Sometimes life takes interesting routes, especially when it comes to individuals that pursue careers in the arts. For one such young man, the path began in the world of hardcore and punk rock music, before he embarked on a serious acting career that has entailed both stage and independent film.
Steve Guynn, of Lexington, Kentucky, is one of the more active individuals in his home region. When he isn't doing something like jumping out of planes (he is an active skydiver), he is working on projects, rehearsing, and honing his craft. A self-motivated individual, a necessity in the indie film world, Steve has actively toured in professional theater.
In today's IMM interview, we will be visiting with Steve Guynn as he takes us into his world, from his music roots, to stage and film (with his thoughts on the two mediums), and his plans for the future.
As intense as he was during his punk rock days towards his music, so is he towards his film and theater endeavors. Without a doubt, Steve Guynn is well on his way towards a successful acting and production career.
-Stephen Zimmer for Indie Movie Masters Blog, September 21st, 2009
SZ: You have a music, theater and film background. Let's briefly touch on your music career. Tell us about the bands you've been in.
SG: I played guitar and sang backing vocals in a hardcore band called Ungrateful. We played shows in Lexington, Louisville, Somerset, Berea and so on. We were banned from most places we played in Lexington including The Wrocklage and Alcoholics Anonymous. The Dame wouldn’t even let us in their doors. It was hard to find a venue or club we were in good standing with, though Rock Haven was one such a place, not too dirty, not too clean, just right like Baby Bear’s soup. We released an album worldwide in 1996 titled ‘Southside Lexington Hardcore’ on Sound Pollution Records. I played guitar and sang backing vocals for Retribution, though I am not the guitarist on their EP recording. Retribution, The Infected, Brassknuckle Boys and other ‘back in the day’ punk bands thank Steve Ungrateful in the thanks section of their record sleeve or cd insert. That’s me. This is strange to me because no one called me Steve Ungrateful to my face, most people on the street called me ‘Hardcore Steve’. I guess it is worth mentioning that I also played in several bands (one called Ghetto Blasters for example) that did not release any recordings. I experienced so many good and bad times during those years. The Lexington KY Punk Scene will always be a family to me.
SZ: Did your years as a touring and recording musician help in any way when you went full time into theater and acting?
SG: Yes definitely. I can always look back on all the fights (literally) and problems with the police and just know that my problems now aren’t really that bad. At least I’m not in jail for a victimless crime you know. All that I went through just to perform the music I love makes me realize that I enjoy performing for people and getting ideas out there. No matter what I am doing to put a roof over my head or food on my plate, if I am not performing, I feel like I am not contributing to the world.
SZ: What has your formal training been in terms of acting and theater?
SG: I graduated May 2007 with a BA in Theatre at the University of Kentucky. I worked full-time as a maintenance man at a private school while attending classes at UK. Russell Henderson taught me vocal production; Margo Buchanan was my acting instructor; I took a playwriting class with Herman Farrell III. It was a real honor studying under Herman Farrell III. He was the kind of professor that really cared about his students and would make time for them. That’s it for formal training. I strongly feel that every time I take a theatre contract or work on a film set I am perpetually learning about acting and the entertainment industry as a whole.
SZ: What were your experiences in professional theater like? (touring, acting multiple roles in children's theater, etc)
SG: Wow, experiences in professional theatre. My first professional theatre contract was with The Lost Colony, it was their 2006 season. I have mixed feelings about that place. It is an outdoor drama located on Roanoke Island. They housed us in these town homes at Morrison Grove, which is a beautiful place. They have their own beach there, so you can imagine how often I was drunk and naked. To sum it up, my summer 2006 consisted of acting, skydiving, surfing, fishing, drinking and some other things too. That part of it was great. Here’s the bad part. I was hired as an AT. This means actor/tech. I acted in the show and I loaded scenery in the stage left and stage right scene docks during scene changes. They had shipped in new scenery that year. Each piece of scenery weighed 1000 pounds; no I am not exaggerating. Only four of us AT’s at a time would fit on a ‘book piece’ as we called them due to the way they folded. That means 1000 pounds divided between four people, multiple times a night, Monday-Saturday, 74 performances that summer. This was probably the most laborious work I’ve ever done in my life.I’ve done a few musicals. This was local work at the Actors Guild of Lexington and the Lexington Opera House. I played an ensemble member in The Music Man, this was performed Spring 2008 at the Lexington Opera House. I must say, for the finale we performed the song 76 Trombones; we had the Lexington Christian Academy Marching Band on stage, we had a chorus of 60 singers, and we had a pit orchestra, all performing the same song. I have now been part of an ensemble with a marching band and an orchestra. This was one of the greatest experiences of my life, thank you Ryan Shirar. I love musicals, although I am not the best singer or dancer.
