Justin Campbell: I want to start by talking about Coachella because this was your first Coachella ever, right?
Hero: Yeah, yeah. It was.
JC: We’ve done quite a few shoots together now, but this was the most exotic. I think you had to get on a plane; you had to get in a car; we were in the middle of the desert. What would your weekend have been like if you didn’t fly across the world? What were your plans, or what’s a typical weekend?
Hero: I’m sure there was football on, so it would’ve probably been: meet with some mates, go play football or go for some sort of activity, go to the pub, cook a roast on Sunday. To be fair, I’m walking home from football on a rainy, cloudy day, and I get a call from you asking if I want to come do a shoot in the desert and go to Coachella. There’s only one answer to that question. It’s so fun and exciting to say to my friends, “Oh, sorry, I won’t be around this weekend anymore. I’m going to Coachella for work to do a shoot in the desert,” which turned out amazing.
JC: I remember you told me something on set that I think is really cool, and that your fans would want to know. There was something about the car that we shot in that day…
Hero: Yeah, I believe it’s a Super Sport and I believe it’s the exact—it’s blue and Hardin’s car in “After” is black—but it’s the same car. And they’re hard to find. They’re special, special cars. I don’t know the most about cars, but I know people who do will appreciate that. They’re identical. So as soon as I jumped in, it felt right, it felt familiar. I got comfortable with the interior of that car as well, and it was like I was right back shooting “After” again.
JC: I was going to say, did you feel more like yourself on set, or did you feel like you were back in character?
Hero: You know what? I feel like there was some sort of connection. There’s something to do with these editorial shoots where you want to tap into—not necessarily a specific character—but that side of you that becomes a different character, if that makes sense? I feel like with the type of shots that you want, where we are, what I’m wearing and the style of it, those elements inform me of the type of person you want the subject to be, and there was a connection between that guy in those pictures and Hardin, for sure.
JC: I hear from a lot of actors that they find photo shoots more difficult than filming a movie because they feel like they don’t know how to be themselves. That’s an interesting line they walk of wanting to, as an actor, always be playing a character versus feeling the vulnerability of having to just be themselves. Do you experience that when you shoot?
Hero: Definitely. It’s a bit of a learning curve; it’s an entirely different ball game. I think it’s because when you play a character, there’s so much depth and storyline, and there’s everything in abundance to support your character and who he is. Whereas when you have these pictures, it’s just the pictures and you talking as yourself. So you feel like you’re, kind of, representing yourself. With a character, at least you can wholeheartedly be like, “That’s all the character. That’s not me.”
JC: I feel like I’ve told you this, but you are still, to this day, the most requested person I get in my DMs. I mean thousands and thousands of DMs asking, “When are you putting out new images with Hero? When are you shooting with Hero again?” So I love that people aren’t tired of what we’re doing yet.
Hero: You know what’s funny? I think I had like 7.7 million followers and then 7.6 and then 7.5. And it makes you ask yourself if you’re doing something wrong. Then you check yourself and go, “Listen, the people who respect it and want to see what they want to see are there, and the people who don’t, don’t, and that’s all good.” When I do meet fans in person, I’m so lucky they’re so supportive. It’s just so nice to have that type of fan base, and I always want to do shoots like this, where they can shoot in their own questions or do conventions and meet in person. When you get DMs, we want to make it happen because we know we can’t do this without them. I’m aware of how supportive they are, and I’m so grateful every time. They’re the best.
JC: I also feel like you’ve developed a really healthy relationship with social media. Have you always had a strong, healthy relationship with that, or has that developed over time out of necessity?
Hero: That’s a good question. I think a bit of both. I always answer this question differently, and I think I’m conscious of falling into the trap of just caring about it too much. When I go through phases, especially before everything blew up, of posting my food, everything I cook or eat, every nice view I have, I end up feeling like I have to keep up with that standard. It ends up feeling like a trap that you have to keep up with, but I’m still figuring it out. I don’t think there’s one way to do it.
JC: Do you ever find the attention overwhelming?
Hero: Yeah, yes.
JC: It’s so important to tell people or show people it’s not always perfect. What we present to the world is such an illusion of perfection all the time, and there are two sides to it.
