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Focusing on her billboard, Ms. Bailey is an example of someone who took a chance. Some people believe, that in life, things take time to develop, particularly with respect to opportunities and recognition in the film industry. Other individuals want to approach success in a different way, with hopes of more immediate results. Ms. Bailey had this to say about her billboard message:

“I’m an actress from New Jersey. I decided to put up a billboard in Atlanta, Georgia for the reasons to capture the attention of Tyler Perry. My billboard says, ‘Attention to the top filmmaker in Atlanta, I want to be your next leading lady.’”

In an attention grabbing entertainment industry, sometimes talent is overlooked. Ms. Bailey, however, is an example of a real talent who understands that if people do not know about you, your work or your abilities, the prospects for success are slim:

“What happens when you decide that you want to be an actress, it is a different profession other than becoming a doctor or a lawyer. There is no guarantee that you will have that great success. When I decided to put the billboard up, what would make me different than everybody else because that’s what really matters, what makes you stand out from the crowd and when you’re putting out headshots and resumes and you’re going through the routines of going back and forth to auditions and just hoping that you’ll get the call. And sometimes it’s who you know, sometimes it doesn’t even matter if you’re good or not and I decided to set myself apart from the pack.”

Racquel Bailey's Billboard to Tyler Perry

Racquel is not just someone taking a shot at being cast in a movie; she’s acted in Law and Order, various off Broadway performances and commercials. She is an experienced performer with skills. But as with so many things in life, it is all about being recognized by the right people:

“I’m not looking for just to be 15 minutes of fame. I’ve actually been doing this for about 10 years now, maybe even 11 professionally. I’m a working actress, but so many of us are. We’re working, but we’re not being recognized for our talent and ability ‘cause there’s so many of us striving for the same thing…I was a reporter on Law and Order. I’ve done many off Broadway productions. I’ve done, let’s see, Cleopatra, I’ve done For Colored Girls, I’ve done Down the River…I tend to kind of gravitate towards the classics.”

Ms. Bailey says she is open to other acting opportunities, even if Mr. Perry never contacts her. Her comments on the acting business should be of interest to fellow and aspiring performers:

“You have to want it. You have to be determined. It is not something that’s gonna come to you tomorrow. It is not for the weak. You have to be strong and be able to stand time because you can’t expect overnight success with this…I think what makes an actress very versatile is when she opens herself to work with many different directors and many different producers.”

Racquel Bailey has provided us with an important lesson. To succeed you have to make things happen. You have to take action and go after what you want. Hopefully, someone in Hollywood will give her a chance. She has big dreams:

“I have a quote that I like to live by and it says, ‘I have nothing to lose but everything to gain…I want the gold. I want the Oscar. I am gonna be honest with you. When I started, when I decided to become an actress, that’s what I’ve been working for. I want the Oscar.”

You can watch Racquel Bailey’s reel and find out more information about the actress at her official site http://www.racquelbailey.com

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here.

This year the Hitman series, a video game about the world’s deadliest assassin, Agent 47, comes out with its latest installment entitled Hitman: Absolution. Marsha, with her unmistakable British accent, is voicing Agent 47s closest confidant, Diana Burnwood. The role in the video game is sure to bring Ms. Thomason lots of exposure, as well as new fans.

Many will recall Marsha as Nessa on Las Vegas or as Naomi on Lost. Both Las Vegas and Lost are no longer in production, but Ms. Thomason’s work made her known to many television viewers. In the CYInterview below, Marsha Thomason speaks about her career, as well as who she is personally. She also talks about how she dealt with a Twitter imposter. (Incidentally, the imposter was following @ChrisYandek under her name. When Marsha took control of her account, she continued following me.)

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Chris Yandek: Before we get into everything, what do you want people to know about you away from the world of acting?

Marsha Thomason: “Oh wow. Not much really. (Laughs) I’m quite a private person. I don’t know. No, nothing much. I’m just a human in the world.”

CY: Well, there you go then. You know what I’ve noticed over the years you know about British performers? Is that you guys kind of have this different view of the world of acting compared to Americans. I think many of you guys see it more as a job you love and then you go home and there’s the rest of your life. Is that how do you see it?

MT: “Definitely. I mean and it’s always been that way. You know, I started acting when I was 14, my goodness and I remember the grownups, the adults that I was working with, they would say you know, ‘Well, I’m going to work. I’m going to work.’ Whereas to me it was like, ‘I’m going to shoot. I’m going to film.’ You know it was like this exciting and then I quickly learned that you know it’s just a job. It’s just a job.”

CY: Yeah.

MT: “There’s nothing too special about it.”

CY: In my analysis, I think you’re somebody who plays serious roles like Nessa from Las Vegas, of course Naomi on Lost and of course Diana from White Collar, but at the same time I think you like to have fun. Is that how you are in your own life?

MT: “Absolutely. I really, you know it always surprises people that I’m actually funny because I think maybe it’s the English thing. I don’t know. I’m always cast in these serious roles it feels like, but you know one day I’d like to do a comedy. I really would. I mean I’ve been in comedies, but I’m usually the straight person. I really would like to do that. I’ve come close a few times to doing a comedy and it hasn’t quite worked out and hopefully one day it will.”

CY: Well, I hope it does for your sake. I’d love to see another side of your acting craft of course.

MT: “Yeah.”

CY: You know. White Collar now has been going strong for a few years here. What’s it been like to be part of another TV show that gets to have a long run and you get to work with the same people for quite a while?

MT: “Oh you know, I’m so lucky and I realize it every day. You know, I keep, you know as exciting as it is and I try to live each day and enjoy the moment, but there’s always that knowledge that one day it will end you know. So every year we get to go back is such a blessing and I do. You know, it’s pilot season here in L.A. right now and you know, they’re gonna make all these pilots and they’re gonna be on television, some of them you know and they’ll be canceled within a day and I just really, I’m so appreciative that I’m on this show where I get to work with great people you know every day year after year.”

CY: Yeah. Absolutely. There are many great performers out there like yourself as you’ve mentioned and I feel like the reality TV culture has taken away opportunities from some of your acting colleagues to find work. Do you feel fortunate in that sense as you just mentioned because of that?

MT: “Absolutely I do and I think you’re right. I mean, you know, that’s definitely been the case in England. You know I have a lot of actor friends obviously back home and they don’t have as many channels in the UK. I mean they certainly have more than they did when I was growing up, but it’s not like here we have a booming cable industry and you know and network TV makes great stuff too as well as the reality stuff. So I feel like sure it’s had an impact, but compared to these smaller countries where you know they don’t have as many channels, it’s had a profound impact.”

CY: I think most people would say how do you go from being a Brit over there and how do you get over to America? I think that’s the question people always ask when a foreigner comes over to America and starts getting all these roles.

