Love for the Stage with Monty Renfro
Nicholas and Derek talk to Actor Monty Renfro about his love for Theater and the play he just finished.
Transcript
This is Film Center.
Speaker:Your number one show for real entertainment industry news.
Speaker:No fluff, all facts.
Speaker:Now, here are your anchors, Derek Johnson II and Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:Hey everyone, welcome to Film Center.
Speaker:I'm Derek Johnson II.
Speaker:I'm Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:And what are we doing today, Nicholas?
Speaker:We are going to be introducing a a very important person who's
Speaker:actually connected to somebody else.
Speaker:We just previously interviewed.
Speaker:Would you like to introduce yourself?
Speaker:My name is Monty Renfro.
Speaker:Monty.
Speaker:How you doing today, bud?
Speaker:Good, Derek.
Speaker:How are you?
Speaker:Doing pretty good.
Speaker:As you guys know, we take the show on the road, but today we
Speaker:are here at an office in Westlake.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And if you guys didn't know Monty, you are in a relationship
Speaker:with one of our previous guests.
Speaker:I am.
Speaker:With Cat Q.
Speaker:I don't know if we should get into that, but it's his message.
Speaker:Thank you very much for coming by.
Speaker:Thank you guys.
Speaker:How was the drive?
Speaker:Did it take?
Speaker:It was actually very nice.
Speaker:It was a very nice.
Speaker:How long did it take to get here?
Speaker:30 minutes.
Speaker:No standstill traffic.
Speaker:No accidents.
Speaker:No construction.
Speaker:Nice and smooth.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:Beautiful.
Speaker:In LA?
Speaker:In LA.
Speaker:The sky must have opened up for you, man.
Speaker:That's crazy.
Speaker:Literally.
Speaker:Nice and sunny.
Speaker:It must have smiled down on you.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Did you find the parking?
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Perfect.
Speaker:Super.
Speaker:Monty.
Speaker:Where are you from?
Speaker:I'm from Paso Robles, California.
Speaker:And so that's about where you said, Oh what a PASA Paso
Speaker:Robles, California where is that?
Speaker:That's about three and a half hours to four hours North of here.
Speaker:It's very famous for, wine and a lot of, so in your Napa, baby.
Speaker:It's not near Napa.
Speaker:It's, so Napa is like up there by San Francisco and Paso Poblos
Speaker:is quite literally smack dab in the middle of the state.
Speaker:I said Napa, that is near San Francisco.
Speaker:Yeah, it's up there, it's up there.
Speaker:I didn't know it was all the way up there.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:It's deep up there.
Speaker:I think it's a little actually past, I don't know if it's past it or just
Speaker:further inland from it, but it's a little bit a ways, but I think now, as far as
Speaker:the wine, I'm not a huge wine guy, so even though I live there, but I think
Speaker:now, Paso Robles either rivals it or surpasses it as far as like the tourism
Speaker:and the actual number of wineries.
Speaker:There's, I think it's just the number, it's the number of wineries.
Speaker:So they just get a huge influx of like tourism, especially in the summertime.
Speaker:We have a huge mid state fair that happens there in the it just as expensive
Speaker:as Napa or is it a little cheaper?
Speaker:Because if it's cheaper.
Speaker:Yeah, I'd like to think we're still cheaper than Napa, but I graduated high
Speaker:school and left home about in 2012.
Speaker:And so since then to now it's changed drastically.
Speaker:And we have it's a little town.
Speaker:I'm sure 20, 2012.
Speaker:2012 United States was completely different.
Speaker:Yeah, it's a completely different planet.
Speaker:Dude, that was 12 years ago.
Speaker:I cannot.
Speaker:That's crazy.
Speaker:That's wild.
Speaker:I graduated 2010, oh, wow.
Speaker:Yeah, I say oh yeah, 2012.
Speaker:Like you said, it's 12 years ago.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:You know what?
Speaker:Our generation has survived so many Disasters that were supposed to happen.
Speaker:Isn't it a pleasure to live through history?
Speaker:We have lived, as millennials, through so many one time events.
Speaker:Once in a lifetime events.
Speaker:Damn.
Speaker:They're basically just annual or semi annual events.
Speaker:If someone was like, Oh, do you know a meteor is heading towards Earth?
Speaker:They'd be like, Cool.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So you remember, what does this have to do with my paycheck that comes on Friday?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I was gonna get to something when the government was like, Hey, there's aliens.
Speaker:He's yeah.
Speaker:So what does that have to do?
Speaker:I got rent to pay.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:There's inflation happening.
Speaker:You guys are obviously covering something up.
Speaker:Talking about aliens.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Oh, you mean the thing that humans said existed thousands of years ago?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We're past that . Yeah.
Speaker:We're not going to worry about it.
Speaker:You said there's murder, hornets.
Speaker:Oh, yeah, okay.
Speaker:Oh, Killer Clowns?
Speaker:Yeah, no, I got it.
Speaker:Oh, no problem.
Speaker:Since you're from Cali, is that a lot of people from California, a lot of times,
Speaker:sometimes, they'll get the acting bug from the area, but you're not even from,
Speaker:you're from up you're from a few hours up.
Speaker:I'm from the country.
Speaker:Have you always been interested in acting?
Speaker:For a really long time, man.
Speaker:I was really lucky that I had family who really, valued the
Speaker:arts and thought it was important.
Speaker:I have a younger brother by five years, and my mom For our audience
Speaker:who are the early bir Monty is an actor in his own right.
Speaker:I am.
Speaker:As well, previously too!
Speaker:If I didn't establish it, he's not like a hanger on, he was retired at 30.
Speaker:So you were.