Hero: To be honest, everyone I’ve met has always been so respectful. I’ve never had an unpleasant fan interaction. But when people get in big crowds, and this is understandable, there’s that mob mentality. You think the person who you’re trying to get attention from won’t hear you because there are so many other people. It just turns to screams and erupts, and no one gets any pleasure out of that. It’s always nice when it’s a smaller crowd of people who are patient, but usually they all are. It can be overwhelming, but I think taking a break from your phone and not caring too much about your follower count going up or down can help—and realizing that your fans who support you do support you. I think there’s a spectrum of supporters. You have most of the loyal, supportive ones and then there are people who aren’t supporters. Don’t get lost in the sauce. Try to stay local and give back to the ones who truly support you. I just bought my first place; I’m doing this for my mom. I was renting for a while, and I finally found a place local to where I grew up.
So to answer your question: It’s overwhelming, but I think it’s about the little things, like staying true to your supporters, your family, your friends, and taking a break from the trap that social media can be and going to Coachella now and then. It’s about finding balance. It’s a great question, and I feel good answering that question coming from you, because I feel like I can open up a bit more and let people know.
JC: Our shoot was inspired by this idea of riding off into the desert, picking up hitchhikers and being a rebel—it was this “Thelma & Louise” type of journey. So one question I wanted to ask you is: What is something that you’ve run away from in your life?
Hero: What have I run away from? To be honest, I think I had to run away from school. I stopped going to school after my 18th birthday when I was flipping burgers at a barbecue place called Miss P’s in Atlanta. I was doing loads of coursework for my A-levels, all while trying to have a social life and make acting work. Auditioning kept being the only thing that I wanted to pursue, and all these other things kept getting in the way.
My dad went to Eton and Oxford and is the smartest guy I know—he’s super academic. When I told him I didn’t want to go to school anymore, that I wanted to focus on acting, he said—and I’m so glad he said this because much to his credit, he knows firsthand how tough this industry can be—he said, “You have to have a backup, you have to finish school. You’re not staying here if you’re not going to school anymore.” So I went to Felix’s house, and after 48 hours, he called me up saying, “Where are you? What’s going on?” I was like, “Well, you told me I can’t stay here if I’m not going to school.” He said, “Get back here. It’s fine, come home.”
I remember a year later, after bagging a couple of acting jobs, he said to me: “The one thing that you’ve gone against me on is when you said you wanted to leave school, and it’s the one thing that I think you were right about and I was wrong about. And I just had to tell you, I told you, but I’m so proud of you for doing that.” So one thing I’ve run away from is school, probably a few years too late. I would’ve loved to have left earlier, but I had to, eventually, get out of there, and I didn’t look back.
JC: Who are you when you're alone at night?
Hero: To be honest, I like to call people when I’m alone at night with nothing to do. I feel like I go, go, go throughout the day, especially while I’m young—I’m conscious of trying to be as active as I can while I’m in my physical prime. I’m trying to make the most of it. So when I’m alone at night, I tend to just call a friend and see if they want to play PlayStation. Not so much anymore, because we all just don’t have time for that, but just bell up a friend and have a chat, catch up with someone. That’s what I like to do. I guess I don’t find out who I am when I’m alone at night because I don’t like being lonely. What about you, Justin? Who are you when you’re alone at night?
JC: I’m very similar to you. I don’t like being alone that often. I’m that friend who’s really good at checking in and rolling calls with everyone in my life, to the point where people are like, “You don’t need to call me five times in one day.” I’m like, “But I love you.”
Hero: I’m the same. I make an effort to check up on all my friends.
JC: I feel like you’re very good on the phone because when I call you for a catch-up, you pick up.
Hero: You know what? That’s the thing. I take ages to reply to a text, and then I’ll feel guilty about not being able to get back to it quicker. But if you call me, I’ll always answer.
JC: You’re on the cover of our Rebel issue, so I want to ask you: What does it mean to you to be a rebel? What does the word “rebel” mean to you?
Hero: To be honest, I think there’s a cool but slightly negative connotation with being a rebel. But I think now—even just from the ’70s—now it’s become something that stands for good reason. It feels like it used to be more like a rebel going against the good, but now I associate a rebel with going against the bad. So even eco-warriors are rebels and anyone who’s going against anything for what they believe is the right or better alternative. I guess in most cases that’s a good thing; I guess it’s good to be a rebel.
JC: I agree with you. The definition that we’re using for rebel is really positive. It’s somebody who’s gone against the grain for good. Rebels are like what you said: the people who are standing up to the status quo, to the machine or to systems that are outdated and need to be done away with—that, to me, is a rebel.
Hero: Now I feel like I need to do more. Now I feel like I need to take a page out of Greta Thunberg’s book and start making the world a better place. I do like that connotation you guys have labeled with the word, and it feels like a positive strive for change.
