Zack Fox is a funny guy. You’d know this if you follow him on X, have watched his stand-up performances, or have watched him play fan-favourite Tariq on the critically acclaimed ABC show Abbott Elementary. However, in Lurker, his new film directed and written by Alex Russell, Fox’s character, Swett, is so mean that the actor’s mother scolded him. “When my mom came to the premiere, she would not address the character as Swett. Every time I did something mean or violent that she didn’t agree with, she would go ‘Zack, why?’. She could not suspend her belief that I was playing a character. She was just really disappointed the whole time”.

Lurker, Russell’s directorial debut, is a psychological drama thriller starring Archie Madekwe as up-and-coming pop star Oliver, and Théodore Pellerin, who plays Matthew Morning, a loner who is desperate to change his life. As aforementioned, Fox plays Swett. Zack‘s character is part of Oliver’s entourage, alongside Havana Rose Liu, Wale Onayemi, Daniel Zolghadri and Sunny Suljic. While on the surface, they’re all relatively nice to each other, they are also in fierce competition to be Oliver’s favourite and to have their lives transformed through his. “Swett senses that Matthew is a better barnacle than him. So he is tethering between wanting to protect his friend [Oliver] and jealousy, as there is someone more efficient and aggressive about maintaining that top spot.” 

Below, Fox takes our dA-Zed quiz, and tells us more about Lurker, his love for Kevin Gates and why you should never, ever ask him for advice. 

A IS FOR… ADVICE. WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER BEEN GIVEN? 

When I initially met my friend and collaborator, Thundercat, I was working a service job in Atlanta, and he and I were already tapped in on Twitter. This was roughly 10 years ago. He was performing at the Jazz Festival in Atlanta, and I got into a huge fight with my boss because I had finished all my work extremely early, so I could leave. But my boss was trying to add extra work, and I literally quit right there. He was like, ‘If you leave, don’t come back tomorrow.’ I was like, ‘Cool, I’m not coming back,’ and I went to the Jazz Festival and saw Stephen [Thundercat]. We got blackout drunk that night by the Lowe’s hotel. And I was like, ‘Yeah, shits fucked up because I want to act and do film and music, and I have all of these dreams and aspirations, but I gotta make money. I’m kind of stuck here in Atlanta.’ And he was like, ‘The backup option is always going to be there. Jump out now while you’re young.’ He basically told me to stop being scared because you can always take the safe route later on; it’s always gonna be there. 

B IS FOR… BIRTHPLACE. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Arlington, Virginia. Represent! The military, the military cemetery. We got dead soldiers, y’all.

C IS FOR… CRUSH. WHO’S YOUR ULTIMATE CRUSH?

My wife. That’s it. Everybody else, go away! 

D IS FOR… DREAM. WHAT WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD DREAM?

I wanted to be a Power Ranger and fight big monsters. There was a Black Power Ranger in the show, and his name was also Zack. I also had a Power Ranger suit as a kid, and I wore it every day until it was really musty, and my mom had to step in. 

E IS FOR… ENDGAME. WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL?

I want to have community with creative autonomy. I want to wake up, be near my friends and collaborators, and say, ‘What do we want to make today?’ And have to take as few steps as possible to start that process.

I’ve monetised all my hobbies. It’s over for me. I’m cooked. I’m done. Capitalism has taken every childlike desire and fun thing

F IS FOR… FOR YOU PAGE. WHAT’S ON YOUR FYP RIGHT NOW?

A post asking if Drake can make a comeback. The first comment says ‘No’. 

G IS FOR… GOD. DO YOU HAVE FAITH OR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE?

I don’t necessarily have a spiritual practice or like a super concrete idea of what’s going on out there. But I am very aware that something big and crazy is going on. I don’t think any dude has figured it out. But in the meantime, I like the thought of big ideas being your God, like practising your passion and literally bowing before it. Waking up and dedicating yourself to something every single day is as close as you can get. For anyone, whether you’re a writer, a basketball player, or a swimmer, reaching that flow state is getting close to what God is.

