Young 'Dangerous Book For Boys' Star Gabriel Bateman Details Fantastical Series

Starring in The Dangerous Book for Boys, Gabriel Bateman is prompted to pull performances from [...]

By Brandon Davis - May 8, 2018 11:14 am EDT

Starring in The Dangerous Book for Boys, Gabriel Bateman is prompted to pull performances from every corner of his imagination.

At just 13-years-old, Bateman plays Wyatt on the Amazon series, a young boy whose imagination takes control of the world and sends him on brilliant adventures in the wake of a tragic loss. As it turns out, the young star got advice from a Hollywood legend to take the part, portraying a character burdened with carrying his family's emotional roller coaster.

ComicBook.com caught up with Bateman for an exclusive interview.

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ComicBook.com: First, I was hoping you could just tell me a little bit about how you came to be a part of this Dangerous Book for Boys series. It looks like it's a lot of fun.

Gabriel Bateman: Well, the casting process was pretty easy. But I think what really convinced me to take the project was since I had never really done anything like this before, it was very unique to me. There are so many fantasies in it. It's almost like playing a different character in a different place each time.

I think another big part of it, I had another offer at the same time. But Bryan Cranston who co-wrote the series talked to me about the plot and the script and the character, and that's really what convinced me to take it.

CB: Wow. Bryan Cranston is pretty legendary of a guy. I also want to talk about your character, Wyatt. He's suffered some loss. Could you give me your perspective on Wyatt, and why people are so invested in him?

GB: Wyatt is the youngest in his family, but he's very sensitive, and he's really observant and empathetic. Even though he's struggling and dealing with the loss in his own right. He sees that his brothers aren't really coping with it, and his family doesn't really know how to cope with it. Despite being the youngest, he tries to help out his family to deal with the death of their father and tries to bring them together. I think that's a big part of why audiences will fall in love with him.

CB: The trailer for The Dangerous Book for Boys shows some really cool moments like being an astronaut, being a poker player, all kinds of really cool stuff. I'm wondering for you, which one of these was the most fun?

GB: Yeah, what can I say? It was all really, really fun, because it's a different experience each episode because of his fantasies. I think my favorite was probably the western poker fantasy or maybe the Trojan horse fantasy, because I love Roman mythology and history. I guess it would be a tie between the two of those.

CB: That's amazing, because those are so many peoples different kinds of favorite movies, and you're just doing them all in one.

GB: Yeah.

CB: You mentioned you play the youngest of the family. You have some young co-stars, similar in your age. What is it like to work with young people on set and telling such fantastical stories?

GB: Well, I have five older brothers in real life, so I think that definitely helps to form the relationships and form the bond with my younger co-stars. I think by the end of it, we really were very close, very... almost like brothers. I think it was very fun to just be goofing around on set and then work together and be building a relationship on and off set. Yeah, it was definitely very fun.

CB: Who jokes around the most between takes?

GB: Definitely Drew [Powell], yeah. Probably Drew.

CB: When I grew up, things like The Lion King and Thomas the Train were what sparked my imagination. You're part of a whole new generation. I'm curious, what kind of content sparks your imagination the way that this Amazon series does for a lot of people?

GB: Actually, The Lion King was a big one for me. Growing up, I didn't have a TV, so I didn't watch a lot of television or movies. I do now, but I mostly read books. I think a lot of books did that for me. It's either Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson series and Harry Potter series, when I was younger, really sparked my imagination. Yeah, these books.

CB: You're very impressive for your age. What is your process like to get in character, to get the imagination going, to get the emotion going?

GB: Well, honestly with a lot of characters you're not really going to relate to them and have anything in common. It is very much acting at the end of the day. You do still have to pretend.

If I do relate to a character, I try to imagine myself as that character, and what I would do in this particular scene. How I would react, and then mix the two, what the character is... how it's written, and what I would do, mix the two, so make it more realistic in the scene, if that makes sense?

CB: Now, of course, we're ComicBook.com, so we like to talk a little bit about superheroes. Are you a superhero fan at all?

GB: 100%, yeah.

CB: Who is your go-to superhero?

GB: Batman.

CB: If you could play any superhero in a movie or TV show, would it be Batman or would it be someone else?

GB: At my current age, it would have to be Robin, Dick Grayson, Robin, or maybe Damian Wayne, actually. But if I were older, yeah, probably Batman.

CB: I was going to ask you are you a Marvel or DC guy, but I think you're pretty clearly a big DC fan.

GB: Actually, it's hard. Because cinematically, I think I would probably go with Marvel. But comic-wise, they're pretty neck in neck. I think comics, I would go with DC, and cinematically, I would go with Marvel.

The Dangerous Book for Boys is available now on Amazon.

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