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Paul     Sam, thanks for coming on to the podcast.

 

Sam     My pleasure.

 

Paul     Let's go back to your childhood. What did you want to be when you grew up? When you were a kid. Do you remember?

 

Sam     Wow. You know, I can't remember wanting to be, I can't remember what I wanted to be or if I wanted to be anything as a kid. The, the first, the first sort of inkling of, of kind of inspiration as far as what a what I might want to be involved with when I was an adult. I think it happened in maybe sixth or seventh grade. I was at home and watching a documentary about, uh, astrophysics and astrophysicists and, just scientists talking about black holes in the speed of light and gravity and all those questions and I got really inspired by that. And I thought, oh, that's, you know, that would be really cool to get involved with. It seemed very profoundto be a part of asking the big questions like the big, what are the biggest things in the universe? What are the, the biggest distances? And also like, what are the smallest things, the quantum mechanics part of it. So, and I, really got into that in high school too. Just the idea of it, like string theory. And that was kind of big when I was in high school, just coming out the string theory ideas. And so that, you know, that was really inspiring to me. And I thought, I didn't really think all the way down the line of what that profession would be, you know, like how it manifests itself in your life. But, but that was the first inkling of, of being inspired by something and finding something really fascinating and interesting and maybe pursuing it.

 

Paul     Yeah. Isn't it funny how when we were kids, there's just, there was no way of knowing what an astrophysicist would do. Like on a given day, you know, like what their life is really like, like now you can find out we have we have access to all information now. But like, you know, when we were kids, it was like we had no idea what the heck. Anything. Yeah, well, such a little access to information compared to now that.

 

Sam     Oh, that's so true. And the ideas were great. I'd read these ideas in scientific America or American. And there were these incredible eight page articles on the graviton, the graviton and hadrons and black holes and the warping of time. And I was like, wow, this is amazing. And then, you know, you realize the road to get there and the, and the road that you're on when you're there is all math. It's all math. And yeah, you know, I got, so I went to, I went to college and I was going to be a physics major. And, but I just my physics classes, I was never into. I was never, you know, I remember having a test in college. I had to find the center of gravity of an egg yolk on a forty five at a, you know, forty eight degree angle on a turntable. And it was extraordinarily hard and, I just it was just so far from, you know, string theory, you know, that I just didn't I didn't enjoy the process of it. And you really need to enjoy the process, the process of it. And so, so that was it. That was it for me in physics.

 

Paul     Yeah. It is all math, isn't it?

 

Sam     It's all math. Yeah. And look, it's creative ideas too, you know. You know, Einstein. Yeah. Would just sit around and have these ideas and then he'd, he'd figure. But he had the math back. He had the math abilities to, you know. Yeah. It's much more fun to much more fun to read a well written article on, on string theory and to actually research string theory. Absolutely. I mean, for me.

 

Paul     Yeah. All right. So when and how did you decide that you wanted to be an actor?

 

Sam     Well, you know, in college, even freshman year, there was a big acting scene and it was very cliquish. It was a little you know, I was was a lot of kids from prep school who had done plays and but I was really curious. They were running lines with each other in the halls, and it just seemed really fun. But I had this sense of, that's not, you're not a part of that club. You've never done it. You know, who are you to even think about doing something like that? That's, you know, you, you're not qualified and you've never done it. And so it was sort of on the back burner. And then my senior, the last semester of my senior year, a friend's, there was a, a new plays festival. Uh, they had like eight plays written by graduate students that they were going to be performed all the plays and they needed a ton of actors. So a friend of mine, just out of the blue said, you should audition for a play. And, and I, it's funny because I really, I didn't even consider doing it. But then somebody suggested it. I needed somebody to say, okay, it's okay for you to do that. And when they suggested it, I just got really excited. And I auditioned for a play and got cast. And, and that was that. That was my last semester of college. And that was the first, first play I did.

 

Paul     Wow. Your last semester of college. Did you did you see a career in acting ahead of you at that point? Could you visualize it well?

 

Sam     Well, to a certain degree, yes, because there were a lot of people who were doing that, you know. So it was a possibility in my world, there were people that were going to audition for Yale and Juilliard and NYU and San Diego and these great conservatories where you go for three years and continue to study acting as a graduate student. And there were, you know, and I did Brown summer theater, the summer theater there, which was we got paid, it was professional. We got paid very little, but we had alumni come back who were in the field of acting and, and they would, you know, do a part in the play with us. And so, you know, I, it, it really seemed crazy. It just seemed so crazy. But I didn't have any other better prospects. I didn't, I kind of applied to graduate schools, but I wasn't, I really wasn't that inspired to do that. It was just a continuation of college. , so I just thought once I got cast in the Brown Summer theater, which was a really hard thing to get, everybody wanted that and they just picked three of us. That's when I thought, okay, maybe, maybe you could do this, you know, maybe you could do this. Because it was a very quick kind of in my small little world rise to success, going from never acting to getting cast in the summer theater, uh, you know, at least was sort of like, oh, maybe you can do this. Yeah. All right. So, you know, yeah, to get to get that first piece of success.

 

Paul     Did it come from natural talent or did you work really hard to learn acting to get that first job?

 

Sam     Oh, no. That was just all luck. And, you know, whatever natural talent I had. I mean, because I had no experience, I had no acting, uh, class. I had never had an acting class or any instruction. I had nothing. But, you know, uh, it's, it's an art, so you can get lucky that way. You know, if you're going to be a doctor or a mechanical engineer, you can't just kind of be lucky or first try and get and do and build a bridge, you know? But this is something that's an art. So I, I was somehow able I know it's a good question because now I'm like, how did you learn that monologue and what did you do and what were you thinking? Yeah. , but you just do it and, and sort of, uh, you have a sense of it and.

 

Paul     But you did have performing an art experience as a musician, didn't you?

