiple Scream films?

The most rewarding aspect of playing Chad multiple times feels the same as the most rewarding aspect of knowing anyone for a long period of time in that it feels like I truly understand him in a way that you only get from familiarity. It’s not a secret that Chad was fated to die in Scream 5, and since he didn’t, the amount of life I’ve been able to experience with that character has felt oddly cathartic to me. I’ve never been pursued by a serial killer, but I feel like we all experience these little moments in which it feels like the world is coming to an end. For Chad, and subsequently myself, that ending does not need to break you, but rather it contextualises his purpose as being intertwined with the people around him that give his life meaning. Across three movies, that person is consistently his sister, Mindy, who Chad seems dedicated to in a way that I hope I could embody similarly in my personal life.

Horror fans are famously passionate. What have you learned from being part of a franchise with such a dedicated audience?

So this lesson came actually not as an extension of any character I’ve played, but rather as a byproduct of an experience afforded to me by virtue of another character in the same franchise. I was filming Heart Eyes in New Zealand, and we went as cast and crew to the movies to watch the original Final Destination with Devon Sawa, who was moderating a special anniversary event. When we stepped out of the theatre and out onto the street, a young woman approached me, tears in her eyes, and she said that she wanted to tell me how much the Scream movies mean to her. After about a minute or so of her talking about the franchise in general, her hands trembling and tears now streaming down her face, she asked me, “Is Jasmin Savoy-Brown cool?” I laughed a bit, but I could tell she was asking genuinely. I told her that Jasmin and I mirror our characters on screen so much that I’d go to hell and back for that woman, not just because I feel like she’s my sister, but because I feel like her compassion, her kindness, her consideration of others is something I would gladly support in the way I feel that kind of person deserves. I realized the good in representation, this New Zealand local stating the similarities between Mindy and herself, and she wanted to know if the actress behind that work is as cool as she’d hoped.

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Your breakout role in Booksmart remains a fan favorite. Looking back, how important was that project in shaping your career?

Well, to be fair, to say Booksmart shaped my career is kind of like saying my mother simply shaped my life. In both instances, I feel as though it would be more apt to say Booksmart birthed a lot of my artistic integrity and drive, the same way a mother births a child. I did not know the depth of human creativity and collaboration until then. Olivia Wilde cultivated a level of equity and genuine collaborative process that I still benefit from today. It’s not about me, how could it be? A film means so many things to so many different people. Since Booksmart, I’ve been able to recognize my job is to try my best to support that vision by supporting those on set and around the project itself.

You recently also wrapped production on Last Resort. What excites you about stepping into a leading-man role on a project like that?

Last Resort has the distinct pleasure of being the most fulfilling film I’ve been able to do until this point. I mean that creatively, I mean that physically, I mean that socially. I’ve always ascertained my physicality is a huge aspect to my performance. I imagine when it’s all said and done, and I’m looking at my career in retrospect, my most resonant work will involve the same kind of physically demanding work that Last Resort called for. A lot of that stems from the director, Luis Prieto, who managed to instil a deep level of humanity throughout the action so that Chris, my character, feels like a thoughtful guy beyond all the punching and kicking and shooting. To me, Last Resort is the first big portrayal of an archetype I hope to play throughout the rest of my career.

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As your profile continues to grow, how do you stay focused on the work rather than the noise surrounding the industry?

Humility is a gift. That’s not to say I’m constantly looking for opportunities to diminish my talent or capabilities, but rather I’m entirely practical about my strengths as well as my weaknesses as a performer. I know my strength in performance to the degree in which I’d be able to confidently tell you that I’d have trouble achieving something emotionally, but I also trust the idea that I’d be able to come up with a creatively compelling way to circumvent that shortcoming to achieve a “successful” scene or character. That said, I’ve always had a sort of apprehensive approach to the public aspect of my job, probably stemming from growing up in a family of entertainers. I will probably never be able to excise my personality from my work, but I will certainly recognise that any professional success should not and will not come at the cost of the emotional well-being of the people I love. Everything I do is in service of other people. I create for the love of my life after all. It’s about them, and it always will be, I’m just grateful I get to provide by way of a job I love to death.

You’ve steadily built a career without being defined by a single role. How important has versatility been to your approach as an actor?

I’ll start by defining myself as a black actor. Any role I take in any context will become a black character simply by virtue of my portrayal of that character. At face value, I think I have to recognise that opportunities for black performers are always at the behest of writers or directors wanting to incorporate them into their work, which, inherently, is putting the onus on them to write those characters and then be willing to let me portray them. I think the most rewarding aspect of my career thus far, and I suspect in the long run, will be seeing the multifaceted way in which my body and my identity can be portrayed in different contexts. I’m also one of those actors that steals, all the time, from real-life experiences. I know Zap (I Want Your Sex), I know Chris (Last Resort), I know Mason (72 Hours), and to be able to highlight different corners of the world with different flavours of living is what gives my art meaning. I don’t know if I’m willing to cite a nebulous gift of versatility, but rather I’m grateful for my mother-given ability to watch and listen, to pay attention, and find beauty in juxtaposition.

What excites you most about the future—not just professionally, but personally?

I have the same dream, it’s recurring in a way that I’d wake up and realise I had the same dream maybe a night or two before. I’m walking into my backyard, and my family is there. Everyone’s laughing; I have two kids, and they know my name, and I know everything there is to know about them and their little lives. We catch bugs in the grass, we swim in the pool, we sit and watch the sunset. I carry them to bed when they’re tired and everything, at least for now, is fine.

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TEAM CREDITS:

talent MASON GOODING
photography BENJO ARWAS
styling SAVANNAH MENDOZA
makeup & hair SIMONE for EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS using ORIBE and CIELE COSMETICS
photography assistant MAXINE BALCHUS
styling assistant SCOTTI STORTI
retouching MODE STUDIOS UK
studio INTERWOVEN STUDIOS
editor TIMI LETONJA
editorial director & interview JANA LETONJA
cover design ARTHUR ROELOFFZEN