First off – what are you put to now? Any upcoming projects/work?
I have several exciting roles coming up in the video game world. There are about to take off but I can’t talk about them – they have strict NDAs! They like slow releases and big build up. It will be cool when they are all revealed.
How did you get tied into the video game work?
It’s been an interesting journey. My background has been in classical acting – and I’m a certified fight director as well. I moved to New York and established myself as an actor and fight director there. Then I went to L.A. and there was this new technology called C.G.I. It was traditional animation then. They did voice over with older actors with good voices and separate actors for the physical side. I was trained in both so could get a lot of side work that way.
Then one day this little movie called Lord of the Rings came out. Peter Jackson had spent a year-and-a-half working on the C.G.I. animation when he saw Andy Serkis acting out a voice over one day, doing the physical gestures as well, and realized that was exactly what he needed. He loved Andy and said “Put him in a MoCap suit!” That was when the light bulb went off on the industry – to have one person do both the voice and physical acting. It became an integrated performance that way – it was better.
And the demand increased?
Now there was a bigger demand for that, yes. I was in the sweet spot – I was old enough to have the right gravitas for voice -over work but young enough to do the physical stuff too.
My TV career had taken off for eight years – I had a lot of prime-time work. Then there was a dry spell – so the video game work was great, and I did the Hallmark movies as well. Then Covid and the strike hit – I went back to the video games. They embraced and welcomed me back. I felt valued and wanted. The technology leapt exponentially and the writing and cut scenes are beautiful. My latest work includes a beautiful monologue. I’ve really enjoyed the video game work.
Who were some of your acting mentors early on and how did they impact your career?
I can start with my dad and my football coach – they had life lessons that helped me approach my career and the business that can be fucked up at times.
My acting teachers too. Fight directing was not something I actively pursued. I was doing Romeo and Juliet and Terrence Mann was directing. He choreographed the fight scene and asked me later to be the fight director for the scene. I was the fight captain for the scene at the time – my job was to keep the integrity of the fight – to stay within the storyline. I was pretty good at it and Terrence saw that. He asked me to take the fight to a new level as the fight director. I told him I wasn’t a fight director, but he said “Yeah, you are.” That was a beautiful act of faith. It was one of the top fights I built – Variety gave it a great review.
You’ve worked across so many platforms – Broadway, TV, movies, video game voiceovers – how important is that versatility and do you have a preference?
That versatility is hugely important. It help me sustain a 30-year career because I can do different things. Acting careers can run dry at times but if you can figure out different things you can do, it helps keep the lights on. I was also a set designer in theater.
That’s my personality. I always dabbled in lots of things. When I was younger I explored music, publishing and editing and even volunteered with Greenpeace. That’s just who I am. I’m a curious person and that has helped me with acting as well. I’m drawn to characters with layers – with secrets. I don’t judge a character’s morality. I like finding those layers in those characters.
You’ve done so many different roles too- dozens of shows from CSI, Criminal Minds to Blue Bloods, The Blacklist and Designated Survivor – that doesn’t even include the Broadway shows, movies and video games. How hard is it to navigate so many different roles, mentally?
Those are two different questions in a way. There’s a real-world rejection in this business and that’s hard. Our business is built on rejection. You have to keep your center and thicken your skin. When it’s between you and another person and you don’t get the role, it stings. Its them telling you you weren’t good enough.
The issue of job security is also real. As a dad you get it. When your younger job security doesn’t really matter. I had beer money and didn’t have a mortgage. But not as a middle-aged man with a family, I would love a 10-year series as a lead detective and collect that paycheck. Sure!
But I also enjoy playing those different roles. It’s fun and you don’t get bored doing that. It keeps things different and challenging.
When I first go offered Hallmark movies I resisted them. I wanted to be dark and edgy – I was too cool. But then I realized it was a good job. I made it a point though to do different roles at the same time so I wasn’t just doing sweet Christmas movies. I was a jerk in Designated Survivor, a sociopathic killer in Major Crimes and an omnisexual musician in Grace and Frankie.
