Visit the summer stock theatre and ask any of the young actors there if they have an actor or actress that he or she looks up to, and most of them will have one or more examples. Aspiring actors need someone as role model when becoming discouraged about career setbacks, low pay, long hours, losing out on a role, and other difficult experiences. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Robert Downey Jr. and even Lindsay Lohan all look like the pinnacle of success to many young actors. As an aspiring actor myself, I do not find any of those performers particularly realistic or desirable as a role model. Much more inspirational is twenty-five year old Kyle Gallner of Westchester, PA, who is probably best known for his work in Veronica Mars. Kyle Gallner is an ideal role model for young actors because he is versatile in his abilities, he appreciates his fans, and has integrity in selecting his roles not for the money, but for the challenges they provide to him as an actor.
Versatility in an actor is always impressive and something every aspiring actor hopes he can produce. Everyone knows of a few actors who seem to play the same character every time they perform; perhaps these actors have been typecast because of looks or have a limited ability. Kyle Gallner is not one of these actors; even though he is quite young, he has already played a wide variety of roles. He has had guest spots on popular television shows such as Cold Case and Law and order: SVU, repeat appearances on long-running series like Veronica Mars and Big Love, and roles in popular movies like Beautiful Boy and the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (“Kyle Gallner” n.pag.). In these roles, he has successfully portrayed a wide variety of characters, from a twisted teenage gun-toting murderer to an emotionally fragile victim of molestation. Having tried diverse roles myself in plays like Hamlet and Death of a Salesman, I know how hard it is as an actor to successfully convince an audience that he really is that character and to allow the audience to suspend reality for that brief time they view the performance. It takes sensitive, sympathetic acting with multiple emotional and physical layers, even in minor roles, to flesh out the character and make the performance memorable and believable to an audience. Gallner makes this chameleon-shift into character and the ability to evoke sympathy look easy; for example, in Veronica Mars, his character Cassidy “Beaver” Casablancas crashes a bus, killing a few students, before taking his own life to cover up the fact that he was molested by his little league coach. Without his skill, his character could easily be seen as simply a killer, but because of his sensitive acting, many fans such as myself sympathized with Cassidy, seeing him as a victim instead.
Integrity in an actor appears to be a rare thing today; so many seem to lack any moral character. Because fame can bring a big ego, it is important to keep the ego under control and appreciate the audience who buys tickets to movies and plays that keep him or her in the public eye. No one is invincible, but superstardom unfortunately appears to make some thespians believe that they are; for example, Lindsay Lohan saw her star fall significantly as she spent time in and out of the courthouse, rehab, and jail. Other actors fail to appreciate fans and even refuse to do simple things like sign autographs unless they are being paid for it. Kyle Gallner is not like that. I met him at a concert we both attended in Scottsdale, AZ, and he was not only nice enough to talk to me and my friend at length about his career, but also was a very down-to-earth and humble person. He also generously bought my friend and me a few drinks as he told us various stories about being on movie sets, which he relayed with such humor and charm that all of us laughed for hours. Though his stories were focused on acting, they were much less about him than the funny things he witnessed, and he never appeared egotistical. He even seemed to be surprised at the many movies and television episodes I went out of my way to see because he was in them, as if he did not believe he was worthy of that amount of attention. I asked him, “Don’t you realize how good you are?” He grinned and shook his head, as if acting was just something he did for fun and not because he knew he was talented.
I always imagined meeting a famous actor that I looked up to as much as Gallner would be an intimidating experience, but he never made me feel like I was bothering him that night. He even autographed some things for me, always smiling, and when I thanked him, his reply was, “No, thank you.” While some actors try to squeeze every dollar out of fans by charging for autographs or make fans feel like speaking to them is beneath them or not worth the effort if they are not being paid for their time, Gallner proved that it does not and should not be that way. His genuine appreciation for his fans is a lesson every aspiring actor should model, because even though famous actors should be allowed privacy, they should also be kind to fans; after all, the fans ultimately determine success.
Aspiring actors at the beginning of their careers often forget an important fact, which is that acting should be for the sake of the art and not about making a big paycheck. Looking up to the biggest superstars because of their jet-setting lifestyles, magazine covers, and the millions they make is not a realistic approach to developing an acting career because it neglects the true reason why most people choose to act. A true actor acts because he cannot imagine doing anything else as a career and because he is unhappy when not involved in acting. Gallner is a great example of an actor who places the craft first. Though he receives scripts daily offering six-figure salaries, as he told me at the concert, a look at his resume shows that he has selected many roles in independent films with small budgets but great scripts that permit him to be in a wide variety of roles that mainstream films do not offer. He remains a supporter of the independent Sundance Film Festival and starred in several films that won at the festival, like Cherry and Little Birds (“Kyle Gallner” n.pag.). Even when he has auditioned for more popular films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, his acting ability and love of his craft is what impresses others. For example, when seasoned actor Jackie Earle Haley talked about Gallner’s audition for A Nightmare on Elm Street, he said, “His audition was so impressive that everyone at the studio and [Michael] Bay signed off on him the same day he auditioned. It was one of the few times that someone got the role in the room. He has set a very high bar for the remaining actors” (Brevet n.pag.). Gallner’s professional integrity is the sort that every aspiring actor should strive for because people should do what they love for a living, it should not feel like work, and if an actor is ruled by money the craft becomes meaningless. Young actors following Gallner’s path toward professional fulfillment will find themselves emotionally satisfied.
There are few great role models in Hollywood today whom aspiring actors can look up to, but Kyle Gallner proved himself different from the others with his intense screen presence and versatility, his generosity toward his fans, and his integrity in refusing to compromise his career for the sake of money. Unlike the many bad examples of ego and money driven actors splashed across the tabloids, Gallner is one of the best living illustrations of how an aspiring actor can be to have an interesting and satisfying career. Without a doubt, his star will continue to rise and he will receive recognition for his abilities through the rich, diverse roles he selects; which is the best thing that any young thespian could hope for him or herself.
Works Cited
Brevet, Brad. “Haunting in Connecticut's Kyle Gallner Moves to ‘Elm Street.’”
ROPEOFSILICON. 8 April 2009. Web. Accessed 13 July 2012. http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/haunting-in-connecticuts-kyle-gallner-moves-to-elm-street/
“Kyle Gallner.” IMDb, n.d. Web. Accessed 25 Jul. 2012. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0973177/
