Alison Stewart: This is All of It from WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. In a new film, teens live in a world where tragedy becomes content. Sometimes, the calls for change are not always authentic. It's called Our Hero, Balthazar. Balthazar, who goes by Balti, is a lonely, wealthy New York kid who is sometimes performative online. He does this version of fighting for stricter gun laws, because that's what the girl he likes is into. He even trains himself to cry on command. However, when she calls him out, he panics.

He sees an opportunity when he sees a troubled teen person who has been posting violent threats online. The two of them form an unlikely bond born from isolation and misunderstanding, but this newfound relationship pulls them both towards the edge of disaster. A review in Deadline said, "The superb acting of Jaeden Martell and a transformative Asa Butterfield simply will not allow you to look away." Both are here today. Hey, Asa.

Asa Butterfield: Hey, guys.

Alison Stewart: Jaeden. It's nice to meet you.

Jaeden Martell: Nice to meet you.

Alison Stewart: Also joining us is the co-writer and the director of our hero, Balthazar, Oscar Boyson. Hi, Oscar.

Oscar Boyson: Hey, how are you?

Alison Stewart: I'm doing well. When did you first start writing this script?

Oscar Boyson: We started writing in late 2022.

Alison Stewart: What was the impetus for it there?

Oscar Boyson: It was actually something we read in the FBI coverage of the Uvalde shooter about that shooter, who was one of those guys that would go on social media and say extreme things to anybody and everyone, and to the point where even on the day that he did that shooting, he had messaged-- I've talked to people who were messaging with him. He was messaging things like, "I just shot my grandma in the face," to people who, of course, they don't know who he is. They're people in Europe. They're people who are responding, if responding at all. [crosstalk]

Alison Stewart: Germany, right?

Oscar Boyson: Yes. She said, "Cool." You can't really blame her because we all see bad stuff on the Internet and probably wish we could do something about it, but half of it's fake. Most of it's fake.

Alison Stewart: Jaeden, where's Balti when we meet him? What's going on with him?

Jaeden Martell: He's figuring himself out. He's a little private school guy in New York City. He seems to have all the resources in the world, but I think in the same way, you can't blame him for everything because he doesn't have the resources of love. He doesn't have. His mom's distant. His dad lives somewhere else.

Alison Stewart: Rough, hey.

Jaeden Martell: His life is very lavish, but it's unfulfilled and empty.

Alison Stewart: Asa, Solomon's in Texas. What's going on with Solomon? What does he want for his life?

Asa Butterfield: Similarly to Balthazar, he's left to his own devices. Unlike Balthazar, he has nothing really going for him. He lives with his grandma in a trailer park. She's the only person who's pretty much ever shown him any kind of affection. He's desperately seeking his dad's validation, to which his dad responds by selling him testosterone pills and taking his money. He's lonely, and he's craving something, and he's not getting it. Yes, the only way he seems to get any attention is by posting things online, and where he has this power and this ability to connect with people, which is what brings these two guys together.

Alison Stewart: Oscar, this film is largely about- the first half of it- is about how teens respond to each other online. How is that culture of the Internet different than what you grew up with?

Oscar Boyson: Sure. I grew up in a small town in Maine, where I spent a lot of time outside, playing with my friends, running around. I'm Mark Zuckerberg's age, so when we got Facebook in college, it was cool. Our parents didn't have it. It felt like something authentic to my generation, and it's just gotten worse and worse and worse and worse as it's revealed that all that really is, therefore, is to make money, especially at the expense of the young people who are getting hooked on it very early.

Alison Stewart: How does that new world shape the characters that you've written for screen?

Oscar Boyson: I think I feel really bad for these kids. I have a small social media following. It's been more active at certain points than others, but certainly enough people who, I don't know who are messaging me. A lot of them, and especially during the pandemic, where I really felt for these kids who were having their 12th or 13th birthday inside alone. It's tragic.

Young kids send me messages like, "Hey, would you watch my video? What am I doing wrong? Why aren't I getting more followers?" That expectation that you're going to be a brand by the time you're 12 is so screwed up. That kind of kid, I was really interested in trying to make an authentic character from.