Speaker:Yeah, I got to be exposed to theater pretty early on.
Speaker:I remember seeing Beauty and the Beast as a really young kid and just
Speaker:being blown away at seeing that kind of spectacle live in front of me.
Speaker:Because I'd seen the animated movie and it was so clear.
Speaker:Fantastical.
Speaker:You know what's interesting, you say Beauty and the Beast, this guy.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:No I worked for Disney on Beauty and the Beast.
Speaker:No way!
Speaker:You made the what, the Beast costume?
Speaker:Yeah, I made like the Beast's hair pieces.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:For the character in the park or for the movie?
Speaker:It was for Disney Disney Princess Cruise Line.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Their play that they, their big, huge production that they put on.
Speaker:So I made, like, all the facial hair pieces for the Beauty and the Beast.
Speaker:For the Beast, actually.
Speaker:That's a flashback thing, because I remember this guy.
Speaker:He's I remember seeing him cause we, we used to be roommates.
Speaker:So he's like putting like individual hairs.
Speaker:I was going to say that must be such a meticulous process.
Speaker:It definitely is.
Speaker:But it's also really Zen I bet.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Very relaxing.
Speaker:Like I have ADHD, so it's it really helps me focus.
Speaker:And then it's just like, all you have to do is focus on the next hole.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Are you the oldest of your siblings?
Speaker:You said you have a little brother.
Speaker:I am.
Speaker:I have a little brother.
Speaker:We're five years apart.
Speaker:I have a little big brother.
Speaker:He's, yeah.
Speaker:About he's over six feet tall and just a big strong, like country kid.
Speaker:He has his own construction company, semi trucking company.
Speaker:Okay, cool.
Speaker:You'd almost think opposites, but we share a lot in common still.
Speaker:Do you often pull out that, Hey, I'm still your big brother, right?
Speaker:Understood it's country kids.
Speaker:I'd like to think it's understood.
Speaker:But also like he's just, we're just really good friends.
Speaker:So very, I don't ever feel like the need to be like, Hey, little
Speaker:brother or anything like that.
Speaker:We're really close.
Speaker:So I'm grateful to have that.
Speaker:It's more like my little brother is a best friend as opposed to a
Speaker:separational let me keep you in check.
Speaker:So you started getting into acting when you were in high school doing theater.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So I got into an acting class, my freshman year of high school.
Speaker:It was more, I didn't, I had an interest in it because I liked movies and I'd
Speaker:seen plays and things like that, so I had a bit more of an openness to
Speaker:it than someone from my area might.
Speaker:And it, but it was more like, I had to take an art elective, and I
Speaker:cannot draw to save my life at all, and I was like, oh, acting, drama,
Speaker:cool I know this should be fun.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But I looked at it more as it'd be a fun elective to take.
Speaker:I think what's very interesting about what you're saying is that, a lot of
Speaker:people, when they view California, they think the whole thing is just Hollywood.
Speaker:Yeah, I know it's really not.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's not at all.
Speaker:Yeah, that, that's the and it seems like everywhere it's like your elective is
Speaker:you either do band or you do theater.
Speaker:Yeah, it's you pick one.
Speaker:Yeah, pretty much.
Speaker:I'm like, okay, I can't play the clarinet, can't draw, so we're going to go act.
Speaker:Cause my track then was like baseball.
Speaker:I wanted to play baseball.
Speaker:Oh, what position were you?
Speaker:I was a catcher.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:But I was a left handed catcher, so there was a Yeah, there was a You're
Speaker:like the only one in existence.
Speaker:I know, I think it was proof was right there.
Speaker:I was like, maybe this isn't gonna be the route that I wanted to play one of
Speaker:the only positions where, even if you're an all star or anything like that,
Speaker:they're like, we want you to pitch, or we want you to play first base, or can
Speaker:you do something else besides catch.
Speaker:And I, I loved it.
Speaker:Did you ever get I remember when I was playing baseball, they had, we had one
Speaker:of our cat one of the catchers got smoked in the eye and he had stitches.
Speaker:And did you ever get any you get, yeah, you get hurt in such weird ways, man.
Speaker:The one that really was just more annoying.
Speaker:I was really lucky that I never got severely hurt from it, but it
Speaker:happened to me a couple of times.
Speaker:And every time it was just like, God, why?
Speaker:Where it's like when the guy would do a backswing, and they'd be coming
Speaker:around on their follow through.
Speaker:They would find like just the sweet spot.
Speaker:It's like the hole in the chain link mail armor or something like that, where
Speaker:we just hit you right on the temple.
Speaker:Right here with the edge of the bat just enough to like Dang for you to
Speaker:feel it for you to feel it and have a second and be sore and you're like, ah
Speaker:This no matter i'd try different masks throughout like my playing career and it
Speaker:would happen all the time That's great.
Speaker:I never really thought about that Yeah, did you ever talk crap to
Speaker:the batters as they were walking up all the time man all the time?
Speaker:It was so I remember when I used to play they better be like, you can't hit.
Speaker:Oh, you know You can't do this.
Speaker:You can't do that You know because I was really short and he was
Speaker:like Bro, you're only like four foot seven, how you gon hit, man?
Speaker:I used to watch movies like Major League and Bull Durham and stuff like that to
Speaker:get little inspirations because there's all those famous scenes in there.
Speaker:How often did you say it worked getting into their heads?
Speaker:I think it did work quite a bit.
Speaker:Because, it is very hard to hit a baseball at any level.
Speaker:And so even just I wouldn't even necessarily be talking straight up crap.
Speaker:I would be like, Oh, how's your day going?
Speaker:Like my picture's doing pretty good today.
Speaker:Good luck, man.