 

Sam     Yeah, I did, I'd been on stage or been in front of people performing a lot because I had been in bands since I was, you know, thirteen years old. So but that really, I mean, so I, I knew that I knew the, the joy, I knew the joy and the high you get from, from, you know, entertaining people on stage, you know, with music is very different than acting. But, there was that, but that really didn't, I don't think that helped me much, but, uh, but maybe, maybe it did.

 

Paul     Describe the first phase of your career when you when you lived in New York City and you were working in theater.

 

Sam     Well, okay, there was a whole period where I had a job that supported me and I would go out of town and do plays. You, you did a lot of regional theater in New York. , the, you know, the theaters, you know, in Connecticut, like Hartford Stage and, uh, you know, like Williamstown in Massachusetts, uh, Canada. I got cast, my first job was in Canada at the Manitoba Theatre Centre. They all come to New York to cast to find their cast, because that's where a lot of the, you know, sort of that's where a lot of the the people that are really studying theater and have experience come from. So that's what I started doing regional theater. So I go out of town for five weeks and do a play, and then come back and go back to my job and then go out of town and do a play. And then he sort of work your way back all the time. I'm auditioning for jobs in New York plays, but you really need experience for them to cast you in a real Off-Broadway or Broadway play. So after I was, you know, after, , a few years, I a couple of years, it seemed like forever. But now it seems so quick, , as I'm older, but it really did was like, felt like it took forever. , I finally got cast in a real Off-Broadway play, which is a big deal at the Manhattan Theatre Club. And then a year or two later, I got cast on Broadway. And that was a, that was kind of a, that was a really big break. You know, that was a really big moment.

 

Paul     Were you studying or taking classes? How were you learning?

 

Sam     Yes. Yeah, absolutely. So I was also doing little independent movies. I mean, really little but really good experience. And I was studying. Yeah. So I just started taking classes all over the place. I took a Meisner technique class and that's usually a two year program, but I just did the first year I was doing Stanislavski, you know, the method work. I was doing voice work. I took an audition class, I took a movement class. I kind of just treated it as if I was in a conservatory. And, you know, I just took as many classes as I could, uh, and really was really serious about it. You know, it was very, very serious about it and very inspired. And, , just, just put everything into it.

 

Paul     Did you have a backup plan or were you just fully committed? Like, I'm going to be an actor and nothing else and that's it?

 

Sam     No, I was fully committed. , I mean, there was always look, I had a, I had a degree, I had a I went to college and I graduated so I could have I could have gone to law school at any moment if I wanted to. , I could have, you know, so there were it wasn't like I was out there with no net, you know, like I, there were things I could have done. I never considered any of them seriously. , so I never really had a backup plan, uh, because I, you know, I don't know, I didn't, it wasn't, I didn't, it wasn't like I knew I was going to be a success at acting at all. It's just that I was, I was kind of dead set. I was kind of dead set on it. And, and I knew if it didn't work out, there would be other options because I'd gone to college and, you know, , I didn't know what that would be, but I didn't even really, you know.

 

Paul     What do you think you did differently than other actors at that time in your life that led to your success?

 

Sam     Well, there's so many reasons and also random things that happen that, that lead to one person's quote unquote success and somebody else's, you know, not making it. I mean, one thing I did was I worked really hard. I was very, very, I just, I did, I worked really hard at it and took all the classes and, you know, I didn't go out and party the night before I had an audition. , I, you know, and when I got work, I really was focused. So that was helpful. And, and then, you know, it's just also, . I guess like with any art, it's like if, what you're if what you're creating is appealing to people, they're going to buy it. You know, so like a painter might have a certain kind of skill that is that is commercial and people like it and they buy it. And I was, I was just lucky. I was, I was sort of, you know, born with a certain amount of ability to, to do it. And there's just that too, just whatever natural talent you have. And so that, you know, that was helpful. And then there's just, you know, there's just good luck and, and, and also persistence, you know, , you don't get the luck if you don't have, if you don't work hard and persist, you've got to stay in it. Like I went through, I've gone through so much rejection, so much, you know, deeply painful rejection. And you feel like quitting and you're so angry and you have to just and then you get an audition that night for the next day and you're like, are you kidding? I just got rejected. How am I gonna find the will and the fortitude and the gumption and the inspiration to learn another thing when I just didn't get the thing. Like, we need to have a burial for this other part that I didn't get and, like, have a funeral. Like, I can't just go on to the next thing, but you have to. So that's really a big thing is like sticking with it. You know, it's, you got, it's just persistence and every day working hard and always and I'll tell you something, you got to do it today. I, I've been doing it for thirty years and I'm about to go back to my job in Romania. And I was working on it today. And I thought in my head, you can't slack off. You know, you can't. Yeah. You know, you could, I could, I could just kind of wing it. I could just go back and, and be pretty good and not do that much work. Or I could do a lot of work and be a little bit better than pretty good, or maybe a lot better than pretty good. And at my age, and after I've been around for a while, a lot of people you can't ever let your, you can't ever, like, take your foot off the gas. In my business, you always like you're only as good as the last thing you did. And you, you just you always have to, you know, you're only going to be as good as, as how much you put into it. You know, you're really and it just it, it's the same today as it was when I was twenty five. And I think that's a challenge for a lot of artists is, continuing to find the inspiration throughout your career because you always have to have it, or your work is going to suffer, you know, and it's hard to find inspiration.

 

Paul     so what were you doing today to prepare for your job in Romania?

 

Sam     Well, okay, so today I was just sitting listening to Shelby Foote. I just listened to Shelby Foote. , because I'm doing his voice for this. I'm playing Jefferson Davis in this Civil War, Civil War limited series. So, you know, and then I looked at the scenes and, you know, went over the lines and thought about and just let it wash over me and tried to think about what the character would be, you know, what would be on his mind that day, what you know, what would be on his mind during that conversation with the, what moments he might have in the scene. On other days, I'll listen. You know, I've read a couple of books. I'm listening to a book on audiotape, you know, there's, there's a lot of information on this particular job research to do. So that's, uh, that's good, good fortune because sometimes you just have to make it all up.

