It feels like an age ago, but 2015 was when the talented Canadian actor Jacob Tremblay first burst onto the scene at only nine years old with his widely acclaimed role in Lenny Abrahamson’s Room alongside Brie Larson, who won an Oscar for her performance. In the eight years since, Tremblay, now seventeen, has blazed a trail as one of the most sought-after young actors in the industry, frequently landing lead roles and always impressing, even in his more limited appearances, and his latest casting in Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of the Stephen King short story The Life of Chuck is further proof that he is the rare actor who can transition from child star to a bona fide leading man.
There are countless child stars who shone a little too brightly too early, and their once thriving careers either fell short of expectation as they grew up, such as Macauley Culkin (whose Emmy-nominated brother Kieran is now more famous than him) and Hayley Joel Osment, or fizzled out altogether, whether by choice or otherwise, like Jonathan Lipnicky and Jake Lloyd.
Not Jacob Tremblay, though.
Tremblay was hot out the gate, and those around him clearly capitalized not only on the opportunity afforded by his powerhouse performance in Room but also his inherent talent, which oozes from the screen like a young DiCaprio, bold as that may be to say. And it’s not like the actors above lacked talent, particularly Culkin and Osment, the latter of which deservedly earned an Oscar nomination for his breakout role in the M. Night Shyamalan classic The Sixth Sense. Yet there is something different about Tremblay, who seemingly lacks the familial strife Culkin had, and has not faced diminishing returns like Osment did after his own breakout. Tremblay has proven time and again that holding his own opposite Brie Larson’s Oscar-winning performance was no fluke, often deftly performing opposite the likes of Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson in 2017’s Wonder, Boyd Holbrook and Sterling K. Brown in Shane Black’s The Predator, and an all-star cast including Kit Harrington, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon and Kathy Bates in Xavier Dolan’s The Death and Life of John F. Donovan (however utterly misguided the movie might be).
Perhaps most notable amongst his already impressive achievements is that at the age of twelve/thirteen, he played the lead in a critically well-received foul-mouthed coming-of-age comedy produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, which also managed to pull in an estimated $111 million in box office revenue on a very modest $20 million budget.
Tremblay’s talents are not limited to live-action either, as he has been much sought after for his voice work in more recent years, playing the leading roles in Pixar’s Luca (and reprising the character in the spinoff short Ciao Alberto) and last year’s My Father’s Dragon. He even voiced Flounder in the recent live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. The young actor also has more upcoming voice roles in Wildwood, which features a stellar cast with Carey Mulligan and Mahershala Ali in the leading roles, while he will play yet another lead role in Orion and the Dark, which is written by one of the greatest screenwriters of the 21st century, Charlie Kauffman.
While Lenny Abrahamson must be credited for spotting Tremblay’s talent and offering him his big break in Room, perhaps no one has consistently recognized his ability more than Mike Flanagan, as The Life of Chuck is by no means their first time working together. Flanagan might be one of the most renowned horror directors on the planet right now, but he still had to earn such a moniker and even in his earlier days of filmmaking, such as 2016’s Before I Wake, Flanagan sought out the child actor’s talents. Flanagan, like many auteurs, prefers to work with actors he knows and trusts, and following their collaborative debut with Before I Wake he brought back Tremblay for another Stehpen King adaptation, Doctor Sleep, in what was a limited but incredibly memorable role, however traumatic his character’s arc was. It is difficult to find an actor as dramatically dependable at such a young age as Jacob Tremblay, and this is only amplified by the fact that a director like Mike Flanagan wants to continually work with him, as his style of character-driven filmmaking unerringly demands dramatic chops that are beyond most young talent.
If all this wasn’t enough, Tremblay plays the main supporting role in the upcoming The Toxic Avenger adaptation opposite Peter Dinklage, Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood, which has already drawn a strong reaction from critics prior to its wide release.
By now it practically goes without saying, but Jacob Tremblay is already proving to be one of the finest actors of his generation, and the consistent flow of strong roles he is receiving, both animated and live-action, screams that he is all but ready to transition to adulthood in a manner few performers his age can successfully pull off for one reason or another. I compared him to a young DiCaprio, which might seem like hyperbole right now, but in a few years who knows, the young man could be the second coming of Leo. He certainly has the talent.