Several Disney Channel stars have gone on to do things that might have scandalized former fans — consider Ryan Gosling freebasing in Half Nelson — but few have embraced the transition like 21-year-old Ross Lynch. Last year, he was playing a teen heartthrob on Disney’s Austin & Ally; on November 3, he stars as a teenage Jeffrey Dahmer in the biopic My Friend Dahmer. Based on a comic book by Derf Backderf, Dahmer’s childhood friend, the film follows Dahmer’s high-school years. Here, the method behind Lynch’s metamorphosis.
1. Start young.
“Performance was always a part of my upbringing. My oldest brother was really into performing, and we were always mimicking the TV. Then eventually my mom enrolled us in dance classes.â€
2. Head for Hollywood.
“My first job was called Macy’s Passport, which was basically a fashion show. I was about 10 years old. We as a family all decided to move out to L.A., my mom and all my siblings. We lived in a motel for a few months.â€
3. Commit to a Disney Channel show.
“The big moment in my career was when I booked Austin & Ally. One person told me, ‘If you’re gonna be on Disney Channel, you have to believe what you’re saying. Otherwise, it comes off really cheesy.’ â€
4. Leave Disney.
“My contract was up, so I had control over my next project. [Disney] is very brand-conscious, and I think they’d frown on one of their actors playing a serial killer.â€
5. Audition to play Jeffrey Dahmer.
“That part came at the perfect time because of my age, and because I resemble Dahmer physically a little bit. It was like a meant-to-be project.â€
6. Know a lot about Dahmer. Or learn …
“I actually didn’t know anything about him, believe it or not, because he died before I was born. Of course, now I know most things about him.â€
7. … By studying obsessively …
“Most of my preparation was watching videos and getting a sense of how he was. But we’re playing Dahmer before the murders — when he was just a confused teenager.â€
8. … Especially his eye contact.
“That was one of the key points of my questioning for Derf. He said Dahmer was polite but didn’t hold eye contact. I think it tells a lot about a person. How comfortable they feel and their intentions.â€
9. Most of all, don’t fear a backlash.
“Ultimately, that’s why I chose to do this. You can look at it like, ‘Disney Star Plays Serial Killer.’ But if you look at me as a young actor, I don’t think a lot of actors my age would have declined such a role, you know?â€
*This article appears in the October 30, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.