"He was so excited by the idea of my being a Musketeer,” recalls Beverly Hills native Logan Lerman. A weekend stay with his grandfather after being offered the role in director Paul W. S. Anderson’s high-octane update of Dumas’ classic tale sealed the deal. “When he was a kid he had to leave his home and was only allowed to take a couple of books with him—and he took The Three Musketeers. It was one of his favorite stories growing up, and his whole life he’s loved the movies. That really impressed the idea of being D’Artagnan on me, and I just wanted to do something for my grandfather.”
This month Lerman joins a multigenerational list of stars—Douglas Fairbanks, Michael York, Chris O’Donnell—who’ve swashbuckled through the part. “I’ve seen them all,” says Lerman. “Gene Kelly’s version was the most entertaining because he was so playful. You could tell he was having a good time. That’s the D’Artagnan I wanted to bring to this film. Instead of a melodramatic, brooding, over-the-top character, [I made him] a little lighter and more fun for the audience.”
Learning the Swords
Mastering the movie’s surfeit of swordplay was trickier. “Paul wanted me to be ambidextrous and do all these crazy sequences,” he laughs, “and I just remember thinking, I don’t know how the hell I’m going to do this!” Lerman started a daily six-hour training regimen with the rapier two months before production commenced in Germany, continuing to sharpen his swordsmanship throughout shooting. “We made it work, and I ended up becoming comfortable with the sword. I really wasn’t expecting to even pull through, and I did.”
Lerman enjoyed a flourishing career as a child actor in films including The Number 23 and 3:10 to Yuma, as well as a breakout role as the title character in the fantasy adventure Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief—and his star continues to rise. He next headlines The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the film adaptation of the Gen Y-adored, Salingeresque novel (“I read it and I completely understood why it was so important, why people loved it,” he says), plus planned turns in director Seth Gordon’s The Only Living Boy in New York and a Percy Jackson sequel.
But Lerman insists he only began an on-screen career as a means to move behind the scenes. “The real reason I even pursued acting was to understand the production process,” says the self-professed film fanatic. “I thought if you could learn about how each department works on set, then you can clearly dictate your vision as a director. I started working with that motive, and it turned into a passion for acting.” Now he’s on the hunt for the perfect project to launch his directorial debut. “I’ve prepared for so long and learned so much about how to convey my vision honestly,” he says. “I’m looking forward to the behind-the-camera work I’ve always wanted to do.”
