Last fall, American Dreams started with a bang, literally: At the end of the pilot episode, the Pryors, a working-class Philadelphia family, faced the assassination of John F. Kennedy. "It reminded me of 9/11," says Will Estes, who plays the brooding, conflicted son, JJ, on NBC's acclaimed nostalgic drama. "Everybody remembers where they were when it happened." Not that Estes was around in November 1963, when he would have been, as he says, "negative 15." But the 24-year-old's connection of the two country-shattering events may explain why American Dreams is touching chords every Sunday night: "It was a simpler era, and that's attractive to people right now in a world where things are in upheaval on a daily basis."
Not that simple, of course: American Dreams takes place in the period of flux after the assassination, with all that implies -- revolutions in music and politics, society's questioning of long-held shibboleths about gender, race and family. JJ's issues -- girlfriend troubles, whether or not he should follow his father's desires and attend Notre Dame on a football scholarship -- may not seem that different from those facing any teenage but, within the context of the period, they take on a charged air of rebellion.
A Los Angeles native, Estes began appearing on television and in commericals when he was 10 years old. "I did get to be a kid, however. I would do a job and then go to Toys 'R' Us with my salary, so it was worth it." Later, after roles in Dutch and How to Make an American Quilt, among others, he began to consider turning a fun and lucrative pastime into a profession: "When I was 18, my friends were all getting jobs, so I refocused my efforts and started to invest more in it."
His biggest film so far has been U-571, the 2000 WWI submarine thriller starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel. "It was a wonderful experience, mostly because I got to live in Rome for five months. That actually changed my life, and even though it was because of the film, it had nothing to do with being on the set."
He may do a movie during his American Dreams hiatus ("Everybody's trying to get me to do something. It's a good career move, and though I'd like a little of a break, now's the time to keep on truckin'"), but the well-crafted series is still his priority: "I've had really challenging work on the show, and the writing's better than a lot of the film stuff I've worked on, if not all of it." Mostly, Estes believes American Dreams is particularly relevant to today's viewer: "The '60s did bring about a lot of changes that had to happen, but maybe the sense of family we've moved away from since then is not such a good thing to have lost." -- Eric Newill
Wording on Photo:
ON JJ'S CONFLICTS: "Even though he's a good kid, he's challenging some fundamental values he was raised with. He's questioning for the first time in his life, but on an even deeper level because it's the '60s, when people questioned things like never before."
FAVORITE FOODS: "I was raised a vegetarian, but now I eat eggs and fish. I love salmon -- oh, and Mexican food."
ROMANTIC LIFE: "I'm dating people, but it's nothing serious -- and I can't name names."
EXERCISE: "I can't go into a gym and lift weights -- it's really boring. I took gymnastics when I was younger, so I love to go in and mess around with that. I also wrestle a little bit: Brazilian jujitsu, which is like a martial art, but it's really just wrestling."
WHERE JJ WILL BE IN 1974, WHEN HE'S 28: "Hopefully married with a family, but Vietnam is in store for him, so we'll see how that turns out."
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