I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the star of Netflix's: ‘The Ghost Who Walks’; Garland Scott. What started as an interview, quickly evolved into a conversation and almost a masterclass in the art of mastering your craft no matter the industry. Garland dropped a few gems, that I as a creative quickly picked up and I hope you're able to do the same.
TNicole: Good Morning Garland. How are you?
Garland Scott: I'm good. How about you?
TN: Did I wake you?
GS: (Whispers) I'm trying to leave the room without waking the baby. There we go!
TN: I want to get into the journey of how you transitioned from being in advertising to becoming a screenwriter and actor. I also want to provide a better understanding of your journey for your new fans and followers so they know exactly how long it's taken you and give them a little more insight into you.
TN: Where are you from originally?
GS: Oh I'm from a small place in Michigan called "Datrois" (pronounced Day-trois).
TN: Oh? Spell that, please?
GS:: D-E-T-R-O-I-T
TN: Sir!!!
GS: I hit you with the French name!
TN: Ha-Ha! I'm done with you! I'm over here like this is fancy, I've never heard of this place! Where is your wife from?
GS: She's from Boston
TN: Where'd you go to college?
GS: I went to Michigan State, and my first major was theater. I quit that major after the first year and I graduated with two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Apparel and Textile Design, and a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising.
TN: And you said you were a screenwriter as well?
GS: Yes, I was actually in advertising creating commercials. I was writing commercials for big brands. So it's not just screenwriting; I am a screenwriter, I have screenplays, but I initially started creating commercials. Some of the large campaigns you see like Captain Obvious that's my work. I came up with that for Hotels.com. The Blake Griffin Kia partnership, I did those commercials for the last two years. I was in entertainment for the last 10 years creating these opportunities for other actors and creating stories for brands. It became part of this whole series of creative missed opportunities in my opinion. I'm on one side of the camera and I realized that someone else was living my life on the other end.
TN: Got it. Looking at the brands that you were building, did you feel that you could portray the characters you were creating better, or did you feel like that was your calling to be the person in front of the camera as opposed to behind?
GS: I felt like I was limiting myself in a way. I would say it's more of my calling but it was more of a creative exhaustion. When you work, you're working 16-hour days and you come up with these great ideas and everyone is involved. You do so much work and at the end of the day; everything that you create belongs to the agency. It's their work and I (questioned); what belongs to me, what is mine? If I didn't have advertising what would I have? And that's something I feel about acting, that it's something that I can give that's always mine. I can constantly create, I can constantly give and have a different perspective and it's always something that comes from me that can't be taken away. You can't take that performance away. You can't take that feeling away that you give someone. However, when you have a commercial, it can always get chopped up and changed or someone else's name can be put on work that you did. And it seems to be more personal when I'm in the seat of the character.
TN: How did you know that you'd be successful in acting? It's one thing to want to transition into a different field, It's another to envision it and then actually execute it successfully.
GS: Well, you don't know that you're going to be successful. You just let go and let God.
TN: I'm saying that seeing you on-screen in this movie, in particular, it seemed natural. It didn't seem like it was a stretch, so I'm asking; how do you go from saying "I don't want to be behind the scenes anymore" to jumping into it and actually translating into execution; in my opinion successfully? It seemed like a very natural transition to say that you were behind the scenes before this and prior to getting into plays. Was it just something that you took a leap on?
GS: Yeah, I've always liked film and everything that I do pretty much has been influenced by film in a way. You have a generation that was raised on TV. I was born in the '80s raised in the '90s, so TV was just a way of life and I knew that's what I wanted to do and I always want to do it, which is why my first major was theater.
TN: Okay so that's where it comes from.
GS: Yes, it came from that, however; I left it because it's not something that was supported. I was told to get a real job. It didn't go over well with the family, they wanted me to get a real job. They told me to work on Plan B and I'm like why would I work on my back up plan when I have something that I really wanted to do? Why work on your backup plan, that's making it your Plan A.
TN: How does your family feel about your career now?
