How did you initially get started into acting?I was living in my small hometown in the state of Missouri. It is so small that only 1500 people lived there and we had only one stoplight. I wanted a way out of this small town. My first career choice was to be a professional racecar driver. I followed that path for a while but realized I wasn’t being fulfilled on an emotional level. Even though I loved the cars, and the joy of going fast on the edge of danger, I had to walk away from it and be truthful to my spirit. I also love music and was going to be a musician for a short period of time. I sing and write music with my guitar. Sometimes in the late evening I’ll upload my temp tracks that I record in my bedroom to MySpace for a few days to let people hear what I’m up to. . . sorry, I’m getting off the subject. After I gave up racing I decided to be a musician, boy-bands like "N’Sync", "98 Degrees" and "The BackStreet Boys" were big at the time. It seemed for awhile that being in a boy-band was my next step. I gave it a shot but I was never really happy, so again I found myself looking for the path to my destiny. Soon after, I found myself in an acting class and literally fell in love with the creative expression one experiences while acting. So I gave up everything that had come before, the racecar driving, and the music to follow my true passion, telling great stories through acting.
Had you seen a telenovela before?
I think it was in the early part of 2005 when they started producing the American telenovela’s if I remember correctly. A friend of mine was hired on to do the pilot for one of the early shows. They told me how demanding the shooting was going to be, shooting a 65 episodes all at the same time like a giant 65hr movie. My initial reaction was, " Wow that’s crazy, I don’t see how anybody could ever do that." Little did I know that I would be hired on a telenovela myself, being cast as the villain on American Heiress within the next few months. Guess you can never know exactly where you will be from one moment to the next. You just have to ride the wave and let the current bring you to your true destiny.
Do you enjoy playing the villain?
The Villain is the most fun character you can ever play. Seriously, if you have ever wanted to be an actor, try playing the villain. It’s just so much more fun than playing the good guy. Not to say that the hero doesn’t appeal to me, it’s just that you have more latitude to explore your creative capabilities. By the time you really sink your teeth into what makes the bad guy tick you realize its just so enjoyable to be bad.
What are your goals for the future?
Acting is my true love and I will always be involved with telling stories in front of the lens as an actor. In the recent years I’ve noticed that the quality of available projects are diminishing. Many times you have to realize that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. To that end I am taking a very active roll in producing my own movies. I have formed a production company called "Decipher Pictures." During the process of forming my company, I assembled a tremendously creative team to create and produce films which are appealing to an international audience. I will star in several of the films, and they will be extremely entertaining, very funny, or very scary. If anyone is interested in submitting their scripts, or finding out more about the projects, they should visit my production company’s website: www.DecipherPictures.com. Visitors to the site will be guided through the submission process, and potential investors will be able to contact me for more detailed information about the production slate. Decipher Pictures is a global entity, and always interested in international partnerships with both investors and production companies from countries outside of the United States.
What projects do you prefer comedy or drama?
Playing the villain is without a doubt a tremendous amount of fun. The roles that I tend to be cast for are the slightly offbeat characters. I love playing comedic rolls. The interesting thing is that I approach playing the villain and playing a really funny character in exactly the same way. You have to totally commit and give it everything you have and never let go of the character.
If you had the opportunity to work with any star or director who would it be and why?
This is always a hard question to answer. There are so many people that I respect in my industry and would love to work with. I would like to follow in the footsteps of Christian Bale because I like his acting range. I really like Sam Rockwell who can switch between comic rolls in films such as "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and the quirky "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind". Simon Pegg, is a very funny guy, and I really like his work and would enjoy working with him as well. Anthony Hopkins is one of my favorites, his performance in "The Silence of the Lambs," was amazing. I admire the style of "George Clooney" he is able to switch back and forth between goofy comedy characters and dramatic leading men. That is how I see my career taking shape.
Can you share some memorable experiences from the set of American Heiress?
They were LOOOOONG shooting days and we were filming during the winter seasons. Unfortunately, several of the cast members became sick during this time period. The last week of shooting before we broke for Christmas, I was scheduled to shoot full days, 14hrs each, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday I had to get on an airplane and fly to Mexico and travel all day through Mexico to join the other members of our shooting team. The next day, Friday I had a full day shooting for the season finale scenes. As soon as shooting was done I jumped in a van, headed to the airport and flew back home overnight so I could be back on set in America on Saturday morning. Needless to say by the time I made it home I was completely exhausted, and became ill during my travels. On Saturday morning I returned to set feeling terrible. I pressed on through shooting, but between scenes I would sleep on the set furniture. A lot of times I was just out of frame. I think I even snored in the middle of a particularly romantic scene between two other actors. I was so worn out from the previous 2 months worth of shooting and the massive week that the doctor wrapped the entire crew early. This happened to be the last day before we wrapped for the holiday break. The entire crew got an extra day to shop because they worked us so hard.
Tell your fans in Bulgaria something more about your personal life and your family?
There is not a lot to tell really, I’m an everyday guy who is an actor, producer, and musician. I am committed to excellence with every role I take on, and am willing to give everything I have inside me to the telling of every story. I love what I do and hopefully you enjoy what I do so we can have a long distance relationship for years to come.
If you had one wish what would it be?
To be happy every morning and fulfilled every evening.
What have you heard about Bulgaria?
I know that you have some beautiful beaches and a lot of my friends have shot films in Bulgaria. I’ve always wanted to come to shoot something there as well. I’m looking for a movie that can be filmed all in Bulgaria because it has such a rich history. The remarkable thing that a lot of people in America seem to miss is that no matter where you are in the world, everyone just wants to have a good life and be treated well. Whenever I travel I always find, without fail, that I have far more in common with the people of the land, and experience very few differences. Obviously, we speak different languages but really, we all have the same hopes and desires. Hopefully I am fortunate to visit Bulgaria and experience the culture first hand some day soon.
What are your vices?
Well there are only three of them. If you really enjoy one of them, and not the others is that still a vice? ;-)
Tell us more about your production company?
My company Decipher Pictures develops original films that are highly entertaining & socially relevant for the forever evolving moviegoer. My films in development are adventurous, intimate, thrilling, insightful and shed new light on the universal stories of life that resonate with audiences around the globe. I founded Decipher Pictures on the belief that going to the movies, sitting in the dark for two hours with 300 strangers, and experiencing an emotional release that comes from a great story is one of the most enjoyable, enduring, and meaningful experiences of the human condition. As an audience, we all desire deep inside to have a great story resonate within us at some primal, universal level that might, just might, make us a better person.
My focus is to discover, reveal, and illuminate these stories for a worldwide audience.
Which is the one role you would like to play at some point in your career?
My desire is to play characters that stimulate the audiences’ emotions and entertain you for every frame of the movie. If I do my job correctly, great roles will come my way. Eventually I will be fortunate to play the right role at the right time in history that really moves us forward in our thinking, and just might change the world. I have no way of knowing what that role is but I promise you this, I will always give you everything I have and let the story speak for itself.