Speaker:Like curveballs really snapping.
Speaker:And that would be the thing that gets in their head more than just
Speaker:being like, You can't hit it.
Speaker:It's Hey man, how you doing?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Cause I feel like in sports, if you've done it, at least a little bit.
Speaker:You almost build up a defense against people talking smack to where it might be.
Speaker:But you're not used to someone talking nicely.
Speaker:Yeah, it's also because you're focused on trying to hit the ball.
Speaker:It's Hey, what's up, man?
Speaker:And you're like, Oh, that was a strike.
Speaker:It's okay.
Speaker:You'll get it next time.
Speaker:But usually, especially, growing up when you're kids, the umpires
Speaker:are a little bit more like cops.
Speaker:So they'd be like, all right, keep it down.
Speaker:Let's play the game.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So you went to, so when did you decide that you were gonna start, cause you
Speaker:came to what, LA right after high school?
Speaker:I did.
Speaker:So I got into a acting conservatory called AMDA, which is the American
Speaker:Musical and Dramatic Academy.
Speaker:What was the let's back up a second.
Speaker:Where was the moment where you were like, oh, okay, I think
Speaker:this is the path I'm gonna take.
Speaker:I'm not gonna do baseball anymore.
Speaker:I'm gonna go with that.
Speaker:Yeah, I There was two moments, really, honestly.
Speaker:It was my junior year in high school, and I was really up to that point.
Speaker:I'd really balanced both the athletics and, really had taken
Speaker:a very serious active interest in I really like this acting thing.
Speaker:It was just more at the time, like, How does one make a life
Speaker:and, a career out of this?
Speaker:What do your parents do?
Speaker:They were very supportive.
Speaker:Oh, they were very supportive?
Speaker:Yeah, my mom was very supportive.
Speaker:That's great to hear.
Speaker:Yeah, my mom was very supportive.
Speaker:My dad, he's very supportive as well.
Speaker:But I don't come from a family where anybody was an
Speaker:artist, you know what I mean?
Speaker:What did they do?
Speaker:My mom they helped me get through school, they helped me financially, they they
Speaker:encouraged me to go after your passion.
Speaker:Yeah, they were like, even if we don't necessarily fully understand this, they
Speaker:were very much whatever you want to do in life, just give it your all, give it 100%.
Speaker:It's your life to live, type thing.
Speaker:Yeah, so like, when you So the first time it was like, oh, you
Speaker:had that like decision I don't think I'm gonna do athletics.
Speaker:. But they were using this the second time.
Speaker:The second time was I, my mom is my senior high school gift.
Speaker:Like we had graduating gift.
Speaker:. She took me to New York to see a Broadway production of the Arthur
Speaker:Miller played Death of a Salesman.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:Oh, nice.
Speaker:So good.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I was insane.
Speaker:And it was, at the time, Philip Seymour Hoffman was still alive
Speaker:and he was playing the lead part.
Speaker:Andrew Garfield was.
Speaker:I think he had just been cast in Spider Man, so he was like, on the
Speaker:come up, and he was playing the son.
Speaker:And the rest of the cast was great, it was directed by this really great film
Speaker:and theater director named Mike Nichols.
Speaker:Yeah, Mike Nichols.
Speaker:Yeah, and so it was this thing, and she surprised me and took me out there for
Speaker:a weekend to see it, and we saw this The last evening show they had and I just
Speaker:think there's a different mystique, to a night show than to an afternoon matinee.
Speaker:They're different.
Speaker:Especially in New York, you go see a play in New York in the morning,
Speaker:they come out, everything's honking.
Speaker:It's all yeah.
Speaker:It's not as beautiful.
Speaker:No, it's oh, the plate doesn't get to sit on you.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You go, got to go back throughout your day.
Speaker:And then, oh, yeah, I saw that.
Speaker:But this evening, I kept seeing this evening show and it was their second to
Speaker:last one because then their mat their next matinee the next day was their
Speaker:closing show and it was just, it was the most powerful thing, film, theater,
Speaker:TV, anything I'd seen up to that point.
Speaker:I'd never experienced an audience in any medium collectively weeping together.
Speaker:That's incredible.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It was just this insane, and I'd done plays and stuff like
Speaker:that up to at that point.
Speaker:. And that was where I was really like, this is what, storytelling powering.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:This is what storytelling is capable of.
Speaker:. And just to see actors at that caliber working on writing of that caliber under
Speaker:direction of that caliber, it was it just lit something up inside me and I was like.
Speaker:Where I was I really love this acting thing.
Speaker:And at that point I was a senior.
Speaker:I committed okay, I'm going to figure out how to be an actor.
Speaker:And that was really the final thing where I was like, yeah, I want to do that.
Speaker:Like whatever Phil Hoffman did up there.
Speaker:I want to do that.
Speaker:So you said you were like, okay, I'm committing myself to being an actor.
Speaker:Now.
Speaker:The reason why I ask is because it's one thing for your parents to be supportive
Speaker:of something you take an interest in, but another thing for you to then go
Speaker:to your parents and be like, Hey, I want to make a career out of this.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm leaving, too.
Speaker:What is the converse, cause it's two different, it's
Speaker:two different conversations.
Speaker:It's I really this acting thing, and your parents are like, Great, I'm glad
Speaker:you're interested in it, and you're like, I want to make a career out of this.
Speaker:What did that conversation look like?
Speaker:I think it's an indicator of just how supportive that they were that trying
Speaker:to recall it now, like 12, 12 years ago, like we were talking about I don't
Speaker:really remember it being like a difficult conversation or anything like that.
Speaker:I just remember it being more like, Hey, this is what I want to do.
Speaker:And then going Okay, so what's the it was important to them that I get an education.