 

Paul     To what degree do you, to what degree do you become your characters? Did they leave? Like when the job's over? Is does that character that you wore remain in you a little bit? Does it change your personality? Does it stay with you?

 

Sam     Oh well that's a you know, does it change? I like that question. Does it change your personality? I mean, I think it might when you're in it and you're and you're kind of on a work day, you're doing the scenes and you're stopping, then you're doing the scenes. I think it maybe it does stick around in you, in your personality. You know, when I go home and go back. It seems like everything I do now is out of town. But when I get back home, it's not like I, I still, you know, I mean, that would be kind of cool and dramatic if I was still the character, but I'm really not in a way really not.

 

Paul     Yeah. I mean, uh, when you're on the job in Romania, are you Jefferson Davis the whole time? Or partly?

 

Sam     No, I mean, I I'm I'm not I don't. Do you know what Daniel Day Lewis does? I've never really committed to doing that. Where you keep. I've done it a few times where I keep the accent, but I'm not doing it. That's a rarity where you, you're always, in character. That's exhausting, you know, and, you know, one of the things you have to manage, you learn to manage as you, as you go, especially with, with movies is your energy level and your inspiration. And you have to be on really on at certain moments. You know, when they say action and cut, you've got to be, you got to be killing it and you've got to be, you got to be right where you want to be. And if you and I've learned because I've done it, I've done it the hard way. I've stayed in certain emotional places all day long for a scene, you know, that I thought was going to happen, that that happens at six p m and that you can just wear yourself out and you're not as fresh but you know it. For instance, for this job, I'll frequently. I won't do a lot of. You know, while I'm doing scenes. I'll just listen either to Shelby Foote's voice or I'll just say on my own, like, I won't go around talking to people and chatting because I need to stay in a focused place and everybody has their own way of doing it. But for me, I kind of especially when you're doing a big character that's very different from yourself, it's, you're putting on a lot of, you know, my, the way I walk, the way I sit, the way I talk, certainly the way I look, they put on this, they put hand, hand, do a beard on me and my hair and everything. You have to kind of stay in a zone so that you can really commit to the voice and commit to everything else. It's hard to just be yourself, which is just a, you know, because yourself, you have a voice and you have a posture and you have everything very different than what you're going to be asked to do. And if you swing out of it too much, then for me, like it doesn't help me, like I need to kind of stay close to it, you know, I stay kind of close to it, but not completely in it.

 

Paul     How much work does it take to develop a different voice, a different accent? Like you're speaking in an old southern accent in this?

 

Sam     In this. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Uh, you know, it, it totally depends on I mean, the obvious answer is it totally depends on, on how close you are and whether you've done that accent and whether it's been in your life. You know, for me, the southern accent, I used to have a southern accent. I can't remember, uh, you know, when we lived in Louisiana, but I remember getting teased about it in West Virginia. And then I had a West Virginia accent. And then and I sort of assimilate naturally. I just sort of to wherever I am. So I don't really have those accents now, but they're kind of deep back there, so it's not too hard. But, you know, I don't like to just do a generalized idea. I usually take somebody's voice and to make it really particular, because especially with southern, you can sound a really cliche and like you're doing a TV southern accent or a southern accent. I like to have, if you listen to particular voices, you know, Shelby Foote will, will, will sometimes not pronounce an R, which is like a typical southern, you know, you know, thing. But then sometimes he will. And so you go, oh, what are those words where he will like that's what makes an accent really special and unique is because it's really from somebody's voice and, you know, and then and then it becomes more real. And that's what I like to, you know, as an actor, that's what you're inspired to do is to make people really think that you're is to hide your acting. You're just. You're trying to hide it and make everything believable. Yeah. So the more specific something is, the more believable it'll be.

 

Paul     When you were let's go back to New York when you were nominated for a Tony Award, did you consider remaining in New York and remaining a theater actor?

 

Sam     No. I wanted to leave New York by then. I wanted to do, I think, I think by then I was a little, I just gotten for a number of reasons, I'd gotten a little tired of New York. I wanted some more greenery. And, you know, we kind of grew up in a very woodsy places and, so I wanted to, you know, just the West Coast. The other option was Los Angeles at the time. Now you can pretty much be anywhere but Los Angeles and Los Angeles was, you know, just had the beach and it had the mountains and I and space and I, you know, I just wanted to do more movies and, and, uh, at that time. And so, and I, my career, I felt like my career was just had taken so long for me to get what I had gotten. And looking back, it really hadn't, you know, but it felt like it. So I felt like I had already done my time in New York and wanted to move on at that point, but it took me a while to move. You know, it took me another, you know, five years or something or six. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

 

Paul     Are you still taking classes or have you gotten to a point in your career where, where you're not, uh, where you're working on things yourself without having to be directed by, uh, classes or books or. Is there any continuing education going on?

 

Sam     Yeah. I mean, I, I haven't been in a class in a few years, but I have. I know classes, I have friends that you know, in my place, you know, at my age that are that are doing classes. And I would definitely go back to a class, and certainly people get coaches and that's a luxury and a great thing. And I just I didn't do one for this job or the last job. They kind of came up quick. but people, the people, uh, yeah, I mean, I'm, it's still very much very helpful. And, you know, all the, all the big movie stars, you know, Nicole Kidman, she has a coach every single job she does. I mean, that's, that's not like a step back. That's like a step forward. You know, that's a, that's a luxury. That's always something that will help. If you can have somebody like a second eye that you trust watching what you're doing. so I haven't, but I guess what I'm trying to say is I haven't recently, but not because I'm above it. Like no one's above that. Like that's a, that's a, you know, a class is a certain thing you'd want to find. You wouldn't want to go to a class if you've been acting for a long time that had a bunch of people that hadn't acted before because it just wouldn't, wouldn't match up. Right. But, yeah, in my profession, you, you, you try to keep, try to keep learning. Always learning.

 

Paul     Are there books about acting that, that are relevant to what you're doing?

