INVESTIGATION
Life After Navigator
056 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K
Joe Comer says that working on
Navigator was one of his favourite
experiences as a child actor.
Lisa Downs (pictured) spoke to many
of Navigator’s cast, including Matt
Adler (also pictured) who played Jeff.
that interview, he’d only been out for four
or five months, and he just broke down. It
was raw. What’s been lovely also is not only
that he’s been really open and honest about
everything, but you can see just how far he’s
progressed and grown. I think you can see
that in his face and how he speaks. It really
is quite an amazing journey, and we were
very lucky that he was willing to do that.”
Cramer himself is quick to highlight the
serendipity of this unusual meeting with a
stranger who became a friend. He’s a warm,
polite man with a wry sense of humour and
a disarming self-awareness: quick to own
his mistakes, and full of gratitude for the
support he’s received. Despite the far from
ideal circumstances, he and the UK-based
filmmaker soon hit it off. “We just clicked
right away,” Cramer says. “We started
talking about ideas, just by mail, and then
when I got out they (Downs and producer
Ashley Pugh) came over.”
Cramer emerged from isolation to a world
kinder than he’d found it as a child star.
“This was just kind of a reinforcement that
I was doing the right thing and I was on the
right path. It was really inspiring and really
special because I knew that people loved the
movie. I’d run into people over the years –
there’d be this explosion of joy from them
and all these memories about how they used
to watch it with their families, how it was
their favourite movie. I’d meet people up in
little, teeny towns in Alaska, in California,
in Vancouver, wherever I went, pretty much.
It was really cool to see that the movie was
a huge part of their lives. I did my first
Comic Con the year before last, down in San
Antonio. It was so much fun! I had people
come, and they laughed, and they cried.
There was a lot of really touching stuff. I
would meet people who’d introduced it to
their kids. I mean, what a gift to be involved
in something like that.”
He’s still in awe of the film that’s defined
his career to date. After all, it’s one most
actors would be thrilled to have on their
CV. “It was definitely one of my favourite
experiences as far as being a child actor,” he
says. “There are times when I look back and
think: ‘Why didn’t I stay in [acting]?’ but,
you know, life happens the way that it does,
so...” He laughs, determined not to dwell
on the past. “I was just turning 13 when we
finished making the film, and I did have
a hard time in my teenage years because I
didn’t really fit in. I’d been acting since I was
about eight or ten, in and out of school. At
the time, when I was younger, it was kind
of a challenge. I was bullied and picked on
because I was this ‘movie star’ kid.”
His new friends put him back in touch
with some old ones, to his delight. “It’s been
great to reconnect with Randal and with
Jonathan, the producer, and with some of the
actors. To get all this wonderful support and
all this encouragement after the hard times
was awesome.” He remembers the production
and the entire crew with enormous affection:
INVESTIGATION
Life After Navigator
056 | W W W. S C I FI N OW.CO.U K
Joe Comer says that working on
Navigator was one of his favourite
experiences as a child actor.
Lisa Downs (pictured) spoke to many
of Navigator’s cast, including Matt
Adler (also pictured) who played Jeff.
that interview, he’d only been out for four
or five months, and he just broke down. It
was raw. What’s been lovely also is not only
that he’s been really open and honest about
everything, but you can see just how far he’s
progressed and grown. I think you can see
that in his face and how he speaks. It really
is quite an amazing journey, and we were
very lucky that he was willing to do that.”
Cramer himself is quick to highlight the
serendipity of this unusual meeting with a
stranger who became a friend. He’s a warm,
polite man with a wry sense of humour and
a disarming self-awareness: quick to own
his mistakes, and full of gratitude for the
support he’s received. Despite the far from
ideal circumstances, he and the UK-based
filmmaker soon hit it off. “We just clicked
right away,” Cramer says. “We started
talking about ideas, just by mail, and then
when I got out they (Downs and producer
Ashley Pugh) came over.”
Cramer emerged from isolation to a world
kinder than he’d found it as a child star.
“This was just kind of a reinforcement that
I was doing the right thing and I was on the
right path. It was really inspiring and really
special because I knew that people loved the
movie. I’d run into people over the years –
there’d be this explosion of joy from them
and all these memories about how they used
to watch it with their families, how it was
their favourite movie. I’d meet people up in
little, teeny towns in Alaska, in California,
in Vancouver, wherever I went, pretty much.
It was really cool to see that the movie was
a huge part of their lives. I did my first
Comic Con the year before last, down in San
Antonio. It was so much fun! I had people
come, and they laughed, and they cried.
There was a lot of really touching stuff. I
would meet people who’d introduced it to
their kids. I mean, what a gift to be involved
in something like that.”
He’s still in awe of the film that’s defined
his career to date. After all, it’s one most
actors would be thrilled to have on their
CV. “It was definitely one of my favourite
experiences as far as being a child actor,” he
says. “There are times when I look back and
think: ‘Why didn’t I stay in [acting]?’ but,
you know, life happens the way that it does,
so...” He laughs, determined not to dwell
on the past. “I was just turning 13 when we
finished making the film, and I did have
a hard time in my teenage years because I
didn’t really fit in. I’d been acting since I was
about eight or ten, in and out of school. At
the time, when I was younger, it was kind
of a challenge. I was bullied and picked on
because I was this ‘movie star’ kid.”
His new friends put him back in touch
with some old ones, to his delight. “It’s been
great to reconnect with Randal and with
Jonathan, the producer, and with some of the
actors. To get all this wonderful support and
all this encouragement after the hard times
was awesome.” He remembers the production
and the entire crew with enormous affection:
