“We hang out all the time; we’re always eating lunch together.
We have a group chat.”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How’d you get involved withGeneration?
Justice Smith at Chester on HBO Max’s ‘Generation’.HBO Max
And what drew you to the character Chester specifically?
JUSTICE SMITH:I originally auditioned for the guidance counselor, which was originally written as a younger part.
They liked me, but they were like, “We’re looking for something else.”
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and Justice Smith as Sam and Chester on HBO Max’s ‘Generation’.HBO Max
And I was like, “I know so many guys like that.
They’re going to find the guy.”
But they didn’t.
Uly Schlesinger and Justice Smith as Nathan and Chester on HBO Max’s ‘Generation’.HBO Max
And I was like, “Okay, I’ll go in.”
I know this person."
So he just kinda came to me immediately.
And now, here I am.
So Chester wasn’t originally the role you went in for.
Again, his name is Chester, he’s a water polo star.
I’m wondering was Chester always written as Black?
Oh yeah, Chester was always written as Black.
They were like, “We want to cast a white guy.”
[Laughs]
I love that they did because the connection between you and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett is so good.
I’m from Orange County, and I’m from Anaheim where the show takes place.
So you went in for the guidance counselor part, and ended up playing Chester.
Why play a teen again?
Did you have any misgivings about that?
I don’t want to play another 17-year-old."
And I went in and I was like, “Ah, here we go again.”
With this role, is a lot of the character on the page?
Or were you working with the Barnz family to craft it?
Most of it is on the page, yeah.
you’re free to’t really do that if the writing is bad.
I mean, he kind of does about certain things, but he really just wants to be seen.
I mean, it’s like they’re different mediums.
I’ve done so much green screen work that I’m really kind of good at it now.
We shoot in L.A. Yeah, it’s just different.
There are pros and cons to both.
Or did those changes feed into how you play Chester?
We weren’t shooting at the time that I publicly made the announcement about my relationship.
And I’d only planned on getting out of that box of assumption before the show came out.
Because I have my own personal problems with non-queer people playing queer characters.
It’s like… it’s fine, but it’s also just like let queer people play themselves.
I understand this experience.
Over the years,there have been more intense conversations about age gaps.
And Chester’s fascination with Sam is rooted in Chester’s own desperation to be loved.
He suffers from loneliness because he’s this effervescent personality, and people are intimidated by that.
The series explores him conflating two different things.
But yes, the series explores that.
It’s more about Chester’s desperation.
I’ve learned a lot of little slangs and songs and dances, TikTok dances.
TikTok is a huge resource.
I learned all of those little things.
But that also makes me feel like an old person.
I’m right on this gap, like I kind of am Gen Z.
What can you preview about the rest of the season?
Again, I don’t want to spoil anything.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