Speaker:So they're like, okay So where are you gonna go to school?
Speaker:What does that look like to study this, you know How are you gonna do it?
Speaker:How are you gonna make it real?
Speaker:and I Found this school called amda the american musical dramatic academy and
Speaker:you had to audition to get in right?
Speaker:Yeah the audition to get it.
Speaker:It's a tough school to get into isn't it?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah they're very they're they're intense, and I heard they're i'm
Speaker:not an actor, but I heard they're strict You They, yeah, they can be.
Speaker:I got lucky I got in.
Speaker:But and they're fantastic.
Speaker:They have so many, when you look at their roster of alumni and the alumni
Speaker:that are actually working actors.
Speaker:That's so important that there's working actors in the alumni.
Speaker:There's so many, you know what, and especially in Los Angeles is the number
Speaker:one place for Fake schools, right?
Speaker:Or it's Oh yeah, I'm an acting teacher.
Speaker:Cause I acted once in a short film back in the seventies.
Speaker:So now I'm going to charge you guys tons of money.
Speaker:It's great.
Speaker:But that's cool.
Speaker:They have so many great people who come out of there.
Speaker:So many great people.
Speaker:And the alumni there also.
Speaker:really generous.
Speaker:They come back, they talk to the incoming students.
Speaker:Like I remember at our orientation and the open house and the initial
Speaker:orientation, there was like people were on modern family was on at
Speaker:the time and it was a huge show.
Speaker:There was a woman who was in that.
Speaker:There were people who had done commercials, theater, all that,
Speaker:that were there saying, Hey, this is what you're going to learn here.
Speaker:And the thing that really hooked me was their stage combat program is at the time,
Speaker:I think it was number one in the country.
Speaker:And I'm sure it's, No, do you like stunts?
Speaker:Yeah I, it was all, I grew up watching Indiana Jones and stuff like that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So I was like, alright, I want to do the Harrison Ford thing.
Speaker:No, no stunt man's ever gonna do no jackass?
Speaker:Jack, come on, man.
Speaker:Of course Jack asks.
Speaker:Of course Jack.
Speaker:You don't even have the option for a stuntman there.
Speaker:And then how do you think being so you get into Amdo, right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:How does the experience of that play into you growing as a person?
Speaker:Because obviously you're coming out of high school.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, You're gonna be thrown right into the fire.
Speaker:You're getting thrown right into the fire.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And we all know how society, treat you to, cover your feelings
Speaker:and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker:How does that make you grow as a person throughout that experience?
Speaker:For me, it was the first time that I was in an environment where this was,
Speaker:it wasn't even like it's supported and we're celebrating each other for being
Speaker:actors or something, it was just normal.
Speaker:And so that to me, I felt it was like better than what you just mentioned.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It was more like I could just be this thing and even more so discover like,
Speaker:how do I actually feel about this?
Speaker:What kind, how do I, what kind of an actor do I want to be?
Speaker:There's a major difference between, people supporting you for getting
Speaker:in the door and other people who are like, yeah, we all live here.
Speaker:Now it's time to go further.
Speaker:We're not going to celebrate you for entering the enter.
Speaker:Entering part is over.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:You need to master this.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:What was you mentioned Indiana Jones Music Jacket.
Speaker:What were some other really big inspirations of yours when
Speaker:you were young to for acting?
Speaker:Yeah definitely Gladiator.
Speaker:Yeah, like that was a movie that I snuck to watch it while my mom was
Speaker:watching it, I was too young to see it.
Speaker:And I remember I'd seen the poster at Blockbuster, where Crow's up
Speaker:there In the armor with the sword.
Speaker:And it's just awesome.
Speaker:That man, he was in the best shape of his life.
Speaker:Best shape is tigers and all around in the heat.
Speaker:I think they shot it in Morocco.
Speaker:And it just, it seems so cool.
Speaker:And I snuck down this hallway, to our living room while my mom was watching it
Speaker:was the opening battle sequence and it's there's this Germanic tribesman that comes
Speaker:out and is yelling at the Romans with the head of their scout that they sent out.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I was at Adam and the crow's they say no to peace or something.
Speaker:And there's this closeup of the head rolling.
Speaker:And resting and I was a kid when I saw it and I was like, ah, and my mom turned
Speaker:around, I was like, get out of here.
Speaker:You're not supposed to be watching.
Speaker:What are you doing?
Speaker:Watch it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But then they I like stole the DVD and watched it on those little portable
Speaker:Sony DVD players, you know what I mean?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I'd watched it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I watched it under the covers.
Speaker:And I was obsessed with this movie and I would be seen so much better on that.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Then on an IMAX screen, like who needs that?
Speaker:It had my little Sony player under my covers.
Speaker:But that was, it was such a cool blend of spectacle and stunt, but
Speaker:also this guy who, was giving, at the time I didn't realize it, this really
Speaker:phenomenal lead performance, and just how grounded and specific he was.
Speaker:So that had a huge impact, and then, Pretty much like the answer that I think
Speaker:any actor in our generation would say is Heath Ledger and the Dark Knight.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I saw that the summer before I went into high school and that was part of
Speaker:when, the elective thing came around.
Speaker:I was like, what Heath Ledger did in that'd be fun to like maybe play around
Speaker:with in an acting class or something.
Speaker:It's so crazy.
Speaker:Especially because it's crazy to think now that was a risky
Speaker:acting risky casting choice.
Speaker:I remember.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:And, and he was Wow, I know he was 28 when he died.
Speaker:Yeah, so yeah.
