A Wrinkle In Time: Deric McCabe On Playing The Iconic Character Charles Wallace (Exclusive Interview)

This child actor indeed has a strong future.

Deric McCabe landed the role to play the iconic character Charles Wallace in the upcoming anticipated A Wrinkle In Time, based off the lovable children’s book series by Madeleine L’Engle.

The film is directed by Ava DuVernay (Selma) that included an all-star cast of Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, Michael Pena and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. McCabe stars alongside with Storm Reid and Levi Miller to travel across the universe to find Mr. Murry.

The film examines the nature of darkness versus light and ultimately, the triumph of love. The girl’s transformative journey is led by three celestial guides, in which we discover that strength comes from embracing one’s individuality and that the best way to triumph over fear is to travel by one’s own light.

LRM sat down with the child actor Deric McCabe earlier this month to discuss his unique experience on this project.

A Wrinkle in Time opens in theaters nationwide tomorrow on Friday, March 9.

Read our interview transcript below:

LRM: How exciting is it for you to be in A Wrinkle In Time, which is so big and so grand?

Deric McCabe: It’s fantastic to actually to be in it. I always watch movies and never [thought] that I would be in one. It’s fascinating, especially to be in a Disney movie.

LRM: Have you ever heard of A Wrinkle In Time before your audition?

Deric McCabe: No. Ava [DuVernay] told me it was a book. I was like, “No way it’s a book.” But then, I went to Barnes & Nobles looking at books, I found a copy of the book. I was, “It is a book! Oh, wow!”

LRM: What do you think about your character in the book in comparison to the character on the screen?

Deric McCabe: I haven’t really read the book. I’m currently in between reading the book. He’s kind of the same person. He’s the smartest little boy I’ve ever heard of. So I think he’s kind of the same person, but there are probably some differences.

LRM: Y’know, meeting you here in person here…I find so adorable.

Deric McCabe: Thank you.

LRM: I saw the movie. I wasn’t sure to give you a hug or to be scared of you. [Laughs] How did you go through you two different personalities?

Deric McCabe: Well, in acting, I think of it that you’re a different person. You’re no longer Deric McCabe and now you’re Charles Wallace Murry. I though of Charles Wallace was a good character, a bad character and that I am my own character. I always thought of it as that I am my own person and Charles Wallace as someone else.

LRM: As a young person as yourself, how do you turn it on and off? How did you switch between the bad and the good?

Deric McCabe: The bad and the good came easy to me, which is kind of odd. I can easily be good. And some days, we can shoot that I can be bad. Oh, this is easy, Hollywood. [Laughs]

LRM: What was the most wondrous place you got to visit in New Zealand?

Deric McCabe: What was the most wondrous place? I really liked the tall grass. It’s [the scene], where all the Mrs. were there. All three were [standing] in a line. I was like, “this grass is taller than me!” This is cool.

LRM: Was there any other fun stuff you got to do in New Zealand for youself?

Deric McCabe: I liked running down the rolling hills. I did go to a park.

LRM: There were so many big name stars in this movie. Have you ever heard of anyone before?

Deric McCabe: No. Well, one day my parents were like, “Gosh. You got the part in the movie. You get to work with Oprah!” I responded, “Oh, my Gosh! Oprah! Who is she? What does she do?” [Laughs] Oprah, okay. She’s a talk show host. I got thought. Oprah, okay. So I had no idea on who Oprah was at all. No idea.

LRM: So, when you first met Oprah–you weren’t excited, but your parents were?

Deric McCabe: Yeah. They were like [whispers], “Oh, my gosh. There’s Oprah!” [Still whispering] Sure, Oprah. She is just a regular person. You know that, right? [Raises voice] But, yeah! She’s Oprah!! I told them, “Yeah. She’s a regular person. Go up to her and say hi.” [Whispers] They said, “I don’t want to say to hi to Oprah. She’s Oprah.”

I went up to Oprah and said, “Hi, Oprah!” I looked back and said, “See?” Oprah is just a regular person. I just didn’t know on who she was.

LRM: [Laughs] What about doing the CGI stuff? Is that a new experience for you? How did you handle that?

Deric McCabe: We were doing a certain scene. They would tell me on what was happening in the scene. A scene was described to me as a brain. So it’s a brain. I was told to meet the It. I saw it with lights and it was like tentacles. When I was doing it, I thought it was lightning. The lights were flashing and they were white lights. So I thought it was lightning.

When I was watching the movie, I was like, “What the? Tentacles. Tentacles!?!” It’s because I didn’t know it was going to be tentacles.

LRM: No one told you?

Deric McCabe: [Shakes head] Nope. No one.

LRM: The room with Zach Galifianakis as the Happy Medium–was that how you pictured it too?

Deric McCabe: It’s exactly on how I pictured it. They built it. There was no CGI in that scene really. They actually built it and had a fog machine at the end. It was awesome! They built a whole set. It was safe to stand on. It’s safe to touch. The crystals are actually balancing, but it was actually glued in.

This is so cool. There was no CGI in that. None.

LRM: Really? Did you have to balance yourself in that scene? Or did you just stood there?

Deric McCabe: We were on a harness. Once in a while, I had to push it side-to-side. It’s to make it look like I was about to fall. If you weren’t in a harness and there, then you’ll think you’ll fall. You would be going forward and back and side-to-side.

LRM: You were in a harness a few times in movie. There was a scene that you were practically flying. Was that fun?

Deric McCabe: I was in a robot arm. Storm [Reid] was in a harness. Levi [Miller] was in a robot arm. They took us up. Levi was doing flips and acted like he was falling off. I just went around.

LRM: What was the most fun scene for you out of this entire project?

Deric McCabe: I really liked being in that robot arm. It was really fun to go around in it.

LRM: With A Wrinkle In Time about to be out in theaters, what do you tell your friends back at home?

Deric McCabe: They said, “Oh, my gosh! I watched a movie and saw the trailer.” I told them to go watch A Wrinkle In Time. Another friend told me, “Oh! I saw a cardboard version of you for A Wrinkle In Time.” I told the friend that it’s great! Go see the movie. Now I guess they’re all going to see the movie.

LRM: Are you going to stay in acting? Why do you enjoy this so much?

Deric McCabe: Yeah. I like being other people. I like being myself and I like being Charles Wallace. I think of it as two different people.

LRM: Which type of character do you enjoy playing the most? In this movie, you played a bad guy and a good guy. Which is more fun?

Deric McCabe: It’s fun being the bad guy. I get to do stuff that I would never be able to do like dragging people down the hallway. I thought that was really fun to do stuff that a regular kid couldn’t do.

A Wrinkle In Time is playing in theaters nationwide this Friday, March 9.

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