Exclusive Interview: Jalen Thomas Brooks Talks About the Horror-Slasher Classic ‘Thanksgiving,’ Collaborating with Eli Roth, and More

Jalen Thomas Brooks is one of the most exciting new voices in the industry. In his young career, he has already starred in projects such as Henry Danger, Animal Kingdom, and Walker. This November, he leads an extraordinary cast in Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving.

After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts—the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings is soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays…or become guests at his twisted holiday dinner table?

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Jalen about Thanksgiving, making his feature film debut, collaborating with Eli Roth, and more!

How did you discover your passion for storytelling?
Jalen: I’ve always loved storytelling and, specifically, writing as well. When I was little, I used to write stories. My mom would read children’s books to me. I played a lot of basketball when I was little. My mom would always read Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream. That was my first memory of loving stories and incorporating them into a bigger message.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career, either personally or professionally?
Jalen: Personally, it has to be my mom. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for her. She’s helped me tremendously. I lived in Vegas, and she drove me back and forth for auditions. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her. She’d let me sleep in the car when she drove me to Burbank for auditions.

Professionally, there have been a lot of people, from my acting coach in Las Vegas to Jon Bernthal. I look to him for inspiration. But I would primarily say it’s been my mom above all.

PC: You’re still in the early stages of your career, but you’ve had so much success already. When you look back, is there a moment that stands out to you?
Jalen: Yeah, there is. There was a time when I was on Rebel for ABC. We had just wrapped the whole season. Paris Barclay was directing the last episode. I was walking by myself in the studio, and it was pitch dark at night. He pulled up in a golf cart beside me. He said, “Hey, Jalen. I really like you a lot. Keep doing what you’re doing. I’m sure I’ll see more from you. You’re great.” Then he drove off. I will remember that for the rest of my life. He didn’t need to stop me at all. It really stuck with me. It gave me that little bump that I needed mentally to know that this is a long game.

PC: You’re starring in one of the most highly-anticipated films of the year. Tell us about Thanksgiving and your character in it.
Jalen: Thanksgiving is bringing horror-slasher classics back. It’s going to be amazing. My character is the “boyfriend” of Nell Verlaque’s character. I’m really mysterious in the movie, so I don’t want to give too many spoilers away. But it’s really a whodunit movie, which is really interesting for a horror-comedy slasher. It’s a really cool mixture. I will say that I think audiences are going to be really pleased with it, and it’s going to catch you off guard with how funny it is.

PC: Like you were saying earlier, in addition to acting, you’re also a writer. Have you found that the work that you’ve done behind the scenes has impacted the way that you approach your work on screen and the way that you interpret characters like Bobby?
Jalen: Oh, for sure. It’s actually helped me a lot. Characters can be really complex, and some can be very simple. So when you’ve written, you can look at someone else’s writing, and you can see what they’re trying to say on the page. It’s important to find the writer’s voice and stick to that because if you try to do more than that, you can bring a different aspect to the character that’s not actually there. It’s actually helped me see the simplicity of most characters and their baselines and helped me not overcomplicate things in my head so I can hit it on the nose and not get in my head too much.

PC: The film is already getting so many rave reviews. What was it about this script and character that resonated with you?
Jalen: When I first read the script, none of us actually knew the ending of it, so it had this mysteriousness to it. We were all like, “This can’t be the legit ending to this. They’re hiding something. The ending is probably crazy.” Let me tell you that it is.

What resonated with me about Bobby is that I’ve gone through similar things personally where I’ve left town and came back to it as a completely different person. When I read the script, I was like, “That’s the base of the character.” I can do that. My audition scene was a heartfelt scene between me and Nell walking down the street. I was really drawn to that because it didn’t feel like acting in that moment.

PC: Eli [Roth] is an absolute genius, especially in this genre. What was it like getting to collaborate with him?
Jalen: I learned so much. I can speak for everybody; we all learned so much. He was a very meticulous director, but he was very communicative and kind. You never went on set not knowing what he expected of you.

In some of the really scary scenes where someone is being chased, he’d walk you through it while you were doing it in real time. He’d have a microphone and walk you through the whole take. He was the most hands-on and the friendliest guy. You could ask him a question about any movie. He knows everything. He used to sit there for hours and talk about everything. I learned a lot about horror tropes and how he breaks down his scripts and what he looks for in a shot.

There was an article that just came out where he talks about how he fills frames to make things seem bigger than they actually are. He would tell us on set all the time about how actors play into that and how you can, by not taking up much space, take up a lot of space. It was so interesting. He had so much knowledge.

PC: He’s also known for his iconic kills. Without giving any spoilers, is there one in particular that you’re really excited for audiences to see?
Jalen: There’s a lot. Each kill that happens one-ups the previous. There’s the one with the corner skewers, and I won’t spoil anything, but as that kill keeps happening, it gets crazier and crazier. It’s going to get a lot of people. It got me.

PC: This is your feature film debut. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What was the biggest takeaway?
Jalen: I’m so used to being on TV shows, so being in and out really quick. Doing a movie, you get really connected with the cast. Everybody knew each other. We connected so quickly. But I spent a lot of time with everyone, and it opened my eyes to the camaraderie. We met each other. We got really close. We did our thing, and we tried really hard.

It was eye-opening to see how much of a team effort it is between everyone. I grew up playing sports, and I never thought I’d find that camaraderie anywhere else other than sports. But to find it on a movie set really opened my eyes. I want to approach all my future projects like this and bring that same type of energy.

We all put our egos aside and did our best work. That’s what Eli represented on set. Everyone checked our egos at the door, and we made a movie that will hopefully become a classic.

To keep up with Jalen, follow him on Instagram. Thanksgiving is in theaters now.

Photo Credit: Collin Stark