Alison Stewart: Yes, Jaeden, that's what your character's about. He can cry on command. He's made an online Persona out of it. Why does he do that?

Jaeden Martell: I think it's the only option to present yourself with all these- what we're sent into these- the flashing lights of selling yourself, the marketing. It has to do with masculinity as well, and being-- He's got the same haircut as everybody else, and he's got the same style as everybody else. He's always mimicking, as we do, as is human nature, but with infinite options on a platform like social media, that makes it harder to find yourself. You're trying everything out. This is one phase of many for him, I think.

Alison Stewart: Asa, you went through a transformation in this film. You looked so different [chuckles]. You had this crazy blonde hair and these big saggy jeans. How did that help you get into your character?

Asa Butterfield: Well, the hair was a. Was a stroke of genius by Oscar. Probably only 10 days before we started shooting-

Alison Stewart: Really?

Asa Butterfield: -he messaged me like, "How do you feel about dyeing your hair?" At first, I was like, "Oh, I don't know." I've seen people dye their hair in movies. It always looks a bit fake. We got to Texas, I was like, "You know what? Let's do it. The moment I had it, and I looked at myself in the mirror, it was such a-- It was so alien, and it was so helpful to just separate myself from me and anything else I'd done before actually shooting in Texas. I'd been spending the previous few months learning a Texan accent, trying to find something that felt authentic and not character, and felt modern and youthful and inspired by online culture.

The jeans and the costume and being surrounded by real Texans all helped me really find and understand this really troubled young man. A lot of the people in the movie were real authentic Texans who were just around on set, either in the trailer park or in the pawn shop. it gives the movie such a grounded energy which is what it needs to be because it needs to be authentic. It needs to be truthful to these kids’ lives and what's going on right now.

Alison Stewart: What's the secret to a good Texas accent?

Asa Butterfield: Oh, what is the secret?

Alison Stewart: [chuckles]

Asa Butterfield: It's very relaxed. The whole mouth can kind of sag a bit, and it's got this kind of a bit of a drawl [chuckles].

Alison Stewart: There you go [laughs].

Oscar Boyson: I feel like the haircut has kind of taken on some- It's become trendy since then, too, around in the high school kids.

Asa Butterfield: [crostalk] I've kind of almost got it myself. I've kind of got the mullet. Solomon's just looks like he did it himself in his bathroom mirror.

Alison Stewart: Yes, he did. Yes, he definitely did it himself. The new film follows a wealthy New York teenager who travels to Texas to befriend a troubled teen posting violent threats online, but their unlikely bond pulls them towards the edge of disaster. It's called Our Hero, Balthazar. It stars Asa Butterfield and Jaeden Martell. We're here in studio with its co-writer and director, Oscar Boyson. Excuse me-

Oscar Boyson: And producer.

Alison Stewart: -to discuss the film. And producer. Producer. Oh, that's a lot of hats.

Jaeden Martell: It's true.

Alison Stewart: Did you fight with yourself?

Oscar Boyson: A little bit. You kind of, but you also surround yourselves with the best people that you can find. I think that's the most important thing.

Alison Stewart: These two, your two characters, they meet online on Balthazar's page. Help us understand, as a writer, as a co-writer, what you wanted to explore in the relationship as they start to go back and forth as they text, initially back and forth.

Oscar Boyson: I think that again, like, part of-- You asked me earlier, how did you grow up different from the way that these guys are growing up? I think that when I was a teenager in the '90s-- Every teenager goes through that thing where you're trying to figure out who you are, right? For me, a lot of it was about the movies that I loved. It was about going to the record store and buying records, and the bands that I loved, and forming an identity through my taste in music, and books, movies. All those things felt very authentic then.

I feel like when you're a teenager, you're looking for authenticity, but it's really hard when everything on social media feels performed. Whether that's an ideology or an identity, how is it possible to process anything as authentic when it all feels fake or performed? I thought that if both of these guys are performing something, it would be so interesting if the masks actually come off when they start to share space together, and because they have their similarities in spite of their difference in background, to show that something approaching healthiness was possible between them would be really exciting and tender. I love the performances by both of these guys. They've surprised me in all those moments, especially the quiet ones, where it's not just action, action, action.

