At the age of 9, Jeremy Thomas was inspired by Robin Williams to become an actor. Two years later, he got his first role in a short series. He was 15 years old when he landed a leading role in the horror film “Antlers”.

Who are you, where do you live today, and how was your upbringing?

I am Jeremy T. Thomas, a 19 year old actor, born, raised, and living in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I was raised by a single mother until I was almost 12 when she remarried my stepdad.

How is your relationship with the OI community, and how have you benefited from it in your life?

My mom does most of the interacting with the community, but she tells me stories of other people who have OI. Through these communities, I have been able to find good doctors. These doctors know what they are talking about and know what they are doing. They know how to treat me properly.

At the age of 9 you were inspired by Robin Williams to become an actor. Two years later, you got your first role in a short series. Tell us more about this!

I was about 9 years old when I was watching a movie starring Robin Williams on TV, and he made some jokes that made me laugh. After I laughed, I realized that this what I want to do with life: make people laugh. Then I learned that I can make a lot of money doing it, so I definitely set my sights on acting.

When I told my mom that I wanted to act, she researched how to get a child into acting. A lot of people recommended getting into extra/background acting, playing someone who is just in the background of a scene. My mom was told about “Actors Access,” a website for beginner actors to find work and submit themselves for roles.

She applied for a lot of background roles on my behalf. I got some, but was ghosted by most. Getting ghosted though, is a normal thing in this line of work. After a couple of years of doing extra work, I wanted to play characters with lines and named roles. So my mom started submitting me for bigger roles, and started researching acting coaches. Eventually, at 11 years old, I got my first role as “Gene Otto” in a short series called “Lore,” with the help of a really good acting coach who I’m still close to today.

How is a typical work day for you as an actor?

A typical work day is pretty easy. As an actor high on the call list, a lot of things get done for me and handed to me. The hardest parts are waking up early in the morning if I have an early call time, and learning my lines for the day.

What challenges and prejudices do you meet as an actor with a disability?

I think I have been fairly lucky in terms of people being rude or distasteful in terms of talking to me about my disability. I think I have been turned down for roles because of how I look, but no one has said it to my face. Usually, like I said in a previous question, I just get ghosted if I don’t get the part. And I think I would prefer that, compared to the casting director saying why they didn’t cast me.

You were relatively young when you landed a leading role in the horror film “Antlers”. What is the film about, and how scary was it for you? Have there precautions been taken on set regarding your OI?

For me it wasn’t too bad in terms of being scared. The movie is more of a slow burn in terms of getting to the scary/gross parts. The movie is about an old coal mining town struggling with funds and keeping the town and its people healthy and safe. The town, Cispus Falls, is also being haunted by an unknown creature that only a few people believe that exists.

The monster that haunts the town is only fully shown at the end of the movie. And the director, Scott Cooper, wanted me to see the monster in different pieces, before it was put together so it wouldn’t scare me when it was fully assembled.

So far, I haven’t had any scenes where I have had to do physically strenuous actions. But on the set of “Antlers” I did have a stunt double, just in case I felt that I wasn’t able to do a scene.

As a professional actor, you naturally meet and work with other acting stars. Which encounters have impressed you the most and why?

I will never forget meeting Jesse Plemons (known from the television series „Breaking Bad“), mostly because my mom won’t let me. It was the first time I was star struck.

Also, working with Walton Goggins (starring in Quentin Tarrantino’s „Django“) on “The Righteous Gemstones” was memorable. Every time I worked with him, it was a lot of fun because he improvises a lot, but still stays on script. It’s impressive.

What was your most frightening experience so far?

Flying in a plane for the first time. A lot of different thoughts were going through my head about what would happen, and every bump made those bad thoughts worse.

Do you have time for hobbies alongside your career? If so, what are they?
Yes I do. I haven’t been working lately, so I have more than enough time. I like playing video games like any other boy my age. I also like exercising, reading, and writing.

What are your plans for the future? Do you have a “dream project”?

Since the beginning of my career, I have always wanted to be a comedy star, but since I have matured I have come to appreciate more serious roles. But I would still love to be in a comedy. A superhero role would be cool too, I’ve always liked Robin from DC projects. That would be fun, I think.

Do you have any message for the readers of our magazine?

If anyone reading is a writer, director, or casting director, please consider hiring lesser known and new actors for your projects. If anyone reading this is an aspiring actor, you’ll hear this a lot. But it’s true. Never give up! Right now, new actors aren’t getting hired a lot, so keep putting yourself out there. Someone will see you eventually.

You can watch some scenes with Jeremy playing a leading role in „Antlers“ in this trailer: