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April 2017

The Featured Presentation

Keir O’Donnell

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O’Donnell as Dewey Phillips/CMT

Keir O’Donnell is the kind of actor we love to watch. Never afraid to fully absorb a character into himself, he is a chameleon on screen, embracing the art of becoming someone else entirely with each and every role he takes on. Currently he can be seen as legendary rock ‘n’ roll disc jockey Dewey “Daddy-O” Phillips in the CMT series “Sun Records” as well as in the Chris Evans film “Gifted,” which hits theaters this Friday. For fans of “Ray Donovan,” you can also catch O’Donnell in the upcoming season of the compelling Showtime drama where he’ll be playing none other than Susan Sarandon’s son.

We recently sat down with O’Donnell to discuss portraying real life people, his desire to play a badass and how his turn as the tortured Todd in “Wedding Crashers” was both a blessing and a curse.

TrunkSpace: You’re playing Dewey Phillips in “Sun Records.” You’ve also played John Wilkes Booth in “The Crossroads of History” and Jeff Kyle in “American Sniper.” As an actor, is there more pressure portraying someone who actually walked this earth as opposed to a fictional character?
O’Donnell: No question. Absolutely it is. There’s a lot more, sort of, guidelines to stick by, for better or worse. You have to not only do your job, but you have to do justice to either someone living or dead out there, that probably has some sort of a legacy if you’re portraying them in a film or TV show. It’s quite often big shoes to fill, as with all of the historical figures that I’ve played.

I think within that, obviously you are trying to capture an essence of these people. You’re sort of dead in the water if you’re doing a bad mimic or if you’re trying too hard to sort of encapsulate that person for exactly what they are because you have to work within the parameters of the script and the story, which is often times not exactly how it went down. So, if you can just find the essence of that person and then you sort of make it your own and hope that you land somewhere in the middle there.

TrunkSpace: A guy like Dewey Phillips made a living off of his voice, so did having that recorded history make it easier to help find his voice in your own?
O’Donnell: I mean, yes and no. I remember when I first got the material… I had sort of like heard the name Dewey Phillips, but I wasn’t totally aware of how prolific he was, nor did I know what he sounded like. There is quite a lot of audio of him out there, which is mainly what I went off of. When I first heard it, I thought, “There’s absolutely no way that I can do this.” Somebody categorized him as hillbilly rap or something. I mean, he’s really…

TrunkSpace: He definitely had his own thing going.
O’Donnell: He really did and I think that’s why he was so groundbreaking with that and obviously his music tastes and breaking color lines and everything else. But, originally hearing that, I thought it was sort of an impossibility, but the more that you listen to him, you can start to break through and find your own rhythm within it too.

TrunkSpace: What we love about your career is that you always seem to physically change in any given role and you’re never afraid to take risks and look the part, whatever that part may be. In the case of Dewey, that wardrobe just seems like it would help you get right into character.
O’Donnell: It’s incredible. Yeah. Well, thanks. That’s a huge compliment. The biggest compliment that I can ever get from people is that I’m a chameleon. I guess that’s what I always strive for, from one character to the next. I like to approach characters from the outside in, meaning, from wardrobe to hair and makeup to the physicality of the character and then once you sort of find that, the inner workings seem to go along with it.

TrunkSpace: And that’s what’s so great about your work is that your body always seems to be acting as well.
O’Donnell: Thank you. I think I started to pick that up in drama school in college. I love actors who do a lot of physicality work and I started in theater as well, so that is, just as a whole, more physical. So, to try to find ways to bring that to TV and film… to put that on screen… it’s always something I’m striving for.

TrunkSpace: The series runs on CMT. From a viewers perspective, it’s both awesome and overwhelming how much original content is available everywhere nowadays. Is it sort of the same point of view from an actor’s perspective in that, there’s more roles available but also more noise to cut through in order to have those performances be seen?
O’Donnell: It is. I think that, on a whole, it’s a good problem if it is indeed a problem. When I started out, films were the way to go and everyone wanted films. That was just because that mainly the material was there, but nowadays, I think it has shifted… night and day. The level of content on TV is just so elevated now. And I think what helps immensely is the series orders are smaller, so you’re doing eight or 10 episodes and it’s feeling like it is just a longer film, essentially.

TrunkSpace: You’ve worked on some of the most iconic, pop culturally-accepted television shows of the last decade from “Fargo” to “Sons of Anarchy” and all points between. Do you ever think of your acting career as something that has directly impacted pop culture by having been on these shows that have left such a mark?
O’Donnell: Gosh, that’s such a tough question to answer. From time to time, I do get people who are like, “Wow, you’ve made such great choices.” I would love to say that all of them have been choices of, like, “I will get on this prolific show.” I obviously go where the work speaks to me and stuff that really floats my boat, but, yeah, I’ve sort of stopped through some really, really great ones in the past. And it’s cool to see how… even if I just do a guest star or just a reoccurring arc, it’s cool to see how you can pop in and out of that world and sort of see it from afar. Or, see it as a fan perspective as well. A lot of these shows I’m fans of and you go, “Oh my God! I can’t believe I got to enter that world.”

O’Donnell as Ben Schmidt in “Fargo”/FX

TrunkSpace: And now you get to be Susan Sarandon’s son in the next season of “Ray Donovan!”
O’Donnell: Yeah! What a trip, huh? My God!

TrunkSpace: We know it’s probably too early to say much, but what can you tell us about your character George?
O’Donnell: I mean, to be totally honest with you, it still remains to be seen a little bit. I do know a little bit of the back story, which I can’t go into too much, but it’s… yeah, it’s going to be a wild ride. As always.

TrunkSpace: That show has some of the best badasses in TV. Will you be carrying the badass torch forward?
O’Donnell: (Laughter) I don’t know if badass is the right… God, I would love that. I always strive to play a badass, but I tend to always get the sort of damaged, awkward darker guys, which is obviously fun in its own right. So, it’s more along those lines. Susan Sarandon plays this sort of head of a studio in Los Angeles and I play her damaged son.

TrunkSpace: As an actor it must be fun to be able to slip in and out of all of these shows and play with such a diverse cast of fellow actors.
O’Donnell: It’s incredible. And, for me personally as well, to be able to play this sort of wide range of characters and to not get totally stuck into one thing. I think, still to this day, if I had to pick one thing that I get recognized for the most or that people know me from, it’s “Wedding Crashers.” That was my first film ever, so it’s pretty wild that still 10 plus years later that that’s a mold that I’m extremely proud of, but still trying to break in a lot of ways. It can be a blessing and a curse in many ways.

TrunkSpace: You mention trying to break that mold from your “Wedding Crashers” character, but at the same time, your career path seems to have gone more towards the dramatic side than the comedic side of things.
O’Donnell: Sure. I’d fight to say that, even if you go back and watch “Wedding Crashers,” the character of Todd was a pretty dark, tortured guy. And I like looking at all things that way. It’s not black and white or is it drama or is it comedy, but it’s if you play that character’s reality as real as possible, then the comedy can come from the situations. But it’s also that the comedy can come from the darkness of it all or the drama is suited because that’s the reality of that character.

TrunkSpace: Because like life, things aren’t just funny or just dramatic.
O’Donnell: That’s right. So, I don’t know if I’m a dramatic actor or a comedic actor. I’m just a… I play it situationally, I guess.

TrunkSpace: From your perspective, what’s more difficult… finding that first big break or maintaining career longevity?
O’Donnell: I’d say big break. Big break. I have a ton of actor friends who have worked forever, but they’ve yet to still find that sort of iconic thing that puts them on the map. Like I said, that can be a blessing and a curse, but you’ll find that some doors start to open a little bit more if you can break through with a sort of stamp of approval from the masses.

TrunkSpace: So was “Wedding Crashers” the project that changed things for you?
O’Donnell: Big time. I mean, in three days it changed my life. I went in and I pre-read with a casting director, the next day I got a director callback and then that following day I got the film. So, yeah… I was delivering pizzas at the time and that was it. I had no real concept… I had been just really hustling and trying to figure out LA and figure out film, as opposed to theater. And trying to get myself on tape as much as possible just to see what worked and didn’t work. That came along unexpectedly fast, but I had no real concept of the film industry, I suppose, so when the film was such a huge success, I guess I had no grounds for comparison. There was one part of myself that was like, “Oh, this is great… every film is like a huge success. A comedy classic!” Obviously in time you realize, “Oh wow… that was incredibly special and unreal that it was my first foray into it.”

TrunkSpace: And from an industry projections standpoint, that was a film that a lot of people didn’t see coming in terms of its level of success. When you do a film like “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” which you also starred in, you can kind of expect that it’s going to have a big weekend, but nobody saw “Wedding Crashers” coming.
O’Donnell: That’s right. And I’ve seen that happen in my career since and I’ve also had other things that I’m like, “This is going to be huge,” and it’s not. There’s no real rhyme or reason for these things. To sort of get that out of the way so quickly, it was a giant learning curve right out of the gates.

O’Donnell as Dewey Phillips/CMT

TrunkSpace: Your next film “Gifted” is due out in limited release this Friday. Can you tell us how your character plays into things?
O’Donnell: Chris Evans adopts his sister’s kid and then it becomes a custody battle because the little girl turns out to be gifted, hence the title. So, it has this sort of “Good Will Hunting” vibe because she’s extremely gifted at math. Once this is found out, his mother then tries to gain custody of the kid, so it becomes this sort of… what’s best for her and the societal impact of young geniuses. I play the little girl’s biological father. Some might say deadbeat dad.

TrunkSpace: Not deadbeat. Dark and tortured!
O’Donnell: (Laughter) Exactly. Right in my wheelhouse!

But yeah, I pop up in the courtroom scenes trying to get back into her life all of a sudden. How convenient!

TrunkSpace: It seems like the kind of film that isn’t so easily greenlit these days, but at the same time, is needed in theaters. It’s nice to see something original, particularly in the drama space, getting made.
O’Donnell: Yeah. Absolutely. There’s no question. My part is small but very pivotal to the story, but what drew me towards it was that it’s a great script and the cast, obviously, was phenomenal. But also… Marc Webb directed it, who did “500 Days of Summer.” It is… it’s like you said… it’s a rare thing. It’s becoming more and more rare for a studio to back a film like this, so this is really nice.

“Sun Records” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on CMT.

“Gifted” hits theaters this Friday.

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The Featured Presentation

Kathleen Munroe

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She acts. She sings. She writes music. She… winds up on a morgue slab in an abandoned hospital with maniacal cult killers on the outside and hideous monsters on the inside.

Wait. What?

That’s not where we expected to go in our description of Kathleen Munroe, but with her new film “The Void” due out on Friday, it’s a road we’re forced to travel down after hearing about what her character is put through in the movie. All that said, if things that go bump in the cinematic night are not your particular cup of tea, you can also currently stream Munroe in the new Amazon comedy series “Patriot” or watch her latest music videos featuring songs from her upcoming full-length album. Needless to say, she has been very busy.

We recently sat down with Munroe to discuss the masterful puppetry of “The Void,” her spaghetti western inspiration and our preteen excitement for “Supernatural,” which we forced upon her like hideous monsters inside an abandoned hospital.

TrunkSpace: We have an unhealthy, preteen girl-like obsession with “Supernatural” so we thought we could start there if you don’t mind?
Munroe: (Laughter) Of course. I get it. You’re not the first. It’s a fun show.

TrunkSpace: Being from Canada originally and with the show having shot there all of these years, is it sort of a right of passage for actors from Canada to appear on the show?
Munroe: I think it kind of is. We get so lucky with some of these shows just sticking around. Like that one just seemed to keep going, so yeah, it was amazing because it kind of spanned a generation, or a couple generations of actors coming up and ones that are more established. Yeah, it was definitely like earning your stripes going up to do an episode of “Supernatural.” I actually think the first episode that I did, was maybe like the second job I ever booked in LA and then went back up to Canada to do it. It really feels like an initiation, yeah.

TrunkSpace: It was quite awhile ago that you appeared on the show, but it has a large base of rabid fans, as evidenced by us asking these questions. Are you still recognized for having appeared in the show?
Munroe: Now and then. I did two episodes of the show and played two different characters, which I think there are a handful of us that did that. It’s really cool that they were open to that over time. It’s really people who are obsessed with the show who would even recognize me from it. I really only did the two, so it’s not like I was a face of the show or anything. So when people do know that I did it, I know that they’re like mega fans of “Supernatural,” which I think is really cool. I was fanatical about “Star Trek” growing up and so anyone who is fanatical about something, I totally relate to. I’m tickled when anyone knows me from that.

TrunkSpace: Sticking with the genre, your new film “The Void” is due out this week and people seem really excited about it based on what we’ve seen on social media.
Munroe: Yeah. It’s crazy. It’s cool to see that. We’ll see what people think when they actually see it, but I really love it. I chased after it when I saw the concept video because I just think Steve and Jeremy are so immensely talented. I was really happy to finally get to do it with them. I think they really succeeded in doing what they wanted to, so I’m excited to see what people think. You never know, but I think it’s something that I can stand behind.

TrunkSpace: The trailer looks like it has a combination of freaky mind-bending horror and then the gross out elements. Is that a fair assessment?
Munroe: Yeah. Totally. And the cool thing is that, for me, I’ve avoided doing anything that feels like sort of torture porn. I’ve certainly avoided as much of that kind of violent misogyny as I can and not that that is a characteristic of horror movies in general, but I think that exists. I think that there is also some stuff… the gratuitous dismemberment stuff isn’t really my brand. But what they do in the gross out stuff is just the most unbelievable artistry when it comes to puppets and practical effects and the performers who are acting as the monsters are just phenomenal. To me it’s like dance and gore and painting and sculpture and stuff. The gross out elements are absolutely there and they don’t hold back from them, which if you’re going to do a movie like this, why hold back at all… but it’s also never just for the sake of seeing how much we can torture people. It’s right along the line that I get excited about because I love those John Carpenter movies with the practical effects and I think that’s what drew me to it.

TrunkSpace: Those practical effects hold up over time.
Munroe: They really hold up. I remember being pretty late to see “Total Recall.” I didn’t see that movie until I was in my early 20s and it was just like, “Holy shit!” As over the top as some of it is and as cheesy as some of it is, it’s still integrated. When your action is integrated in the space that you’re acting in, I think it just feels different. With the practical effects and practical builds, it keeps an integration for the action of the movie that I think you just feel.

I think it’s a realm where creativity and creative problem solving really triumph. In any movie you’re working under certain constraints, whether it’s budget or time or location. I’ve never done a massive blockbuster, huge budget movie, but I’d imagine even then you’re working within certain boundaries, so the practical effects really benefit from highly creative thinkers because you have to figure out how to make something really impactful and really cool and something that pushes things forward within, often, some budget constraints or time constraints. The solutions that came out of some of those problems, I think, made for better parts of the movie because of the level of creativity that Steve and Jer have. If there was a problem, the solution would end up being sort of better than the original idea because they’re just really good at doing things on the fly and thinking things through.

I think what becomes clear, I hope anyway because I think this is true… there’s a mythology to it. And it’s a mythology that those two guys have thought through. It’s airtight to them. They don’t explain it either in the movie or in interviews, but you get the sense watching it that there is an internal logic to this world and whether we understand every detail of it or every origin point, isn’t the point. The point is that we feel like we’re immersed in this realm that they’ve really constructed in a very complete way. It’s a testament to their outside-of-the-box thinking and their meticulousness, without ever wanting to be kind of spoon feeding the audience plot details or mythology that they feel that they could just imply.

Munroe in “The Void”

TrunkSpace: That’s a good approach to take because oftentimes if feels like some full-length horror films could be really great shorts but that the core concepts don’t always hold up to a feature.
Munroe: Yeah. They also know the traditions they’re working in. The movie embraces some of the archetypal characters of the genre movies. They’re not trying to make the most complex character portraits, although I think they do a really good job of giving us stuff to do that felt human… but they still give a good nod to the genre where they’re trying to kind of push it forward without breaking it open completely in a way that would sort of disrespect the tradition.

TrunkSpace: In the trailer it looks like you’re lying on a morgue slab. Safe to say that things don’t end well for your character?
Munroe: (Laughter) I’m not going to say that it doesn’t end well. I’m going to say that we go through some… through some tricky stuff. I won’t give any spoilers here, but I think part of what made me excited about this is that there is… there are three main female characters in the ensemble and they all really have a trajectory and they get some good moments. They’re not just the victims. So… yeah, things get tough for a bit.

TrunkSpace: Things go as best as they can in a horror movie?
Munroe: As best as they can in a horror movie set in a broken down hospital with cult killers outside and monsters inside. It goes as well as it could go given those circumstances. (Laughter)

The guys were great about leaving some ambiguity in a lot of areas of the story and I think that my character exists in a bit of ambiguity ultimately, which was cool.