Alison Stewart: Well, let's listen to a clip from our hero, Balthazar. This is where Balti decides he's going to Texas. He's a little bit manic. He's going to visit Asa, and he decides to fly. It's near his birthday, and his life coach shows up at his house. Let's listen.

Party Guest: What was his name again?

Anthony: Balthazar. This is his birthday.Yo, surprise.

Party Guests: Surprise [cheering].

Anthony: Happy birthday, buddy. Hey, where you going, buddy? You’re gonna miss your party.

Balthazar: It’s not my birthday until Friday, Anthony.

Anthony: Yeah, I know. Hey, listen, I’m sorry, Friday’s really busy for me and my other clients. Your mother said you didn’t have any plans. By the way, what are you all packed up for? Whoa, hey, Baltzi, you know I still submit reports to your father.

Balthazar: Okay, so then submit your stupid little report and tell to Robert that I’m fine. You need his money just as bad as Mom does, don’t you?

Anthony: Okay. All right, listen.

Balthazar: Who the [bleep] are these idiots? Who are these people?

Anthony: Hey, hey. It’s Chris, Devin, Rebecca. You know John. That’s John. John from Safe Landings.

Balthazar: John. Oh.

Anthony: How about this? How about you just tell me where you’re going?

Balthazar: And what would that do for the kids, huh?

Anthony: Kids? What do you mean, kids?

Balthazar: The kids. The kids, Anthony.

Anthony: Balthazar, Balthazar, you’re coming off really manic right now.

Alison Stewart: He goes way over the edge, we'll just say that, for the rest of that scene. I love the way you say, Robert. You go down, and you meet Solomon, and you're catfishing him a little bit. Does your character think, "He could be my friend"? Does Balti want something from Solomon?

Jaeden Martell: I don't know how much to say here, because I don't want to give away too much, but this was a part of my struggle as an actor playing this guy, was figuring out his true motivations. They're sort of left ambiguous. Not left ambiguous, but they begin pretty mixed and muddled and not very clear. I think Mace's character is-- I was sort of jealous at this. As an actor, he's a little bit more open to companionship, and that's the thing that he wants and needs. I sort of have this coldness to Balthazar.

Alison Stewart: It's interesting because he keeps saying, " "This is my friend from New York." Like, what does it mean for your character to say, "This is my friend from New York"?

Asa Butterfield: He's never had a friend before, let alone from the big city. You have that scene where he introduces him to his grandma. All the while, he's posturing as this thing that he's not. He's trying to keep him around because this is so new to him. He's so excited to have someone to just hang out in his car, and show the music he listens to, and show all of these weird parts of his life. There are a lot of people like Solomon in the world who don't have that. It's tragic how this-- He's put all of this faith in this guy who he shouldn't be putting his faith into. When you watch the movie, you have this sort of sense of, "This can't end."

Jaeden Martell: Yes.

Asa Butterfield: This can't end the way you want it to.

Alison Stewart: We're talking about the film Our Hero, Balthazar. We'll have more after a quick break. This is All of It.

You're listening to All of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. We're talking about the movie Our Hero, Balthazar. It stars Asa Butterfield and Jaeden Martell. They're here with us, alongside with co-writer, director, and producer Oscar Boyson. Oscar. The film takes place mostly in New York and Texas. How long did you shoot?

Oscar Boyson: We shot 22 days, 15 in Texas, 7 in New York.

Alison Stewart: What did you like about that schedule?

Oscar Boyson: Well, I've had an experience producing a few other movies, [laughter] so I won't just say none of it. It's pretty compressed, but I feel pretty confident about speaking up for what I need, knowing that we don't have much to offer. It was just enough time. We made every day count, aside from some hours in Dallas when the lightning strikes and the storm season bore its head.