How do you prepare differently and approach each of those platforms?
A friend of mine once told me about his concept of God – not to get too metaphysical here. He said that God was like an actor and we are all just characters that God felt like playing. He wants to explore the infinite possibilities and He wanted to experience all of them. I found that interesting. We all think we are making good choices but we are capable of making selfish and bad choices too. It’s interesting to explore that humanity.
How did growing up in Pittsburgh influence you as an actor and person?
100% it did – I can do a two-hour interview on that! I was brought up in the city. I resisted acting – my dad was a builder – I drove trucks and worked on a construction site growing up. Not that that was the only vision I had of work – you can be an accountant or lawyer – but it just didn’t feel like in that culture acting was a real job. I didn’t grow up in Malibu with Sean Penn and Charlie Sheen!
It’s interesting. I was on the set of Two-and-a-Half Men – at the height of Charlie’s madness. But he was one of the most gracious and kind people I worked with. My first day he knocked on my trailer door and asked if I needed anything.
Years later I was on the set of Grace and Frankie. Martin Sheen knocked on my door the first day and asked how I was. I told him Charlie had done the same thing years ago – that he raised him right! I think he was touched by that.
I think of Pittsburgh like that. It’s a “Hey buddy” type of thing. There’s a fondness -a niceness. They are friendly people who treat others with dignity and respect. The greatest compliment I got is when this big, burly crew member asked if I played sports. I asked if it was because I was so fit and athletic! But he said “No – I can tell because you’re a team player. You get it!”
One time a prop person handed me a watch on set – I said “Thank you Ken!” An actress standing next to me said “You know all of their names!” I just thought “Yes. Why don’t you?” That’s the part I don’t get – that I think stems from growing up in Pittsburgh. Many actors think the crew works for them. No. They all work with us. Not for us. That’s a Pittsburgh thing. And a sports thing.
I think I enjoyed sports more for its mythic value than as a pure sports thing. I watched how the Steelers helped the city when it was going through hard times. The city could have gone the way that many cities that struggled went. But that sense of civic pride even as the industry was shutting down helped the city reinvent itself. It took pride in itself and I think the Steelers were a big part of that.
Get back to the city often?
My parents are gone so I don’t go often now. I do have some cousins there and coincidentally have a half-sister who just transferred to the city weirdly. She’s not related to my adopted family but ironically found herself in Pittsburgh.
Have you done much filming in the Pittsburgh area – what can/should he city do to attract more filming?
No – I never shot in Pittsburgh. I would have liked to. I was working with a buddy of mine on an indy film we would have shot in Pittsburgh but it didn’t work out.
L.A. I think expected that people would always shoot there but that’s not the case anymore. Atlanta, Canada, Romania – they offer tax credits and it’s hard to compete with that. There’s a value that you get to a city bringing in a film. One of the reasons I’m doing less Hallmark movies is because they are shot in Canada and with my American citizenship, that messes up their tax credits and budgets. At some point it’s too expensive for them.
Are your kids expressing an interest in acting – thoughts on that from you?
No, and thank God! If my kids wanted to go into it I’d support them but neither have shown any interest. They are talented artists and musicians – I think my son would be good at it if he wanted but he has no desire to and that’s cool with me. It’s a hard business – it’s been a fun ride but if they choose something like being an accountant then God bless them!
Lastly, are you a big sports fan – any good Pittsburgh sports memories/experiences?
There are moments that come to mind – iconic memories many of us have from those Steel Curtain days. I remember seeing Bradshaw slide on that we field for so many yards – he knew how to use the field!
I also remember Swann’s graceful leaps and hugging the ball like a baby. When word got out he was doing ballet it was classic. With a lot of those big, tough blue-collar guys I worked with – I thought they’d see that as funny – there was some homophobia of course then. But I saw them being rewired – they felt it was kind of cool. “That’s why he leaps like that!” It became cool. I think for some kids who weren’t traditionally masculine, it became ok for them to pursue things like dance and ballet. “If he likes ballet it’s ok!” It helped shift that perspective.