TrunkSpace: So when you’re shooting a movie like “The Void,” do you go back to your hotel room and look behind the shower curtain and under the bed after a long night of shooting? Do you carry the eeriness back with you?
Munroe: (Laughter) Well, the thing that was so cool about this because I’ve never done something with this level of practical effects… and I don’t think things with this level of practical effects happen that often… and so what was wild was, the scene on the morgue table… there’s an effect that happens with sort of some puppetry. Some creature stuff happens to me on that table. It’s the first time I’ve ever worked in a way that what I was looking at in that space is what you see on screen. They built a whole sort of false body for me and had people hidden around the set operating this creature in a way that makes it just so real and so consistent… my reactions could be consistent with what we end up seeing because it’s not CG. I could look down and see these things that look like they’re happening to my body and because the guys are so good, it REALLY looks like it’s happening to my body. So, it’s FREAKY as HELL. With CGI, you’re imagining things. With this kind of stuff, you’re seeing it. And then, to go home to our hotel room in Sault Ste Marie, Canada… a pretty isolated place… and kind of look down and now I know what it’s like to see a creature inside my own body… it’s freaky. It’s totally freaky.

TrunkSpace: You’re also starring in “Patriot” for Amazon. From your perspective, how much has the industry changed from where you started your career to where you are today in terms of the amount of work available to actors given all of the new content creators and providers working in that space?
Munroe: It’s been dramatic. I feel so lucky to have seen this sort of upswing, especially in TV because that’s where I tend to get hired. I love doing features and I feel really lucky anytime I get the chance to do a good one, but I earn most of my living doing TV. And so to see the expansion in content… I guess it’s insisted on distinctiveness. I think the things that rise to the top now are things that are unlike other things. Because there’s so much that you can choose from, what really is going to make an impact is stuff that’s different… that we haven’t seen. Just in terms of creativity as an actor or creativity as anyone working in the industry, I think it’s a really, really exciting time because… like I know for “Patriot” with Amazon… one majorly stated criteria was distinctiveness. And Steve Conrad who created the show I give credit to 100 percent with this… just made something totally different, pulled no punches in terms of… he didn’t shy away from his vision at all. He just made the thing he wanted to make and we were given the parameters, largely, to make it. It couldn’t be more exciting because we get to be creative in a realm that’s also a commercial realm. It’s encouraging and it’s really, really cool.

TrunkSpace: It feels like a great time for actors to just act and not get caught up in that whole A-List mentality.
Munroe: Totally. And I’ve always thought of myself as a journeyman. I’ve been very lucky to work relatively consistently since I started. I’m not a mega star household name, but I work. And now with the stuff that’s coming out, it is… it’s really dream stuff. It’s great. It’s possible to have a really fulfilling career and I honestly couldn’t feel luckier right now.

Munroe in “Patriot”

TrunkSpace: And aside from all of this on-screen excitement, you also have a new album due out soon.
Munroe: I do! Thanks for paying attention. (Laughter) That’s just something that I love doing. Music was my first love, I guess. I don’t have any memory of not playing music. I’ve always done it. Now it’s a luxury to have some time off and be able to make some songs. I recorded in Hamilton, Ontario where I grew up with this guy named Mike Keire who produced with me. And then I can just call my friends in who are talented, amazing, generous musicians who come and help out. I’m really excited about it. It will be coming out… I’m not sure the exact date, but within the next two to two and a half months. And I’ll be getting content out bit by bit before then.

TrunkSpace: What did you set out to accomplish musically with this album that maybe you didn’t get to do last time out with your previous EP?
Munroe: This one is bigger in terms of instrumentation. The thing that I wanted to do with this collection was make it a little more ambitious. It’s a little more holistically moody. I was watching some spaghetti westerns and I wanted to have this feeling of… like sort of movie music from those old spaghetti westerns. I kept hearing strings, so I enlisted the help of an amazing musician named Anthony Carone from Ontario to arrange some string parts. So together we kind of worked out these… and he did all of the heavy lifting… but we worked out these pieces that incorporate strings and pedal steel and stuff that really has a vibe that, to me, feels pretty western. And that was what I wanted to do with this… capture a vibe in a pretty holistic way across the record. I hope we did it. I’m really proud of it and I’m really proud of what the people came in and worked on it did.

Learn more about Munroe’s music here.

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Next Up

Francesco Martino

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Name: Francesco Martino

Hometown: Rome

Current Location: Los Angeles

TrunkSpace: When did you know that you wanted to act for a living?
Martino: Quite soon, when I was about 13. I was such an introverted and rebellious kid, so upset with everything and everybody. I just wanted to escape reality. Then I started doing theater. When I was on a stage, everything magically disappeared. I was able to be someone else. I never found anything else I was so passionate about.

TrunkSpace: Was there a particular performance or actor/actress from your childhood that you remember being drawn to and inspired by?
Martino: Man, the answer is such a classic one. James Dean. The scene when he tries to hug his father, screaming and crying at the same time, in “East of Eden,” is just breathtaking. I also liked River Phoenix a lot. I’ve just re-watched “My Own Private Idaho. He was so talented, so interesting in everything he did.

TrunkSpace: How did you decide to approach your career as an actor? Did you formulate a plan of how you wanted to attack what is known for being a hard industry to crack?
Martino: The plan is not to attack it and not trying to crack it. I’m just gonna work at improving myself as an actor every single day, and aim to deliver the best possible performance every chance I get. I’m confident this will attract the right people and the right projects.

TrunkSpace: When did you decide to move away from your home and pursue acting as a career? How old were you at the time?
Martino: 18. My mother is still crying. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: Was that move an easy transition for you initially? How long did it take you to feel at home and find a good support group of friends and peers?
Martino: It wasn’t easy at all. Let’s face it, when you’re in your teens and your 20s, your social skills are not at their best. It takes a long time to feel you belong somewhere. And now that I’m spending more and more time in LA, it’s like starting everything from scratch again. But I’m stronger now. I guess at a certain point you kind of understand that home is where you are. You leave the door open, and know that the support group will arrive at a certain point. It’s so important to have reliable friends in this industry, and people you can really trust. You’re never gonna make it alone.

