Israel Broussard already has a handful of titles to his name including a role in Rob Reiner’s “Flipped,” but “The Bling Ring” marks his first foray into the world of high-profile productions and also offers up a performance that suggests he’s an up-and-comer worth keeping an eye on.
The film tells the true story of the Bling Ring, a group of teens from California who were so celeb obsessed, they decided to just waltz into Paris Hilton’s home while she was out of town. It all starts off as an innocent thrill, but ultimately turns into a $3 million crime spree involving a number of celebrities, stolen high-end clothing, and loads of cash, too. In the film, Broussard leads as Marc, a kid first returning to public school after being homeschooled for a stretch of time. Sure enough, he suffers through some new kid syndrome with his peers staring at him or just ignoring him completely, until he catches Rebecca’s (Katie Chang) attention. Soon enough, they’re inseparable and Rebecca is busy introducing Marc to all her friends and their party scene. After finally finding the ideal friendship he’s always wanted, Marc can’t bear to lose Rebecca, so when she suggests they break into celebrity homes, he’s hesitant, but just can’t say no.
Essentially, the idea of teens snatching up stars’ personal possessions functions as a high concept, but “The Bling Ring” is still based on true events, so the material must be handled with care. When discussing the real deal, Broussard admitted, “It didn’t really shock me.” He added, “It’s the world we live in. These kids just took it to the next level.” Broussard never got to talk to his real life counterpart, Nick Prugo, but perhaps he was better off for it because Broussard explained:
“We really just kind of wanted to stick to the script and [writer-director] Sofia [Coppola]’s vision for it, and I feel like if we met Nick Prugo or Rachel Lee or any of them, it would have kind of just sidetracked us and rather than playing these fictional characters we’d be playing them as they are. Sofia’s set on not trying to make them more famous than they already are, which is kind of unavoidable, but at the same time, we don’t want to shed any this-is-okay light on this.”
But still, a script’s a script and that meant Broussard and his co-stars, Katie Chang, Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, and Claire Julien, had to dabble in Bling Ring behavior to a point. Somewhat similar to the characters’ group dynamic in the film, when the cast was faced with the task of robbing a home, the suspense and burglary mishaps brought them closer together. Broussard recalled, “The last day of pre-production we all broke into a house, did a mock break-in.” Chang got an e-mail with the target location and a list of items they were assigned to snatch and off they went. The operation wasn’t particularly fluid, as Broussard pointed out, “Claire jumped in and she fell through [the window]. We started laughing. Taissa went to the fridge.” While there was a good deal of joking around, Broussard also noted that the experience offered insight into the actual Bling Ring’s motives. “That’s where the chemistry started building was when we realized these kids were just sort of having fun. They weren’t really trying to rob anybody.”
That chemistry as seen in the final feature is truly unique, and oddly infectious. These are some seriously delusional kids who either don’t understand right from wrong or just don’t have the willpower to behave appropriately, but either way, it’s still entertaining to watch the group gallivant about the Hollywood Hills, taking what they please, showing it all off, and eventually getting what they deserve.
You can check out all the illicit action for yourself when “The Bling Ring” arrives in theaters on Friday, June 14th, but until then, catch our full interview with Broussard in the video below for all the details on his experience working with Watson, Chang, Coppola, the differences between “The Bling Ring” and “Spring Breakers,” Broussard’s hopes for the future, and loads more.