Speaker:And there's so interesting ever since he's done that, everyone's
Speaker:been chasing that performance.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:And then Joaquin Phoenix was like, it's not exactly Heath Ledger, but
Speaker:I'm going to knock this out the water.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Which is awesome.
Speaker:Cause I feel like that was, it's more like a, The way, like, how theater is,
Speaker:there's been however many people that have played Hamlet in the course of history.
Speaker:It's still, each individual great performance that comes around every couple
Speaker:decades or so is celebrated in that way.
Speaker:Do you feel yourself more of a stunt action guy, or are
Speaker:you more more dramatic scenes?
Speaker:I'm all of it, man.
Speaker:Truly.
Speaker:I'm somebody that believes in I'm an actor and I act.
Speaker:I love the stunt stuff and I loved learning those things and having that
Speaker:skill set that's helped me get a lot of opportunities and something that I
Speaker:think Looks attractive to people that are casting where if you're doing something
Speaker:that involves stunts I'm sure that I've gotten roles where other people
Speaker:haven't had that experience or that training where I'm like, yeah, and you
Speaker:got the role because of it, I'm sure.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm totally 100% sure of actually, yeah, we, because especially 'cause
Speaker:we recently did some casting for it.
Speaker:, I'm sure we ever an exit show.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:While you were in amda, did you have any epiphanies that you came
Speaker:across that you were just like, wow.
Speaker:So many, even just specifically with the stunt stuff, where.
Speaker:As I actually learned it, I realized like, Oh, this is just another
Speaker:like color or paintbrush in like painting and creating a role.
Speaker:You know what I mean?
Speaker:And it's just something that can help you get like developing accents and
Speaker:how a character walks or moves or what they wear or anything like that.
Speaker:I look at that as it's part of that, as opposed to being something like secular
Speaker:from that kind of acting work, especially.
Speaker:On stage, when you're getting to do Shakespeare or something like that, and
Speaker:you get to be like a general fighting in a field, in England or something.
Speaker:It just helps, for me at least, it helps ground me in that reality a bit more.
Speaker:And it just takes me back to being a kid on the playground playing, Lord
Speaker:of the Rings or something like that.
Speaker:Playing, imaginary fights.
Speaker:All it is.
Speaker:That's all it is.
Speaker:It really is.
Speaker:So as a working actor, what do you usually do to prepare for a role?
Speaker:Does that mean, it usually, obviously depends on.
Speaker:But usually someone has that, they usually have those first steps that they do
Speaker:like I know, but like before I'm about to direct anything and after I read a
Speaker:script, I'm always like, all right, cool.
Speaker:And I go directly up to the right.
Speaker:I'm like, what is this based on?
Speaker:They always say the same thing.
Speaker:I was like, Oh, I had this idea and I was like, Oh, yeah.
Speaker:Cool, so I'm a writer too?
Speaker:You can stop lying to me.
Speaker:And they're like, oh, okay, it's based on x, Y, and Z.
Speaker:What is something that you initially do when you're preparing for the main roles?
Speaker:For me, like something that has to happen every single time is
Speaker:like working with the script.
Speaker:And that's, even before, If I have an opportunity to read
Speaker:something before I make a decision on joining it or not, that's, I
Speaker:always ask, can I see the script?
Speaker:And that's something I've had to learn, where, before I feel like I learned how
Speaker:to really break a script down, you say yes to things thinking, oh, this'll be
Speaker:cool, or this'll be exciting, and then you end up in something where, you know,
Speaker:oh, I actually don't understand this.
Speaker:And I'm having to work.
Speaker:A lot harder to just understand things to where if I had in the initial, very
Speaker:beginning of this thing, broken the script down and really understood what
Speaker:the demands of the story are, I could have made a little bit better decision,
Speaker:either if this was a role that, I was right for, and would be able to help tell
Speaker:really well, or it would have shown me a lot more Productive avenues I guess and
Speaker:going to work on a role and to give you pathways to okay This is how i'll prepare
Speaker:for this because like you said it's different every time and i'm someone i'm
Speaker:an actor I believe in having a toolbox.
Speaker:I don't really believe in subscribing like For one or two methods and that's how I
Speaker:do it every single time You just do it as a case by case basis type of thing?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Do you also think that the reason why you're a lot more selective
Speaker:now is because you're not so worried about getting the role?
Speaker:Just getting to do the work?
Speaker:Because at first you're just like, I just want to do some work.
Speaker:Especially when like quality, it's like quantity, but now it's like quality.
Speaker:The saying goes, it's like they'll promise you the moon and the stars and give
Speaker:you nothing but the dirt on the ground.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And they're, you're like, oh can I see the script?
Speaker:Can I see, they're like, don't worry about it, we'll just roll with it,
Speaker:we'll just we'll just feel it in the moment, we'll just and you're just
Speaker:like, we'll just go shoot something no, I don't want to do that, I want
Speaker:you to tell me what the script is, just something what do You don't realize it.
Speaker:That means we have absolutely nothing, but we don't want to tell you.
Speaker:We're not going to do anything.
Speaker:I hated that the most.
Speaker:One thing I, when I was in film school, one thing I absolutely hated, and this,
Speaker:I'm sure you've had this happen to you when you, especially when you were
Speaker:first starting out, because Nicholas knows, I talk about this all the time.
Speaker:The directors or the filmmakers, they don't deliver the cuts to their actors.
Speaker:They be like, oh, cool, hey man, come to this thing in the middle
Speaker:of the park, it'll be great.
Speaker:And you're like do you have a script?
Speaker:And they're like, no, we don't have a script, but come on over.
Speaker:And they'll have you out there for 12, 13 hours.
Speaker:In the cold, in the rain.
Speaker:In the cold, rain, sun, heat.
Speaker:Like you're a postman.