TrunkSpace: What has been been your biggest break in terms of a particular role or project thus far?
Martino: There’s this great Italian theater actor, Roberto Herlitzka, which I always loved. I saw almost all of his shows, I always thought he was just the best. A few years ago, I was called to share the lead character of a movie with him. Basically, I was playing the same role at a younger age. It was such a gift, I almost couldn’t believe it.

TrunkSpace: Is there a specific type of role you’d like to take on or a specific genre that you feel more at home in?
Martino: I always liked restless characters, huge emotions, big dramatic scenes. I guess that’s always been the kind of character I’ve been cast and recognized for. But lately something is changing… I feel more and more at ease in comedy. The truth is comedy comes from an even darker place than drama. It’s fun for the audience, not for you as an actor! But hearing someone laughing about your issues, is such a great relief! I love it.

TrunkSpace: What would you say is the greatest strength an actor/actress can have outside of acting ability itself?
Martino: This is maybe one of the most important lessons I’ve learned lately. Great actors are people who own their issues. They know what they are, they don’t judge them, and they use them as burning energy for their performance. Actually, they overcome them in every performance. Most of the people tend to become victims of their own stories and issues, they let them drive their lives. Great actors know that those are just the things that let them create amazing art.

TrunkSpace: What is your ultimate dream when it comes to your acting career? Where would you like your path to lead?
Martino: That’s a tricky one. I want to do the kind of projects that inspire people. Movies were such a great help for me when I was a kid. They empowered me and helped me understand what I wanted, and I was able to do something good with my life. I want to give that back to someone else. Obviously I want to be in great projects, I like validation and money is definitely not a secondary issue. But the moment I receive a letter from someone saying I inspired them to overcome something in their life… that’s the best prize for me. It just empowers me so much.

TrunkSpace: What advice would you give another young aspiring actor/actress who is considering moving away from home to pursue their dream?
Martino: Be honest. Ask yourself what’s the thing that really motivates you, what’s the thing you need to communicate to the world. Be specific. Stay connected to your real urgency. Know what you want, what you really dream of. It’s not about what you should dream of, it’s about what you (and just you) really dream of. If this urgency is honest, just go for it. Just be prepared to overcome a lot of obstacles. And be aware that there’s never a real satisfaction. Being an actor is an endless journey… and that’s what’s most beautiful about being one.

TrunkSpace: Where can people (and casting directors) learn more about you?
Martino: I’m usually not a big fan of reels, but this friend of mine edited one I really like. I think you can somehow get a sense of who I am through these brief scenes. It’s here, you’re welcome to take a look.

Instagram: @franzmartino

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Bottled Up Emotions

Uinta Brewing’s Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA

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Brewer: Uinta Brewing Company

Beer: Hop Nosh Tangerine IPA

Alcohol Content by Volume: 7.30%

Dear Hop Nosh Tangerine,

I’m writing to you on Sunday night. It’s opening day for Major League Baseball. You may not be familiar with the sport, but if you are, tonight’s game is Cubs versus Cardinals. I was thirsty so I headed to the fridge. I searched for a beer. Behind the mayonnaise? Nothing. Tucked away in the produce drawer? Negative. WAIT… there… wedged between the economy-sized bottle of soy sauce and the little plastic lemon filled with the juice of its likeness… A BEER!

It’s you.

I remember you. I bought you two weeks ago. You disappeared and I just assumed my wife drank you. She does that sometimes.

I pop your top. Citrus and fragrant flowers tickle my nostrils. I pour you into my favorite pint glass. Amber, the color I’d expect to find a 60 million-year-old mosquito embedded in. I taste you… just a little at first for savoring purposes… and although the tangerine is there, it’s modest and not overpowering. The surprise maltyness mingles nicely, just like the large bottle of soy sauce and the little plastic lemon always seem at home together in the door’s interior shelf. (Before you came between them, of course.)

By the time I’ve finished you… which is in no time at all… the first pitch has yet to even happen. The game is still to be, but you are already gone.

I miss you, Hop Nosh Tangerine. I miss you so.

Sincerely

Drunken Emoji

PS: Please don’t tell my wife about us. She will never understand.

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Next Up

Gabrielle Reyes

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Name: Gabrielle Reyes

Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Current Location: Dallas / New York

TrunkSpace: When did you know that you wanted to act for a living?
Reyes: My older sister and I grew up waking up at the crack of dawn to watch “Sailor Moon” and several other anime shows that came on local TV if you maneuvered your antenna just right. Back then, we weren’t able to use things like Crunchyroll, which is an anime streaming site. Although, some countries still cant use that even today, unless of course they use the best VPN for crunchyroll. Anyway, as we got older we got involved in anime/comic conventions in the area and eventually started competing in cosplay costume contests. We were both doing all the writing, singing, prop and costume building for our entries and after our first entry we took the stage and won! It soon came to be that my love of writing, dressing up and performing flourished to the love for storytelling that I have today!

TrunkSpace: Was there a particular performance or actor/actress from your childhood that you remember being drawn to and inspired by?
Reyes: I was unapologetically obsessed with the whole “Star Wars” saga and ended up putting on a one-woman play of Episode IV in my living room on Thanksgiving. From that I idolized actors like Carrie Fisher, James Earl Jones, and my first childhood crush; Harrison Ford. As I got older I began to follow the careers of Tracee Ellis Ross and Liam Neeson.