MT: “Well, I’m one of those awful people who you know I just had a really lucky break. You know I started acting in England like I said from being a kid and I worked consistently over there and then they were, Fox were looking to cast somebody in Black Knight and they couldn’t find a black actress over here who could do an English accent, which is not say that they’re aren’t any, but they didn’t find one. So they came to England and you know I was lucky enough to get the job and that helped me launch my career over here.”

CY: Yeah. I think it’s just interesting in itself how you were a foreigner who comes over here because so many don’t have that experience, let alone in America being an American performer and getting an opportunity. But when you’re the foreigner and you come here and then you blow up in America, that’s just so rare, even more rare.

MT: “Yeah. I feel really fortunate. I mean it sounds like [word unintelligible], but it’s true. I feel really fortunate.”

CY: Yeah. More than anything else I wonder you know going forward now, of course, and you know expanding out to acting opportunities as we’re talking about this next project, you know I am not a big game/video game follower or anything like that, but the Hitman series is the one franchise I do follow coincidentally. It’s the only thing I really pay attention to. So when I heard you were voicing/acting/playing Diana Burnwood, agent 47s closest friend/colleague, did you feel honored? In Hitman: Absolution we finally are able to see her. But all of us Hitman gamers live for Diana and understand her importance.

MT: “I know. It’s amazing. I made a joke the other day I’m only playing Dianas in the last couple of years.”

CY: Yeah.

MT: “It’s funny. I’m Diana Barrigan and I’m Diana Burnwood, only Diana Bs. Yeah, I mean it’s, I’m a bit of a gamer and I was definitely aware of the Hitman franchise and so when the opportunity came I jumped at it ‘cause you know it means a lot to a lot of people. But you know my Twitter’s been blowing up since it was announced I’m part of it and I can really see that it really you know has quite an impact on a lot of people’s lives.”

CY: Well, working on a video game seems to have a lot of artistry the way you were showing it in the video for your preview thing, but this is gonna introduce you to a whole new audience as you just mentioned.

MT: “Absolutely.”

CY: Do you think it is something that performers overlook being part of something like this.

MT: “Definitely because I think there’s a snobbery about it, you know but I think things are changing actually because we have Andy Serkis doing all this wonderful motion capture work, amazing incredible work in the last decade and that’s how we shot Hitman. You know I was in the motion capture, in the suit with the darts and the camera in my face. It was a very interesting, different, creative experience and I think people do undervalue it and I think that’s a mistake.”

CY: And the question I wonder is how does an actor audition for a video game? Is it a different process or is it just like everything else? How does one find out about it? That’s interesting.

MT: “It’s slightly different. It was more about the voice actually and so I recorded some of the dialogue and sent it to the people, the powers that be and they liked my voice and that’s, we went from there really.”

CY: Well, wonderful. It almost seems like, you know, watching you put this video game together it almost seems like it was almost Avatar, like almost kind of.

MT: “Oh totally. That’s what I was saying on the day. I said, ‘You know I feel like I’m in Avatar right now.’ It was very, very cool interesting. I’d love to do something like that again. I really would.”

CY: As you know there are probably millions who have been anticipating the next installment of the Hitman series because it’s been a very long time. I think it’s been four years if not five. So can you at least tell me something about Hitman: Absolution for the fans out there? Can you tell me something?

MT: “No. No. No I can’t. I’d get in a lot of trouble. There’s a lot of secrecy around this project and I’m certainly not gonna be the one to let the cat out of the bag.”

CY: Well, there you go then. Do you have an idea when the release is of course? Is there a release date yet ‘cause I couldn’t really find anything on that. Any idea on that yet?

MT: “Yeah. There isn’t one yet actually and I’m not, it shifted around a couple of times and I’m not sure, but it’s definitely going to be this year.”

CY: Ok. Well, thank you very much on that. Ok, let’s talk about a few more of your other roles. What I could never understand is why you departed from Las Vegas after two seasons because you really balanced out the entire cast.

MT: “Oh. Thank you. You’re so sweet. Well, they let me go. You know. I don’t know. You’d have to ask them.”

CY: I just don’t get it. I really don’t get it.

MT: “Neither did I.”

CY: You were the serious good looking woman on the show and then, of cours,e there were the other good looking women and they had their own spunk as well, but you were like the serious work for corporate keep an eye on what’s really going on, understand what’s really going on, not get caught up in all the hoopla. And it was like, why do you get rid of the opposite character on the show. She balances out the entire cast and I just couldn’t understand it.

MT: “Neither could I.”

CY: And I didn’t enjoy Las Vegas after that as much to tell you the truth.

MT: “Well, thank you.”

CY: Was it as crazy to work on that show as it seemed?

MT: “At times. Yes. Absolutely. But we didn’t shoot in Vegas. You probably know that.”

CY: Yeah.

MT: “We shot in Culver City in a warehouse that they converted into a casino. It was pretty incredible. I mean you really felt like you’d been transported to Las Vegas. They did an amazing job. And then I think subsequently after I left the show they moved to Sony Studios I think, but we would shoot a bit at the beginning of the season in Vegas and that was crazy. You know when we shot the pilot, we shot at the Mandalay Bay and we had to shoot in the quiet time, which you know a casino never closes. So I think we started at you know two in the morning through and a 12 hour day. Oh it was rough. So rough.”

CY: One thing I’d love to clear up with you, after season five [sic] was slated not to come back and it didn’t come back, there were rumors you were going to be brought back. Was that just a rumor?

MT: “Absolutely just a rumor. “

CY: Well, thank you very much for clearing that up because there was a lot of hoopla.

MT: “I wasn’t even aware of that hoopla.”

CY: Yeah. There were numerous conversations about the possibility of them bringing you back. Go look online. And I was like, I can’t believe that. I’m like ‘cause you know we never got a real official ending. How would you sum your Lost experience?

MT: “Oh it was amazing. I was a huge fan of the show. You know, I know Dominic Monaghan from back home and so you know this was his big new TV show and I started watching from the beginning and I was hooked immediately. Then I came in season three and I was just that first day that I went, I had been shooting for about a week before I actually went to the beach and when I got to the beach with everybody there it was so surreal. It was really an incredible time. I felt like I was a part of something that those seminal TV shows, Mad Men’s gonna be one of them we talk about for years. Twin Peaks is one of them and Lost too and it’s amazing I was part of that.

CY: Favorite role?

MT: “My favorite role?”

CY: Yeah.

MT: “Wow. You know I think it’s Diana right now. I really, I love working with the guns, I love working in New York, I love playing an FBI agent, I adore the people I work with. This, I really do think this and I know you know it probably sounds like bullshit because, of course, she’s gonna say that, it’s the job she’s on now. But this truly has been one of the most special times for me working on White Collar.”

