Movies

‘Boyhood’ wraps up after a 12-year production

“I was a pretty out-there kid,” says Ellar Coltrane, laughing. And he has the film to prove it.

The subject of Richard Linklater’s new movie, “Boyhood,” out Friday, Coltrane was cast at the age of 6 to star in an unprecedented project: portraying a boy’s childhood and adolescence by filming over 12 years, from ages 5 to 18 (a year behind Coltrane’s real age). Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke would play his parents; Linklater’s daughter, Lorelei, would act as Coltrane’s big sister.

Lorelei Linklater, Ethan Hawke), and Ellar Coltrane on set of ‘Boyhood.’IFC Films

Seeing the finished product, says the 19-year-old star, was “strange. I mean, everyone, to a certain extent, wonders, ‘How am I changing day to day?’ You look in the mirror and wonder how your experiences are affecting your personality and how you’re changing physically. To see it all organized like that…was very emotional.”

At the outset, Coltrane was hardly a typical boy. “[Linklater’s 2001 animated, philosophy-themed] ‘Waking Life’ was one of my favorite films,” he says. “I was into psychedelic music and art films.”

Linklater says that was what drew him to Coltrane. “He was just kind of mysterious,” he says. “I liked the way his brain worked. There’s nothing more annoying than a too-likable child actor. I could tell that wasn’t going to be him.”

Ellar Coltrane at the “Boyhood” premiere.Getty Images

Coltrane had an unconventional upbringing, raised in Austin, Texas, by artist parents. “They always supported me in whatever I wanted to do,” he says. He had done a couple of smaller acting gigs, but nothing on this scale.

“Boyhood” follows the progression of Mason’s [Coltrane] life as his mother moves from one dubious partner to the next, and his often-absent father shows up sporadically to take him and his sister out. Subtle editing segues one year into another, and changes in Coltrane’s appearance and behavior begin to emerge.

Also aging before our eyes are Arquette and Hawke. Initially, both actors had close relationships with the kids. “Patricia had the kids sleep over and went shopping,” says Linklater. “Ethan was sort of like the dad in the movie; he would come and take them on little fun adventures that mirrored the real relationship.”

Mason starts out as a fairly normal kid, but eventually dovetails more with Coltrane’s pensive personality. “As I got older, I became a larger part of the process,” he says.

Ellar Coltrane at age nine during production.IFC Films

Linklater and Coltrane stayed in touch in between the 12 shoots. “He would call me up, as he got older: ‘I’m thinking about getting an earring. Is that OK for my character?’ ” says Linklater. “During the second half he became more of a creative collaborator.”

Some scenes, the director says, were mined from life: “When he and Ethan are sitting around a campfire talking about what a new ‘Star Wars’ movie could be, that’s what Ellar was really talking about that year.”

The film had an indelible effect on who Coltrane is. “It influenced how I look at myself and how I look at time,” he says. “I don’t remember much before working on this. It’s always been a part of my life.”