Jack Kilmer is not used to being interviewed.

Itâs a brutally windy day in New York and the star of Palo Alto, Gia Coppolaâs cinematic take on a collection of short stories by James Franco, is sitting comfortably in a suite at the Conrad Hotel. Well, heâs still wearing a heavy parka and fidgeting with the zipper between questions. He struggles not to garble his responses (âDefinitely, like, acting is kind of likeâŚ[itâs] just been suchâŚ[Iâm] kind of obsessed with it now.â), but loses his train of thought sometimes, trailing off with a shy grin and an apologetic â...and yeah.â For a kid raised by two famous actors (his father, you may have heard, is named Val and his mother is actress Joanne Whalley), promoting his big Hollywood debut, Kilmer is acting implausibly like a normal 18-year-old.
In fact, itâs his total un-Hollywoodness that landed Kilmer the lead role of Teddy in Palo Alto. Coppola, Francis Fordâs granddaughter, and Kilmer grew up together. âOur parents are really good friends,â he says, and the kids were often dragged to ârandomâ family events. When Coppola, now 27, adapted Francoâs stories into a dark, emotional screenplay about a group of high schoolers grappling with sex, boredom, and impending adulthood, she quickly recognized some of Kilmer in Teddy. She asked him to read through the script with her and put Teddyâs lines into his own words, adding insight to âwhat itâs like being a 17-year-old, or a kid who skateboards.â Eventually, she suggested filming Kilmer reading the script. âAnd I guess that was the audition tape,â he says.
Kilmer talks about his new career like itâs a happy freak accident, but that downplays the formidable, raw talent he shows onscreen. His performance as Teddy is naturalistic and sincere; heâs alternately insecure, awkward, foolish, funny and fascinating. In a word: teenage. The authenticity of the characters in Palo Alto is rarely seen in glitzier high school moviesâa fact not lost on actual adolescents like Kilmer, who only graduated last spring.
âYou see these movies and, in the same scene, they go from, like, chugging beers to hooking up with the cheerleader and all this stuff, played by 30-year-old actors and you think, When is that gonna happen to me?â he says. âItâs not really that glamorous in Palo Alto. Itâs just kind of, like, there and sometimes itâs sad. I think [the characters] are just bored and that can be very relatable.â
Emma Roberts plays Teddyâs crush, a studious, good-girl type named April who has an unhappy affair with her single-dad soccer coach (played, of course, by Franco). Nat Wolff nails the role of Fred, Teddyâs volatile best friend, and Zoe Levin, Chris Messina, and Val Kilmer also star, the latter making a memorable cameo as Aprilâs perpetually stoned dad.
âIt was pretty hilarious seeing him high,â Kilmer laughs. âHeâs a funny guy.â Val affectionately refers to his son as âmy boy Jackâ on Twitter and keeps an enthusiastic record of Palo Alto magazine clippings and photos. But when it comes to advice, Kilmer says, his dad has only imparted wisdom that applies âto anything in life, really: Just breathe and be really honest and take a lot of risks and have fun.â
Kilmer shies away from the word âcareerâ to describe his acting ambitions and maintains a decidedly chill attitude about his new fameâeven as online tabloids dub him âthe next Robert Pattinson.â (Kilmer looks embarrassed at the mention of the report; he doesnât know Rob âPattersonâ well enough to compare, he says.) He was making music and just starting to apply to colleges when he began filming Palo Alto, but two more film projects have already come up: Len and Company, co-starring Juno Temple and Rhys Ifans, and Aaron Baby Superfecta, opposite Elle Fanning.
If he feels any pressure to live up to his dadâs fame, he doesnât show it. âWith Palo Alto as the catalyst, Iâve surrounded myself with people that have kind of created a world where I can feel like Iâm not gonna be judged for doing something that I want to do. Everyone whoâs around me is really supportive, so I donât see any reason to stop now.â He smiles again. âIâm not trippin.ââ