Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Team Marco’s Owen Vaccaro

The future of Hollywood looks bright with Owen Vaccaro leading the way. The gifted young actor made a big splash this year for his breakout role in Team Marco. The laugh-out-loud family film follows the budding relationship between a young man and his grandfather, and their newfound connection through bocce ball. Pop Culturalist caught up with Owen to chat about the film and his career.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for the arts?
Owen: It was actually my first grade teacher. I tried a bunch of sports—lacrosse, baseball, swimming, and soccer—but none of them clicked. Then, my first grade teacher, Miss Bass, said I should try theater. I tried that and branched off to film, and the rest is history.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Owen: That’s a really good question. Probably all the people that I’ve worked with. The more experience that you get, the more you see how other people do it, like my friend Scarlett [Estevez]. We always work together. We did Daddy’s Home and Daddy’s Home 2 together. I feel like we both grew a lot in the acting sense during those films. I feel like it’s really people that I’ve worked with.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Owen: I think it was when I booked Daddy’s Home. It was a couple of weeks before Halloween a few years ago. I remember being so excited. I hadn’t even met Scarlett before.

Another great memory is the table read where I met Scarlett. That was super awesome.

Also, Team Marco. I loved being on Staten Island so much. I’d never been before.

Team Marco

PC: Speaking of Team Marco, tell us about the film, your character, and what drew you to the project.
Owen: The film is about the relationship between a grandson and his grandfather, one liking video games and electronics and the other being more traditional liking bocce ball and being outside. My character, Marco, is more into that first side of entertainment.

The thing that attracted me to this project was that I related to my character in the sense that I can be on my electronics a lot, probably a lot more than I should. With Corona going on and I’m in high school now, I’ve got a bunch of homework to do and TV shows to binge. [laughs]

PC: How did you and Anthony [Patellis] build the bond between your two characters?
Owen: It happened naturally. Even off set, we’re super good friends. The first time I met him was a couple minutes before our first scene, and we hit it off instantly. Thank God we had a good relationship because that’s really important for the film to work.

PC: This is a breakout role for you. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What was the biggest takeaway for you?
Owen: The biggest takeaway for me was working with a big group of kids because I’ve never done that before. They kind of saw me as a leader because I had done films before. I thought that was super fun, and it gave me an opportunity to help. That was my biggest takeaway.

PC: The film is out now and it’s been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Owen: I think what’s resonating the most is that you have to look up from your phone, computer, and iPad every once in a while because the world is happening. You got to look up and live in it. The other thing that’s really resonating with people is the importance of family.

PC: Did your relationship with technology change after being a part of this film?
Owen: Yeah, definitely. It gave me a better understanding of what was happening around me more than it helped me get off my electronics, but I’m very grateful for that.

PC: You’ve got a couple of other projects in the works, are there any that you can tease about right now?
Owen: I have a film that I did in Thailand and Hawaii last year called Finding Ohana, and it comes out next year on Netflix.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Owen: Schitt’s Creek, Glee, or American Horror Story.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Owen: The Pitch Perfect franchise or Mean Girls.

PC: Favorite book?
Owen: The Mysterious Benedict Society. Although, I also really like the Lord of the Flies.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Owen: Hairspray.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Owen: There’s so much Kacey Musgraves on my playlist…like probably more than there should be. Her and Lady Gaga.

PC: What’s your dream role?
Owen: I’d love to keep doing films like Team Marco, with the family element, but I think other films that I’d love to do are more action ones. Those have always been my favorite to do. I think they’re very fun because you get to be energetic and doing really cool things on set.

To keep up with Owen, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Team Marco today.