Your new movie Maturing
Youth - in a few words, what is it about, and what can you tell us
about your character in it?
Maturing
Youth
from R&F Entertainment is about a middle aged low
life man named Roger, played by Sean A Kaufman [Sean
A. Kaufman interview - click here], who has no ambition and
zero direction in life. This man's world is turned upside down with a
surprise visit from his ex girlfriend, named Sadie played by Kim Paris. I
don't want to give away too much about my character but I play the adult
version of Roger's son Junior. The little version of me is played by child
actor Joshua St. Leger [Joshua
St. Leger interview - click here]. How did I turn out? You guys are just going to
have to watch and see! What did you draw upon to
bring your character to life? And since you play the older version of one
of the leads, did you at all take his performance as a sort of template
for yours? You know, I have an incredibly strong Mom, who
for me was both Mom and Dad. She did what she could and I had a great
upbringing because of her. I had to got back to my childhood and relive
some experiences that were not so pleasant. I sat with those memories and
emotions and through the magic of acting was able to create and imagine
situations that led to my character's choices in life. Both good and bad.
Some of those emotions you see are from real life experience. How did you get
involved with the project in the first place? From my homie
Kim Paris! She had told me some time ago that they're still casting for
this new short she's in. She really saw something in me and thought I'd be
good for the part. Thank God I listened to her. I got to audition and
well, here we are! Thank you Kim!
What can
you tell us about your director Divoni Simon [Divoni
Simon interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
like? When you first meet Divoni, you're slightly
intimidated by him. Once you get to know him he's super cool. He was very
involved in scene work and supportive of all of us and our choices. What can you tell us about the shoot as such, and
the on-set atmosphere? The crew was really fun to work
with. I spent quite a bit of time with the make up crew. It can get weird
sometimes when someone is super close to your face though. It felt
awkward, so I would break the ice by joking around and being silly. On set
was pretty awesome. Some of my scenes called for some heavy dark moments.
It was really nice to see how quickly the set and crew adjusted between
scenes. Any future projects you'd like to
share? I was cast in Gepetto's Strings. It's about a
religious man who has some bad things happen to him and has to make tough
decisions to help his family. What got you into acting in the first place, and
did you receive any formal training on the subject? Funny
thing is I actually started with music. It was a big passion of mine. The
acting bug had crept up on me at some point while I was in a music group
and I decided to pursue it and start out with some acting classes. I
literally googled "Free Acting Class" to see what was out there.
To my surprise and what I call fate, Penny Templeton Studios was offering
a free class and was located just a few doors down from me. Penny
introduced me into the world of acting and I haven't looked back since! What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Maturing
Youth? Most of my film work has consisted of
shorts, commerical's and music videos. Can't wait for that big feature!
How would you describe yourself as an actor, and some of the techniques you use to bring your characters to
life? I feel like I come off as a bit mysterious in nature,
and I think you see a sprinkle of that in a lot of the roles I play. You
always have to give your character a life prior to what ever the scene or
film is about. Creating a back story to the character's life helps me
create situations that would cause the character to say what he's saying,
do what he's doing. Actors (and indeed actresses) who inspire you? Meryl
Streep. Her ability to take on any role and truly give it a complete and
full life is amazing and really motivates me. I love Johnny Depp,
especially in all his Tim Burton films. Robert Downey is another favorite.
He seems super cool to me, natural and effortless in all his roles. Your
favourite movies? I really love a lot of the movies of the
80's. The Never Ending Story, Labyrinth,
Beetlejuice, Gremlins! I could
go on and on. ... and of course, films you really
deplore? Hmmm? I don't know LOL! I feel like movies I
thought I hated, I ended up loving just cause they were so bad! Now you
got me thinking! Your website, Facebook, whatever else? Catch
me on Insta: Albee_c Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
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Maturing
Youth
is making its world premiere at the augural Cutting Room
International Short Film Festival in New York City. For more information
and details go to www.MATURINGYOUTH.com
- I can't wait for everyone to
watch!
Follow the film here:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/maturingyouthfilm
Facebook: www.facebook.com/maturingyouth
Website: www.MATURINGYOUTH.com
Thanks
for the interview!
All images courtesy of R&F Entertainment.
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