It鈥檚 been less than 24 hours since Miles Robbins completed what he calls his first 鈥渉igh profile鈥� interview, and he鈥檚 nervous. Nervous that he said too much, went too far, might be misunderstood.
So he composes an email trying to explain himself further. It is 940 words.
鈥淚 just want to make sure that, in my jet lag and candid comfort, I didn鈥檛 brain fart and phrase something in a way that could be twisted by the internet people,鈥� he writes.
Robbins, 25, is new to promoting a major studio movie. Or any movie, for that matter. He only really started acting a couple of years ago, but he鈥檚 already landing plum jobs.
This month, he has a scene-stealing turn in Universal鈥檚 comedy Blockers, a film about three high school girls who make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night. Robbins plays one of the ladies鈥� love interests: a blissed-out bro with a man bun who creates elaborate drug concoctions for his friends. And he鈥檒l soon be seen in the highly anticipated reboot of Halloween.
The budding actor doesn鈥檛 have a publicist yet. At a recent photo shoot, his manager served as his stylist, advising he wear a vintage denim Mickey Mouse jacket instead of a T-shirt with a hot dog on it. And he鈥檚 trying not to rely too much on his parents, the actors Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon.
Yes, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon.
In another sign he鈥檚 still learning how to negotiate media attention, he earnestly requested that his mother and father not be mentioned in the first two paragraphs of this story. He鈥檚 close with both of them 鈥� even suggesting this interview take place at his dad鈥檚 house in Venice instead of a hotel (it ultimately happened at the Culver Hotel) 鈥� but says it鈥檚 hard not to be in their shadow.
鈥淎nd I won鈥檛 try to act like I will ever escape it,鈥� he says, sipping from a glass of scotch. 鈥淚 think at a certain point in my life, I was a lot more precious about that. Perhaps from a place of ego, I didn鈥檛 want to be associated with them at all because I was going to be so overshadowed by them.鈥�
This was more of a struggle for Robbins when he was a boy. The first girl he ever went on a date with, he later learned, only wanted to go out with him so she could score a ticket to the Shrek premi猫re. In his early 20s, when he was making a living as a disc jockey 鈥� 鈥淚 hated saying I was a DJ, so I鈥檇 say 鈥榙isc jockey.鈥� I at least wanted to explain that I owned discs that I was jockeying鈥� 鈥� he met a manager who was interested in his music. 鈥淎nd then I found out he was just trying to pimp out my name, and it was clear he didn鈥檛 give a [crap] about the music I was making.鈥�
Music, he explains, was his first true passion. He started a band when he was 11 after watching School of Rock. He was dorky 鈥� obsessed with The Matrix and Philip K. Dick books 鈥� and thought playing music would make him seem cool. Eventually, music became a therapeutic outlet 鈥� 鈥渁 way for me to explore the feminine quality of self-expression that a lot of boys deprive themselves of,鈥� Robbins says.
In his current psychedelic pop ensemble, the Pow Pow Family Band 鈥� 鈥渨e play children鈥檚 songs for adult children鈥� 鈥� he performs in drag. His character is Millie, a 鈥渄isgruntled housewife鈥� with an affinity for dresses and red lipstick.
In 2015, Sarandon mentioned in an interview that her son sometimes performed in female clothing 鈥� a comment that prompted a slew of headlines about Robbins鈥� sexuality. So he decided to respond by writing an op-ed in the Huffington Post: 鈥淚s It Really That Strange for a Guy to Wear a Dress?鈥�
鈥淓veryone was publishing articles saying that I was trans or nonbinary,鈥� says Robbins, who identifies as male and hetero-sexual. 鈥淪traight men haven鈥檛 figured out that they can kiss men yet or be comfortable with themselves yet. How many straight women have kissed their girlfriends? The only reason I know I鈥檓 straight is because of the amount of guys that I鈥檝e kissed. I have gotten as close as possible and been like, 鈥楴ah, not into it.鈥� 鈥�
This is one of the things Robbins fears the trolls on the interwebs might take the wrong way. Or Universal, the studio releasing Blockers. 鈥淚 know what this [article] is for, and I should at least be a little nice for this one,鈥� he says during one of the many instances he stops himself mid-sentence during our interview.