Speaker:You're just always there.
Speaker:They'll have you do all sorts of crazy.
Speaker:Oh, I want you to spin on your head and all this other crazy stuff.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:And then, you're like, Hey, wasn't this supposed to come out two weeks ago?
Speaker:And they're like, Oh yeah, it did.
Speaker:And you're like, Cool, can I see it or have a cut of it?
Speaker:Sure, sure.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Yeah, and it's I don't know what the deal is with that.
Speaker:I've done so much stuff that has I've never seen.
Speaker:Yep same.
Speaker:I've seen I've done so much stuff and nobody has I haven't even seen it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Especially when you're first starting out and that's why it's really
Speaker:important that you Someone who has a script and someone who has like an
Speaker:actual plan, it's very The intent.
Speaker:Important.
Speaker:I want to know it's both I, I want to have the script so I can know what your intent
Speaker:is with making this movie or putting on this play or doing this TV show.
Speaker:And I also want to know okay, so what, how do I intend to go about playing this
Speaker:role and articulating this role for you?
Speaker:And can I do that?
Speaker:I think that's something that, like you said, as you get a little bit more
Speaker:further out of school and this becomes more of a lifestyle as opposed to I'm
Speaker:just trying to get my foot in the door.
Speaker:And then eventually you It's almost like you learn the game eventually.
Speaker:Yeah, you learn the game, you learn the language, you learn the words
Speaker:they tell you, you're no longer when they tell you, oh, what is this doing?
Speaker:And it's oh, it's copy credit.
Speaker:It's oh, okay.
Speaker:And the thing is, it's I'm not trying to get paid, but what I need
Speaker:you to do is pay me something so that I know that you're serious.
Speaker:Yeah, because if you just say copy credit, then you can just do whatever.
Speaker:There's no skin in the game.
Speaker:100%.
Speaker:What was what would you say was your most active role that
Speaker:you've done physically, oh, boy.
Speaker:Oh, wow.
Speaker:That's tough, man.
Speaker:I did an outdoor touring production of Romeo and Juliet when I was living in New
Speaker:York City, and I did it in in Long Island.
Speaker:So we did it in like parks, and we did it on this really cool park that was on like
Speaker:a grassy hill that led down to a beach.
Speaker:And so we, yeah, it was, it, that to me like, I'm like, okay.
Speaker:Not only is it live, he has multiple terrains.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:How do you even dress for that?
Speaker:We, they actually set it in a prohibition in Louis, in New Orleans.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Oh, really?
Speaker:Yeah, it was very In New York?
Speaker:Yeah, in New York, yeah.
Speaker:No, it actually worked, because we didn't go overboard with
Speaker:incorporating the southern stuff to it.
Speaker:It was just enough suggested to where I was like, Oh, this is cool, and it worked.
Speaker:Do you have a Louisiana accent?
Speaker:Oh, did you try one, or?
Speaker:I didn't.
Speaker:I didn't.
Speaker:I focused more on trying to just be clear and articulate and also
Speaker:like just to understand the role.
Speaker:Cause I was the bigot, I was playing Romeo.
Speaker:And so that was a huge chunk.
Speaker:Lead.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Like in Shakespeare.
Speaker:Whenever I didn't understand the fascination with the southern accent.
Speaker:Huh.
Speaker:So whenever I was in theater school, I'm from Louisiana, right?
Speaker:I'm from Baton Rouge, right?
Speaker:And I would, I went to LACC, right?
Speaker:And so when they would put up scenes, or they'd put up plays, I was the
Speaker:only, one of the only people from the South, and they'd be like how was it?
Speaker:And I was like, It's terrible.
Speaker:It's terrible.
Speaker:It's terrible.
Speaker:You sound like you have cotton balls in your mouth.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I would have respected you so much more if you would have
Speaker:just focused on the character.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Then, but you put all your effort into trying to sound
Speaker:like you were from Louisiana.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Then trying to offer what was from Louisiana.
Speaker:A quality acting role.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And it's Because whenever you do that, then the play just turns out crappy.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And it becomes about something that it's not.
Speaker:And it's you're never going to get the accent.
Speaker:No you're not, especially then when you're trying to do like Shakespeare's dialogue,
Speaker:but there actually were some people in the cast who were like more experienced actors
Speaker:at the time and they, I felt got it.
Speaker:And it went in to where it helped amplify the dialogue.
Speaker:I feel like because of just the musicality and the rhythm of the
Speaker:That way of speaking, it actually, I felt that some of those actors
Speaker:really enhanced it in a cool way.
Speaker:Yeah, didn't isn't that the way they used to sound?
Speaker:That's why southern accents worked so well with Shakespeare?
Speaker:Yeah, they definitely sounded very different.
Speaker:That's how they used to sound back then.
Speaker:They're supposed to, they're supposed to, the way it's written, it's
Speaker:supposed to be rural for that area.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Then when you translate, so then, in our modern time, Yeah.
Speaker:Southerners are viewed culturally as more rural, right?
Speaker:So then that's why it works so well with the quote unquote, Southern accent.
Speaker:So how, so you weren't living in a, in New York, in a park?
Speaker:Yeah, so I, I transferred as part of when I was going to school at AMDA.
Speaker:They have a, their original campus was in New York City.
Speaker:They opened in like 1962, something like that.
Speaker:And then they opened the LA campus I believe in the late 90s, early 2000s.
Speaker:So I, again, I.
Speaker:Gone to New York younger, it had that big impact on me, seeing that play there.
Speaker:Oh, so the chancing on New York was like, oh yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, there was a option to go over for two semesters max.
