I studied technique for ten years, from age 7 to 17. I guess you could say I went more on the Stanislavski side than the Meisner side - there's always that wide divide among actors when it comes to technique.
Thomas Ian Nicholas
Usually, people write the characters into a box, and that's just not true to life.
I didn't really have the entire high school experience. I've been working since I was six years old, so I didn't go to the classic high school.
Whenever I'm doing any film, I'm always just happy to have a job and I always just put 110% of myself into it.
I moved with my mom to Los Angeles for her to pursue her acting career, and she got a job casting atmosphere in some independent films.
Scheduling is always tough, no matter what the budget size is, and we had our own run-ins with that on 'Fading of the Cries.'
Compromise is the key element. The more constraints you have, the more compromise you have to have. But, I personally believe that, when that happens, you have to get more creative, and you end up with something that is even better.
There's something I really love about independent filmmaking. Everyone is a little bit more close-knit, and you rely on people a little bit more. The bigger the budget gets, the more everyone toes the line in their department.
When I was doing the first 'American Pie' movie, I was just happy to have a job. We had a good time, and it was a great group of people, but like any project that I've worked on in my career, you just put your best foot forward, and you're all working together to make the best movie possible.
Surprise, surprise! I have a band! I'm really excited that we have a song on the soundtrack of 'American Reunion' for that very reason.
It's one of those things where people tell you that when you have kids it will change your perspective on life, and you're like, 'Yea, yea,' but then you really understand it when it happens to you.
I don't like waiting around for work, and sometimes as an actor you're forced into that position, so that's sort of how I got into writing, producing and directing.
I'm a big fan of character actors like Johnny Depp and Gary Oldman. My goal is to continue playing character roles in indie films and move into playing character leads.
I've been on, like, the forefront of social media. I run all my own pages, and this is back to MySpace and answering my own emails in, like, 2006. Even before that, I always had websites with emails that dropped directly to me.
