A Conversation with James Duval (THE TEEN APOCALYPSE TRILOGY)
James Duval, is an American actor who rose to prominence in the 1990s as a key figure in the New Queer Cinema movement. Duval is perhaps best known for his collaborations with independent filmmaker Gregg Araki, particularly in Araki’s “Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy.” This influential series of films includes Totally Fucked Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), and Nowhere (1997). In these provocative and stylistically bold works, Duval portrayed disaffected youth navigating sexuality, violence, and existential apathy in a heightened, often surreal version of 1990s America. His performances in these films, particularly as Jordan White in The Doom Generation and Dark Smith in Nowhere helped establish him as an icon of countercultural cinema. Beyond his work with Araki, Duval has maintained a diverse career in both independent and mainstream films, including notable roles in Independence Day (1996) and Donnie Darko (2001). His unique presence and ability to embody both vulnerability and edginess have made him an enduring figure in American independent cinema. It was great to speak with him in the following conversation edited for length and clarity.
Hammer to Nail: James, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. I am such a huge fan of all three of these films and all three of your performances are great. How did you and Gregg meet and was this originally conceived as a trilogy?
James Duvall: Thank you Jack! I am so excited to be here with you. These movies mean the world to me. I came to Hollywood to become an actor. I had done work as an extra and in theater. I was actually an extra in Cry Baby, so I worked with John Waters before Gregg. I was record shopping all the time and when I was done shopping I would always go to this cafe called the Double Rainbow. I used to see Gregg there. It was perfect, he was writing Totally Fucked Up and I was desperate for a job. One day he came up to me and he said, “I don’t know if you are an actor, but, I am making these low budget movies, you have an interesting look, I don’t know if you would want to audition but you would be great for one of the roles.” I told him, “Of course I would love to audition.” He sent me the script and it was the first screenplay I ever read. I was so blown away and moved by the material. I was so shocked that someone much older than me could perfectly nail my struggle and my angst exactly.
It came to me at a time where I felt alone and could not talk about those things. Here was this material that was so relatable it did not even feel like a script anymore, it felt like a slice of life. I auditioned and got the part! Met all the actors who were around my age and we got started. It was originally supposed to be two movies, Totally Fucked Up and The Living End, with the central theme being the AIDS struggle. This was at a time where many people were still in the closet. If you talked about queerness you would be ostracized and might even lose your job. It was our life mission to tell the story. The youth and the unbridled chaos was so inspirational to Gregg he wound up writing The Doom Generation and the character of “Jordan” for me. Personality wise all my roles were different but age wise and the characters general struggles are the same across all three films. I am floored to be talking about the films all these years later.
Johnathon Schaech & James Duval is THE DOOM GENERATIO
HTN: In both Nowhere and Doom much of the success of the film lands on your chemistry with Mel (Rachel True in Nowhere) and Amy (Rose McGowan in Doom Generation) respectively. How did you manage to build such excellent chemistry in order to become truly iconic on screen couples
JD: A lot of it had to do with how incredible these actresses were. Gregg, with all of his movies, is very thorough. When we did the casting for Nowhere he met with every actor in town. I know he met with Matt Damon. I remember he just wrote “Jock type,” so not the type for the movie. Once he decided who he liked he would get them all in a room to read with me. Once he did these chemistry reads he would then do call backs for those who had the best chemistry. Both of them were magical off the bat. Right when we met there was immediate chemistry. It made the movie a lot of fun. Nowhere was the biggest party of all 3 movies.
HTN: Your performance in the film is not only incredible, you go places that I’m not confident many actors would. So I’m wondering where this fearlessness comes from and what’s it like to be so naked on set?
JD: I am flattered! It comes from my experiences working with Gregg. I was having this conversation recently about how we shot Totally Fucked Up piece meal in 16mm and what it was like to be on a set that did not really have a crew. Gregg was filming it himself. Andrew, the producer was holding the lights. We maybe had a third person there, like Eric Nakamura, who we called our do-it-all Jesus. He would go on to create Giant Robot! But, it was just so intimate that it allowed for this liberal freedom. I felt so confident that I could do anything. I was so comfortable with Gregg.
We related so strongly to the scripts that everyone on set was just so passionate. It became easy, especially with Totally Fucked Up to feel like we were actually living in these situations. When you are actually living, you do not hold back in these moments. I did not think about what anyone else was thinking. Alan Boyce, who plays my lover, had such a strong comfortability, confidence and a drive to be as real as possible. Gregg really inspired that in us, I’m gonna toot his horn, but he really has a special way with actors. He only works with actors he really connects with, because, once he connects, he can accomplish anything.
HTN: Your monologue towards the end of nowhere after watching that dude’s head get smashed in is one of my favorite parts of the film. What were you hoping to achieve there?
JD: I have felt that way before. I still feel that way, although I am not 18 anymore. This moment kinda encapsulates how I always felt and why I’ve related so strongly to Gregg’s movies. Most of us have always just one person to love us, no matter who we are, that we can love back and nothing else matters. That is the through line of the entire trilogy, to just love with someone. Finding that love is not so easy in a society like then or today, especially as a young person
HTN: Your facial expressions in Doom kill me. Two moments in particular between you and Xavier (Johnathon Schaech) are prime examples of this. When you adjust his belt buckle and when you guys talk about if Jordan has had a 3 way before. The eye contact and your expressions are priceless, how does this character and small moments like these come to life?
JD: I am going to have to give a lot of credit to Jonathan! The moment Jonathan walked into the room for the chemistry reads of doom, Andrew, Gregg and I all looked at each other and immediately knew he was Xavier. We had an immediate connection. By the time we started filming, we were already so close that Jonathan would pick me up at my place on the way! We would spend hours together. We would always sneak off of set and go on these little adventures. We actually were told we were not allowed to leave the set anymore cause we would sneak off so much. It was so important to us to bring this to life on screen. To this day, because of Doom Generation, we have a very special connection.
James Duval in NOWHERE
HTN: You can definitely feel that chemistry in Doom. Costuming is so essential to all 3 of your characters in these 3 films. How did your fits come to be?
JD: My costumes are pretty much entirely out of Gregg’s closet! The jeans were mine. One time, we were doing a read through and our DP walked in and Gregg stopped everything, pointed at him and said, “That is what Jordan will wear.” So we used his clothes haha. He often had these outfits drawn up before we got onto set.
HTN: Nowadays, these films are basically like the bible for late 90s early 2000s edgy style. Blocking can be kind of a lost art in cinema today. I feel like the blocking and positioning of your guys’ bodies was essential to all of these films’ success. Can you talk about what kind of physicality you were trying to give off across the 3 projects?
JD: In the scripts for Doom and Nowhere Gregg has all the framing mapped out. He has already placed the characters in every shot, and it is very intimate the way he utilizes close ups. It helped being so close to everybody physically. I think that showed our closeness and connected the audience to us.
HTN: It definitely did, all these years later it is certainly a cult classic. I wish we had more time, however, I will be checking out the special features on the box set I just received.
JD: We got some treats on there for you. Wish we could talk about it all day too, I have so much to tell you. It was really a pleasure to speak!!
– Jack Schenker (@YUNGOCUPOTIS)
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