 

Sam     Oh, sure. You know, there's, there's, uh, I mean, I haven't read a book in a while, but sometimes I'll, I'll go back and read old books and I'll, really frequently get inspiration. You know, even reading interviews with other actors gives you can get something out of that. yeah. You know, it's a real thing. Like I said before, uh, just finding inspiration for every job. You know, you want to go into every job inspired to do better than you've ever done, or to give a certain kind of performance you've never given, or one that you have given but wanted. Or you want to do more with it, or you know, and however you can get the inspiration. You get it and you do it.

 

Paul     So for this job, you're listening to Shelby Foote. What else are you doing?

 

Sam     Oh, well, I, as I said, I read a couple books, you know, books on Jefferson, on Jefferson Davis. But also, you know, I've read I've been reading about the Civil War. I've been, I get on these, you know, these, these little, uh, tangents of reading about different generals, you know, in the Civil War that had relationships with, uh, with Jefferson Davis. There's just so much information out there, and just reading the script a bunch of times, you know? That's another thing is just reading the script and thinking about, you know. What's been happening with your character, you know, before the scene and what's going to happen afterwards. So you can, you can have something going into the scene that's not about the scene, but about your day before the scene. So you're kind of filled up with life in that way.

 

Paul     Yeah, that's I hadn't thought about that aspect of it. . So you moved to LA after New York City, how difficult was that transition to break into movies and TV after rising to, you know, to the top of the theater world?

 

Sam     Well, you know, it was, I'd already done some little movies and I did this a TV show, twenty episodes of a TV show. We just did one season, that was going to California. So I had done some stuff it really, and I had agents out here. So it was really should have been a smooth transition. And it was, but, uh, you know, just whatever karmically or just moving to a new place, I kind of, I feel like my career kind of just stalled for a little bit. I just, nothing really great happened for a while. I was living at a friend's house and I think for like almost a year. And I think, you know, finally when I moved out and got my own place, I think I, uh, you know, things started to happen again. So, you know, it was a, it was a little bit of a transition, but I, I enjoyed the life of it. I enjoyed, you know, the, the outdoors aspect of LA and I had some friends out here already. So it was really, it was really, a fairly easy transition in that, in that sense.

 

Paul     And in this second phase of your career, can you think of things that you did differently from other actors that has helped you in your career that have led to your success?

 

Sam     Well, gosh. You know, again, it's that persistence thing. When I got out here, things slowed down a bit, but I, but I stuck with it. You know, I got a, I got a really big break doing True Blood, which was a seven season series, which, you know, that's a real you're lucky to get one of those in your career. And, so that was, that was really good. There's a lot of luck and, you know, luck and persistence and hard work with the acting world. I mean, there's really no way to do it and there's no path to follow. And it's different for everybody. And a lot of people drop off because they just can't take it anymore. And I so respect it. Like people tell me they're not doing it anymore. I'm like, wow, you got out. That's amazing. You know, I'm happy for you, you know, but I've definitely worked really hard, but I've also been very fortunate, you know, I've gotten some, some really good jobs that have, that have helped keep me afloat and, and that have been inspiring and made me want to continue it.

 

Paul     Are there temptations you've had to avoid?

 

Sam     Well, gosh, I mean, yeah. Oh my God. Yeah, I mean, I hate to say it, but like, just like food, you know, like food.

 

Paul     I thought you were gonna say heroin.

 

Sam     No, I well, obviously look, obviously, uh, any, you know, drinking, you know, drinking, which I do in moderation, you know, big moderation, and food, you know, I really have to stay in good shape. You know, I have to that's another thing, you know, uh, well, another thing I would say you were saying, what did I do different? You know, the part of the working hard is also like exercising, eating well and also going to classes and continuing to learn when you're not working. If you're not working, you haven't worked in a year, then I say, why aren't you in a class? Like, because maybe you're not, maybe you, maybe you don't have a perspective on yourself and you're not as good as you were, and you need to sharpen something up or you need to change something karmically. Yeah. You know, there's a big energy thing too. And not to get to like crystal rubbing or anything like that, but, you know, if you, if you're, if you're not happy with how something's going, you got to do something to change it. And so that happened for me before true Blood, like I, I wasn't getting work. And so I was like, okay, I'm going to go to a class. And I really humbled myself. And it was a class that I was way more way, way more qualified than any of the people in it. But I thought, you know what? This is your this is this is your this is the lesson for you, you know, stay in it. The other actors are not real, are not good. And they're not going to ever do there's nothing, you know, they've never even some of them have never even acted. I got in this class, but the teacher was saying some interesting stuff. So I took notes and I humbled myself and I got in and I did some great scenes and it was good, but anyway, I got off the I'm sorry I got off the topic. You said temptations. I really have to watch what I eat. I can't, you know, like, I love beer, but that's a total, you know, just because of the weight gain that I will get and. I exercise and so…

 

Paul     You gave up sugar, didn't you? Sweets?

 

Sam     I did, I gave, yeah, I haven't had, I haven't had a dessert. Uh, I haven't had a candy bar, a cookie, a piece of cake, a lick of ice cream in six years. Yeah. I'm done. No that's it. I'm done. Because I, I was just like any normal human, you know, like I was having to like. Yeah, for me getting to the weight I wanted to be. , and I'm not talking about being really skinny. I'm talking about just, you know, not having a gut. It's not easy. It's tough. It's not easy with, with the food that's provided to us in this world. Yeah, to not have a gut if you're of a certain age, you know, and I know, I know you don't because all you do is work is like hoist sails, work at scuba. I mean, you're like a, you're like the most athletic person that I that I know, but I have to work on keeping my gut down too, though, you know? Yeah. It's something that it's and look, you know, you, you know, there could be an argument that's like, well, then you could play people that have a gut. And that's true. But, uh, in my experience, there's more parts for, for me, if I'm in good shape, you just look better. There's just the thing, like I'm always getting, you know, you're getting photographed. It's a, it's a medium in front of a camera. You want to look as good as you can.

 

Paul     Yeah. I know what you mean with, with treats like I can't buy , cookies, for instance. Like I, I walk down the aisle at the grocery store. I would love to just grab a, a small bag of chocolate chip cookies. I would eat them all. Right away. So I can't buy them.

