Eleven Questions With Lisa
Avery Pfeiffer, one of the stars of the upcoming film Sacrament was nice enough to take some time out of his day and sit down with me to answer some questions. Apparently, Avery thought I was going to be an old lady, but was pleasantly surprised when I turned out not to be. We really did have a great conversation. Avery is an exceptionally friendly, intelligent, well spoken, individual with a huge heart. I really cannot wait for you to get to know him as his career grows.
At what age did you get started in your acting career?
I participated in my first professional production last year, but really, I’ve been acting my whole life. There has never been a time when I’m not working on new characters; always coming up with different personalities that have accents or goofy ways of walking…stuff like that. I really like the idea of being able to travel to a different place, instantly, through my imagination. Of course, being from Texas, I’ve played football my whole life as well.
2.Did anyone, or any specific event inspire you to start acting?
Honestly, I never really thought of it as a career until recently. As I said, I have just always enjoyed being different people from time to time. I really enjoy putting on a show and making people laugh.
3.What do you find most challenging about acting?
Opening myself up and becoming emotionally vulnerable is extremely difficult for me. Even with people in my inner circle, I have a habit of putting up a wall.
4.According to IMDB, Sacrament is your first role.
Well, technically, it’s my second feature film. My first role was in a local indie film that has not yet come out; hopefully it will be out sometime in the near future! This experience is what really made me start considering acting as a career path. I found that I absolutely loved being on set and working with other actors.
5.How did this role come to you?
On a basic level, I responded to a casting call that I saw while scanning the many industry websites out there. This ended up being a very emotional journey as well, though. I grew up in a conservative house that was, religion aside, not very accepting of same sex relationships despite the fact that one of my uncles is gay. When I took this role, it was almost as if I was bridging a gap between my mother and her brother. We had a lot of heated conversations, but she realized that ,as her son, she couldn’t hate me and this has softened her. Her and her brother now have open communication and are rebuilding their relationship.
6.Is there a specific memorable moment from filming Sacrament?
Of course, I loved working with Marilyn (Burns); she’s a ball. I was ecstatic when I found out that she was going to be in it. She’s crazy! I was floored when I met her and she was so down to earth. She was so cool and would let me ask her anything;she’s just a kid in an adult’s body.
7.What is the main thing that you took away from this experience?
Well, as I said earlier, I was raised in a very conservative house and while I’ve always been the more outgoing person in the family, when I took this role I wasn’t sure if, being a straight man, I could do it. I did it as a challenge; if I want to be an actor, then I had to learn how to be a character who isn’t you. Looking back, I learned a lot. I was able to experience what it is like to be gay in a world that is not always tolerant of that. Most of all, I learned that people are just people, lips are just lips, and love is love, no matter who it is between. It’s not the physical side of love that is beautiful, but the spiritual side.
8.How do you handle the confusion between two movies with Sacrament in the title coming out
within such a short span of time of one another?
Well, it kind of sucks. As a struggling actor you hope that your film will be unique, inspiring and gain recognition among the community, so having this potential confusion is disappointing, but our movie is GREAT and when people see it, there will be no trouble distinguishing it from other movies. I just hope that we can promote it enough and Shawn will get the recognition that he deserves.
9. Is there a specific genre of that you prefer to work in?
Comedy, hands down! I love comedy that is interwoven with brilliant story telling and clever writing. I would love to be in an Edgar Wright film, acting alongside Simon Pegg;that man is brilliant!
10.Do you have any interest in branching out into other areas of film?
I would like to direct and I love writing. I would love to write for a comedy show.
11.What is one thing that you would like to accomplish this year? It can be anything.
Besides acting, I am studying Business and Computer Science at my university. By the end of the year, I hope to launch a new product I’ve been working on. It’s taken a lot of time and I can’t wait to see it in the hands of users.
