Miles Elliot plays the role of Billy Connors in “The Amazing Spider Man”, the son of Spider-Man´s arch nemesis, Dr. Connors aka The Lizard. Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Miles about the role and what it was like behind the scenes of the film.
Adam Lawton: How did you become interested in acting?
Miles Elliot: I had done some work with a music theater group where we put on “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat”. I was just part of the ensemble but I started talking to other people in the production who had appeared in various films and television shows. I asked them how I could start doing that and then I asked my parents about it. They told me if it was something that I really wanted to do I could go ahead and do it. I have been acting now for about two and a half years.
AL: What was it that interested you in auditioning for “The Amazing Spider Man”?
ME: At first I didn’t even know what film the role was for. The movie was only listed as a teen action film. I did a scene where my characters dad gets mad at me. After that we found out they were casting for “The Amazing Spider Man”. As things got bigger and bigger I realized that I had gotten into a really big movie. Things just kept getting more exciting as they went on.
AL: What was the audition process like?
ME: I had to do a couple auditions. After the first one the lady who was running it chased me down after I left and asked me if I would talk/meet with another casting person. When I went to meet with this other lady she was on the phone and told me we would have to meet a different time. I said “that went well”. When I went back I ended up reading with director Marc Webb and I got the part.
AL: Can you tell us about your character?
ME: I play Billy Connors who is the son of Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard which is played by Rhys Ifans. I have about 3 scenes in the film and I am just your normal everyday kid whose dad is a lizard.
AL: What was it like working on the set?
ME: When I got there I thought everything was really big. There were just trailers all over the place. I was amazed that there was even one for me. This was my first time ever experiencing that. Even the catering was big. I remember one night they had lobster, crab and there was even an ice sculpture. I got to meet Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone which was also really great.
AL: What was it like being able to watch such a great group of actors work?
ME: It was cool! On one of the nights I got to watch them shoot a scene where Spider Man jumps off a parking garage. They had all this stuff going on to make the scene happen and it was great to be able to watch that. Another night I was on set they had a bunch of green scenes set up to shoot Andrew swinging back and forth.
AL: Can you tell us about some of your other work?
ME: I recently finished a project in May titled “Camp”. The film is about a camp for troubled kids and my character Eli gets paired up with a reluctant counselor who is there just for the money. It was a fun shoot as we shot in the Sequoya National Forrest for three weeks. I will also be on an episode of Disney’s “Austin & Ally” as well as “The Mentalist”.