Summer 2008 I did the show Tecumseh! in Chillicothe, Ohio. I can’t say enough good things about this place or this show. I played the lead bad guy, a character named Tompkins. A lot of stage combat in this show. I got to scalp Indians and cut off their chest skin and shoot them and stab them all summer. It was great. I was one mean dude you did not want to mess with. I want to make it clear that I do not hold any prejudice against Native Americans, I just like stage combat. Outdoor dramas are very important because they educate our youth and the general populace on American history. I have maid some life-long friends at outdoor dramas.
I worked with a children’s touring company Fall 2008 called Hampstead Stage Company. That was interesting. Some touring companies send teams of five, six or more out on the road. Some send two. That is Hampstead Stage Company. Since they only send two out, one man and one woman, both players have to play multiple roles. In the stage production of Prince Caspian I played Professor, Peter, Edmund, Trumpkin, Dr. Cornelius, King Miraz, Reepicheep and Aslan. In A Christmas Carol I played Fred, Ebenezer Scrooge and Solicitor. They send both shows out on the road. I played eleven different characters in two plays. Rehearsals drove me crazy. 11-12 hour days for a month straight. I was on ‘team standby’. This means my partner and I performed at a town hall in Barnstead, New Hampshire. We did not tour. It was very rewarding in the end to actually get these shows up and on their feet.
SZ: What do you find to be the biggest challenges or differences regarding film vs. theater acting?
SG: The challenges are very different and very much the same. In film a director wants to get an angle. In theatre a director wants to get a composition. A lot of hard work goes into both.
SZ: Do you tend to enjoy theater or film more as an actor? Is one more satisfying than the other?
SG: I get this question all the time. It’s a good question. Theatre and film are both magic to me. In a stage production, I love being in the same room as the people I’m telling the story to. In a film production, I love the relationship with the camera; it feels otherworldly. Both are my children. I love both.
SZ: You have worked with director Jerry Williams on more than one project. What were they, and what was it like working with Jerry? Did you need counseling after working on his projects?
SG: Jerry Williams is one of the most creative people I have ever worked with. Many people don’t know that Jerry has a MA in Creative Writing from Morehead State University, thus the references to myth and folktales in his scripts. In 2007 Jerry put me in Misadventures In Space as Captain Tiberius and his twin brother Jessup Tiberius. That was a blast, mostly improvised work. That same year I played a zombie in Zeppo: Sinners From Beyond The Moon! Goatboy Films recently finished production on Saucer Sex From Beyond. This piece showed at Fright Night Film Festival 2009. I play Captain RobRoy Tiberius in that. Jerry let me write a monologue for that character. This was a real privilege. It is not often in film or theatre that you get to write in your own part, especially when the writer/director has a concept for the part. I know how it is to write your own work, you do not want anyone else to change it because it is yours. Jerry relinquished that control and gave me a creative license with his work. That’s rare. Thank you Jerry Williams. I am also in several of his films that are as of yet unreleased. He’s going to kill me for posting links to them below. And yes, I am definitely going to need counseling.SZ: What have you found to be the most frustrating elements of the indie film world?
SG: Poverty. It comes with the territory. Some think that if the independent film community had more support and more exposure then they wouldn’t be independent. I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers. I just know that I am Bum #1, you know, like Public Enemy #1, except with no money.
SZ: Conversely, what do you find most beneficial about the indie film world?
SG: A level of expression and creativity rarely found in other mediums. Most indie filmmakers are not afraid to be experimental. That takes courage and I respect that. Courage and sensibility are two qualities that distinguish a great director from a good director.
SZ: What are your career goals regarding both theater and film?
SG: I am going to continue acting on stage & film. That’s plan A. There are certain novels that, one day, someone is going to make into a stage and/or film production. When they do, I am going to be there. It will probably be in the United Kingdom. That is all I can disclose at this time.
SZ: Give us a list of your indie film credits to date.
SG The years here are during the production, not necessarily the same year as release.
2009 Saucer Sex From Beyond Captain RobRoy Tiberius Goatboy Films
2007 Misadventures In Space Captain Tiberius, Jessup Tiberius Goatboy Films
2007 Zeppo: Sinners From Beyond The Moon! Zombie Goatboy Films
2006 The Edison Death Machine Rex the EMT Zombie Planet Productions
2005 Sirens Bobby the Manager Ever After Media/ Cineline Productions
2004 Promise Bank Robber It Doesn’t Matter! Productions
2004 Theatre Live Today Famous Guest Cindy Yu
2004 Know Your Chronic Masturbator Robbie Optimal Riviera Productions
SZ: How can people find some of your work or you on the internet? (websites, any Facebook or MySpace pages, etc)
SG: Here are some links………….
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63331862
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63332047
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63332092
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63332241
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63332407
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63332507
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