Interview – Actor, Director, Musician – Marcus Lawrence
Hello! Today I am very happy to have actor and director, Marcus Lawrence. Let’s jump right in!
Q: How long have you been acting either as a hobby or professionally?
A: Since High School, really. I was painfully shy, and wasn’t playing sports anymore. It was always a dream of mine since I was a kid, but that shyness had always kept me from doing it, so I just decided to do it. I started getting the leads in the plays, and just got addicted to the process.
Q: What inspired you to get into acting?
A: Movies were always a HUGE part of my childhood. My grandmother would occasionally take me to plays when I was a kid, ( We saw “Sesame Street Live” at The Kennedy Center, and I remember when she took me to “The Music Man” as well.), and I would watch just about anything. Granted, I was really into comics, but films like “Amadeus” and “Out Of Africa” also got my attention. And “Ghostbusters” and “Star Wars”. Honestly, I just thought it was a powerful thing, being transported to all these worlds, seeing the perspective of others, or the storytelling. The movie theater was like my church. In many ways it still is.
I had favorites as a kid. Robert Redford always seemed to be so cool and in control. I remember seeing him in “Out Of Africa”, and “The Natural” when I was little, and he always seemed to be so identifiable. He was concise, but never overbearing. Also, I loved Bill Murray, because he made the absurd so palpable. Sidney Poitier, Harrison Ford, Christopher Reeve, guys who always seemed easily in command of the screen.
When I was a teen, I remember really becoming a cinephile. “Immortal Beloved”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Desperado”, “Elizabeth”, and I could go on, just fueled my desire to keep going in it, but I look back to a single example that really made me want to continue in the art form.
“The Woman In Black” in London. The play, for those of you who don’t know, is much different from the movie, as it is a direct adaptation of the book by Susan Hill, and only has a cast of three, including the ghost, who never speaks. There is one main actor, then an actor playing several parts, as it is he who is recounting the events of the play. It was eerie, minimalist, and atmospheric. I saw what could be accomplished with so little, just great acting and storytelling. From then on, I was committed.
Wow. I got a bit long – winded. Maybe even pretentious.
Q: What are some of the challenges of your work?
A: The main one is that it isn’t my only job. I still have a day job and the pressures of every day life. I am not a Hollywood dude, so this isn’t all I do. There’s deadlines just like “Avengers” has, but much tighter budget constraints, and time to really commit to it. It’s not glamorous.
Q: What are some of the rewarding aspects of your work?
A: Completion. Knowing that you were a part of something expressive. Collaboration, and knowing the challenges to get it made, but you did it anyway. It’s just about inhabiting other personalities, and helping other actors do the same. That realization is why I do it.
Q: What is a typical day like for you? Or are there no typical days?
A: Man. I don’t even know how to answer that. Shooting days? They’re long. For the last film I did, we had an actor come up from North Carolina, and we were only going to have her for one day. She hadn’t had any sleep, really, and was there that morning. We had to knock out our scenes in about 12 hours, but she was great. I was familiar with her already, so I knew she was focused and prepared. She didn’t let us down, and she was brilliant.
However, this is how it goes. You only have people for a certain amount of time, so you have to move quickly. My days can usually begin at 9 AM, and go til after Midnight. I love it, though. There’s a lot of other stuff, too, but I can talk about that later.
Q: You’ve been a web series? How, (if at all) is it different from being in the regular films you’ve been in?
A: Well, schedule is, well, for a lack of a better word, grueling. I am gone a lot, and you have to be really flexible, and the lines have to be dead on, so the subtitles can be translated in other countries’ native languages. It’s a more action – oriented show, so I have stunts, (which I do), and fight choreography to go to as well as principal photography. By the way, this is what I do in it. I am, by no means, complaining. I love that, too.
We go to the sci – fi conventions as well to promote it, and that’s always awesome.
It was also shopped around for potential syndication, etc, so the feedback was to re – shoot the first two seasons for that. That’s actually just fine with me, and I am ready for it. I actually just dropped about 23 lbs to be prepared for the more physical nature of the role this time around, and it’s going to look crazy good. The show, not my weight loss.
Q: What would be your dream project/role?
A: Hmmm. Hamlet. Batman. Robin Hood. James Bond. It’s really hard to say. I kinda just take it as it comes.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: Gearing up for The Shotgun Mythos Reboot. We begin shooting in 5 days. I actually have some tactical stuff to buy for it, I took a break from shopping for it to do this.
Man, I hope I don’t get flagged by NSA or something.
Q: What are currently reading?
A: “The Occult : A History” by Colin Wilson.
Q: What do you do when you’re not acting or working on a film?
A: Well, but day I am a Personal Trainer, and a dad to two extremely bright and beautiful little girls. I have also fronted the Black Death Metal band Grethor since 2007, and we are about to release an EP, which we JUST finished recording. We are going to do some shows to promote that, and I am also getting ready to launch an online magazine. Oh, and I do a fitness lifestyle blog.