H IS FOR… HOBBY. DO YOU HAVE A NICHE HOBBY? 

Oh, God, I’ve monetised all my hobbies. It’s over for me. I’m cooked. I’m done. Capitalism has taken every childlike desire and fun thing. I need to ask my wife. Baby?

Kat Matutina Fox: Yeah?

What’s a hobby that I have that I don’t make money from?

Kat Matutina Fox: Coffee shops and shopping?

I’m basically a white woman. I’m no better than the Goop girl [Gwyneth Paltrow].

I IS FOR… INTERNET. WHERE DO YOU SPEND THE MOST TIME ONLINE?

I’ve been on the shorts [YouTube]. The shorts are wreaking havoc on my dopamine receptors. But I love the niche topics that you can get into on YouTube. We’re going to start with how D’Angelo recorded “Voodoo”, and then we’ll take it down to ‘19 Techno patterns that changed my life’ in four minutes. Okay, then we go to a video that shows a girl dancing in Walmart, and it’s from 20 years ago. Then I was watching Kanye West performing “Late” with the Late Orchestration at Abbey Road, and then I was crying because I miss him.

J IS FOR… JOKES. WHO MAKES YOU LAUGH MOST IN THE WORLD?

Super Ray 14k. Have you seen that guy? He’s the dude that be dubbing over the videos of Indian Street Food. He goes ‘Goop scoop, goop scoop’. Also, his output is crazy. He doesn’t stop. He posts at least eight videos a day, minimum. So he’s just sitting there with his iPhone headphones and the little mic, letting them fly. I love that.

K IS FOR… KNOWLEDGE. WHAT’S SOMETHING NICHE THAT YOU KNOW A LOT ABOUT?

I’m gonna ask my wife. Baby, what’s a niche thing I know a lot about? 

Kat Matutina Fox: Besides anime? Music and Atlanta music. 

Oh yeah, 90s and 00s Atlanta music. 

L IS FOR… LURKER. WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE SCENE YOU FILMED? 

The scene where Matthew is in the pool and Oliver is sitting with his friends. It’s right after the blackmail has taken place, and you now see that the power dynamic has completely shifted in the house. It was also where Théodore’s acting and his prowess really show because Matthew’s character could have been played in a one-note way, but you really see this shift in how he behaves and how comfortable he is now, because he has power. It was the little things in his eyes and his body movement, as well as the way he was swimming around in the pool that day, that made me genuinely scared of him as a person. 

M IS FOR… MEME. WHAT’S A MEME YOU REFERENCE OVER AND OVER AGAIN?

Anything Kevin Gates. I have a Kevin Gates folder. There’s this video where he goes, ‘Find me that nigga that can say I told on them and find me that nigga that can say he stuck his dick in me’. [Laughs] I know what he’s trying to say, but why would he say it like that?

Halima Jibril: What is he trying to say?

I guess he’s saying you can’t find them. There ain’t nobody I told on, and there ain’t nobody who stuck their dick in me, but the way he’s phrased it comes across like maybe they’re out there somewhere. Maybe we can find them. That shit be ringing in my mind all day, every day and when I’m in meetings.

Being mean, boring and uninteresting is underrated. For most of human history, a lot of people were mean, boring and uninteresting. Now everyone has to have a special interest

N IS FOR… NATURE. WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE ANIMAL?

Gonna have to give it to the motherfucking Pangolin. They’re so cute. I love how they walk around like they’re praying. 

O IS FOR… OPINION. WHAT’S YOUR HOT TAKE?

My hot take is that there needs to be more stud barbers. ’Cause a stud barber is gonna be able to listen to my feelings and not call me gay. There’s a bit of a softer touch, but there’s still a masculine element there. We could still talk about the game, the boxing match. But I might also cry a little bit during it. 

P IS FOR… PARTY. WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO GO OUT?

