Thomas Dekker: Saving the Future

In the upcoming Fox sci-fi TV series "The Sarah Connor Chronicles", a spin-off of the Terminator films, teen John Connor is the hope for all Mankind...heavy load to carry. 20-year-old actor Thomas Dekker is up for the challenge. Born in Vegas to show-biz parents, the young Thomas lived all over the planet until he was five, when his folks settled in L.A. Tom had a long career on TV as a kid where he starred on the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" series, played Vincent on "7th Heaven" and, more recently, Zach on "Heroes".

We caught up to Tom in L.A. to find out all about the new show and what makes him tick; girlfriends, fave books, TV shows and the actress he'd love to play opposite. The dark-haired, dark-eyed cutie is writer, director and an alternative rock musician who had a record deal at age 14 so we started with that. Picture colorful Tom in jeans and black, vintage tee, black combat boots and brown jacket with a velvet collar.

TeenTelevision: Are you still playing music?

Tom: Yes. I'm a soloist and I actually just finished mastering my second album. The first should be on iTunes by the end of the year and it's just been a long experience since I'm my own producer and own everything.

TeenTelevision: What kind of sound is it?

Tom: The first album, what I've been told by people who've listened to it, is that it's almost like a combination of Nine Inch Nails and Bjork. So it's a got a kind of orchestral/industrial vibe.

TeenTelevision: When you were on "Heroes" did you play music with Hayden?

Tom: No. Our music is polar opposite. She'd give me her iPod and I would listen and I'd give her mine and she'd listen. I think that we both respected each other's stuff, but it's just very different. She came to a couple of my shows though which was fun.

TeenTelevision: What's the most embarrassing thing on your iPod?

Tom: Alright. I'm going to come right out and say it and I don't care who knows it. I'm expletively thrilled that the Spice Girls are back on tour. They kick a**. Posh and Ginger were always hot. I was in England when they came out before they got over here. So I came back and I was all cool because I knew about them before anyone else did. So that's my biggest and most embarrassing thing.

TeenTelevision: What are you doing to work out and stay in shape for this series? It has a lot of action in it.

Tom: I had a training program for about three weeks. I got this [part] the very last minute and now that the show is going to be going I have a trainer. Both Lena [Heady, who plays his mom Sarah] and I agreed that we wanted the characters, when the show starts, to not be so sure that they're going to be on the defensive yet, and, as the show progresses, they're going to realize that they have to be and [my character John] particularly.

TeenTelevision: So what are you doing with the trainer?

Tom: So far it's been a lot of weight training and I'm a vegetarian and so we have to do a lot of protein supplements and that kind of thing. I don't have too much body fat fortunately right now and so there's not much cardio. It's mostly pumping the weights.

TeenTelevision: Any injuries on set?

Tom: Oh, yeah. I got injured very badly with all the stuff we're doing. In that school scene, I dive over a table and there was a metal thing that cut all the way through my jeans and all the way up my leg. A piece of metal shot into my back from the school bus. There was a lot of stuff.

TeenTelevision: Don't you have a stuntman?

Tom: I do. It's just that it's such an intense show and we were all very committed to do a lot of the stunts ourselves.

TeenTelevision: Can you relate to the pressure that young John is facing, maybe not on the same level, but to some degree? He's on the run.

Tom: Absolutely. Absolutely. I think one of the funny things was when I first met with David [Nutter] and Josh Friedman [Executive Producers] after my initial audition, my whole childhood I spent moving around all the time. I've lived in Canada, New York, London, Paris, Germany. My parents were just really big travelers. My father was an opera singer and a painter and my mother is a pianist and an actress so their work could be found anywhere. My father is Dutch and my mother is Welsh. So, I'm actually half British.

TeenTelevision: But you were born here?

Tom: I was born here, but I grew up for most of my childhood there. That was the thing that I really connected with the most, how much he's had to move around. I think that it really affects your ability to keep your head down and blend in within your surroundings which is a pressure in and of itself. That was something that David really liked that I had personally in my background. As far as the pressure of it I think he's just sort of not wanting to believe it yet at this point. I think that it's too much right now. I mean, if I was told that [that the future of the human race depends on me] I don't know how I would react.

TeenTelevision: A lot of actors were army brats and moved around a lot as well. They say it helped their acting because they constantly had to reinvent themselves and make new friends. Did that help you?

