For many actors, stepping into Stephen King’s expansive universe of spine-chilling stories is a dream come true. Unlike Viggo Hanvelt, most actors who do join the Stephen King Cinematic Universe (That has to be a thing, right?) don’t get to do so at such a young age.
Viggo is an 11-year-old actor from Ottawa, Canada. He has spent half of his life navigating the ins and outs of being on set and even creating animated magic through voice acting. His most recent role as Avery in the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s 2019 novel The Institute. Avery and his companions in The Institute are children with supernatural abilities who team up to find a way out of the facility.
We had to catch up with Avery to celebrate and explore his new role—a major accomplishment alongside recently graduating the sixth grade—and his many hobbies and skills.
Showstopper Magazine Online: Hi Viggo! Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m an 11-year-old kid. I live in Ottawa, Canada, and I just finished grade six. I have a dog and two cats and three siblings, an older brother and sister and a younger brother, too. I love acting. But I am also pretty active, so I have tons of things to do when I’m not acting, like figure skating and soccer. I also love rocks, like actual rocks, and I have a rock collection. I also love rock music!
SMO: How did you get started as an actor?
I started acting because my older brother and sister became actors before me. And so at some point, I also got a chance to audition for roles through their agent. And so soon enough, I got my first part when I was about 5 or 6. I started my first part. And from there, I’ve been getting really cool opportunities like the Institute.
SMO: And what are your favorite roles to play?
My favorite role to play would be a thriller/horror in a series. Seriously!
SMO: Your most recent project is the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s The Institute. How did you end up playing Avery?
I started with an audition, which was a self-tape. That means I recorded an audition and sent in the video. Then I got to call back. I was super happy about the callback because it meant I would get to see the director, Jack Bender. And so when that happened, it was very fun yet a little nerve-wracking because I knew this was a big role and I knew I really wanted it. But it went really well, and I found out the next day I had the part. I was so excited!
SMO: Tell us about Avery. How did you bring him to life?
Avery is a young kid who loves having friends and goes through a lot over the eight episodes. He is incredibly strong. I mean, he is super little and young, but his telepathy powers are the strongest. I brought Avery to life by just trying to find out the most information possible about Avery by reading the book and the scripts. Then I tried to play him by thinking what it would be like to be him, so I could really bring Avery to life.
SMO: And if you had an extraordinary ability like the kids in the Institute, what would it be?
I would most likely choose, or it depends how strong my ability was. If it was a little weak, I would choose telepathy. But if it was super strong, I would choose telekinesis. Then I could just float myself out of the Institute. What I would really want is the ability to change my ability at will.
SMO: Do you have any favorite memories from being on set?
Well, one of my favorite memories was when I had a scene where I had to eat a couple bites of licorice. But since we retook that scene so many times, I ended up eating about five packets of licorice. Good thing was I didn’t feel sick. It was actually quite yummy. I also had to eat a couple bites of cake, about half a piece of cake in a scene. Except again, we did that one so many times. So I ended up eating about eight slices of cake, which is almost a full cake!
Another fun memory, or really memories, was that in between takes, me, Joe Freeman, Simone Miller, Fionn Laird, and Arlen So, we would play ping pong. There was a ping pong table in the cafeteria. So we would hang out there all together and play a lot. It was super fun!
SMO: As you build your acting career, do you have any lessons or words of wisdom that you live by?
Always listen to the director. Those are my words of wisdom.
SMO: Alongside acting, you are a competitive figure skater and soccer player. How do you balance three demanding worlds, acting, skating, and soccer?
Whenever I’m doing something like a show, when I’m not working on set, I try to still practice the other things. So while I was in Halifax for The Institute, I also did a bit of figure skating and soccer, which helped me stay connected to those sports. I also made friends at the figure skating club that I skated at. And then, when I got back home a few months later, I got to go to the Provisional Championships in figure skating, which was super fun. When I’m filming, though, the show takes priority. But when I am not filming anything, I can have fun playing those sports.
SMO: And what’s next for you?
I’m auditioning for things all the time. So what’s next? I guess you’ll have to wait and see!