TrunkSpace: How did you decide to approach your career as an actor? Did you formulate a plan of how you wanted to attack what is known for being a hard industry to crack?
Reyes: I was lucky to have family that supported and pushed me to invest in an education at The University of Oklahoma where I received my BFA in Acting. Of course, plans change and the path was not always clear for how I would get from point A to point Z, but I always made sure to keep myself busy during the summer and winter breaks venturing out to Los Angeles, New York and Chicago to take classes and immerse myself in the ebb and flow of each city. I never let the industry beat me down because I constantly ask myself, “Okay, now what’s next?”

TrunkSpace: When did you decide to move away from your home and pursue acting as a career? How old were you at the time?
Reyes: During my third year in college I took a year off to “study abroad” in Los Angeles. During that time I knew that I was making the choice to leave the safety of my schooling to dive head first into auditioning, working and taking classes in a highly concentrated actor environment. I was lucky that I was able to finish out my education AND live in the heart of the entertainment industry while gaining a sense of true independence and knowledge of possibilities.

TrunkSpace: Was that move an easy transition for you initially? How long did it take you to feel at home and find a good support group of friends and peers?
Reyes: Incredibly! I have a loving support group of friends and family that live and work in LA so when I moved there I was immediately welcomed (and fed) with open arms. When I relocated to Dallas and then New York City, many of my fellow actors and OU alumni friends also lived in the area making my home feel easy, breezy, beautiful. I always felt like I could grow where I was planted!

TrunkSpace: What has been your biggest break in terms of a particular role or project thus far?
Reyes: I’m currently working on a world premiere musical on Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in New York and it’s been such a blessing and blast of a time getting to originate and create a role from the ground up!

TrunkSpace: Is there a specific type of role you’d like to take on or a specific genre that you feel more at home in?
Reyes: As much as I feel the most comfortable with dramatic film and TV work I ADORE the strange and obtuse character work that shows up more often in fantasy, sitcom or stage work.

TrunkSpace: What would you say is the greatest strength an actor/actress can have outside of acting ability itself?
Reyes: Honesty. And not that kind of prescribed “honesty” you learn in your acting class every Wednesday and Friday night. But the kind that comes through when you have to tell your fiancé that you saw someone at the grocery store who you were attracted to, or that you’ve outgrown your best friend, or telling your Baptist-raised mother that you don’t see the point in religion anymore. In my experience being able to build on that honesty makes you a more relaxed and generous person free from tension or fear of the truth.

TrunkSpace: What is your ultimate dream when it comes to your acting career? Where would you like your path to lead?
Reyes: Ultimately, I’d love to produce, direct and write films about the beauty and ferocity of the human experience. Acting is storytelling, and storytelling is a form of activism. With the success of my acting career I plan to use my influence to enact change through more outlets of entertainment.

TrunkSpace: What advice would you give another young aspiring actor/actress who is considering moving away from home to pursue their dream?
Reyes: Jump, crawl, leap, dive and fall into it! And once you are there, just keep asking yourself, “What’s next?” Never settle for generality or simplicity and through every rejection or recognition keep demanding more from yourself.

TrunkSpace: Where can people (and casting directors) learn more about you?
Reyes: Find me on…
Twitter: @gabriellevreyes
Instagram: @lordgabriellethethird
Website: www.gabriellevreyes.com
IMDB: imdb.me/gabriellevreyes
Backstage: backstage.com/u/gabriellevreyes
Agency Website: marycollins.com/gabrielle-reyes

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Bryson Cone

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Artist/Band: Bryson Cone

Members: There’s a rotating cast, but the most recent line-up was myself, Cat Hoch, Eric Sabatino, Thomas Malbus, Chris Hoganson and Andy Rayborn

Website: https://soundcloud.com/bryson-cone

Hometown: Portland, OR

Latest Album/Release: My single “Desire”

Influences: Serge Gainsbourg, Prince, Cluster, Gary Wilson, Air, Genesis P-Orridge, The Magnetic Fields, Nina Simone, Kim Gordon, The Cure, everything on Stones Throw, all my friends, everything

TrunkSpace: How would you describe your music?
Cone: Goth Soul Jazz Art Pop

TrunkSpace: You seem to take the term artist to a different level, mixing both music and art into a singularly blended experience. Was that always the intention with your music or has the approach changed over the years?
Cone: I went to (f)art school for a million years and that definitely informs my approach to making music and being a musical artist. I just want to make a visceral, visual, sonic world to hang out in. I think a lot of people who are visual artists or “artist” artists before they make music can end up in that position. All of my favorite musical artists were more than just songwriters or players and had some insane OCD, fanatical relationship with their esthetic that made them recognizable visually, not just aurally. My goal is to make my own version of something like that.

TrunkSpace: When it comes to lyrics, are you always trying to say something with your music or are there instances where a song just sort of writes itself and there’s no underlining message involved?
Cone: Sometimes my lyrics are really psychological, heavy, emo doo-doo that probably seems pretty trite to other people but is genuinely a form of real psycho-therapy for me. I really do care a lot about storytelling but not necessarily in a linear way. I jump around between perspectives, characters and situations (sometimes mid verse) to try and make things more coded and interesting. Other times, I’m just trying to rhyme with the coolest, funnest-sounding words I can think of. In the end, I find that the shallow stuff is usually the most appealing as a song… at least to myself.

TrunkSpace: It seems like the music is 100 percent you. Does that make the songwriting a solitary experience and does that process keep you at a creative distance from other people? In that we mean, do you have to shut yourself away from others in order to create?
Cone: I don’t have to shut myself away in order to create, but I do frequently end up going that route. I almost always get really obsessed with an idea and will want to work on it for so long that other people don’t always stick around. I have tunnel vision and won’t even realize that I’ve been redoing the same overdub for three hours. My cat Apollo is always there though, so he keeps me company. Collaborating is always really inspiring and refreshing, but usually it happens after I’ve already laid out a foundation of a song and then invite someone in to play a part or make something up.