In LA, I like The Warehouse. If I were in Atlanta, I would say Pisces. If I were in New York, I’d say Nowadays. When I go out, I want to be left alone. I want to stand in a dark room and dance. I don’t want to network. I don’t want to ‘chop it up’. I don’t want to ‘move the ball forward’ on anything. When someone is talking to me in the club like ‘Oh, and imma hit you up over email about this and that’, like nigga what? We should beat you with sticks. You want to network with me? We gotta communicate through dance.

Q IS FOR… QUOTE. WHAT QUOTE DO YOU LIVE BY?

‘It takes an idiot to do cool things. That’s why it’s cool’. That’s from FLCL, an anime series from the 2000s. 

R IS FOR… READING. WHAT’S A BOOK YOU COULD YOU READ AGAIN AND AGAIN?

The Hike by Drew Magary and There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. I got really into sci-fi last year, and these were two titles that stuck out for me. 

S IS FOR… SUMMER. WHAT KIND OF SUMMER ARE YOU HAVING?

I’ve had a pretty fun summer. I was in Europe. The Netherlands, Brussels and London for Glastonbury. I loved the smells.

T IS FOR… TV. WHO WOULD PLAY YOU IN A TV SERIES ABOUT YOUR LIFE?

Orlando Brown. He is our greatest living actor. Or Shemar Moore. Actually, wait, scratch all of that, it would have to be David Cross who plays Tobias Funke in Arrested Development. We’d have to get him super tan. Let him do soft black face, no paint, don’t put nothing on him. Let him get mad tan, let him hang out in Miami for a month and then: a Zack Fox biopic. 

U IS FOR… UNDERRATED. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS UNDERRATED?

Being mean, boring and uninteresting is underrated. For most of human history, a lot of people were mean, boring and uninteresting. Now, there’s almost a beauty standard, or a behavioural standard, that everyone has to have a special interest. Everyone should have fun facts about themselves, they should be kind, have two jokes at the top of a conversation, know how to end it well, and be able to dismount. It’s really underrated just to have people who are like ‘No, I’m boring and kind of mean and if you want to fuck with me, you’re gonna have to fight through that.’

V IS FOR… VIDEO. WHAT WAS THE LAST VIDEO YOU FILMED ON YOUR PHONE?

OK, the last video I filmed on my phone was actually pretty funny. She’s fine now, but I had to take my dog Pepper to the vet the other night to get X-rays done. I took a video of them doing her X-rays, but she wriggles around a lot, so they were holding her down by her legs and her arms like a rotisserie chicken, with two vets on either side, stretching her out like a medieval torture tactic.

I give the worst advice in my whole friend group. If my homegirl were to say to me, ‘Oh no, this guy did this and that’, I’d probably tell her to kill him

W IS FOR… WORLD. WHAT’S YOUR DREAM TRAVEL DESTINATION?

Japan. I’ve been twice, but I’m also looking for any excuse to go back. I love it.

X IS FOR… EX. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE SOMEONE TRYING TO GET OVER THEIR EX?

I am the worst person to ask this question, like, I don’t know. Go outside? I give the worst advice in my whole friend group. If my homegirl were to say to me, ‘Oh no, this guy did this and that’, I’d probably tell her to kill him. Don’t ask me.

Y IS FOR… YOUNGER SELF. WHAT’S ONE THING YOU’D SAY TO YOUR 13-YEAR-OLD SELF?

Don’t wait and break rules faster. 

Z IS FOR… ZZZ. WHAT HELPS YOU SLEEP?

Reading a really bad book. Or it doesn’t even have to be a book, just something procedural. Sometimes, if I can’t sleep on a flight, I’ll find a health mag or something and read about a disease or a condition I don’t have and know nothing about. I’ll just read about how to remove a tumour from a toe or something like that. I’ll try to be as excited about reading it as possible. It’s like watching paint dry.  

Lurker is out in US cinemas now and in the UK soon.