CY: You’ve had four seasons on the same show. You had two seasons on Las Vegas. You came into Lost in the middle of that thing. I would obviously call this your favorite thing because you guys are gonna be back again this summer I believe for a fifth [sic] season. This is your longest running project. Why wouldn’t it be your favorite?

MT: “Well indeed. Well put.”

CY: Well put indeed. Ok. Now a little CY mystery as I always like to call it. Just for the people who know out there, some of you do know this, me and Marsha have been longtime Twitter followers and I believe what happened, now help me clear this up because I really want to know.

MT: “Ok.”

CY: What I believe happened is that there was some random person out there pretending to be you, you got control of your Twitter name, you cleaned out all of your followers and you kept a few people in the list that you liked and over the years you just kept following me and is that really what happened?

MT: “That’s exactly what happened. Yeah. It came to my attention and this happens to a lot of actors, there was somebody totally pretending to be me for at least a year having full blown conversations with followers. You know, ‘Headed to a meeting with my bodyguard.’ Hello, Marsha T doesn’t have a bodyguard. That’s hilarious. You know, just engaging with fans, talking about my hubby and this, I mean it was actually really offensive because you know you’re pretending to be me. And so and it’s very difficult, it may be easier now, but it was at the time kind of difficult to prove that their fake and you’re the real person. And so.”

CY: What happened? How did you go through that process? I’d love to know.

MT: “I had a little bit of fun with it actually because I got the boys from the show to take a picture with me with the New York paper.”

CY: With the New York Times, with the New York Times. Yeah.

MT: “Yes. That’s right and then that helped fast track it and then somebody from publicity at USA kind of took control of the situation. By the end of that day it was done. But I had been aware of this fake Marsha for a little bit and didn’t know what to do about it. And Facebook makes it really difficult. There are fake pages of me on Facebook as well. I have a real one, but that’s not easy either. And there was somebody on My Space pretending to be me as well.”

CY: Well, I’m not surprised by that. What was curious to me was though you had like 700/800 followers that you clear everybody out and you left me there and I love that. I really appreciate that.

MT: “Well absolutely. I could tell you were a class act.”

CY: I appreciated that more so than anything else. I always enjoy your tweets and I hope you enjoy mine. I always try to entertain and inform. It’s like, because usually I get the follow from the celebrity after the interview and it’s like you’ve just been there for a few years.

MT: “Yes.”

CY: And it’s just kind of one of these random things and you follow like 77 people. [Marsha follows about 100 people now]

MT: “I know. I don’t follow many people at all.”

CY: Ok. Thank you so much for clearing that up. And that’s quite fun. I’m glad you finally got a hold of your life and you deserve that obviously.

MT: “Thank you. Thank you.”

CY: I don’t know if you have a middle name, but either way are you adding or changing it to Diana?

MT: “(Laughs) I have a middle name that I’m not really fond of and no I’m happy with, I added my name, another name when I got married. So I have three. I’m good.”

CY: Ok. Well there you go. And of course as you know as you mentioned earlier, I understand this and I would love just a little quick story if you don’t mind. You know, I always enjoy that busy people find happiness. So did love find you while you were working? Is that what happened?

MT: “That’s exactly what happened. Yeah. It’s hilarious ‘cause my husband’s actually from my hometown and so here I moved 6000 miles away to Los Angeles and found a man. We were shooting something for the BBC in Belfast and I met somebody. His parents live 15 minutes away from my parents.”

CY: I think that that’s just so wonderful.

MT: “Yeah.”

CY: I’m not someone who pries into people’s personal lives, but it’s just so wonderful when you’re working because as you very well know it’s a very lonely life because you’re just…

MT: “Absolutely.”

CY: …constantly working and to find happiness along the way, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.

MT: “Oh thank you. You’re very sweet.”

CY: Marsha Thomason thank you so much for joining me today. Of course, catch her in White Collar. When’s it coming back this summer? When’s it starting again this summer?

MT: “I’m not sure. June probably.”

CY: Ok.

MT: “We usually start in June.”

CY: Ok. Thank you very much. So catch her in new episodes of White Collar, of course, in June, of course, repeating on USA. Finally, what do you still want to accomplish, hopes for the future? I know you mentioned you want to be in a comedy, but anything else?

MT: “You know I really love television. I mean film’s great and I was, of course, enjoy being in film, but when this is over I want to be on a show like Modern Family which, of course, every actor is saying right now. I love comedy. I got to do those two episodes of Two Broke Girls and it was really to make people laugh is just a lovely thing and I’d love to do something like that.”

You can fall Marsha Thomason on her verified Twitter here.

Marsha Thomason’s official Facebook is here.

You can find more out about Marsha Thomason on White Collar here.

You can order a copy of Hitman: Absolution and find out more information here

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

Aside from his acting work, Rob Riggle has served for 22 years in the Marines, originally enlisting at the age of 19. For nine of those years he was on active duty. For 13 years he has been in the reserves. Rob is a fascinating individual, who believes a person can wear more than one hat in life. You can read the highlights of our conversation or listen to the entire CYInterview below:

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Rob Riggle’s latest project is in the movie 21 Jump Street, out Friday in theaters nationwide. The movie stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. It is about two people who could not stand each other in high school but later become friends during their time together in the police academy. Mr. Riggle tells us about his role:

“I play a character Mr. Walters. I’m the gym teacher/track coach and you know for this role I just kind of went back and pulled from my experiences, some of my coaches in my past and different people I’ve met through my life’s journey and the alpha male type kind of guys and I just plucked from them and tried to make, put ‘em into the character of Mr. Walters…I actually credit some of my high school coaches, not just my teachers, but some of my high school coaches for setting a great example and really putting me on a good path…It’s a really fun, action comedy that people are gonna enjoy.”

As for his 20 plus years as a Marine, on both active duty and in the reserves, Rob shares how that part of his life has impacted him:

“I am in the Marine Corp and I served in Liberia. I’ve served in Kosovo. I’ve served in Afghanistan. I was at Ground Zero moving rubble by hand. Those have big, big impacts on your life. They make a difference. They are things that you take with you and you draw from when you’re an actor, all those emotions to go along with that you remember those.”

In a world where many of us are taught to focus on one goal or profession, Rob Riggle shows that you can pursue diverse interests. Many will say that the military and acting are incompatible worlds. However, it’s obvious the comedic actor has not limited himself:

“I’ve always had a passion for it [acting]. I have a passion for comedy. But that doesn’t deter me from doing other things. So I also had my pilot’s license when I was in college. So when you graduate as a theater and film major from college you’re gonna be a waiter or a bartender. I also could’ve been a pilot. So that’s what I did. I pursued flying for a while and then realized I needed to go follow my heart and try comedy and acting…I think that you can wear more than one hat in this lifetime. When I’m a Marine I put on my Marine hat and I conduct myself accordingly. But I love comedy and I’m a comedian. And so when it’s time to play, I play and I have a lot of fun doing it. And I’m just lucky that I live in a time and place where I can pursue my dreams so that’s a good thing.”