But he also wants to be himself. He wants to talk about his love of RuPaul鈥檚 Drag Race and how he鈥檇 love to be the first straight contestant on the reality show. He wants to talk about his mom鈥檚 politics and how 鈥渞idiculous鈥� he finds it that she was criticized for saying Trump would 鈥渂ring the revolution鈥� if elected president. (鈥淚 have so much respect for her,鈥� he says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a badass. She鈥檚 always spoken her mind and been right.鈥�) And he wants to talk about psychedelic drugs and how much they鈥檝e affected him.
Because, no, it isn鈥檛 a coincidence that in three of his first big roles 鈥� the indie My Friend Dahmer, Blockers and Halloween 鈥� he plays a stoner.
鈥淚 mean, why does Tom Hanks play the everyman? Because he鈥檚 the everyman,鈥� Blockers director Kay Cannon says with a laugh. 鈥淢iles has the extensive knowledge and use of drugs.鈥�
Robbins admits he smoked a lot of marijuana in high school, and his mother famously argued on behalf of cannabis legalization for years. But now he鈥檚 more into mushrooms, which he emphatically says changed his life.
鈥淚鈥檓 a completely different person than I was the first time I took mushrooms,鈥� he says, launching into a discussion of the link between Buddhist meditation and psychedelic drugs that he learned about as a student at Brown University. 鈥淲hat I think psychedelic drugs do for people is bring you back to the beginner鈥檚 mind. You can embrace the inner child and relax in a really incredible way.鈥�
Robbins attended Brown for three years, studying documentary film and music production. He dropped out in his senior year because he only had prerequisite courses left to complete and he wasn鈥檛 interested in taking them.
But it was at college that he first started exploring his love of film, obsessing over the experimental filmmaker Ron Fricke and serving as a teacher鈥檚 assistant to the head of the film department.
After graduation, he began his stint as a disc jockey. And one day in 2015, he went to the movies to see an independent film that had earned its lead actors rave reviews. He thought it was terrible. 鈥淚 hated this movie so much and thought everyone in it was so bad that I thought, 鈥楾his is a racket. Come on, I could do that.鈥� 鈥�
So he read for some agents and initially signed with one at UTA, where his mother is represented.
鈥淢aybe it helped that my mom is who she is,鈥� he says, shaking his head. 鈥淚鈥檓 at the point now where if someone thinks of me that way or boxes me in to be being just 鈥榯he child of,鈥� I just think that they鈥檙e being narrow-minded and not looking at the fact that I鈥檓 very different from them and don鈥檛 work with them.鈥�
Neither Cannon nor Green knew who Robbins鈥檚 parents were when they cast him in their respective films. Green said that the young actor 鈥渏umped off the audition screen like if Twin Peaks was a comedy,鈥� exuding a 鈥渟pooky spaciness鈥� that he found 鈥渕ade me laugh a lot and was simultaneously cool and hip.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of neat when you hear so many stories of kids getting caught up in their celebrity parents鈥� lives and then you meet a grounded, cool, super energetic and positive young actor who has come out of probably a super unconventional life,鈥� says Green. 鈥淎nd then you applaud Tim and Susan and say, 鈥楬ell, yeah! Well done.鈥� 鈥�
Robbins, meanwhile, realizes that the way he got into acting is pretty 鈥渉ateable.鈥�
鈥淏ut I would be lying if I didn鈥檛 say that was a big inspiration to me to see [work] that was being celebrated that I thought wasn鈥檛 so great,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ot that I鈥檓 going to immediately be better, but 鈥業 could do this passably and make a living.鈥� And now I love doing it.鈥�
He鈥檇 like to continue acting, but he鈥檚 currently focused on making a new record with his band. Then he says maybe he鈥檒l try his hand at writing or directing. Whatever happens, he wants to blaze his own trail.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really cool when someone can be more than an actor or a musician,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 no one who I know who has done it the way that I want to do it. I guess I aspire to be the first Miles.鈥�
