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Jalen Thomas Brooks on Learning From Horror Director Eli Roth on the Set of ‘Thanksgiving’


December 13, 2023

You might not know who Jalen Thomas Brooks is yet, but odds are, you will soon. The young actor, who has shown up in multiple episodes of TV shows like Rebel, Animal Kingdom and Walker, made his cinematic debut in Eli Roth’s hit horror flick, Thanksgiving.

In the movie, Brooks plays a baseball phenom who gets caught up in a Black Friday riot that leads to multiple deaths and inspires a serial killer to terrorize his town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Brooks’ Bobby quickly becomes a suspect in the killings, but to reveal anything further would spoil an extremely fun, extremely violent movie. He’s attached to the sequel, already in development.

He chatted with us from Los Angeles.

How did you get started as an actor?

I played a lot of basketball growing up. When I was a freshman, I had interest letters to go to college to play, but I decided not to continue because I was bored and my body was hurting. Then I watched Hunger Games one night and I was like, “Oh, these people that are close to my age actually made this story.”

I always wrote stories when I was little. I watched movies, but there’s something about Hunger Games that made me really think I could be a part of something like that. So I told my mom, who got me into a theater class, but it was too big, too scary. I found an acting for film class, then got an agent through that and started auditioning. Things started to stick.

Was it about filling a hole that leaving basketball left behind?

Not a hole, necessarily. There was just something that connected there — that I could actually be a part of the team aspect of making a movie.

I’ve always been connected to stories. I think it’s a very crucial part of life. It’s what humans are actually inclined to do since humans were created. When I stopped playing basketball, it was a month later that I knew this is what I should do.

I’m surprised more athletes don’t get into performing for that very reason. The team aspect of it, whether it’s on-screen or on stage.

One hundred percent. Kobe Bryant is a huge role model for me. When he won an Oscar he talked about how everybody comes together with their own skills and they mesh and make this thing.

I didn’t think I was going to find that anywhere else other than a sport, but then I went to a set for the first time and it was like a well-oiled machine. I thought, “This is beautiful. This is amazing.” Everybody was working as one unit. I always wanted to be a part of something with that kind of camaraderie. That’s why I got into acting.

I think that’s an important lesson for young actors to learn, how things work on a film set and how we’re all cogs in a wheel. All the cogs are important, and that’s what makes it all go right.

Eli made that really clear. When we first met with everybody, he said, “Hey, guys, I know some of you are more successful than others, but we’re all here, we’re all making this movie. Do your job. Don’t try to outshine anybody, just do your job, and I promise you we’ll make a classic. Put your ego aside, understand your place in the movie, and do it to the best of your ability, and everything will work out.” For me, I’m like, “Heck, yeah! I’ll do my part! I’ll do it the best I can!” Everybody did that.

So that leads me to two questions. The first is about the fact that, while this is your first film, you’ve done a fair amount of TV. Was this attitude just not there on the TV sets where you worked?

When you’re on episodic TV, it’s more fractured. You come in and do your part. You don’t have to really worry about what’s happened in the story for the episode that you’re not there for.

When you’re in a film, everything is more connected. It’s more of a team aspect. Every single thing that you can do matters because there’s a clear beginning, middle and end.

This must have been a pretty eye-opening experience.

Totally. You have to be super prepared, know all your business and don’t be distracted. The way Eli approached it, he’s such a professional, you expect excellence from everybody. It was just a different level of acting that I didn’t think I was going to get to so quickly. It was funny to find it in a horror movie.

Does that get you to a place where it’s easier to trust the director?

The one thing that was really interesting about the whole process was that the movie’s very, very funny, but he did not let us in on the joke. The whole time, he told us to play it dead serious and said, “You’ll see. It’s gonna be hilarious.” We were all like, “What do you mean, it’s gonna be hilarious?”

[It turned out that way because of] how the dialogue was written and how he cut the movie, because we listened and worked [well] as a team. You were able to see his vision 100% clear. That’s what it was for me, seeing that as an actor on film, we are part of the director’s vision.

Seeing the importance of teamwork, how will you use that experience moving forward?

He taught us so much, even how to talk to people professionally, how to move around set and how to be respectful to people. It’s helped me so much. Doing auditions and going into meetings with people, understanding the business side of everything. It all matters.

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