Last year Rob appeared with Tom Hanks in the movie Larry Crowne, also starring Julia Roberts. He talks about his experience working with the two time Academy Award winner:

“It was awesome to do a scene with Tom Hanks, it’s surreal. You wanna pinch yourself and you wanna stand up and call all your friends and say, ‘I’m doing a scene right now with Tom Hanks just so you know.’ So it was hard for me. I had to calm down and focus and really just you know focus on doing, trying to do the character as best I could ‘cause it is an awesome experience…I learned patience and control and that’s a good thing to have when you’re an actor.”

Rob speaks of his hopes for the future as he continues to build his acting resume with noteworthy roles:

“I want to keep working. I don’t want much. I’m not gonna ask for the world. I just want to keep working and have an opportunity to work with really quality good people. And if that happens I’ll be a very happy man.”

Photo by Scott Garfield.

21 Jump Street opens in theaters nationwide this weekend. You can find more information about the movie here.

Rob Riggle’s official website is here.

Rob Riggle’s official Twitter is here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

Today, Mr. McKenzie has moved on to other things, including his role in the television police drama Southland. In this CYInterview, you will hear how his life has changed since The O.C., how he dealt with fame and what he believes all aspiring actors should experience before trying to make the dream, happen among other topics.

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In his role as a cop on the TNT show Southland, Benjamin enjoys the fact that the show is filmed on location all across Los Angeles and not on a set. He says the whole experience has given him a new perspective of the LAPD:

“It’s really gratifying and it’s gotten me more in touch with my own city…Things from an earlier generation of the LAPD, they really aren’t reflective of the current LAPD as I’ve experienced it. We have a lot of interaction with members of the LAPD because on our show any cops who are in the background kind of walking through the scene, those are real cops off duty. So we’ve had the chance to interact with a lot of them. I had a chance to go on ride-alongs with a lot of them all over the city and see them as they’re actually doing their job.

And the vast majority of these men and women are good, hardworking men and women trying to patrol what’s arguably the hardest city in the country to patrol. And so the negative stereotypes that I think have traditionally come along with the LAPD in the 80s and 90s are really outdated. And so I have a very positive and somewhat in awe of what they do. I’m somewhat in awe of the fact that they can get out and do this hard job day in and day out and keep it altogether. So I would say my opinion of them is completely switched in the past four years while working on the show.”

There are some actors who are never able to stop being known for one role in their career. For the 33 year old actor, he admits there was a sense of relief that the role of Ryan Atwood, on The O.C., ended.

“When it ran its course, I think there was certainly a sense of sadness that I wasn’t going to be able to work with the same people again, but there was also a sense of, I hate to say it, but a little bit of a sense of relief that I wasn’t going to be put in that category for the rest of my life. You know, if you do a show like that for 10 years and that’s really all people know about you, you are sort of forever that person and that’s just not ever the career that I wanted for myself. I wanted to be able to do a variety of different roles and be known for a variety of different things to the extent that I even was known. I guess I wasn’t ever planning on being in the public eye the way The O.C. you know made all of us.”

McKenzie explained why fame and celebrity were tough for him to deal with at first:

“I think almost any, you know, non-psychotic person would be slightly uncomfortable with fame in the sense that, it’s not that it doesn’t have very, very nice parts to it and believe me, I’m not complaining at all, I think it’s an incredible blessing to have people be able to see your work and understand, oh, that’s the guy that I saw did this thing. And even though I never met him, I’m a fan of what he does. But at the same time, it’s a little odd, take it from the other side to interact with people who you don’t necessarily know and they know you or they think they know you from your work. So it has a weird, it’s weirdly uneven in that way and I think it took me a few years on The O.C. to kind of wrap my head around it, but now I’m good. Now I’m just a normal, average, every day guy who sometimes acts on a TV show and that’s a-okay by me.”

In college McKenzie majored in economics and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia. Ben believes that any aspiring actor should go to college and major in something apart from acting. He admits, that in his case, doing that gave him an entirely different perspective about being in the acting world. He thinks actors who have spent their life only in that art, don’t have a full understanding of the world. McKenzie also believes his humble beginnings really helped him before he made it big.

“I think they have as opposed to, for example, many actors or at least quite a few have started off their careers as kids being actors and so really all they know professionally is being an actor and I do think that kind of skews your world view. It doesn’t mean some of them aren’t perfectly lovely people with good heads on their shoulders and things like that, but I think getting an education helps. I would encourage any young person who’s considering being an actor go to college first and to get a degree in something else and I also think living in the real world and you know, waiting tables like I did after college before I ever got a break acting wise and doing things like that also sort of remind you of how blessed you are as an actor to get any kind of recognition to be able to make a living at it all.

It’s an incredible blessing. It’s exceedingly rare you know, probably 1 in 1000 actors is actually able to make a living year in and year out through acting. So I think all of those things are important. I’m very grateful to my parents for you know, sending me to college and letting me have that experience because I think it’s allowed me to see that if this were all to end tomorrow, that would be fine. I could go off and I could do something else.”

I asked Ben what he would like people to know about him that they don’t, as well as what his hopes for the future are:

“I’m a private guy so I want them to know as little about me as they can. At the same time, I want them to watch you know, the things that I do in order to be able continue to do them. So I guess it’s a bit of, I’m a bit of a hypocrite in that way. I guess I’d like them to know I’m actually quite a normal, shy, reserved guy who happens to do a very public thing with the acting and if they can wrap their brains around it then they should trust me and believe me when I say that that’s true. My hopes for the future are simply to, I hope that the world can come together more and agree on more things and disagree on fewer things and I would love for the United States to play a role in that. I think we will. But I hope for more peace and harmony and less bloodshed and turmoil.”

Being a Dallas Cowboys fan, McKenzie will be pulling for the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 46:

“I think I’m gonna have to go with the Pats. I can’t pull for the Giants being a Cowboys fan. Sorry. Pats it is.”

You can catch Benjamin McKenzie in Southland Tuesdays on TNT at 10:00 PM EST. You can find more information here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

Below you can read the highlights of our conversation or listen to the entire CYInterview:

Listen to the entire Frank Grillo CYInterview:

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To prepare for the role of a sociopath in The Grey, Frank ended up visiting Riker’s Island. It’s a jail in New York City that houses, among other inmates, prisoners who are mentally ill and have special needs. Mr. Grillo shares what he learned:

“It was brutal and scary and I got to talk to these guys a bit and interview them and get some insight on you know, people who live, I guess nonconventional lives. You just kind of feel bad for them too. They all belong there, but you kind of feel bad for them at the end of the day because if there situations were different when they were younger they wouldn’t be there. But yeah, it really gave me a good jump off point for this character in the film…

There’s also a side of them that is, a lot of them that are compassionate and you know they have families, some of them have children and you know there’s a sense of empathy I have for them because I think just maybe because of their socioeconomic background they ended up in the wrong place, but again, they’ve all done pretty bad things so there is reasons there is prisons like this.”