 

Sam     And I'm like that now with anything salty, like crackers or chips. That's another thing that I try to limit to a great degree. Just because I can't handle it. I'll eat the whole bag. You know, I can't buy, I can't buy potato chips, I never do. Yeah, I'll eat the whole bag. It's tough. Yeah. And it's tough. I mean, you know, and that's that's and that's giving something you know look it's I don't and I'm not saying believe me, I'm not saying that that anybody should give up sweets because that life is short and you should enjoy it. but for me, that's why I'm saying like, it's, that's a sacrifice that I do. But honestly, with those desserts, I don't even think about it. It took one month and then that was. Yeah, my body got over that. I don't even think about it now. It doesn't it's not even a temptation.

 

Paul     After a month there's no more temptation?

 

Sam     Yeah.

 

Paul     Nice. What about drugs? Is there a drug scene amongst actors that you have to avoid, or is that a rarity?

 

Sam     You know what? It is really a rarity now. And it used to be different. I mean, it, you know, and look, I didn't work in the seventies and 80s, but I know people that did. And that was a whole different world. The sixties, the fifties, the amount of like drinking and yeah, but it's really changed. My profession has really, really, really changed. And there's, there's no zero drug culture. Uh, you know, there's nobody's doing cocaine in the trailers like that just doesn't like, you know, you hear stories about, about that, you know, in the nineties, early nineties and eighties. And, you know, people were, you know, these big movie stars who, were doing great in their careers. And, you know, there was this whole thing. I mean, certainly there's a, you know, going out to dinner and you have a couple drinks and stuff like that, but you don't even half the people, fifty percent are more of the actors that I know are sober. I fifty percent, fifty five out of ten are sober. Period. So that's amazing. Even going out like we'll go out, you know, in Bucharest, it's really fun. The producer will take everybody out for dinner and half the people aren't even, you know, drinking, you know, so it's really not, it's really not a, there's really no, uh, drug culture at all anymore. People are really focused.

 

Paul     You know, I, yeah, I was going to say, is that because the competition is that fierce and you have to, you have to be that much better than you did in the nineties.

 

Sam     You know, it's such an interesting question. It's really interesting. I think it's a I think it's a number of factors. I don't know if it's more competition because I feel like it's always been really competitive, but I think the level of professionalism. Yeah, I mean, I think I think Instagram has changed things like you can't be out and be totally wasted without it getting blasted everywhere. And I think, I think the paparazzi, even in the, in the late nineteen nineties when that started, were like really badly. I mean, the paparazzi has always been around, but like, I feel like that maybe changed things a bit, people are, I think people are more conscious of diet now. And, but I think it's a, it's a really great question and I'm curious to like why, why it's less, because I don't think it's just that people are more serious or people, you know, I don't think it's that simple. I think there's a cultural, a cultural thing that's happened.

 

Paul     Well, it seems to me just the fact that you have to remember so many lines like, like there's probably no one that smokes weed who's, who's at your level because it just screws up your oh, no memory so much.

 

Sam     No, that's not true. People smoke. People do smoke weed, but not a ton. Yeah, but not on. But not. But not on set. Like not while they're working, you know. But there are there are people that that smoke weed. But yeah, I couldn't, I agree with you like I think that would for me, I, that just that drug never agreed with me and, I would be hard to learn lines. Always makes me a little slow.

 

Paul     Yeah. I mean, you know, I was a carpenter and I used to smoke and I noticed as soon as I quit, like, oh my gosh, I'm so much better at this job now. I remember numbers do math. I could add fractions now, right? Remember numbers. I remember instructions like, yeah, my God, I'm like twice as good as I used to be all of a sudden. I couldn't imagine being an actor and trying to memorize lines and be smoking at the same time. But, but, you know, some people use that drug responsibly on weekends or whatever, not like I used to do, which was completely irresponsible.

 

Sam     Right, right. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

 

Paul     Well, what about speaking of temptations? What about professional temptations? I remember there was. I remember you saying something about a job. You were offered a full time job on a soap opera that you turned down.

 

Sam     Oh. For sure. Well, you know, it's. I mean, those are just those are just like, uh, you know, job, uh, choices and it depends on. Yeah. You know, it depends on what, where, what your goals are and what you can withstand. You know, I guess in that sense, I was like, I could, I could live without the money. and I thought that I didn't want to be on a soap opera, and I did, and it didn't. It wasn't going to lead toward the path of doing more theater and more movies. I didn't think so. That's why I didn't do that. But it's always tricky because you get offers to do jobs and you have to kind of weigh the risk benefit. It always takes you out of the game for that two months. You're not able to do anything else. And then for me, it's now is like, I'll have to be away from my family for my boys. And that's a consideration, you know, is it worth the money? Is it worth the no money? You know, as the case may be. Is it going to further your career? You know, we're always looking to, we're always looking to, to actors are like, always like they don't quite have it yet. Like it's always like you're looking for the next thing that's going to get you to where you want to be. No matter where you are in your career, you're kind of always looking, unless you're Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp, you know, you're always looking to, to try. It's, it's like you're in a fight. And that's one of the fun things about it. You're never there. You're, you're always in a fight and it's always on the horizon. It's always your career is gonna get there. It's going to get there. You know, you're going to get where you want to be, wherever you want to be. You want to be at the next level up. So, so yeah, there's certain jobs that aren't going to help you get there. but there's something the, a euphemism people always use here is move, does it move the needle? Uh, that's what agents are always like. I don't think it's going to move the needle, but you could go and do that job and make some money and, you know, you're always looking for the jobs that are going to. So yeah, you have to, you know, you sometimes reluctantly say no to things, for, you know, different reasons, family or, you know.

 

Paul     What do you think the ratio is to auditions, to jobs? How many auditions does it take to get one job? If you were to average all of them throughout your career? Well, you know, any idea on that?

