Do you prefer films or novels?
At the end of the day, it's all about the story and they both tell stories. But I guess it depends on what I'm in the mood for. A novel allows a reader to participate in the world of the author. I very much enjoy the process of visualizing the world I'm reading about and the people in it, I try to make it as vivid and specific as I can in my mind. Also, I do end up caring more deeply for the character in a novel than a film but that's because I spend more time with them and I'm there in their thoughts as they go through their journies.
However, a talented filmmaker can achieve the same level of intimacy with his audience. I know because I've felt it so many times. I revisited the same films over and over again because I missed these people. The Professional, Man on Fire, The Pianist.
Both mediums, I can't choose between them.
Which film do you feel is closest to your heart?
Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain is one of my favorite films. Despite the fact that many critics gave it a hard time, I am intrigued by the message that our bodies are prisons and that death frees our souls. In taking this point of view, it transforms one of the greatest human fears into a journey. Also, the film was visually stunning and the score was powerful, moving. When I left the theater, I couldn’t get the film out of my head. I carry it with me still.
What are your five favorite books, and why?
Harry Potter, I was eight and it was my gateway drug.
The Stranger by Albert Camus because it challenged everything I ever knew or thought I knew about the hero of a story and made me feel so uncomfortable reading it. When I first read it, I was too young to understand it. I reread it a couple years later and although the events themselves became more clear, it still left me with so many questions. How can such an insensitive, apathetic person be the hero of a story? Why does he make all of those horrible choices, one after another? It felt inherently wrong to me. But that's what makes an impact, novels about real life. The ones that hold up a mirror to reality and the fact of the matter is that we as people are complex. The world is full of outliers and anomalies, usually, those are the kind of people who make the biggest impact on our society, extremists. Whether intolerably cruel or extremely forgiving, whether Hitler or Mandela... it's the outliers who shape our history. They represent the ultimate fight between good and evil. Me, I'm not on either end of the spectrum, most of us aren't. And thank god for that, the world would be in utter chaos. But outliers make for fascinating stories. That was Camus' The Stranger for me. It made me think and it was unsettling. Good art does that. You don't always have to agree with it. I've always been drawn to the juxtaposition of darkness and light in the context of societal norms and outliers.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky not only for the revelation this novel brought to literature but also for the story behind writing it. Dostoevsky didn't write it because he wanted to, he wrote it out of necessity. He wrote what he knew, the conditions and ramifications of a sick, drunk, impoverished Russia. He sent chapters out to trusted friends and colleagues in a time when doing so was not as simple as clicking send in your email box. He kept working, kept changing it, improving it. He threw chapters out and rewrote them and eventually, he threw out the entire 1st person format and rewrote everything in 3rd person because it served the story better. Learning that truly inspired me. It teaches young authors: Don't be afraid of making bold revisions or changes; not only are they important, they are essential.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins because by the time 2008 rolled around, so much had already been written and said about a potential post-apocalyptic nation but somehow, Collins was able to put forth a fresh take on dystopia. I admire that very much. There is always more room for your voice, your perspective, your story.
I am a huge fan of novels that enlighten the reader on perspectives of different cultures so I have to mention Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe because, again, it was very critically controversial. People didn't know how to feel about it. On the one hand, Achebe ended up writing it in English, the language of colonialism which caused disagreement amongst many African critics in regards to the ultimate message of the novel. On the other hand, this was a novel that went against most of what was written about African culture at the time. It showed European colonialism from a different perspective portraying Igbo life from the point of view of an African man, a rich and sophisticated culture with a deep history, language, and beliefs.
Would you say you're spiritual? If so, how do you maintain your spirituality?
Yes, I am. You know what helps? Finding moments throughout the day that allow your mind to be still and reflect. I achieve it through yoga, taking a quiet walk, or listening to the sound of waves crashing to shore. It's harder to achieve stillness of the mind when surrounded by a bustling cosmopolitan atmosphere but there is always a way.
Was it always your intention to go into acting?
I have a Bachelors degree in Economics. I was planning on becoming a lawyer at the time and I was interested in corporate law. I really enjoyed calculus, that’s why I ended up studying Economics at UCLA, because it’s heavily math based. But I found myself lacking a real passion for it, so I fell into acting classes while I was finishing my degree and that became my creative outlet, something that eventually became a priority.
And do you have any particular aims within the industry? Any particular types of films, roles or jobs?
My goal is to get to a level where I do get to decide that, choose my roles not just audition for the ones available to me, read scripts and decide which ones portray society in an honest and extraordinary way. I’m drawn to watching films that have a social impact, that shed light on subjects that otherwise would remain in the shadows. I hope to publish a novel one day, ideally turn it into a script and maybe even direct. I have launched a couple of restaurant endeavors so I understand what it feels like to start something out of nothing, put your heart into it and hope that one day people will come and enjoy it. I feel like, in that sense, the entertainment industry is all connected whether we’re talking about cuisine, film, literature, or fashion. We all just want to make something that people can enjoy and maybe our creations will even pass the test of time.
You’re fairly experienced with shooting anthology films, as a performer how does the experience of shooting an anthology entry contrast with shooting on a traditional film?
Well it’s a lot shorter, for one. With VHS Viral, we had to get all of it in the can within a couple of days and there were different directors for each segment, we shot simultaneously and I had no clue what the other stories would be about until I watched it in theatres. The Dark Tapes is all Michael McQuown so there is more of a sense that the project segments all tie in together even if there are 4 stories. But I guess with anthologies the best way to describe it is a number of short stories under the umbrella of one feature film and one theme.
What other films do you have coming out which we should keep our eyes open for?