The Grey was filmed on a mountain slope. The cast and crew had to contend with ice and less than zero degree temparturues. The movie is a story of an Alaskan oil drilling team who survives a plane crash and ends up in a fight for their lives. Mr. Grillo reflects back on his experience in this survival based movie.

“They told us it was gonna be cold, but you don’t know what negative 25 is until you’re standing in it for like six hours. At the beginning it’s a little frightening because it is that severe and then you realize, ‘Wow, if I just kind of go with this, you know my performance is gonna be that much better.’ Because I didn’t have to manufacture any feelings or emotions about being cold or afraid, It was all very real…It was really a blessing that we weren’t in some back lot in Pinewood Studios with you know, mashed potato snow falling on our heads…

I was out in nature for six weeks with these conditions. It just kind of opened my eyes up about how fragile we are and at any given moment if they would’ve left us on the mountain we would’ve died. And you know, just goes to show you any time mother nature wants to wipe human beings off the face of the earth, it wouldn’t be too difficult…It was an experience that I think kind of changed me, certainly I’ll never forget it.”

With movies slated this year along with the likes of Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, Ryan Gosling and Jake Gyllenhal, among others, this could be Frank Grillo’s breakout year. He gives his thoughts on being a journeyman actor and what he’s learned along the way.

“I’ve never been a star and I’ve always been a guy who’s, I think people could rely on because I do the work and I pretty much keep my mouth shut. So you know it’s been interesting because I’ve been around guys like Liam Neeson who are the most humble human beings I’ve ever met and then I’ve been around other guys, other actors and movie stars who are not so humble and are kind of lazy and I took it all in and I watched the ones that are successful that I wanted to emulate and it’s funny because now I’m getting to work with a lot of them, it’s just been an interesting, you know I’ve come full circle.”

Finally, on his IMDB message board, there were discussions that Frank Grillo couldn’t be 48 years old. He said it’s true that he’s 48. I told him I thought he looked at least 10 years younger if not more. So what’s his secret?

“My secret is I’ve always been, I wrestled when I was very young and I’ve always wrestled and had an odd relationship with food. I think my secret is I don’t eat very much and I try to stay positive and happy. I’ve got three young boys that really keep me on my toes and I just refuse to age.”

Photo credit is to Kimberley French/Open Road Films.

The Grey is out in theaters nationwide January 27th. Visit the official site of the movie for more information at www.thegreythemovie.com.

Frank Grillo’s Twitter page is here

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com Chris is available for interviews to comment on anything featured on CYInterview.

Victor, whose had roles in TV series including Sex in the City, Baywatch, Bones and, recently, Castle can now be seen in The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption – now out on DVD.

In this CYInterview you will learn of the fascinating journey that is Victor Webster’s life. You can listen to our conversation in its entirety or read the highlights below.

Listen to the entire Victor Webster CYInterview:

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To land the role for The Scorpion King 3, which was filmed in Thailand, Mr. Webster had to do a mixed martial arts demonstration for the director:

“I had to do a martial arts demonstration for him and so that he could see that I could actually do everything that I said I could do. And it was key because if I would have had to go over there and learn how to fight, that would’ve been a very tough time…Already knowing how to do all the kicks and punches and having learned, you know what it takes, the toll that it takes on your body and being familiar with that as well. A lot of people think oh, I can learn how to fight, but what you don’t realize is when you’re doing these fight scenes all day long, your body really gets beat up. And so you gotta be mentally and physically prepared for that. I’ve been training in martial arts all my life. I’m ready for that. I’m use to that. I actually enjoy it.”

Better to have one real fight or act out fighting all day?

“It depends on which end of the fight you end up on. I think if you’re the loser in a fight, in a real fight, I think I’d probably rather do the fight scenes. But if you’re the winner, then yeah it’s good. But there’s nothing like being knocked unconscious as you saw recently at one of the mixed martial arts fights, a guy got his arm broken.”

Though he ended up in acting, Victor says he was prepared to take his career path into mixed martial arts as a trainer and a fighter. However, sometimes life has other plans:

“I actually started learning by watching Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris movies. I started teaching myself martial arts and then I started formally taking classes when I was nine-years-old and I still train three times a week now and spar three times a week and take classes. So, that’s probably the career path that I was headed on, was probably gonna open up a martial arts studio and maybe even fight professionally, but it never happened. Just life takes detours and I went in a different direction. Being in martial arts and training and the mental and physical aspects of that training played such an important role in my life that even if I wasn’t gonna do that for a living professionally, I still had to have that in my life in some form.”

Kimbo Slice – an MMA fighter who was the subject of much hype a few years back – and professional wrestler Dave Bautista of the WWE are in this film along with Webster. Victor gives his thoughts on being around these tough guys:

“I get along really well these kind of guys ‘cause I understand what they go through. I train with a bunch of professional fighters. I did it myself for a long time, the mentality, the discipline, the sacrifice that it takes, so to be around these guys and share a common bond and camaraderie and hear their stories and have some stories of my own and you know, I’m really impressed by first of all by professional fighters, what they go through all the time. And WWE wrestlers, these guys that are 250, 275 pounds and flips off the top rope and landing on some guy in the middle of the ring at a sold out stadium, that emotional pressure, that physical strength, have a lot of respect for those guys.”

Victor Webster explains how he went from the worlds of finance and fighting to pursuing his acting dream:

“Out of high school I modeled for a while and I kind of traveled around and I mostly modeled because I wanted to travel and get paid to travel. So I quit the import/export, I quit the stockbroker business and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. And I know that I wanted to travel, I know I wanted to see some things. So I went back into the modeling world a little bit. I lived in Spain. I lived in Italy, I traveled around; it was an incredible experience. And then I came back and I’m like, ‘No. I have respect for these people that do this for a living, but it doesn’t fulfill me. It’s not something that I feel like I’ve done something at the end of the day.’

So I started taking some acting classes to make some money in the interim until I figured out what kind of business I wanted to start again or what I wanted to venture into if I wanted to go back into being a stockbroker or what. And in doing so, I took these classes, kind of opened up something inside. You know, it’s like, I really enjoyed doing this. I wonder if there’s a way I could actually make a living at doing this. So I started going on auditions, I started booking jobs and everything just snowballs from there.”

With uncertainty in the financial markets, both in America and around the world, the former stockbroker lends his perspective on things:

“My biggest thing was the public opinion is kind of what runs stocks I would say. I’d be working with a particular stock and the CEO would get caught cheating on his wife and the stock would go down because the news of that would happen. And I just didn’t feel comfortable in a situation with something that’s as volatile and as touchy as that. In our world as small as that could effect the stocks. With these big things, these huge events that happen, have these massive ripple effects and it was just so unpredictable for me and to be able to take other people’s money that they would be saving for their kid’s college education or whatever it may be and invest something that I really didn’t have any idea what was gonna go on.

I just, you know, didn’t morally feel right about that. So I don’t like to invest my money in the stock market now either because of that volatility and I don’t know what’s going on and I can’t stay on top of it all day long. You know, that’s one of those things where there’s people who do well in stock market are very vigilant and they pay attention to world affairs and they’re watch the news and they’re watching the stocks all the time. I don’t have time to do that anymore.”

Victor says he hopes to get more involved in charitable works after his experiences filming Scorpion King 3 in Thailand:

“Trying to get involved more in the charity end of things. Having traveled over their in Thailand and then I went to Cambodia afterwards with a bunch of things that I learned about over there and that I want to get a lot more involved in personally, something different and not just my own life with the acting stuff. But I want to give some stuff back and try to help out in other ways.”

You can purchase a copy of The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption here

Victor Webster’s Twitter is here

Victor Webster’s official site is here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

In the five years since Mr. Mackie and I spoke, he’s been in many movies including the 2010 Oscar winner The Hurt Locker. 62 months later, to be exact, Anthony’s back to discuss numerous topics including how his career pace has quickened. You can read the highlights or listen to the entire CYInterview below.

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Anthony Mackie is currently in the number one box office movie Real Steel alongside Hugh Jackman. The film has held this position for the last two weeks. This is the second number one movie for Mackie. He played alongside Eminem in the 2002 flick, 8 Mile. He reflects on what he’s taken away from the Real Steel project and what working with Hugh Jackman is like.

“The great thing about Real Steel and working on it was just the humility that came along with working with Hugh Jackman. It was a great opportunity and everybody on that movie knew that we were there to make something fun and something that everybody would be able to enjoy. So everybody just took it easy and really just gave 100 percent for it. So it was just the ease of work man. There was no stress or pressure making that movie at all…He’s [Hugh Jackman] actually one of those guys who has no ego or you know, just no ridiculousness when it comes to his work. It’s all about him doing the work and turning out a good project. So it was actually really reassuring and relaxing onset and he’s just a really nice guy.”

From bullying boxer Shawrelle Berry, in the Oscar winning movie Million Dollar Baby, to playing a boxing promoter in Real Steel, Mr. Mackie agrees the only part of his boxing/acting resume missing is the boxing trainer or corner man – think Paulie, played by Burt Young [see interview here] in the Rocky franchise.

“Exactly, I, the thing now I just have to figure out how to be the guy in the corner coming out the fight, but you know, it’s always cool to do a boxing movie because I’m such a big fan.”

Whether it was his Broadway role, last year, in A Behanding in Spokane, a recent independent movie role that received buzz in Night Catches Us or being a soldier in Iraq in The Hurt Locker, it seems Anthony is doing it all. He explains how he has been able to work so well in various genres.

“The big thing is I feel is just approach every project the same way, but with a different mindset will really give you the opportunity to you know, develop different characters in the same way. I think it’s very important that you develop a character from yourself out instead of out in…I always like to discover those things within the rehearsal, within the scenes. So I always just try to let it come naturally as much as I can.”

In speaking recently with actress and singer Naturi Naughton [see here], we discussed in detail the limited roles for black actresses. Arguably, the same goes for black actors. There are, however, less headlines and discussions about it. When it comes to Anthony Mackie, though, finding work is not a problem. He explains how he’s been so successful:

“I think acting is like investing. You really want to diversity your portfolio. The biggest thing for me is just having my name mentioned with certain names…When reading a project, you can always tell if the project is gonna be good or even great for that matter for the people who are associated with it…When I got out of Juilliard, I got great representation and one thing my agent, who’s now my manager at the time said when I started in the business was, ‘This business shouldn’t limit you or judge you because of your race. You should be seen for every part that you’re in the right age range for.’

And that’s something we worked towards for the last 10 years…When people see you do theater as well as independent film, as well as major films, hip hop as well as Shakespeare, it’s not so much that they can’t say they won’t cast you because you can’t do it.”

Every actor has a dream project and Mackie is no exception. He has been developing a screenplay for a movie based on the life of Olympic icon and track runner Jesse Owens.

“My dream project, that I would like to do, is Jesse Owens. I feel like it’s one of those movies, it’s a movie that deserves to be made and it’s a story that needs to be told. I feel like if you look at what happened at the Olympics in 1936, Jesse Owens saved the world.”

In recent months, Anthony opened a bar in Brooklyn, titled NoBar. Being from New Orleans, Mr. Mackie is bringing a unique style to Brooklyn. He was very hands on in building the décor for his new business. He talks about the experience:

“It was a wonderful experience just being able, before and after work, be hands on and build a bar. It taught me a lot as far as what goes into starting a business and running a business. I feel like when you walk into a place a lot of times people just have judgments and questions about why it looks a certain way as opposed to thinking about what went into it and it’s definitely changed my mind as far as what goes into opening a business.”

Real Steel’s official movie site is here.

Anthony Mackie’s Facebook page is here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

You can listen to this CYInterview with Naturi, in its entirety, and read the highlights below.

Listen to the entire Naturi Naughton CYInterview:

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In speaking with Naturi, I wondered if the acting portion of her career, which has taken off in recent years, was always something she had focused on, besides singing. This was her response:

“My inspiration as a kid was Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey and things like that, but I wanted to be able to sing because it was my first love…I knew singing was something I always wanted to do, but I also had something inside of me that was drama driven. I was driven to do things, plays in my school…I wanted to do stage. I wanted to do movies. I just didn’t know how that was all gonna come together, but as my career grew and fortunately I was given opportunities through a lot of people who believed in me, I was able to make the transition and I’m really happy that I did ‘cause I love acting and I’m enjoying it very much.”

After leaving 3LW and continuing on her own journey, Naturi agreed with me that taking her career on an individual path has led her to a good place today. She tells me the most important thing she’s learned since leaving the group:

“Yeah. I do. That’s really perfect that you say that. I do think it’s a happy ending and it’s not the end. I’m still in the process, but I think it’s a happy beginning really for me because I get a chance to start again and continue on doing what I love outside of the group. ..I’m glad that I was able to get the support and continue moving upwards and onwards and upwards from my past…The most important thing that I’ve probably learned is to stand up for yourself and what you believe to be important whatever that may be…There’s so many people who will try to persuade or sway you and tell you what’s ok and what’s not, but you have to know that for yourself whether it be in a role or a performance.”

In landing the lead role as the 1960s African-American Playboy Bunny on NBC’s new show The Playboy Club, Naturi says she did lots of research, including reading books and watching various documentaries. Ms. Naughton, though, points to being trained by a former 1960s Playboy Bunny, who is also an African-American woman, as an important part of her preparation to play the role:

“I also talked with different women who were bunnies. I met Pat Lacey who actually works with Playboy now. She actually trained us, did our bunny training. She’s an African American woman who was a bunny in 1965 if I’m not mistaken and she really gave me some insight on what it was like and what women went through and also being a black woman at that time. There’s different layers and levels there. Of course, not only being a bunny, but also being a black woman in the 60s…Really how controversial and progressive it was at that time. It was a big deal to choose to make your own money and to choose to be a bunny and to be powerful in your own right. I think it was major and I learned a lot about it.”

Ms. Naughton noted she couldn’t wait to get into her Playboy Bunny outfit. Her character, Brenda, has big dreams and is very ambitious. Naturi notes she and Brenda are similar in those ways:

“I knew I could pull off the Playboy Bunny suit and I could not wait to get in it. I looked at it. The color that I get to wear it’s this beautiful yellow and I wear a baby pink one as well. But I couldn’t wait to put my suit on. I knew it was gonna hurt though. I knew it was gonna be tight. I knew I was gonna have to hit the gym, but overall I did feel that I could pull it off…They both are very ambitious, very passionate about getting what they want out of life and dreaming big. I’ve always been a big dreamer, big achiever and a goal oriented person who had strong ambitions and I think my character is very similar in that way.”

Naturi in The Playboy Club. Credit: NBC

In recent days, there have been media reports that some former Playboy Bunnies have stated the NBC show is not an accurate portrayal of what life was like for a bunny in the 60s. Naturi says it’s unfortunate that not everyone’s account can be portrayed in the show. She does say, however, there have been other bunnies who have said positive things.

“I talked to a lot of different bunnies and women and so many. We just had a luncheon actually with about eight bunnies, a couple of black women and white women, all of them who experienced the clubs all over the country and had so many positive things to say. Unfortunately everybody’s account is not gonna be the same. That’s just life…Unfortunately we all have different accounts at our working experiences…It’s not saying that those women’s accounts aren’t accurate, but it doesn’t mean that what we’re portraying is inaccurate. Some women really connect to our stories and real bunnies have come out and talked about how much they really remember The Playboy Club being very similar to what we’re doing. So I feel proud that we’re giving some of what was happening and unfortunately we can’t capture everyone’s account.”

In the 2009 movie Notorious, based on the life of rapper Biggie Smalls, Naturi had the opportunity to play female rapper Lil Kim who had a relationship with Mr. Smalls. That year, there were reports purporting Lil Kim did not like the way Naturi portrayed her. Naturi says she and Lil Kim have never met and there was never any kind of feud. Ms. Naughton says she’s now heard positive things about her portrayal of the role from people who know Ms. Kim:

“Nothing happened between me and Lil Kim. I actually never got to meet her [Lil Kim]. I actually tried to meet up with her. It was more I think you know, the people who write and make the movies. I’m an actress. I’m just hired to do the job and portray the role. I tried not to take it personally although of course it feels like that, but I knew I was just doing my part to just do everything in my power to make it as authentic, as raw and as edgy as possible…We’ve never met. We did not have a fallout. It was nothing like that…I heard positive things now through people that know her.”

In the 2009 remake of the movie Fame, Naturi played the role originally performed by Irene Cara. In the movie, Ms. Naughton had a chance to show off her singing talent. She reflects back on the experience of remaking the movie:

“For me, it was a dream come true to be honest. I felt like I really had some great moments and I was proud of myself. I worked extremely hard to learn the piano. I was studying classical music…It wasn’t just singing. I sang, I played the piano and I acted and danced in the movie. So for me it was an opportunity to show I think the multi-talent that you know, I’ve been blessed with.”

In discussing her belief that roles for African-American women in Hollywood are still limited, Naturi notes the challenges and possible disadvantages that darker black women face. She admits there has been a lot of progress, but she hopes there will be more opportunities for the next generation of black women:

“We all go through struggles as black actresses in general and black actors. So you know it can be limiting when there aren’t enough things written for you in major movies and major television, so it’s such an accomplishment and a big deal when we as women and also being brown skinned women, gets the opportunity to portray some of the roles when they’re aren’t so many for us. So I said that I think in referencing what other challenges you face as a darker skinned actress and there are challenges and you know I’ve lived through them and dealt with them and I’m actually motivated by everything that I’ve been through. And what I would say is we have come such a long way. ..I think just as black women we are doing some great, great powerful things and I think it’s on the up and up and there will be more for hopefully the next generation after me and that’s my goal.”

Finally, Ms. Naughton tells us what we should know about her that we do not already:

“That I am an extremely hard worker who generally loves what I do and also just the kind of person I am, which I think informs how I go and approach roles. I’m a very down to earth, round away girl from Jersey. I love for people to know that and that I enjoy inspiring other young people. I have a huge passion for the arts and young people and expressing themselves through that because I was able to do that as a child with music classes and I think it’s so important to keep that in our education system. I think people should know that I’m really just like anyone else out there who had a dream and have been fortunate enough to live it out. So it just lets people know from all walks of life you can do anything and I hope to be truth speaking and walking that truth every day.”

Naturi Naughton’s official Twitter page is here

You can find out more about The Playboy Club here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

A good example of someone who caught our imagination, based on a quick appearance, was actress Michelle Lemon. She played opposite Will Smith in the movie Hancock. You can read/listen to her CYInterview [see here].

Today, we bring you someone who might have provoked the same kind of “Who’s that?” reaction. By now, many of you have probably seen the new McDonald’s commercial in which a beautiful assistant in her 20s goes off in search of breakfast for her boss. The assistant brings back a selection of McDonald’s breakfast choices. She ends the commercial by saying to her coworkers “She’s in a really good mood.”

If you haven’t seen the commercial, you can see it here on YouTube. Actress Shavon Kirksey is the young woman who gets the tasty treats for her boss’s breakfast. You can listen to her entire CYInterview below or read the excerpts.

Listen to the entire interview with Shavon Kirksey:

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Shavon tells me what getting the role in the commercial has meant to her:

“I am so thankful. Like, it’s just been such a great opportunity for me and like, I’ve been getting so much exposure and it just, it came at the right time because you know, I was on hold for so many different projects and then you know sometimes you just don’t get those or they go a different way, just like things you can’t control. And so finally when this McDonald’s commercial came around, I was like, oh, I like this character. It seems really fun and it’s a lot of dialogue for a commercial. So I was just really excited to even have an audition for it and then when I ended up booking it, I was just so happy because like I said, I was on hold for like six different ones and then finally like McDonald’s came through and I was like ‘Yay! It’s a winner.’ And they’ve been airing it like crazy so I’m very grateful.”

Shavon admits she has been recognized in her daily life for being the woman in the McDonald’s commercial:

“It’s been kind of crazy. Like I was at California Pizza Kitchen just having dinner with one of my friends and there’s a group of teenage girls that came over to me and they were just like, ‘Oh, you’re the girl in the McDonald’s commercial.’ And I was like ‘Yeah.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re so cute. I always see it. You did a really great job.’ And I’m just like, ‘Aww, thanks.’ Like it’s really nice to have people say really encouraging things and like just that my work is appreciated, what I did in the commercial.”

Ms. Kirksey says she has been getting calls for other auditions from casting directors who saw the commercial. Though this McDonalds’s commercial might lead to bigger roles for her, the twenty-something actress has had a few recurring and guest star roles on Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Lincoln Heights, already.

“I have been getting a lot of calls for auditions and just casting directors saying, ‘Oh, I’ve seen your commercial, you did a really good job. ‘ So I’m glad that it’s getting the exposure and I’ve just been testing for different shows and I’ve been on a hold a couple times so I’m just waiting for that next opportunity to come through…I’m just so thank for those [roles in various TV shows] because it really like prepares you to be like a series regular ‘cause most of those I was either a guest star or recurring and so it gives me that experience to know like how things run on set so when I do get that series and I’m a regular, then I’ll know how to like handle it.”

For all those wondering, Shavon’s favorite McDonald’s breakfast menu item is the Egg McMuffin. Food aside, this is what she wants people to know about her:

“I just want people to know that, like, I work very hard and, like, everything that I do get like, I’m just really grateful because I mean, this is a tough industry. It’s very competitive and I just know that when you work hard and you persevere and you keep going, even if you get told no 100 times, like there is that one yes and when there’s that yes, it’s just everything else is just so worth it to me like go through all of that.”

Side note: Eva Longoria said the same thing to me in our 2008 interview [see here]. This is what Ms. Longoria said, “I had 100 no’s in auditions to one yes. You have to be pretty resilient to go through that in Hollywood.” Ms. Kirksey has learned something an A-List TV actress figured out. Perhaps, this is a sign of great things to come for Shavon, as she continues to make her way through Hollywood. We’ll be keeping an eye out for her.

You can check out Shavon Kirksey’s IMDB profile here.

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com

Listen to the entire Jordan Bridges interview:

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The actor sat for his CYInterview and shares perspectives on his acting experiences:

“Some of the first lessons I learned, early on, in terms of work ethic and respect for you know, the people I’m working with, those are things that still kind of resonate with me even today and things that I try to stay true to. I think that’s important to always bring everything you have to the work and that’s always something I intended to do…I really look at each new opportunity, each job as a fresh start and you know I try to take each role as a unique thing.”

Jordan has a special relationship with his uncle, Jeff Bridges. Besides the older Bridges being able to guide and provide advice on the acting business there’s more to the relationship.

“The dude has taught me more about life really and kind of surviving as a creative person more than kind of the ins and outs of the business. He’s really given me amazing guidance just as a person. He’s taught me that, he emphasizes the process over the product generally. If I were to kind of simplify and crystallize what I’ve learned from him, I think that’s a big part of his, you know, maybe his philosophy in life…That’s certainly what I’ve got from him is that you throw yourself into the work and you don’t worry about the results or whether or not it’s going to be a hit or whether or not people will love it or whether or not it’s gonna lead to other things…

My primary teacher was definitely my father [Beau Bridges] in all things, but Jeff, I admire him as a father and as a husband. I mean, you know, it’s a rare thing in this town and in this business to see a marriage that sustained so long as theirs has and is so rich and that’s something that really inspires me as a husband and a father. I really admire both him and my aunt Sue. I think it’s amazing what they’ve accomplished.”

Presently, Jordan can be seen playing a cop on Rizzoli & Isles. As Frank Rizzoli Jr. he has the opportunity to immerse himself in the lifestyle of a Boston police officer. The younger Mr. Bridges enjoys researching roles:

“I was really excited. It’s my favorite part of the job is getting to step into the shoes of people who normally you wouldn’t get to do that. It’s interesting, as a kid, one of the early signs that you know I was going to be afflicted with the challenges of being an actor was that I use to dress up and for hours at a time kind of live in a pretend world, pretending to be other people. And so when I became a professional [actor] that was the aspect of it that I loved more than anything is the research and really kind of trying to immerse myself into the world of whoever I was playing.”

Slated for late Fall, Jordan will be appearing in the upcoming Clint Eastwood film J. Edgar starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The film is based on the life of former Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover. Film enthusiasts have probably heard stories about the manner in which Mr. Eastwood works as a director. Having Jordan speak about working with Clint gives insight into what the movie legend is like in that respect:

“I’ve always been a huge admirer of Clint Eastwood and you know it was kind of a long process of auditioning and I read for like a couple different parts…So then when I got the call, I was absolutely thrilled…It was the most relaxed experience I’ve ever had on a set. Mr. Eastwood approaches the work with so much assuredness and cool and confidence. There’s no stress and yet it’s very energized, the set and very on point, very professional. So it was great to be a part of that.

He, there was not the typical thing where a director will say, ‘Action and cut.’ And very loudly. He just would just sort of say, ‘Ok, whenever you guys are ready, go ahead.” And then when the scene kind of played out, he would say, ‘Alright, that’s it, that’s good. Let’s try one more time.’ You know, it was very relaxed and yet, he knew, it was clear that he knew exactly what he needed to get and when he got it, he was happy to move on. You know, it was great, really refreshing great experience.”

In J. Edgar, Jordan plays a lawyer in United States Department of Labor who clashes with Hoover’s boss, at an early stage in J. Edgar’s career. Bridges tells us the film jumps back and forth during periods of the FBI director’s life.

“I play a lawyer in the labor department and it’s early on in Hoover’s career before there was an FBI and he was working for justice, for the justice department. And labor and justice were kind of clashing because they wanted to deport immigrants and as a lawyer at the labor department, you know, I, these people have a right to be in the country and I felt that they were illegally deporting the immigrants. So I was kind of clashing with his boss…It’s early on in Hoover’s career and the film kind of jumps back and forth between different touchstones of his life and I’m kind of in an earlier segment.”

Finally, Jordan wants everyone to know he loves the opportunity to entertain people as an actor.

“I want them to know that I love my job. I love doing what I’m doing. I love performing. I love entertaining people and I think that it’s a great gift and an honor that I get to do this as my job.”

Jordan Bridges’s official website is at www.jordanbridges.com

You can email Chris Yandek at ChrisYandek@CYInterview.com