 

Sam     No, none. Because when you're when you're in your, you know, when you're in your twenties, you know, back in the nineties where, you know, when I was doing it, there were so many auditions, there were so many because, because the, there's just lots of parts for young people in Hollywood. There's just, uh, there's just way more parts for young people. And then as you get older and then so you might do a ton more auditions than before for your one job. And then as you get older, there are fewer auditions. Uh, so, but, but they come around and they come around less. They come around not as and they come around not as often. So you may do fewer auditions for the job, but a lot of time might pass, you know, and a lot of the jobs I get now are offers. You know, these last two jobs were just offers that I just what I'm doing now and the one I just did before, but I've gone, you know, I've gone now it's now you, you don't even go into audition rooms. You, you make your own tape. You do what they call self tapes. So you do a self tape. And I mean, I've gone, I've gone a couple years without booking a self tape, you know, without booking it, without booking a job from an audition, you know, and but you'll get offers, you know, during that time you'll get an offer here, offer there. So it's, uh, there's, there's really, there's no ratio that I could give, but let's say, but it's a lot, let's say it's like, it's, it's, yeah, it's hard to get a job, let's say in the beginning.

 

Paul     Yeah, I guess I'm getting at, let's say, a new actor who's been working hard. What have they got to look forward to as far as like a tough, a tough year? Like how many auditions might a tough year.

 

Sam     They may they may not get a job at all. And who knows how many auditions will come down? I mean, I think it's different now because there was there were certain there was like pilot season when all the TV shows were casting and you'd literally get I'd have like sometimes six or seven auditions a week, you know, or eight, you'd have three in one day, then two, then three. It was crazy. You were reading so many scripts and you wouldn't get any of them, you know? And then, , but it's just, it's just so inconsistent, you know, how many I mean, the, the number of auditions I've had this year. I mean, granted, we're on a strike right now. We're striking. But is you could probably you could count it maybe five or six, you know, like, yeah, not many. I mean, that's, that's not average. That's, that's kind of low. but you know, as, as you get into the phase of your career where you're, you know, you're not in your twenties and you and you have you're somewhat known, you know, you're definitely known very well in the business and you're somewhat known outside of the business. and you have like a track record and you've done things, then it just is different because you'll just get offers, you know, all the best stuff. Usually you'll have to audition for like the very, the Christopher Nolan movie. You know, uh, I'm not getting offers to do the Christopher Nolan movie, but I'll have to read for it, you know? That's kind of the way the kind of the way it goes.

 

Paul     What are some of your favorite things about being an actor?

 

Sam     I like doing it, you know, I really like, I like working on the jobs that I get, uh, I like actually doing, I love the actual work environment. I love the community of people that you meet and going to work every day. You know, you get to know so many different people from the, the, you know, the camera operator to the first ad, which is assistant director, the, the hair and makeup. It's just like a camp. It's like summer camp. And, uh, you get to know people really well for a month. And then you and you, you're sure you're going to be best friends with them. And then you say goodbye and you never see him again, but and I also like the travel. I've, I've gotten to travel to some great, great, incredible, just incredible places that I never would have been to otherwise, you know? Just recently Romania and, and Taiwan before that and Morocco and Australia, just a lot of great international places and places domestically too.

 

Paul     Can you describe a day on set like, like, say you've got a like right now when, when you wake up in the morning, you're in, you're in Romania and it's a work day and you're going to be on set. Can you can you describe how that day goes? What are the different people you visit and trailers you go to and.

 

Sam     Yeah, sure. So okay, so I'll wait for the day. Yeah, I wake up in the morning, I go down to the street and get picked up by a driver who doesn't speak English. He's, you know, he speaks Romanian. , he drives me to the set and I get to the set and I go into my trailer and, the person that runs you call it base camp, which is where all the trailers are. It's not where you're actually shooting. It's a whole different area usually because it's a, it's a lot of, a lot of, you know, vehicles and trailers that have to be there. So the person running base camp usually comes up really quickly and says, ah, I'm gonna, I'll bring you into hair and makeup now, or they'll be like, sorry, it's going to be ten, fifteen minutes. , you know, so you put your stuff out in your trailer, then you, you go to hair and makeup where they, they do your hair, do your makeup. And for me, I'm usually, I usually don't have nothing. I usually have nothing. It's really quick. But for this job that I'm on now, it's two hours to do my hair and makeup. Yeah, it's a long because they, because you have a beard, I have a beard that they. It's this Italian crew. It's they're so cool. They just speak Italian and they're all tatted up and they're just so nice. And for my beard, they cut. Uh, I think it's like sheep's hair or something. And they glue it on like almost piece by piece. It's unbelievable. This guy won an Academy Award. Uh, the hair guy who runs it, and he's, he's incredible. So anyway, I'll go in there for two hours and I'll listen to, I'll listen to Shelby Foote, and then I come out and. And then I'll get, uh, I'll get in my costume. And I usually need help with that because it's, you know, the bow tie they just do for me. And, they, and there's some other buckles on my shoe because it's really old school. It's like from the eighteen sixties and was handmade and everything. And then I'll wait around. Sometimes you'll wait around like an hour or sometimes you'll go right to set and you'll go to set and, uh, everybody's there. And, and usually in this case, the director has almost always blocked out how you're going to do the scene. And when I say block, like he's figured out who's going to walk where, who's going to sit there because he's, he's thinking of the camera moves. And it's Roland Joffe who's a very, you know, he made the mission and the killing fields. He's, a major, you know, he's a legend. So you never argue with him. You're just like, great, we'll do that. And also it's a big day and you want to get through it. so you almost have no rehearsal time. So they'll be like, okay, let's run it. And so you kind of run it once or twice, you know, and you can have your script in your hand. It doesn't matter. But you usually try not to because you're going to have to do it at some point. And then they'll say, okay, let's bring in everybody. So everybody, the crew will watch it so that the light so that the, the director of photography will know where to put the lights and they'll talk about it and everybody will. And the prop person will know, okay, I'm going to need to get this prop that this the other, and then you and then you go away for a bit. Sometimes you go back to your trailer. Usually you just go sit down and they light it. And that takes, you know, fifteen to thirty minutes, sometimes a lot longer. And then you come back and maybe rehearse it once and then you go. So you have to know, you have to know it. You have to know it. You have to be able to walk in and be told how you're going to walk and move and know your lines and be able to do it great. There's really a lot demanded of you. Like you have to be able to deal like that's kind of, you know, what we get paid for in a way. You have to be able to really hit marks, be believable, know your lines. And you know, it has to seem like it's really happening. So then you do it. So then you do it. I'm giving you a really detailed account. I'm sorry, listeners, if this is getting boring.