Alison Stewart: What did you both like about that particular schedule of shooting this film? What do you think, Asa?

Asa Butterfield: I've said this before. When you're doing an indie movie, and you're all on such a tightrope of time and getting everything in the day, everyone just has to come with their A game. The actors, the crew, and everyone had such belief in this project and in this story. It really felt like a team game, which goes a long way. We had some really hectic, crazy days. You get to the end of it, you're like, "Whoa, that was mad." You almost don't remember it because you've done so much. It's really save the best for last.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: What do you think, Jaeden, about shooting on a compressed schedule like that?

Jaeden Martell: Well, we had some valuable prep time as well, and lots of dates with Oscar going to the movies and talking about this guy, which was so vital.

Alison Stewart: Oh, that's cool.

Jaeden Martell: Yes, and because we both live in New York. There is something about shooting in that kind of schedule that it's a testament to these guys setting the tone early. Asa, being our act, especially when it comes to an actor, and they sort of-- A director will always be on it, but an actor like Asa coming in and being so strong and being so on it is unbelievable. That sets the tone for everyone and they work so much harder.

Alison Stewart: What movies did you take them to see?

Oscar Boyson: We saw Gregg Araki's Nowhere.

Jaeden Martell: That was the first one.

Oscar Boyson: Yes, a lot of Gregg Araki inspiration, or at least those are the movies that, in the \90s, made you feel angry, but also let you channel your feelings through them.

Jaeden Martell: Yes. For performance, being like, don't pull any punches, basically.

Alison Stewart: Directors, the biggest thing they have to do is make decisions on the film. First of all, what was a decision that you made, which was a no-brainer, and what was one that you struggled with?

Oscar Boyson: No-brainer saying yes to both of these guys once they said they wanted to do it. What did I struggle with? I think probably there's a little bit of a struggle when people who you're showing the script to are telling you that it's too topical or it's too provocative. You're like, "I didn't write something provocative. What's wrong with topical? Are school shootings topical when they've been happening for 30 years?"

I think that it took a little bit of a struggle to find that, hey, nobody wants to give me money for this movie. That's a reason that I have to make it, because it's going to stand out and it's going to hit the landscape unlike anything. If it's this hard to get people on board with it at the script stage.

Alison Stewart: How did you decide to stay with it?

Oscar Boyson: Well, you share it with all these incredible actors. In addition to these two guys, we have Chris Bauer and Jennifer Ehle, and Noah Centineo, Avan Jogia, Becky Ann Baker, Anna Baryshnikov, Pippa Knowles, Danny McCarthy; so many great actors who as soon as they say, "Oh, I love this. I can find this character," it humanizes it. Something that somebody with executive mentality might say, "Oh, this is too provocative," because they're just looking at a word, whereas these guys, the actors, they look at a word and they make it human. Suddenly, it's like, this is what I'm talking about. That absolutely inspires you to push on because then you see it, and you leave all those notes from more like executive-brained AI-type people, and we start making human drama together.

Alison Stewart: Jaeden, what attracted you to the role, hearing him talk like that?

Jaeden Martell: Yes, that's really sweet. Well, I think the first thing you look at is can this character challenge me in some way? That's how I like to look at it. For a lot of reasons, but some of it being ego of an actor wanting to expand yourself. Otherwise, you're idle or complacent or something. It would just be a blast to play this sort of teetering in between "Guy, is he--" Sometimes you wonder maybe he's psychopathic, which is always a dream, I think, when you're an actor to be sort of a near villain.

Then it's confidence from talking to a guy like Oscar and Ricky Camilleri, the writer, their tone and their approach to the movie. This, because it's top core, people see it as provocative. It could have been done by somebody who that's their intention, but they had more delicate and true, wise intentions. That's what I hung on to.

Alison Stewart: How about for you, Asa? What drew you to the role?

Asa Butterfield: similarly to Jaeden, just having a character which I knew was going to push me and I knew I hadn't done before and hadn't accessed that part of sort of emotion and feeling and background, and it's things I'd struggled with previously as an actor, and auditions, and going up for roles and not never quite being able to access those parts of me because they're not parts of me that come very naturally.

