Jacob Batalon on shift from superheroes to the supernatural
Jacob Batalon as Paxton
If you know what the future holds, how will that affect free will in the decisions you make? Columbia Pictures’ horror film “Tarot,” which opened in Philippine cinemas yesterday, spins a horrifying yarn surrounding that theme by way of tarot reading.
In the film, the characters read their fortunes through a sophisticated zodiac spread: 12 cards arrayed in a circle, with one card representing each sign of the zodiac, and each card bringing its own symbolism—mood, relationships, needs, goals, etc.
At the center of the circle is a 13th card, representing the overall theme of the tarot spread, giving clarity to the other cards.
Among the film’s characters, the truest believer is Haley (Harriet Slater), who performs the readings for the other six, namely Grant (Adain Bradley), Paige (Avantika), Lucas (Wolfgang Novogratz), Madeline (Humberly Gonzalez), Elise (Larsen Thompson) and Paxton (Fil-Am actor Jacob Batalon), who’s considered the glue that holds his group together.
When Haley, Paxton and their pals recklessly violate the sacred rule of tarot readings—never use someone else’s deck—they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they then come face to face with fate and find themselves racing against death to escape the future foretold in their respective readings.
‘Conversation with death’
“In times of uncertainty, people turn to tarot and astrology to try to make sense of inexplicable things,” noted Spenser Cohen, who wrote and directed the movie with Anna Halberg, “Of course that’s a universal theme that resonates with everybody. But at its core, our film is about one woman’s conversation with death—a story about how she learns to process her trauma and, ultimately, let go of it.”
For producer Scott Glassgold, “There is so much we don’t know about the cosmos, and [tarot and astrology] offer a path toward understanding this unknown. Because it is mystical in nature, it inevitably opens the door to scares. The Major Arcana in tarot, in particular, has an array of preexisting characters which serves as the perfect jumping-off point for horror characters.”
But building a compelling narrative also requires a ring of truth to it, explained Anna: “We wanted the movie to be grounded in facts and real history, and tarot and astrology are two disciplines that have been around to predict the future for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. So we brought in tarot expert Angie Banicki, who helped bring a lot of credibility to our film.”
In an email interview early this week, we asked Jacob Batalon if he was as fascinated with the supernatural and the occult growing up as the moviegoers who regularly flock to horror movies and suspense-thrillers. Was he ever into fortune telling, horoscopes and astrology?
“Yeah, I was really into spiritual things,” admitted Jacob, who was born in Hawaii in 1996 to Filipino parents. “I used to love watching a show about ghost hunting on a travel channel. My cousins and I used to love watching that show all the time and we’d scare ourselves silly. I love horror movies.
“In terms of my beliefs and all those things, my mother believes in those things, and I feel like I got that from her. But I also try to take everything with a grain of salt, and hopefully, no bad spirits come to haunt me (laughs).”
Larsen Thompson in “Tarot” —PHOTOS COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES
Profitable genre
Horror productions like “Tarot” tap into viewers’ deepest fears and biggest traumas. If tarot reading can foretell something about his future, what aspect of it does he wish to know about?
Jacob quipped, “Oh, man, will I ever learn how to ride a bike (laughs)? I have not learned to ride a bike, so that’s one of them for sure.”
Since movies that feature ghouls and other creepy creatures are a profitable genre, we asked Jacob what he thought it was about the genre that makes it so profitable and popular among moviegoers.
“I think everyone is interested in being scared. So for a lot of people, [the release of] a horror movie is seen as ‘an event,’” he assessed. “It isn’t just like watching an adventure movie. The idea of being scared of something has always been profitable—and that’s never gonna go away.”
Jacob may have made a name for himself when he broke the mold as Peter Parker’s Fil-Am best friend Ned Leeds—a role traditionally assigned to Caucasian actors—in the “Spider-Man” and “Avengers” films. But he’s no stranger to monsters and other blood-sucking creatures that go bump in the night, either.
In fact, the 27-year-old actor even plays the undead title character in the comedy-horror series “Reginald the Vampire.” In the show, he’s cast as overweight vampire Reginald Andres, who’s been turned into a vampire to escape imminent death.
So, we asked Jacob what, in his view, sets his character Paxton apart from his other roles onscreen. Moreover, in what way is he similar to Paxton?
“Well, Paxton is definitely not as heroic as Ned or Reginald [in TV series ‘Reginald the Vampire’],” he replied. “And I think that’s a great thing because I enjoy seeing the different colors of a character. Unfortunately, I’m just not brave, like Paxton (laughs). At the first sight of trouble, I will definitely run away, too!”
We reminded Jacob that in our virtual interview with him in 2019 for Netflix’s “Let It Snow,” he mentioned that despite the easygoing characters he plays, he’s actually more introverted than outgoing.
After his coveted roles in “Spider-Man” and now “Tarot,” would he say that fame has made him come out of his shell more?
“No, I think it’s the opposite, honestly,” he intimated. “If anything, I’m more inside my shell these days—but not in a bad way. I’m just not used to always interacting with a lot of people all at once. While I would like to be more outgoing, I think I’m just more … guarded now.”
