NICK GEORGE TALKS NEW LIFE

Interviewed by Culture Coast Talks editor Daniel John. Interview transcripts might have been edited for length and clarity.

'New Life' is inherently scary, but also hard to pin down as just one thing. It is part road movie, part a cat-and-mouse thriller and, despite its larger-than-life circumstances, emotionally grounded. What about this project that got you infected?

You know it’s endlessly fascinating as actor all that goes into how we select and are selected for projects. There are seemingly infinite and confounding variables involved in the casting-process but after being in the business for a while I’ve slowly learned though many repeated experiences that the right actor tends to find their way to the role. When I first read a script and audition I try and let my instincts guide me to what I find interesting or exciting. In the case of 'New Life' there was so much to be excited about. I read Jon Rosman’s script and instantly felt it was original and as you suggested, a bit genre-bending. It was so raw and real and hard to pin down right off the page. So that was exciting and a draw. Secondly, the film was going to be shot up in Oregon and it was clear from the script that Oregon and the Pacific Northwest of the United States in general was going to be a major character in the film. I grew up up in Oregon and Montana, so I was keen to travel up there for a while, go back to my roots, and work on the film for ten days. It was a fun journey.

John Rosman is a first-time filmmaker, which can be a gamble in terms of on-set vibe and end results alike. Now that we do know the film turned out great, what kind of set did you find yourself on?

“Gamble” is the perfect word for working with a first time writer director! You never really know what you’re going to get artistically and from their process. In many ways they are about to have a deep first experience of the beautiful and challenging adventure of living their dream. Of actualizing their vision by freeing it to be what it’s meant to become which is usually quite different than what we imagine it will be at the start. All of this can bring out either the best in us or the worst. In Jon’s case, he clearly was ready as a person to “say yes” to his dream fully so the process was immensely fun and positive. Ian was a smaller supporting character in his vision but Jon wanting me for the role after auditioning was exciting and an honor. It was clear from a few of our early conversations that his heart and mind were in a good place around this project, so I trusted my gut, and Jon’s and went to Portland. As far as the gamble is concerned, I'd say 'New Life' was a jackpot win. Not only did he direct an exceptionally good first feature film which is hard to do, he created one of the most relaxed and creative onset environments I’ve ever been on. It was clear that this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship for Jon Rosman and film making.

Are there specific tools you use for a character, whether for Ian or anyone else?

There are so many different tools that I like to pull out when working on a character but each time I like it to be a little different. To honor the project and the role by not pre-shaping too much. Haley Erin and I had some long distance rehearsals over Zoom during the pandemic to deepen and flush out our relationship in the film. It was clear from those, which were so playful and improvisational, that this would be a project served by some clear shared backstory and relational work. Ian and Jesse have so little time on screen together in which to have the audience be able to empathize with their relationship and Jessica’s burden so we wanted to be as playful and open to each other in the moment, as we could be. I have also been a long time practitioner of the Alexander-technique, which has served me as a performer in so many ways through the years, but particularly on projects like this that are dark and get incredibly heavy, it’s important to have healthy and safe ways to dip in and out of the requisite darkness of a project like this, so this was another time I was grateful for having the Alexander-technique in my toolbox.

The cast of this film brings in genre experience, and you're no stranger to scary films yourself having made your big-screen debut in one over two decades ago?

I hate to use the long and winding road analogy, but that’s really been it for me. Some days I feel like I’m just getting warmed up and others I feel like I have been on this acting adventure for a hundred years. It has been a rich and challenging journey for sure. I still feel that being free and safe to pursue a life in the arts is a very large privilege in our world. I feel creativity is innate and a human right but it’s only able to flourish when our other more basic needs are being met. So I feel fortunate to have had my particular struggles be my struggles. Working on 'New Life', as I said was personally very life affirming, which seems fitting! And yes as a person who doesn't gravitate as a viewer towards scary stories I certainly have acted in many of them. Perhaps a few more than I’ve seen!

Did you ever hold any jobs outside of acting?

Oh, God yes, you name it and I’ve done it. Carpentry. Restaurants. And lots and lots of teaching. I worked on an all Irish construction crew in New York one summer and was offered the job on the day I applied because someone on the crew had just cut off the tip of his finger right before I arrived. True story, bad day for him, good day for a poor young actor hustling in New York. For the past ten years, I’ve had a thriving Alexander-technique coaching- and teaching practice in LA. I work with many actors and folks from all walks of life, it allows me to smoothly, move, back-and-forth between being in front of the camera and behind it in my life, which is another great blessing.

Was there any particular moment in your career where you remember thinking that things might work out?

I love this question because I had such a long period of my early career that just wasn’t working out. I had a little bit of early success in my first couple years, some beginners luck perhaps with 'Jeepers Creepers 2' and a couple commercials which kept my rent paid and cheep wine in the cabinet, but after that I was on the Mark Ruffalo trajectory which was hundreds of early auditions with not much to show for it. I’ve never been very good at quitting things which I was taught is a virtu, now I’m not so sure. So at thirty-three I was punch drunk from fifteen years in Hollywood, and not much to show for it. All the other areas in my life garden were seemingly flourishing, I was happily married, a new father, and blessed with other interests. At this juncture, with the sleepless baby nights, and a bit of an existential crisis happening in my life, I seriously pondered quitting acting. Whatever that means. I grew my hair long focused on my family, playing music, surfing and felt really good. It was at this stage around 2016 of course that things started to click for me and the work started to come finally, it was all a lesson in non-attachment and not trying to hard. I believe the work is really about how we show up and presence ourselves in the moment. It’s taken me a long time to learn that. To “do less and “be more”.

Have your values and approach to the craft changed over time, especially since becoming a dad, which can rewire one’s perspective a bit?

There are no better teachers on earth than children. It’s funny because they are also the best learners, not surprisingly fatherhood completely change the journey of what it meant to be a person in this lifetime, for me. The responsibility to the presence required to be a reasonably good dad really helped me focus as a person, and as an actor. It no longer worked to obsess over things that weren’t worthy of obsession. And those things that were worthy, to really focus and give it all, so as to come back to the family whole and without resentment. It seemed a healthier approach to auditioning too. There is this sense walking in the room or doing your self tape that’s like, “Ok here I am, here’s my take on the character in this moment, I’m fully present and committed, and as soon as it is over, I need to go and pick up my daughter from school and really be with her”. That energy of less attachment to outcomes changes the process and the outcome very often in a healthy way paradoxically. I feel great about where I am now looking forward. The pandemic years were a long and complete trip through the existential blender for me. Gravity and life changed in the swirl a great deal. Last year my little family and I moved up to the mountains, about an hour outside of LA, and it’s been the best move for all of us. Just to be in a more relaxed and natural place again after many years. I’m still close enough to LA to wear my acting hat and city clothes when it’s time. But I’m sleeping with the owls and the coyotes at night again and It feels great. Like a "new life", perhaps.