There are a string of young actors in Hollywood right now with hopeful futures, and Jaeden Martell is undoubtedly one of them. Hailing all the way from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 19-year-old already has his career in the driver’s seat, taking home awards and securing himself back-to-back jobs for major roles. But, what has become an incredible career thus far wasn’t something he ever imagined would be the case. 

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Martell initially sparked an interest in acting as a child after meeting a family friend and now-manager, Emily. “All her kids were acting. I was sort of curious about it. I never thought about it as a possibility,” Martell tells MOOD. “I ended up auditioning for six months, going from attending school straight to auditions.” The results weren’t immediate. The long process to book anything took a toll on both himself and his mother, and consequently, Martell nearly called it a day. “It was fun doing it, but it wasn't leading to anything,” he adds. Just weeks later, however, Martell found out that he had landed himself his first job at nine years old – a commercial for Hot Wheels. From there, he became the go-to guy for advertisements, appearing in more commercials for Google, Moneysupermarket.com, Hyundai, and Verizon Fios, to name a few. 

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Reflecting on that time, Martell recognizes that pursuing a career in acting was potentially going to be his calling all along. “I guess looking back in hindsight, I definitely always had an interest in being dramatic,” he says before laughing. “I was still acting out scenes in my bedroom and writing stories. But yeah, I wasn't really interested until it was right in front of me.” 

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Just one year after getting his foot in the door, Martell booked his first movie, the 2014 comedy-drama St. Vincent. Starring alongside A-listers Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy, he still remembers that period quite vividly. “It was a pretty long audition process. I probably had three or four auditions overall,” Martell explains, adding, “They flew me to New York to audition, which was a totally foreign thing to me.” Like any 10-year-old in a similar situation, he understandably felt intimidated when meeting the director, Theodore Melfi, and describes the screening process as “overwhelming.” Nevertheless, these procedures are part and parcel of the job, and Martell has undoubtedly become accustomed to them. 

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St. Vincent was Martell's first-ever movie at a tender age and the young actor also had to deal with a star-studded cast. The newbie understandably felt stressed out during the filming process. Luckily, an extremely seasoned co-star dished out some incredible advice to help him find his feet. “Bill [Murray] taught me a lot about bringing energy to a set, and having fun, and letting loose and forgetting about the external pressure,” Martell says. “He understood what I was going through as it can often be stressful for him too.” Now a knowledgeable actor himself, Martell is willing to share his own guidance with those wanting to follow in his footsteps. “I really think it's about empathy and understanding. You're in a character situation and just putting yourself in their shoes,” he explains. “For me, it's always about the feeling and empathizing of my character and becoming one with him in a way. If you can't, you just gotta find your truth in it. Every scene has a certain objective, and you can't think about the lines. It's not a memory game.” 

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Looking back, it’s evident that St. Vincent was just the stepping stone for what was on the horizon. Martell’s acting skills have been in-demand ever since, appearing in more films on the big screen in the following years, such as Aloha, The Book of Henry, and Knives Out. The demand was so high, in fact, that he was kicked out of public school for being too busy to attend. As a result, Martell continued his education by participating in online schooling. 

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Many fans were introduced to Martell's talent when he starred in the 2017 coming-of-age supernatural horror, It. Furthermore, his portrayal of Bill Denbrough can easily be regarded as his most famous role. After all, the movie's box office numbers did boast $700 million. With that being said, Martell doesn’t bother to review which one of his roles is considered his breakthrough. Instead, he focuses on what they have offered him. “They've all helped me,” he says. “Each project I looked at was like a learning experience. I've definitely learned so much from each of them, and I've been really lucky to work with really incredible people who are super talented, smart, and hardworking. I’ve been modeling my life after theirs.” 

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It made history as the highest-grossing horror film of all time, as well as the fifth-highest-grossing R-rated film. Due to its global success, a second installment, It Chapter Two, came out in 2019. Many might wonder, did Martell have an inkling of how much of a phenomenon the movie series was going to be? “There are certain elements upfront that tell you whether or not something is going to be big in a way, but you don't know about the success and how it's going to turn out,” he explains. “With something like It, the auditioning process was unlike anything else. We were in a room full of 20 kids our age and were made to do these chemistry reads, making these groups up by mixing and matching different kids together. That process was super intense.”