Tom: Yeah, and that helps with my acting. My acting has totally been shaped by that, still to this day. I'm also a writer and a director. I have two films. One is a feature and one is a short. I'm doing the film festival circuit with the short right now. So [there was] a lot of observation and growing up with my parents who were very liberal with my childhood. They really educated me in a lot of things very young and I'm very grateful for it.

TeenTelevision: Were you home-schooled for your whole career?

Tom: I went to school for the first three grades, but then because of acting and everything else, I had a TV show for three years from nine to twelve, 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids.' I was the little son in that with the glasses. It was a long time ago.

TeenTelevision: Are you a fan of the sci-fi genre?

Tom: Oh, yes. Actually when we were shooting 'Honey I shrunk the Kids' was when I discovered [Terminator] and I have the little VHS box set back when VHS was cool.

TeenTelevision: We understand there were tons of auditions for this part. Were the final auditions with Lena?

Tom: Lena was cast before me. We never met though until we got to Albuquerque [to shoot]. I walked in and I was like, 'Are you my mom?' She's really young looking too.

TeenTelevision: Are you not watching Eddie Furlong's performance as John Connor?

Tom: We're all, Lena included, really interested in maintaining the heart of the series while recreating it at the same time. It's a very difficult balance. I think that in those moments where John's guard is down, Edward's kind of brashness...he's very fiery and makes decisions very rapidly which I think is there when he lets his guard down. But I'm trying to incorporate the fact that he's hiding. He wasn't hiding before. He believes everything that he didn't believe and so he's got a lot more angst and repression of fears.

TeenTelevision: It's been eight years since the Terminator films. How are you updating the technology, especially for your character?

Tom: Obviously, John is a computer nut and we know this from the films. Basically I just think that he'll be most impressed by the mechanics. I think the interesting thing will be that it's all old to Summer Glau's character Cameron and she's going to be his kind of guide through all of this world.

TeenTelevision: What attracted you to play John in the first place?

Tom: I think what really made me want to do this is that the story is actually more relevant now than it was in the late '80's and early '90's. Our lives are now run more and more every single day by machines. I think what I really fell in love with was the relationship between Sarah and John. It's really about the line that is being blurred between humans and machine and I think this is one of the things that they're incorporating really well into the show. Some of the machines are more human than the people. This is an interesting political and humanitarian statement that the show is making.

TeenTelevision: You shot a movie last summer. What is it and who do you play?

Tom: The film is called From Within and I play a character named Aidan and it's a psychological horror thriller being directed by Phedon Papamichael who's a very famous cinematographer. He did Walk The Line and Identity and Sideways.

TeenTelevision: Who else is in that with you?

Tom: Elizabeth Rice, Rumer Willis, Jarred Harris, Bruce Weber and Adam Goldberg. Great cast.

TeenTelevision: Who's someone that you think is really hot and that you would die to act with in a film?

Tom: I really admire and always have Jennifer Connolly's work and I would love to work with her. I've always wanted to work with her. Big crush on her. There are so many good actors out there right now, a lot of really young talented people. It's nice. There's like a whole new wave going on.

TeenTelevision: While you were growing up all over the world, did you have any favorite TV shows?

Tom: I didn't have much television growing up and I don't have television now but I get a lot of TV on DVD now. My top one that I'm obsessed with is 'Twin Peaks.' 'Tales from the Crypt.' I'm a nut and a nerd. I have every season of that. I have t-shirts. I'm an idiot and then the best show of all time is 'Alf.'

TeenTelevision: When you're out on location, what do you do off set? Do you hang out with hot mom Lena?

Tom: It's really funny. I'm glad that you brought that up. I've never bonded much with the actors that I've worked with. I'm kind of a solitary guy. I kind of like my little hotel room and Lena and I have literally become best friends. I've never enjoyed working with someone in my entire life as much as her. We seem more like brother and sister. We get on really, really well.

TeenTelevision: Since you are a vegetarian, do you cook your own meals?

Tom: That used to be something that I really liked to do. I cooked a lot with my family, and then when I went vegetarian and my family isn't, that kind of ended up then me making my own stuff. I do a tofu hummus cashew broccoli, onion, celery wrap.

TeenTelevision: Are you squeamish about anything?

Tom: Yes. I have a skin phobia, like skin being pulled. I can't watch it. I can't handle it. Petrified.

TeenTelevision: Any real life romances going on or what do you look for in girls?