 

Paul     No, that's just exactly what I wanted.

 

Sam     Okay, good. Because this this is seemingly. So then you do it a few times in one direction, and then they have to move the camera to shoot the other way because you have to get one side and then the other side. So then you do the other side and then they'll do a big master, which is like a big wide shot. Then they start moving in closer and closer to till. The last thing you're usually doing is the close ups. But every time they move the camera, they usually have to change the lighting. So you have to go back and sit and wait around. So if you're doing a really emotional scene, I had to do the scene where my kid had died and I was attacking this other person, and I did it all day. Start and stop like that. And you have to kind of keep your emotion in the same place. And I actually had tears and I wanted them to be real. And so I had to, you know, figure that out. And, and so anyway, you do that. Wow. And okay, so then that's one scene. Then if you're in the next scene, you go to a whole different room and you do the same thing. And, or if you're not in that scene, you go back to your trailer, wait while they do the next scene you're not in, and then you come back and, and it just goes like that. And then there's lunch for an hour and it usually usually shoot twelve hours. So unless if you're, if you're in from the beginning of the day to the end, and it can, it can be kind of, you know, it can be kind of brutal because we were shooting in one hundred degree weather and I had on it felt like five layers of clothing, like with a bow tie and overcoat, a vest and all of it wool.

 

Paul     With a fake beard on and a sheep's hair. Wig? Yeah, a sheep's hair. Beard.

 

Sam     Exactly. It could be goat. It's probably another farm animal that I'm, like, getting it wrong. Yeah, I'm telling you. But like, just like so hot. Like just because because the air conditioning, they all the another thing they do is they pump in smoke to give it atmosphere. If you see movies, sometimes it looks like if you, if you have a little bit of smoke in a room, the way the light works visually, it looks really interesting. So they've been doing that a lot. And I lost my voice. And then I was having to deal with the smoke and it was killing every. So it's you have to deal with that too, and then sometimes, you know, just at the actor complains moment. , sometimes it's, it's, it's like really cold and you have to pretend that you're hot and you have like a short sleeve shirt on. That would happen to a true blood a lot. We'd have on short sleeves and it would be thirty degrees. And that's pretty, pretty painful too. Or if you sometimes you're working all night and you're working in the rain and it's freezing and it's three in the morning, you know, so it's not all glamorous, you know, it can be pretty rigorous. And then some days you just have one scene, you cruise in, you do it and then you leave, you know, I mean, it just kind of depends.

 

Paul     Yeah. And I imagine it can be dangerous too sometimes. Huh?

 

Sam     It can. Yeah. It can definitely be dangerous. I've, I've worked with alligators and snakes and, people get hurt. Definitely. Just doing, you know, you have to do fights sometimes people, you know, can hurt, you can definitely hurt yourself. And of course, there's the fake bullet thing. You know, there's that whole situation too, which is very it's actually, I don't want to put that into danger category because I, I want, you know, people, you know, listeners should know that there are a trillion gunfights that have been shot and they continue to be shot. And people it's a very. Hollywood has an extraordinarily safe record on that, uh, on that front. Yeah. Are you using real guns in gunfights like that, that you're shooting blanks or is you're somebody that got killed, right? Yeah. I just thought Alec Baldwin thing, you know, that tragedy.

 

Paul     Was that a real gun that had something in it that wasn't supposed to be in it?

 

Sam     Yeah. It was. Yes, exactly, but sometimes you use blanks and some, and sometimes you, they just put in you, don't you. Most of the time you have a dummy gun that doesn't even have a barrel. And, and, uh, you know, especially if you're not shooting anything and you're just, you know, holding it or, you know, uh, threatening somebody, but yeah, that's that there's that too. Yeah, it's not too dangerous. We let the stunt people do a lot of the most dangerous stuff.

 

Paul     So you mentioned making yourself cry earlier. Can you. Can you do that? Can you actually make yourself cry?

 

Sam     Yeah, yeah.

 

Paul     Have you been able to do that your whole life? Or did you have to train yourself to be able to do that? No way in hell I'd be able to do that.

 

Sam     I know it's really hard. It's. I feel like it's not. Yeah. It's very it's really hard, but I, I started having to do that in theater and, yeah, you just have to, you know, a lot of, a lot of the work you do, is like, you know, there's, it just, that's where the classes help and just the experience, you just, you just do it and you figure it out, you figure out ways to do it, you know, or, and you know, it's actually having tears. They can give you fake tears. They can blow peppermint in your eyes to get make them red. No, they had this peppermint thing that they do that with, but it's really less about which I don't use. I never use because it's not really as much about the tears as it is about the emotion behind it. So it's about getting that emotion to where you would have tears. So, yeah, it's exhausting. It's really exhausting. Like doing that all day is a certain kind of exhaustion that it's, it's, yeah, it's not always a pleasant thing to have to do.

 

Paul     There must be a whole art or science or craft or all three mixed together behind pulling up emotions and making them real.

 

Sam     Yeah. I mean, because they're either real or they're not. And you can you can get away with faking it. But, but boy, that's you don't want to try it because if you don't get away with it, you're gonna look like you're I don't know, there's also a matter of pride, you know, like, if you really are, you know, you want to make things as real as possible because that's what's, that's what's fun and magic about the whole thing is, is from is really making a staged event as real as possible. It's just a, it's a weird thing to do. Like, it goes, you're kind of, you're kind of creating something that's not really there, but then really is there, you know, and it's a lot more interesting to me, just as a person to, for that event to be as real as possible, you know, and I don't like to I try not to, I don't like to fake things, you know, it just doesn't. Yeah. It feels lame, you know.