Speaker:And so I took advantage of that and I went and I just really fell in love
Speaker:with the city and started auditioning for stuff while I was still in school.
Speaker:We weren't supposed to book the play.
Speaker:You're moonlighting anyway.
Speaker:Yeah, I was like, come on.
Speaker:Did you ever think of going into the going to the actor's studio after AMDA?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because that's what I was going.
Speaker:I was going to go.
Speaker:theater school, because if you can get into the actor's studio, it's free.
Speaker:Yeah, for life.
Speaker:But, you have to be ridiculously good.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Some people don't even want to some people want to follow a different path.
Speaker:I've had, I've had to talk to some people like, oh, They have some sort
Speaker:of job or some other acting job where they're like, Oh, I already have
Speaker:something big enough to where I don't even feel like I want to go over there.
Speaker:Which is, interesting.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:What happened, was that your goal to go to the Or you had a different goal in mind.
Speaker:No, so it actually was very more specific to the Actor's Studio
Speaker:because I grew up like watching that Inside the Actor's Studio program.
Speaker:Yeah, Pace.
Speaker:And yeah, and listening to interviews with guys like De Niro, Pacino, Brando,
Speaker:like that's, I had really good teachers in high school who introduced us to
Speaker:those actors and that, those kind of ways of working in high school.
Speaker:So that had a very, yeah, it was very incredible.
Speaker:And so that had a very significant impact on me where I'm like, Oh that's
Speaker:what acting is in some way regards.
Speaker:And that really cued up an interest for me.
Speaker:And I actually did audition for the Actor's Studio while I was
Speaker:living in New York with a friend.
Speaker:We didn't get in.
Speaker:I'm gonna do it again actually very soon here because the play I just
Speaker:did, the guy who played the lead in it and the director, they're
Speaker:members of the Actor's Studio.
Speaker:Oh, and they were like, oh hey man, nice to be over here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, and so like we've had a lot of people from the studio that have
Speaker:come to the play and I've gotten to meet them and they're all very
Speaker:warm and inviting and it just seems like a really cool place to learn.
Speaker:Cause like you said, like it's.
Speaker:One, it's free, and you get this lifetime membership on both coasts, and
Speaker:there's just such a wealth of history, it seems like, in a place like that.
Speaker:No it's, there's so much history there, and you could just go there.
Speaker:You know what's crazy?
Speaker:It's you expect these people who have who've reached certain a certain
Speaker:level of, fame or celebrity status, or whatever you wanna say, you think
Speaker:they're gonna be like, off putting, or they don't wanna talk to you.
Speaker:They're actually really nice.
Speaker:Really nice.
Speaker:A lot of them end up being really nice.
Speaker:And I see this.
Speaker:Especially to anyone listening, once again, to this industry.
Speaker:Don't be The nice way to say it is a jerk, I guess I would say.
Speaker:It's so weird to me how, it's usually the most, the least, the people
Speaker:who've done the least, and people who are the least experienced end up
Speaker:being the worst people to work with.
Speaker:Not because they don't have experience, but mainly because they're like me.
Speaker:They're like, oh, I've done one thing on YouTube and now I'm the best.
Speaker:And then you'll talk to Pacino or something like that.
Speaker:And he's super nice.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And the guy that people got to talk to at the studio said he's very generous.
Speaker:They're insecure and they have something to prove, right?
Speaker:So you talk to somebody who's like on the CW or something like that.
Speaker:And it's yeah, they're on TV, but they're still clawing.
Speaker:They're still in that cutthroat mentality.
Speaker:When you have somebody like Billy Crystal, or you have some Helen
Speaker:Mirren, talk to somebody like that.
Speaker:And they're The nicest people because they got nothing to prove anymore.
Speaker:Yeah, and we forget that they're people too, and they were young actors
Speaker:at one point just trying to just because they loved it were, nerds
Speaker:about it and just wanted to do this.
Speaker:And it's just, people, we don't realize how I think people when they get to a
Speaker:certain success level are treated by just normal people in society, and I,
Speaker:our teachers at AMDA would actually tell us, they said, Hey, you're living
Speaker:in LA, you're living in New York, you're going to be in the industry,
Speaker:you're going to be brushing shoulders with these people that are your idols.
Speaker:They said, Try to talk to them like your peers like don't go up and necessarily be
Speaker:fanboy putting your phone in their face Or I go if you're gonna approach them.
Speaker:They literally gave us it's yeah fault to hey I just want to say thank you for
Speaker:your work Yeah, and you know then they would say like maybe think of a question
Speaker:you can actually ask somebody if you're in A room or on a production or whatever
Speaker:if you're in a position to actually get some knowledge from somebody who's 20 30
Speaker:40 years whatever down the road from you.
Speaker:Yeah, why not because they're your peers, it's like I remember the first time I met
Speaker:ryan coogler and actually Funny story.
Speaker:We had we were A viewing and I was we were voting for the spirit awards And
Speaker:this was after black panther had just come out And I asked him about the character
Speaker:Umbaku because in the comics he's like a black guy in a gorilla suit, obviously.
Speaker:Doesn't translate very well.
Speaker:In modern film.
Speaker:Questionable.
Speaker:So I was like, oh, I was really impressed like how you changed that.
Speaker:And he doesn't take a lot of pictures or nothing like that but like the second
Speaker:or third time I met him I was like, oh hey, I was that one guy who just asked
Speaker:you a question, treating him like a peer.
Speaker:And he was like, oh yeah, and we took a selfie.
Speaker:It's it's very true, you just treat him like regular people.
Speaker:So what's the story?
Speaker:So Monty, what's you're gonna what's next for you?
Speaker:You know what?
Speaker:I know I'm not quite sure yet, man.
