Photographed by [Tyler Shields](https://www.instagram.com/thetylershields/).
For actor [Maxwell Jenkins](https://www.instagram.com/maxwelljenkins8/) the idea of running away to join the circus seems more like a return home than a rebellious act. The young star who has carried on the precocious torch as _Lost In Space_’s Will Robinson grew up in his family’s circus before landing the gig on the Netflix series which follows a galactically displaced family as they travel the universe attempting to come home.
Outside of his penchant for running away from Dr. Smith, brilliantly portrayed by Parker Posey, or trying to maintain the typical family dram with his parents and sisters played by Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, Taylor Russell, and Mina Sundwall, the American teen has so much more to do with his time than spending it all in the middle of the vacuum of space devoid of matter. Jenkins is active in working with the ASPCA on their End Dog Fighting Campaign and fostering pit bulls as well as set to expand his acting repertoire with his upcoming performance 2020’s _Good Joe Bell._ Read our interview with Jenkins as we talk about his show, his family, and his aspirations for _Marvel_\-ous future.
**Before we speak about the new season of _Lost in Space,_ I wanted to know about your upbringing I know you basically grew up in the circus.**
Yes, my parents run an arts organization and we go around Chicago parks and we bring acrobats from all over the world, Montreal, France. We put on a high level show in some neighborhoods that’s aren’t as well funded to rebuild playgrounds and bring the playground together.
**What were you able to do? What was your specialty?**
I do this thing called rolla-bolla. You take a tube and you put this board on top of it and you put that on a box and you roll around. You stack layers and you juggle on it and by the end I am probably 7 feet up.
**7 feet above ground?**
Yes, I also do partnered acrobatics with my dad. So like handstands on him and I also do tightrope and unicycle and juggle.
Photographed by [Tyler Shields](https://www.instagram.com/thetylershields/).
**Amazing. How long have you been training for this?**
The circus has always been part of my life since I was one. My first show was when I was three.
**So you were able to do handstands at three pretty much?**
Actually when I was one, my dad with take his hand and put both of my feet in it and hold he up. So that was pretty fun.
**That’s so cool. You must have some insane photos.**
Yes, it’s always been apart of my life. It’s been fun growing up in a circus.
**So did a lot of the techniques you learned from circus lead into what you were working on in acting?**
So growing up in the circus, I guess the performance aspect is similar to acting where you can’t really be afraid. But also it inspires me to do better than the last time. The circus acrobatics, they taught me to never give up and if there is hard scene you have to keep going.
**Let’s talk about L_ost in Space._ You’re picking up on Season 2, which is about the come out. How exciting is that?**
Oh my gosh. Season 1, multiply that by that by like ten and then add in like crazy aliens planets and super crazy monsters, that’s season 2.
**We were so stuck on the spaceship in Season 1, so to finally see it in Season 2 will be cool.**
There is more space travel. As far as will goes we’ll start to go into him growing up even more. Also with his relationship with the robot, if Will is growing up who is to say that the robot can’t. They learn that friendship is a two way street.
**You’re working with such cool people. How is working with Parker Posey?**
Parker is like my aunt. Everyday after filming, me and may mom and my sister and my dad if they’re in town will go to dinner with parker and just debrief. Also the first week of filming for season 1 I was really overwhelmed because I’ve never done green screen or anything. So, I call Parker and I say, ‘Hey it’s Max, I’m really overwhelmed on green screen. Do you have any advice.’ And she says, ‘Really all you have to do is imagine what is not there and play pretend.’ And from that day forward, green scene was just like playing pretend for me.
Photographed by [Tyler Shields](https://www.instagram.com/thetylershields/).
**How is the rest of your family on the show? From the amazing cast like Molly Parker, Toby Stephens, and everyone.**
Toby is such a goofball on set and I learn so much from him too. Actually, he took me to LA to hang out with his family for the weekend, which is awesome because I am super close to his kids. Molly Parker is just like a mama bear on set. She takes care of the kids. My two space sisters, Mina and Taylor, Penny and Judy. I always say I have a chosen family, and then I have my real family, and my _Lost in Space_ family is definitely my chosen family.
**That’s awesome. So continuing on, what is up next for you? You have a movie coming up.**
Yes, _Good Joe Bell._ It’s starring Mark Wahlberg and Connie Britton, the incredible Reid Miller, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green. We filmed in Salt Lake City and it’s based on a true story about an Oregon teenager named Jadin Bell and he is openly gay. He is ruthlessly bullied for it and he takes his own life. I play his younger brother and it’s all about how the family copes with it. I think it is a really important project too, because especially now a days with tolerance is needed more than ever I think that it’s a very important message that we are going to spread.
**Yeah, how do you think that this relates to your generation. You’re in this space where you’re not a child anymore, but you’re not an adult and like it’s a teen space. But now being a woke teen is such an important place to be.**
Yeah, especially living in today with social media and everyone living vicariously through avatars on their phone, it’s really important that we hold ourselves accountable even though we are not talking to people face to face. I think we need empathy and I think for our generation especially we are going to have to fix some mistakes and hopefully we can do that in a kind, clean, and compassionate way.
Photographed by [Tyler Shields](https://www.instagram.com/thetylershields/).
**I also hear you are a big advocate for rescuing animals, pit bulls specifically.**
Yes, I have two rescued pit bulls at home. They’re named Rosie Ray and June Bug. I grew up with pit bulls my entire life and I work with the ASPCA for their End Dog Fighting Campaign. I was actually wearing my end dog fighting sweatshirt to school today. I also talked with Oceana, which is a marine wildlife protection organization. I worked with their Southern resident orcas. So yeah, animals have always been a huge part of my life, especially with out dogs and cats. They really see us for who we really are because when we are talking with other people, even if we don’t know it we always put on kind of our own persona. But when we are with our dogs, they see who we really are.
**That’s awesome, is there anything you want to mention or focus on?**
So, obviously I am an actor. But also, I love the camera and I love to tell stories. I think the person with the most control on the set is the director of photography. If a scene is lit a certain way or if the cameras are using a certain lens, it changes the entire feelings. I really want to be a director of photography when I grow up just to tell stories.
**What type of acting roles do you want to experience, though?**
Acting wise I would love to do kind of more independent and artistic films because I think those really tell some meaningful stories. I am also a huge Marvel fan. So, if they do a Young Avengers, which I think they are setting up for because the Avengers children and stuff like that. if they do a Young Avengers movie, I’d definitely want to play Wiccan or Speed or if they introduce Iron Lad that would be pretty sick. So, Marvel too would be pretty funky.
**What is like with school though? How does your friend react to you on Netflix and basically see you in the middle of class?**
I was in my elementary school for eight years. When _Lost in Space_ came out they were a bit like ‘Oh that’s awesome, but you’re still Max so we don’t really care.” But now that I have gotten to school, you really have to find who your real people are. But you just got to be open and kind and make sure that everybody knows the real you. Also Parker Posey gave me some really good advice when I was transferring into high school. She told me to always be kind to everyone that I meet and always have an open heart, so I gone with that mentality going into high school.
**That’s sweet. Is there anything else you feel like you want to mention or talk about?**
One thing. I got to shoot with the incredible Tyler Shields. It was an awesome photo shoot. We made a really cool short kind of thing and we did some awesome photos. He is definitely a role model of mine going forward into the future. Other than that I think we are good.
**That’s awesome. Congratulations on everything. Can’t wait to see how the season pans out.**
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