TrunkSpace: What inspires you? And we don’t mean the influences covered above, but instead, the ideas or experiences that strike you in any given moment. What feeds your creativity?
Cone: Feeling miserable, being bored, being tired, being sad, feeling fear, being happy, being horny, watching a really good movie, hearing a really good record, looking at a painting in a box with a fox wearing sox ripping a solo that rox — a bit embarrassing to admit but I was once in the middle of using my jada stevens pussy and inspiration came to me. I can honestly find inspiration anywhere. More: daydreaming, night dreaming, forgetting, remembering, transcending, my girlfriend, my friends, my enemies, the feeling of going crazy if I don’t work on something…

TrunkSpace: When it comes to writing songs, do you tend to start with a sound or beat and then add from there? Is there a linear process for you?
Cone: My favorite way to start is playing my Wurlitzer. It usually forces me to write better chord changes and think more clearly about it as a ‘song’, instead of a random lofi-hifi overdub collage on my laptop (which I also love doing). Either way it eventually becomes an overdub party on my computer. Sometimes I’ll also start by having an idea of a hook or a sound effect or sound on a synth I’m hearing in my head. Trying to translate it from an imagined sound to an actual sound is a dark art. I don’t know if the Illuminati will allow me to discuss that.

TrunkSpace: What seems really interesting about the music that you create is that you’re sort of capable of playing anywhere, right? You could play a small coffee house or a large amphitheater and still be able to have either crowd follow you on the journey. Is that versatility a benefit to you as a musician?
Cone: I hope so. I try to keep myself open to whatever the opportunity is. I’ve been doing some improv shows lately where we make up songs as we play and it’s super fun. I live in a really good city for that because there are a lot of incredibly talented people around and we all just want to get loud and put on a show.

TrunkSpace: You’re based in Portland, a city well established for its creative core. With so many other artists and musicians creating in a relatively small space, does it become more difficult to rise above given that everyone is competing for the eyes, ears and minds of those who live there?
Cone: I’m not sure. I don’t really have that figured out yet. It’s great to have opportunities for exposure and for people to find out about what you’re doing, but promotion is its own skill to have which is pretty confusing and takes time. Portland’s music scene is incredibly supportive. I love my friends and the music they’re all making. There’s always something new and interesting going on and I appreciate moments when it feels more like family, not competition.

TrunkSpace: What do you hope to accomplish with your musical career?
Cone: I just want to make music and be creative full-time. It’s the same thing everybody wants, I think. We all just want to figure out how to replace our day jobs with being creative. Other than that I really want to keep meeting other artists and be inspired to make as much stuff as possible.

TrunkSpace: Separate from career goals, what do you hope people take from the music itself?
Cone: Tough question! I don’t usually think about what I want other people to think when I’m making music. I guess I want people to be inspired and to feel emotions and to hear my scream in the big, weird, crazy, scary universe we’re sharing.

TrunkSpace: What can fans expect from Bryson Cone in 2017?
Cone: Hopefully, a lot! More music, more shows, more stuff… I’m working on a full length album right now that I hope to be complete in a couple of months. I’m also about to make a music video for “Desire” with a dear friend and badass female artist named Misha Capecchi. We haven’t started yet but she’s awesome and I bet she’ll make it amazing. Google her, she rules!

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The Featured Presentation

Brittni Barger

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If you’re reading this, you’re probably a geek. It’s okay, we are too! In fact, saying you’re a geek is a bit of a badge of honor these days. And there’s plenty of geek variety to choose from if you don’t want to paint with a broad brush. Some of us may be comic book nerds. Others may be music snobs. Hell, we even know a few fantasy sports fanatics who could tell you more about Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts’ bowling scores than a Spider-Man fan could tell you about Peter’s proportionate strength of a spider.

One Fando Calrissian (see what we did there?) who waves her geek flag proudly is Brittni Barger, host of the PBS series “Beyond Geek,” which returns for season 2 this May.

We recently sat down with Barger to discuss when nerdom went mainstream, her love for improv and randomly enough, B-52’s frontman Fred Schneider.

TrunkSpace: For many people, the mention of PBS brings about thoughts of “Reading Rainbow,” “Sesame Street” and “Masterpiece Theatre.” When did they embrace the “cool” of a show like “Beyond Geek” and look to attract a hipper audience?
Barger: Yeah. That’s a great question. I think Joe Gillis, the director and creator, saw an opportunity that was kind of missing in that arena on PBS and so he wanted to fill that void. He had this idea that had been brewing for, I think he said 10 years at one point, and he just put a lot of work and effort into compiling all of these different geekdoms that he had found out about and wanted to explore further. It was all Joe that kind of put the pedal to the metal and got it done.

TrunkSpace: So how did you get involved in the series?
Barger: I got involved with the series because I had worked with Ivan Harder and Odin Abbott on “Smosh,” which is a web series on YouTube, and they also work on “Beyond Geek” so they recommended me for it.

TrunkSpace: So what were you looking to bring to the table and how do you view your particular voice and role on the show?
Barger: Well, I think why Joe chose me is that I have a definite quirkiness to me and I really get invested in people’s personal stories. When we did the initial interview for the job I kind of ended up asking Joe a lot of questions even though I was the one interviewing for it and I think he really liked that because I have a genuine interest in the human story and I think that’s what he was looking for in a host.