Speaker:I just finished a play that I was working on for since December of last year.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Of this past.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So 2023 December.
Speaker:So it's been about five, six months and we just finished this this past Sunday.
Speaker:So I'm just.
Speaker:Coming down from that.
Speaker:Oh, you just got off of it?
Speaker:Just, yeah.
Speaker:Literally we had our closing performance on Sunday.
Speaker:It was one of the best experiences of my life this past Sunday.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, man.
Speaker:Fresh off, fresh, man.
Speaker:Yeah I'm on Fresh off the trail.
Speaker:I'm on the come down week, a little sad.
Speaker:I'm not gonna lie, that's.
Speaker:You go through that.
Speaker:You guys know when you actually get right in there with a production, you
Speaker:it's almost like a breakup in a way.
Speaker:So we're all, the cast and all of us, we have a group chat.
Speaker:We've all been texting and missed you guys.
Speaker:This was such a great experience.
Speaker:And it was beautiful.
Speaker:So I don't know.
Speaker:I've gone back to class.
Speaker:I study at a Playhouse West and it's a, the Sanford Meisner technique.
Speaker:I've been studying with them for about the last five, six years.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And so it's just an ongoing thing.
Speaker:So you're just improving your craft.
Speaker:Yeah, and it's a Improving your craft.
Speaker:Yeah, it's a great place where you can go do whatever you want.
Speaker:It's similar to the actor's studio.
Speaker:And we get to put up plays and stuff there.
Speaker:So I'm just getting back in class and shaking the rust
Speaker:off with some technique stuff.
Speaker:And figuring out, okay, like you said, what's next?
Speaker:Where do I want to go?
Speaker:And What would you want to do next?
Speaker:Wow, that's a really good question, man.
Speaker:I really would love to do another play.
Speaker:Because this one was such a great experience that it's just got
Speaker:me Got you in the theater mode.
Speaker:Yeah, and I love that.
Speaker:Theater is just very near and dear to my heart.
Speaker:And there's always a different flavor.
Speaker:Feeling doing theater compared to film.
Speaker:Nothing, there's nothing anything wrong with film and television,
Speaker:obviously, but it just feels different.
Speaker:That's because it's an actor's craft.
Speaker:Yeah, theater is more of an actor's craft.
Speaker:Film is a director's craft.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:Yeah, director's, editor's, medium, and then When you're out
Speaker:there on the stage, nobody's gonna stop you from doing anything.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:They can't.
Speaker:If something goes wrong, like I, that's part of why I do theater.
Speaker:I love the humbling of it where it's we're committing to go from start
Speaker:to finish with this thing with a live audience and there's no cuts.
Speaker:There's nowhere, not, there's no nothing man.
Speaker:And I find that very humbling.
Speaker:Because it pushes me because I actually get very terrified
Speaker:going up in front of people.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:But when you've done the work and you know what you're doing, They're
Speaker:doing in the role, and you're just doing the thing and trying to achieve
Speaker:what you're trying to achieve.
Speaker:You don't think about it.
Speaker:It's just you're caught up in this thing, and to me it feels like an extreme sport.
Speaker:I get a legitimate rush off of it, where, film, it's a different kind of a rush.
Speaker:You do a take.
Speaker:Then you stop.
Speaker:It's meditative to me.
Speaker:Then you stop.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's very meditative.
Speaker:It's more like football.
Speaker:It's okay.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's a very, let's sets for a few seconds and then over,
Speaker:let's set, and then let's go.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Let's set.
Speaker:But I love that compared to theater, that's more like a marathon.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's let's have this Theater's more like soccer.
Speaker:It's just, you're just going the whole time.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then you're you're not even you're it's a whole process where, we were
Speaker:finding it again with this, where we'd be six months deep and having rehearsed this.
Speaker:thing performing in front of people full go and we're still discovering things.
Speaker:Yeah, man.
Speaker:That's what that means.
Speaker:And that connects to this in here.
Speaker:And, Stella Adler, the great acting teacher, she has this quote that I
Speaker:actually found, I just discovered it while working on this play where she
Speaker:says, you can only ever really have a shot at truly understanding a play
Speaker:only if you write it or if you act it.
Speaker:And there's a lot of truth to that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because those are really the two.
Speaker:roles that you know, you're really trying to get in there
Speaker:in the whole life of the thing.
Speaker:Whereas a director, directors, they do that as well, but you
Speaker:have to at a certain point.
Speaker:I feel like, I always say they're more like the painters, not the
Speaker:actual creators of the paintings.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:We're the paints.
Speaker:Monty, it's been really great having you on the show.
Speaker:Is there anywhere where people can follow you?
Speaker:Yeah, I'm on Instagram.
Speaker:Em, em, rentfroyo is my handle.
Speaker:Do you have anything else you would want to plug?
Speaker:Anything you want to shout out?
Speaker:I don't right now, man.
Speaker:I just got off the show, right?
Speaker:I thought I'd come a week before.
Speaker:I'd be like, come see the play.
Speaker:Unfortunately, that's over.
Speaker:Hopefully, I'll come back sometime and have something to plug.
Speaker:Awesome.
Speaker:Guys, this has been Film Center.
Speaker:I'm Derek Johnson II.
Speaker:I'm Nicholas Killian.
Speaker:And we're here with Monty Renfro.
Speaker:And we'll see you next time.
Speaker:See ya.
Speaker:This has been Film Center on Comic Con Radio.
Speaker:Check out our previous episodes at comicconradio.
Speaker:com.
Speaker:You can follow the show at Film Center News on all major social media platforms.
Speaker:Tune in next Wednesday for a fresh update.
Speaker:Until next time, this has been Film Center.
