Who he is: As anyone under the age of 30 can probably tell you, Rider Strong literally grew up before our eyes, starring on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World from age 13 to 20. Going through a typically awkward adolescence is bad enough, but Strong spent his teen years thrust into the national spotlight in such teen magazines as Tiger Beat. But the now-23-year-old hopes to shatter some expectations with starring roles in two far more adult projects: the horror film Cabin Fever and the national theatre tour of The Graduate.
Spreading Fever: A horror film with a sense of humor, Cabin Fever is writer/director Eli Roth's homage to the late 1970s style of horror films, which combined unapologetic gore with unexpected moments of comedy. Strong stars as Paul, one of five recent college graduates trapped in the woods while a flesh-eating virus begins to spread. The film is being marketed as a straight horror film, but Strong noted that many audiences see it as a pure comedy. "It really depends on the audience," he said. "At Toronto they laughed, but in San Francisco more people were scared of it. I think the movie is capable of achieving both [comedy and horror], which is great."
Strong opted to treat his role completely straight-faced. "I had to invest in the seriousness of the film. I didn't want to wink at the audience the way Scream did," he said. "That was funny and good, but that period of horror films is over. If I ever turned to the audience and said, 'Can you believe what I'm doing, isn't this ridiculous?' it would ruin the integrity of the film." Still, it's a bit disconcerting to see the film with an audience who seems to revel in watching the characters literally fall apart. "It's an odd film because on one hand you're supposed to care about us but you're also supposed to enjoy watching us rot. It's funny to be in an audience where they're laughing more at you than with you."
A return to the theatre: Strong made his professional acting debut at age 10 at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, where he played street beggar Gavroche in Les Miserables. He is currently treading the same boards as Benjamin Braddock opposite Jerry Hall's Mrs. Robinson in a stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning film The Graduate. "I've been wanting to do this play since I first heard about it," Strong said. "I'm in a weird age group for theatre, because there aren't many roles for my age group out there. It's just rare, unless you're a singer and you can do Rent or something. It's a great character. I'm onstage for two and a half hours, and I love it." The national tour will next hit San Diego before coming to L.A. Oct. 8-26.
Strong admitted to having some qualms about filling the role made famous by Dustin Hoffman, but he also noted that the stage production is a separate creation from the beloved film version. "Critics want to compare it to the movie, but it's very different," he said, adding that the stage version has much more in common with the original Charles Webb novel than it does with the film.
Back to school: Strong took time off from his studies at Columbia University, where he is majoring in English, to work on Cabin Fever and The Graduate. Why an English degree? "I've been acting all my life, so the idea of going to acting school would just be so redundant. And I think the more life experience you have, the more types of people you meet, the more enriched your acting is going to be."
And what's it like to be taking classes with students who probably grew up watching Strong on television? "You know, Anna Paquin, Julia Stiles, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt all came to Columbia the same year I did," he observed. "So I sort of slipped in under the radar. They were all these big movie stars, and I was just some TV schmuck."
Best and worst experiences: Still seen in reruns on the Disney Channel as a 13-year-old, Strong doesn't care for the term "child actor." He noted, "Being a 'child actor' implies a state of victimhood, unfortunately. I'm an actor who started when I was young." He also has mixed emotions about his years as a teen heartthrob. "When I started doing Boy Meets World, the only interviews I was getting were things like Teen Beat and Tiger Beat, and to be put in that teen idol category was kind of tough. Because your fans don't really know you, they just want to read about what your favorite color is and what you like on your pizza. And that stuff still lingers. I still get letters from people saying, 'You really like wolves, and I love wolves.' It wasn't until I was 18 when I could look around and see my friends who were washing dishes for a living and trying to pay for college that I could say, "Wow, I have a great job.' But you get to a point, especially at that young age, where you want to be anything but what your national image is. It's not anybody else's fault. I can't blame people for liking the show and writing to me. I can just blame the fact that being a teenager sucks."
All in the family: Rider praised his family and longtime friends for keeping him grounded. He works frequently with his brother, Shiloh, whether onstage (Shiloh wrote and both starred in and produced the play Shades of Blue in Los Angles) or film (both starred in and produced Grad Night, soon to be released on video and DVD). Strong has seven credits left before he can graduate, but he is most eager to get back onstage. "I'm getting to the point where if there aren't any good 21-year-old roles out there, I'm just going to go write them myself. I want to do something gritty. I'd love to just get a loft in NY and do a play. I feel like so many theatres have gotten away from that. And you have to constantly do your own thing. You can't wait for this industry to do anything for you because a lot of people aren't willing to give you chances."
"The Graduate" presented by Broadway/L.A. at the Wilshire Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Tue.-Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 2 & 8 p.m., Sun. 1 & 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8-26. $30-60. (213) 365-3500, (714) 740-7878.