TrunkSpace: Do you have a journalistic background or do you approach your job of host as more of a storyteller?
Barger: Absolutely, yeah… just pure storytelling. I don’t have any background in journalism whatsoever. It’s all acting. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: From your perspective, when did geek culture become mainstream and accepted?
Barger: Right after I got out of high school… when I went to college I saw a turnaround in geek culture becoming mainstream pop culture. Well actually, maybe even before that because I remember when I was a kid how popular the “X-Men” animated series was and I remember loving comic books as a kid and into my adulthood. I feel like my generation specifically kind of took the reigns and said, “This is what we like and you have to be okay with it now.” (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: Do you think kids or teenagers who are into geek culture these days have an easier time being accepted for those interests than those of previous generations?
Barger: Yeah. I think what people are passionate about in general is more acceptable nowadays. Being fringe is cool.

TrunkSpace: You have a background in improv. We would imagine you can put those skills to use in your duties as a host because you have to be on your toes in any given situation.
Barger: Absolutely. There’s the general rule of “Yes, And…”, so you’re accepting what’s given to you and you’re building off of that. Joe would give me a set list of questions that he wanted to be hit throughout the interview and then he would give me the freedom to play around and ask questions that I was interested in personally. And so I got to get my own story that me as a viewer would want to hear from the people that I was interviewing, which was a lot of fun.

TrunkSpace: As a fan of geek culture yourself, was there a moment in the production of “Beyond Geek” where you felt more like a fan than a host?
Barger: Oh yeah! I got to learn lightsaber combat. They took me to a trainer who was a professional lightsaber combat trainer named Novastar and I got to learn all of the steps of his combat system. And then we compiled a kind of a choreography that we played out in this epic lightsaber battle. That was just the epitome of my nerdery reaching its peak. (Laughter) It was one of the best experiences of my life.

TrunkSpace: And that’s in Season 2, correct?
Barger: That is in season 2, yeah. That’s the whole “Star Wars” themed episode.

TrunkSpace: Is there a particular cup of geek tea that you’re most drawn too? Is there a genre or franchise that you’d consider your favorite?
Barger: I really, really love graphic novels and books in general. My biggest passion is books. I’m a bibliophile through and through, so anything that has to do with that… or the telling of stories in different ways to tell the stories. So, I would say I’ve been really, really big into graphic novels the last few years. Batman is obviously a mainstay of that kind of fiction for me. And then there’s a lot of really… companies like Dark Horse and Image Comics have just really changed the landscape of what graphic novels are nowadays, so that’s where my passion lies for sure.

Barger in season 2 of “Beyond Geek”

TrunkSpace: Speaking of books, you work on another project that might have the best title of all time… “Brittni’s Book Boner Bistro.” Can you tell us about that?
Barger: (Laughter) I was friends with these creators in Sacramento called FourLetterNerds and they really wanted to create content with me, but I’ve always had kind of a problem with YouTube in that there’s just so much… it’s inundated with people that have nothing to say. So if I did a show I wanted to make sure that it had a very specific focus and something that I had a lot of things to talk about. And so that thing to me was books. They wanted to put a spin on it where it had equal parts my personality and my opinion on books or introducing an audience to a different kind of literature that they might not be exposed to normally… and that kind of covered all of the genres. That was our main goal was that we would hit a bunch of different genres and that we would make it a comedy and use improv… write out scripts but then use improv around it and just kind of play and have fun. So that was the burst of “Brittni’s Book Boner Bistro.”

TrunkSpace: It’s going back full circle to the start of our conversation where we mentioned “Reading Rainbow.”
Barger: I don’t think they would accept that title on PBS. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: Going back to the improv side of things, can you tell us a little bit about how you got involved in it?
Barger: I was an acting intern at B Street Theatre in Sacramento, California, which is kind of where I cut my teeth on improv and acting. It was a ten month acting internship and included in the internship was an improv class. I had never taken improv before. I had always mistakenly judged it as a lower form of art, which was idiotic of me, but I just didn’t know any better. So, when I took the classes, I kind of realized that it’s one of the highest forms of art because you have to use a whole new set of tools in order to accomplish it. I grew to appreciate it very much. Then I auditioned for their improv sketch company at B Street and I got into that. We did five consecutive seasons of a show called B Street Live. A lot of times it’s kid of unheard of to get paid to do improv and it was a very rare experience that I got to be a part of… to have improv be my job for five years, which was really cool.

TrunkSpace: Is there a particular exercise or type of skit… and forgive us if we’re using the wrong terminology… that you enjoy the most when it comes to improv?
Barger: One of the warm-ups that just cracked me up every time and made me feel so loose and ready to go was… and I don’t even know if this is an actual improv game, but that’s the best part of improv is that it’s such a new art form that people are constantly adding to it. There aren’t any real rules about what it has to be. It’s still growing. And so one of the games that I liked to play was called “Hey, Fred Schneider.” Fred Schneider is from the B-52s and so you would sing a song that went…
(In Fred Schneider’s voice)
“Hey, Fred Schneider… what are you doooooing?”
And then you would go around in a circle and you would have to answer in the Fred Schneider voice what you were doing and it could be anything.
(In Fred Schneider’s voice)
“I’m flying a plannnne into the sunnnn.” (Laughter)
And you could work off of that, so it could be a thematic kind of Fred Schneider game or you could just be completely random and it was an exercise that opened your mind so completely to the fact that everything is possible. Anything and everything is possible in improv and to accept that.

TrunkSpace: I hope Fred Schneider finds out about this game that he has inadvertently given birth to.
Barger: (Laughter) I do too! I wonder if he’s aware.
TrunkSpace: It would be amazing if Fred Schneider sat in on a round of “Hey, Fred Schneider” one night.
Barger: Oh my God! That’s so meta! (Laughter)

Barger in season 2 of “Beyond Geek”

Barger can be seen in season 2 of “Beyond Geek,” which premieres in May. She will also be starring in a theater show called “Stupid Fucking Bird” at Capital Stage in Sacramento, California.

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