Deep breath in. Now out.
“A man who limits his interests limits himself.”
-Vincent Price
Q: Is there anyone who has inspired, motivated, encouraged or supported your work?
A: Yes. The filmmakers like Clint Gaige, Rick Vasquez, Clayton Spinney definitely get a shoutout, as do the actors I have worked with that have all been too good to just single out one or two people. That would be unfair, as they have all sacrificed so much to make these projects happen, and come through magnificently.
Most of all, I really have to thank my family for the sacrifices they have made, as my wife, Leah, has had to be here with the girls while I drive to the locations for long weekends or days.
Q: Do you have a favorite brand, flavor, type of coffee?
A: Not really. I mean, I used to drink the cheap WaWa lattes’ , but I also ended up gaining weight with all the dairy and sugar, so I had to quit that. I just drink cheap, black coffee now. However, it is a HUGE component in my day, as I am one of those crazy people who gets up early to work out. I take it with almond milk.
However, the stuff that isn’t the cheap stuff? Daily Grind Dark Roast is awesome.
Final thoughts?
Just to keep your eyes out for Shotgun Mythos on Blip.TV, or visit the website at Shotgunmythos.com. We are also on Youtube. Honestly, there is NO reason you shouldn’t find it.
Thank you so much for your time. I wish you the very best of luck! Let’s chat again soon.
A: Thank you so much for this opportunity!!!! And thank you, readers!
Bio:
Marcus Lawrence has been playing music and acting around the state for 10 + years now and in such different regions, he is known to many close to him as “The Indie King Of The Southeast”. His resume varies from multiple professional theater productions in both the Washington, DC and Richmond, VA area, commercials, films, and even TV productions.
He began his theater career in 2003 after walking out of an acting class with eagerness to just try his lot in the reputable DC scene. He played multiple roles in the debut plays of the often controversial Cherry Red Productions “Kenneth, What Is The Frequency?” and “Cinema Verite’”, and even appeared nude in their popular event “Day Old Plays”.
After cutting his teeth very avant garde’ theater, he would appar in more classic American theater faire such as “Arsenic & Old Lace”, and as Dr Chumley in “Harvey”, he would have a year long run with the former Prince William Co classical theater mainstay VpStart Crow Productions, where he would be able to really stretch his range, doing Steinbeck, Dickens, and even the often hard to stage August Strindberg’s “The Ghost Sonata”.
From there he would stretch his wings to work with others, new companies with debut plays, with various companies, or established ones performing classics. He would do Greek in Richmond (Agamemnon’s Daughters with Sycamore Rouge), Shakespeare in Fredericksburg (Twelfth Knight), and most notably as Dionysus in “The Bacchae” at The Capitol Fringe Fest.
All the while, Marcus Lawrence has worked on his on – camera portion of his resume’ all across the state as well, many times with Clint Gaige and Two Bits Productions. The team up of Clint and Marcus produced film noir exhibitions such as “Violent Karma”or “Perspectives”, and many short films and some commercials shown around the areas of West VA, VA, Pennsylvania, & MD.
He has shown a more comedic side in Old Virginia Films’ “Lily’s Thorn”, appearing as Lily’s bufoonish ex – husband Wilford, and also in Cherry Red Productions’ first feature film, the offbeat comedy “Trapped By The Mormons”, and then a French bank robber and art thief in Old Dominion’s TV show “From The Files Of Interpol” for the Discovery Channel. Recently he was cast in a Pilot demo for Sleeping, by Zeropointzero productions. Such is the nature of the craft, and Marcus Lawrence loves contrast.
Adding Casting Director and Producer to an already lengthy resume’, he has now taken on those duties for the new Independent Company, Cousin Paddy Films. He starred as Dwayne in the their first film, “Bowing Out” and “Your Pomegranate”.
Most recently he was featured in the dark comedy, “ Reversal” from Used Productions, directed by Clayton Spinney, which will be seen at film festivals upon its completion.
Marcus is believes that being an artist is a journey, and that journey should offer endless excitement. Whether it is a villain, a hero, (or anti – hero for that matter), or even the bufoon, he attacks the role with the same enthusiasm, presence, and hopes to show a different view, surprising even himself at times.
To watch the Web Series “Shotgun Mythos”, go to -
Episodes will be taken down soon, as everything you see is being re – shot.
They update regularly on Facebook, that link is -
https://www.facebook.com/ShotgunMythos
My website with demo reel is still under construction, so keep an eye out on Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/marcuslawrenceactor
Here is my band -
https://www.facebook.com/grethorofficial
Last but not least, all things personal training related.
https://www.facebook.com/MarcusLawrencePersonalTrainer
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brutal-CAMP/698090076912089
https://marcusthe1trainer.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/hi-everyone/
