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Your new movie The Great
Charade - in a few words, what is it about, and what can you tell us
about your character in it?
Without
giving away too much, it’s a dark journey into excess, obsession with
self and also with others and the extremes it could lead to. I play Ryan
Sterling, one half of Hollywoods most high profile couple along with his
wife Amara Giovanni.
Being an actor yourself,
how close to home did the plot of The
Great Charade actually hit?
Ego
is a big thing in this industry so it’s something I always keep in
check, humility is key, I play dress up for a living nothing more. Being
in an industry where you can literally go from an unknown to being a
household name, with people you’ve never met knowing who you are,
playing this role definitely made me consider the ramifications of that
reality and what that can do to a person's ego and self perception, it can
become a tightrope for sure if a person doesn’t have the mental
preparation for it. The plot is an viewpoint into where neither fans nor the ‘stars’ having that mental stability.
What did you draw upon to bring your character to life, and how
much Ricardo Freitas can we find in Ryan Sterling? I
spent months listening to nothing but Ric Flair wrestling promos and Kanye
West tunes in preparation for this role. I believe that every character
comes from somewhere that already exist in an actor, you’re not becoming
someone else, you’re just playing with the volume dials of your
personality to get in tune with the character needs.
Most of the running time of the
film you're tied to a chair - so in what way has this influenced your
performance? Oh
definitely, being strapped to the chair made me absolutely have to be in
the scene, there was never any doubt to the dangers Ryan faced. Also I
couldn’t express myself with my hands, no gestures, no pointing, which
just made focus on my face, my eyes expressing everything I needed to. I
hope that comes through in the film. How did you get involved with the project
in the first place? I
had the privilege of working with directors Rodeo and Dan Strange [Rodeo and
Daniel Strange interview - click here] on some commercials and we
hit it off personally and creatively straight away. I would have jumped at
the chance to work with them on anything, when they sent the script for The Great
Charade
I knew I had to be part of it, I was honoured that they
even considered me and they offered me the role. all I wanted was to do an
amazing job for them to do their story justice. What can you tell us about your
directors Rodeo and Daniel Strange [Rodeo and
Daniel Strange interview - click here], and what was your collaboration like? I
absolutely love those two, they are an absolute joy to work with, they
welcome input from everyone involved in the project, the story, the
characters it all feels like a huge collaboration. The film was a
massive team effort, and it’s because of the atmosphere and environment
that Rodeo and Dan created for us that made us all work so hard, and also
have so much fun, I honestly don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much on
set. A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? We
were shooting through the night so we would begin a shoot around 4pm
and then wrap in the early hours of the morning. With this tough schedule
I never heard anyone complain, we became such a tight unit almost
instantly, we worked hard but would always be joking and playing around
between scenes... and sometimes during them too.
Any
future projects you'd like to share? I
am currently training in preparation for another feature named HellKat, in
which I’ll be playing an MMA fighter called Freddy ‘Fish’ Bones so
keep an eye out for that. From what I read,
you got into acting via pro-wrestling - now what can you tell us about
your wrestling career, and how did you then actually come to the
realisation you wanted to be an actor? And did you receive any formal
training on the subject? Wow,
you did some research there, that was some time ago, I was indeed a
professional wrestler, it was short lived career, but the experience was
invaluable. I moved to the States and trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling in
Louisville, KY. After moving back to the Uk and wrestling Wales I realised
the wrestling life just wasn’t for me, the road life and the bumps are
tough and I have nothing but respect for all the boys who do it to this
day, it’s a sport I respect and still love and follow. Acting had always
been my first passion, I had been in plays for most of my youth and then
in my teens it just fell out of my life. After wrestling I knew I was
heading into acting for sure, I just hit the ground running doing every
workshop I could, I trained in the Meisner technique for 3 years, did
student films, short films, music videos, just gained all the experience I
could, doors began to open up and well, here we are. What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to The
Great Charade?
I've
worked mainly on screen my whole career, film was always my passion,
I’ve had a few short films I was in do well and win awards at film
festivals around the world, and I’ve had a few blink and you’ll miss me
parts on big projects in film and TV. How would you describe yourself
as an actor, and some of your techniques to bring your characters to life? My
technique is a hybrid of everything I’ve picked up that works for me,
I’m a big believer in what Bruce Lee said “Absorb
what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your
own.” The way I work sometimes different with characters, one constant
is music, I love using a soundtrack I create for a character to tap into
the mindset needed. Actors
(and indeed actresses) who inspire you?
How
many pages do you have? Haha! I’ll
just name off a few that just always amaze me even when I’ve already
seen the performance: Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, John Cazale - he’s
one people forget about, but you watch him in the Godafther Part 1 and
2
or Dog Day Sfternoon and see a man be completely vulnerable in a
performance, it's just so real, he was amazing. A few more, James Dean,
Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Philp Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin
Pheonix... I’m gonna stop there or I’ll keep you here all day.
Your favourite
movies? Oh
god that’s just opening up a can of worms, umm... Godfather Part 2,
Life of Brian, Rocky, Raging Bull, The Master,
Pulp Fiction, Rain Man... again I’m gonna stop myself, but those are just a few in my head
at the moment. ... and of course, films you really deplore?
I
mean there are plenty of films I didn’t enjoy, but art is subjective, they
just weren’t for me, someone out there loves those films so who am I to
tell them it’s not good, it’s just not something I do. Your
website, Facebook, whatever else?
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You
can check out my website
www.ricardofreitasactor.com,
or
follow me on Twitter and Instagram, both @ThatRicFreitas
Anything else you're
dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
just wanna mention my fellow cast members in The Great
Charade, Francesca
Louise White [Francesca
Louise White interview - click here], Candice Palladino [Candice
Palladino interview - click here] and Marcus
Davis-Orrom [Marcus
Davis-Orrom interview - click here]. These are three of
the most talented people I have ever worked with, such unselfish and
giving performers and some of my favourite human beings ever. If anything
watch The Great
Charade just to see their amazing work. Thanks
for the interview!
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