 

Paul     Well, say let's say you have to bring up emotions. do you like, say you have to be angry and fight. Do you think about things that make you angry or like, how does that happen?

 

Sam     Well, yeah, I mean, that that emotion comes easier to me, so I don't have to. I mean, it's funny, I think every human has certain emotions that are more on the surface than others or more that come to them. And that one I don't have to do a lot with. Like I, I can just suddenly, you know, yeah, you can find what's probably not a good trait to have, but I understand.

 

Paul     Hey, believe me, Sam, I understand that one. So what’s a difficult emotion. What's one of the hard ones?

 

Sam     The hardest? What? Crying is the hardest one? That's the hardest one. Yeah, it's really hard.

 

Paul     So how do you do it? Like what's the what's the what's part of the technique?

 

Sam     Well, think about something. You know, it's always different. Sometimes that music helps. Like music can get you in certain moods. And it's, there's really no technique. It's just, it's almost like child's play, you know, you just kind of. It's always different and you're just. Yeah.

 

Paul     Has acting helped you or made you, uh, develop a control over your emotions and your emotions in real life?

 

Sam     No, not not at all. No. No.

 

Paul     All right. All right. Now, what's the most fun? What's the most fun job you've ever had?

 

Sam     Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. You know what? This one I'm doing now is one of the most fun just because a the I love the part, but just being in Europe and being and the other guys I'm working with are so fun and great and having a community of people, that you're, are, are ready at a beck and call to go hang out and have dinner or whatever. And who you respect, you know, and who are interesting people, like really interesting people that, you know, that makes for a good job. And I've got that. I'm lucky. I have one of those right now. It's been one of the best. That play “Ah Wilderness” I did on Broadway was a great one. That show “Going to California” was one of my favorites. I loved that show.

 

Paul     Yeah, that show was hilarious. That was one of the most dangerous jobs too, wasn't it? Yeah, that was one of the ones where I encountered the alligator. That sounds terrifying. You're out in a swamp at night in the water. Like, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't get in the water in a swamp at night. Yeah. Like, I don't think you could pay me to do that. But I guess you're there and you just, you just can't. You're not going to say no, right?

 

Sam     I mean, yeah, it was sort of intimidation. You know we I was yeah, I was young and, and, uh, and kind of, you know, there was a power thing happening where I didn't feel like I had much power where I really did, but I, you know, I would never, that would never happen. Now that would never happen in that situation.

 

Paul     Yeah. Well, give us just a brief description of what happens to the listeners can understand what we're talking about.

 

Sam     We were shooting in New Orleans in one of the bayous south of the city where they actually give tours, boat tours, you know, through these, I guess there were old channels, for timber, for lumber. The, and it's a bayou, you know, it's a swamp which has no channels of anything. And then there are certain parts that do and, uh, but they give tours there to see, you know, to be in a big bayou. And they found the spot and they said they were going to have because they had a scene of us in a bayou at night, like swimming. And they said they were going to have it all like fenced off. And the only fence that was there was on the floor of the mud. So we could walk out for, you know, three feet. And there were alligators everywhere. Like it was the most. You talk about it now and, you know, that's the most insane thing ever. And the guy running it was like, you Hollywood people are crazy. And we were in we were in there all night and you could just walk. I'm not exaggerating twenty five yards in either direction and shine a light in the same water you were in. And you'd see an eye, you know, eyes and our little alligators everywhere. And snakes and snapping turtles and everything. Yeah, yeah. Oh, man. Yeah, yeah. But overall, was that a fun project to work on “Going to California.” It was great. Yeah, it was a, it was one of my favorites. It was really one of my favorites.

 

Paul     Yeah. Is that, is that still available? Can people watch that?

 

Sam     Unfortunately, it's kind of lost because they only they got so many expensive put so many expensive songs in it. And they only bought the rights for five years. And the music rights are over and nobody would have any really incentive to re buy the rights for it. So it's yeah, it's done.

 

Paul     All right. So what advice would you give to a young actor, young aspiring actor, any, any general advice you can think of?

 

Sam     That's so tough because, I mean, I would say just it's tough because I wouldn't say stay in it, keep going, keep going. Because if you, if you're not liking it, you should get out, you know, but I would say if you expect this is what I would say. If you expect to be successful, you're going to have to deal with a lot of rejection and you're going to have to be very persistent, you know, not everybody has to be an actor. And, and if you, if you, if you can't deal with that lifestyle, then you just get out and it's, there's no harm done or anything. But, I would say if you, if you're, if you're really inspired and you really are going to do it and want to do it, you have to work really hard. I would say that you have to really find inspiration for every job and treat every job as if it could be your last and, and, really work hard and try to enjoy it too. It's like you got to work hard, but then you got to let go and enjoy it because, that's going to only be helpful as well is if you're kind of loose and, and enjoying it.

 

Paul     Excellent. Is there anything else that you want to talk about before we go that I haven't asked you?

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Sam     You've covered it pretty well. Paul, I think you. I think you got it.

 

Paul     Well, yeah, I, you know, I've there's anything else. I've lived with a lot of these questions in my head.

 

Sam     Oh you have?

 

Paul     Yeah. Yeah, sure. I mean, we're hey, everybody's curious about what actors do and what their lives are like. And, uh, that's what I've tried to what I've tried to go over today. I mean, from the outside, it's fascinating. You know, it looks like a fascinating career.

 

Sam     Yeah. It is, you know, there's a lot of, uh. Yeah. It's interesting. I mean, it is, it's really interesting. And, every, every job is different. And, there's a lot of downtime. You gotta stay productive and stay healthy while you're not working and stay positive.

 

Paul     Yeah. Cool. Well, thanks for your time, Sam. I really appreciate it.

 

Sam     Oh, yeah. You got it. My pleasure.

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