Get To Know The Real Corey Fogelmanis, Beyond Just Farkle On 'Girl Meets World'
Corey Fogelmanis first played Farkle Minkus on Girl Meets World’s pilot in June 2014. Fast-forward two years, and he’s one of Disney Channel’s biggest stars — but he’s more than just Farkle. He’s also a photographer.
Cameras have always been a part of the 17-year-old’s life, thanks to his mom’s interest in the art. “I always had them around and was always taking pictures of the randomest things,” Fogelmanis told MTV News on the phone. “It sparked something and now it’s like one of my biggest passions.” Though he doesn’t have any specific influences, he follows the photography scene on Instagram and gets inspiration from those behind the camera.
Currently, Fogelmanis — who stars in the new film Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House, out today (September 6) via DVD, Digital HD, On Demand, and Netflix — focuses on architecture and nature, but he says he would like to delve into portraits soon because they allow for more creativity and spontaneity with the subject. He’s usually never without one of his various cameras (he has several different kinds) though he’s hoping to get an old-school film camera to get away from digital.
His work thus far has mostly been self-taught and experienced through trial-and-error, but he’d like to take classes, though he’ll probably save them for college. In fact, Fogelmanis is toying with the idea of minoring in photography. “I want to get a good education on top of being an actor, so I think I’m gonna do something academic and then, of course, I’ll still act on the side and take classes as well,” he said. But if you’re hoping to see him on campus anywhere in California in a few years, you’ll be disappointed: Fogelmanis is planning on attending college on the East Coast (likely New York), since he’s spent his whole life in the Golden State.
For Fogelmanis, Broadway is calling, as plays have remained an important part of his life going back to his start in community theater. Last year, he reunited with some Girl Meets World costars and performed Peter Pan and Tinkerbell – A Pirates Christmas at the Pasadena Playhouse. It was his first professional theater credit, and as a fan of show tunes from Pippin and Into the Woods, he hopes to do more in the coming years.
When asked what classic Broadway role he’d love to play, Fogelmanis said the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, but only after he’s gotten older and had more training. For now, he’s perfectly content with honing his photography skills, sharing his work on a separate Instagram account called “outofthedarkroom” — a play on the rise of digital photography versus actual film. And it’s somewhat ironic, since he’s looking to eventually get into the darkroom and study actual film cameras. Each of his photos is an authentic Polaroid, which he takes on his camera and scans to Instagram.
His latest project, Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House, is the third installment of the book series of the same name by R.L. Stine, whom Fogelmanis credits with developing his love of reading, thanks to Goosebumps. In the film, he plays a magician named Max Doyle who accidentally upsets evil spirits when he tries to help his two ghost friends. The film costars Scream actor Jamie Kennedy, whose improvisational skills cracked Fogelmanis up.
“Something I really enjoyed about working with [Kennedy] was he improvised like half of the scenes,” Fogelmanis said. “Everything he would do was different, and it was really hard for me to like, literally not laugh in the middle of a take, ’cause he was so funny.”
Besides going toe-to-toe with Kennedy and battling spirits, Fogelmanis did his own stunts for a paranormal dance sequence, including floating in midair and doing some A-plus flips. Fogelmanis said that while his costars were learning the correct choreography, he was learning how to do choreography badly on purpose.
Though Max and Girl Meets World’s Farkle are both quirky, they’re two entirely different characters Fogelmanis brings to life. “I was excited to do something different,” he said about the new movie. “I think the Mostly Ghostly franchise has done a great job at creating fun films for kids to watch with their families.”