Solomon felt very far away from me as a person. That is really kind of thrilling. The script, the writing, the way it juggled the sort of darkness and reality of what's happening with the humor of this kind of mad buddy comedy adventure they go on felt just a really-- It never felt heavy-handed with what it was trying to say. It undercut everything by keeping it grounded and keeping it real and keeping these two weird young men who find something in each other, and this friendship. That was really exciting for me.

Alison Stewart: One of the things that I found very interesting in the film is how important family is, even though it's not really stated. There's only one family member who shows true love for one person in the film. I think you mentioned it. What does family mean to Balti?

Jaeden Martell: It's a function, probably. Standard, the roles, what they have to offer. Money. It's not personal with him-

Alison Stewart: Interesting.

Jaeden Martell: -with a guy like that, which is unfortunate. That's how I see. Might not be true for everybody to one day see him. I'm sure there's some love in him-

Alison Stewart: somewhere.

Jaeden Martell: -but it's hard to find, I think.

Alison Stewart: For Solomon, what does family mean?

Asa Butterfield: I think it's a dream of something he might have had once and is now searching for, or doesn't think he deserves or can have. He has his grandma, and that's it.

Alison Stewart: She seems to really love him.

Asa Butterfield: They do. It's the sweetest-- It's the heart of Solomon's journey. That's the only person he really, really cares about. He cares about his dad, but it's sort of misplaced. It's more like he thinks he should care about his dad. His grandma's the only one who truly sees him and loves him. Becky's amazing.

Alison Stewart: I've seen some writers refer to it as a black comedy. Do you agree with that?

Oscar Boyson: That's always like a tough term, but I did want to say, when you were asking what helped you push through, there's something about it's the kind of movie I like, which is a movie that maybe lays out a diagnosis but doesn't necessarily give you the solution. There's something really cathartic about laying out all these things that are not going right in our country, and experiencing that kind of diagnosis in a movie theater with people, and they're laughing because it's funny as much as it is said. The movie, I think it's hilarious. It's the kind of movie that I love to go to.

Alison Stewart: How much did you consider tone as you were making and thinking about the film?

Oscar Boyson: A lot. We try to create a space where we're all comfortable taking risks and trusting each other, and knowing that we went so far that we have to pull it back. I think the worst feeling as a filmmaker is when you think that you're pushing it, and then you are editing and you're like, "Oh, God, we could have gone a little farther." Both of these guys were down for the journey. So much of tone is is who you cast in these characters.

Alison Stewart: What is a good piece of advice that your director gave you, Asa?

Asa Butterfield: Similarly to what he was just saying, having the faith in me. This is less advice, more just the sort of trust in me to take it to that edge and push Solomon further than I maybe initially read or felt. Not like I felt comfortable doing, but just finding that limit and finding those weird, heightened moments in this character's journey and having him having the faith in me to, one, create this character in the first place, but two , push it to where we needed it to go. That's something which I will continue to take with me in my career. Just having that, "Okay, I can do this." I have the access to this, whatever this is in the future.

Alison Stewart: Jaeden, what advice did you get from Oscar that will be useful for you?

Jaeden Martell: I'm thinking a lot about this pretty similar concept of pushing and of essentially overriding, and then always being able to peel back and edit and doing the most. I think you're so spiritually-- it might sound wrong, but strategic, and it's to gather all resources. I think you have your eye on everything. It's really admirable.

Alison Stewart: The film is called Our Hero, Balthazar. It is out now. I've been speaking with. It stars Asa Butterfield and Jaeden Martell, alongside its co-writer, director, and producer, Oscar Boyson. Thank you so much for coming into the studio.

Oscar Boyson: Thanks for having us, Alison.

Jaeden Martell: Thank you so much.

Asa Butterfield: Thank you, Alison.

Alison Stewart: I appreciate it. That's All of It for today. I'm Alison Stewart. I appreciate you listening, and I appreciate you. I will meet you back here next time.

 

Copyright © 2026 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of programming is the audio record.