GS: I mean they don't have a problem at all now. It's like I got to a point where I didn't need their permission anymore. I'm not saying that they're unsupportive, it was less of a consideration on my side that I had to say "Okay look everyone I'm going to take this is leap versus I already had a career. I've won every award from Cannes Lions to Clio's. I mean I have the stuff on my mantle and I'm looking like alright I've done that. What else could I do?" Every target I've ever aimed for I've never missed and that's one thing I can say that's true. It's not an ego thing, it's a work ethic thing. And I rededicated myself to the craft of acting. I went back to class, I read every book, I'm still reading books, I got a book open right now. When I have downtime I'm readjusting how to become a better story-teller, how to connect better, how to communicate better through the lens of a character that someone else creates and I can translate. So this, in essence, became my new school. I took myself back to school. The rededication made the ease of the transition a whole lot of more palatable for me because I was back in school.
TN: I know you're married How long have you been married?
GS: A year and a half now, and we've been together for 7 ½ years.
TN: How did you and your wife meet?
GS: We met at a bus stop in San Francisco. I saw her three times before I asked her out. I was working in Sausalito. We lived in San Francisco, I was working in Sausalito and I was working real late hours. I would get home late and I would wake up thinking I missed the bus and I would run down the street. If I see you every day I speak to you, so I knew everybody at the bus stop.
TN: Because that's how you were raised in Datrois!
GS: Ha-ha! I saw this girl and she was on her phone and I walked around I spoke to her. My wife is 5'2. She's shorter than I am.
TN: Oh, she's a giant! She and I are the same height. I relate to her.
GS: So it's funny because I swear, y'all walk so hard. Y'all make the most noise when you walk! I mean I can walk into a room and not make a sound; her feet are crashing into the ground!
TN: Her feet are not crashing into the ground, she has a presence, she demands attention when she walks. That's just her aura, and people are going to notice her when she walks into a room, that's that.
GS: And I would say okay, (laughs). So I kind of like got down I looked at her and she gave me this look like "Really? It's 7:30 in the morning". I asked her "Are you new around here"? And she was like "Aw shit; no I'm late for work". I was like well I'm here every day at the same time, I've been here every day for eight months and I've never seen you. She responded, "Well like I said I'm late." So I introduced myself, and her bus came and my bus came. Two weeks later I think I'm late again, I run down the street and I'm like yes, I see her again. I say, "Well you just can't be on time". We started talking and her bus came. I'm thinking alright if I see her again I'm going to ask her out. So I was late again one day and I ran down and I saw my bus and I saw her. I was like "You're a glutton for punishment". I said, "Every time you're late for work you got to deal with me". I asked her if she wanted to go for coffee, I mean coffee is safe. And she said yea. So I got her number and I asked her out a couple of days later and we've been together ever since.
TN: How has your partner's support in your career influenced your success?
GS: She's been amazing. It was actually when I decided to go back to school, she said " I see this is something you really want to do" and I responded "Yea". She saw me take myself back to school, put in the effort, take time and say "Baby, I'm going to take like four hours to work on this scene, I'm going to break down this script, I'm going to watch this film and take notes". Or she'd see me take the time with other students in classes and rededicate myself. Then I went and took classes maybe for 2-3 years straight doing class and research. She wanted me to start auditioning, and I wanted to finish a program before I started auditioning to make sure I was confident. I started booking short films, and she said: "I love the work that you're doing". It's not just that she believed in me, she looked at the work and said: "No you're good, I really like this, I know that this is what you should be doing". She said "Maybe you should stop working, I know you're freelancing; why don't you not freelance for a while? I'll hold us down". I said babe; this is not like a one or two-month shot, this can take years. She said "We'll cross this bridge when we get to it but you need to fully dedicate yourself to this. Every target you set for yourself, you always hit and I think you just need to give yourself a real opportunity and I'm going to hold us down". I was like oh, ok. I mean I was always the one pulling in the money at first. It wasn't a question for me that as a man that's something I did. She said, "Why would you assume it would be any different"? And I thought, that's the messed-up conditioning that we have, and that's why I was able to rededicate and immerse myself fully.
TN: You better keep her and make sure you continue to hold her in the regard that you do!
GS: Oh I don't have to continue, that's what I do; it's a mainstay. I think people forget, they don't understand the relationships that they have or value the people in their lives for them to all of a sudden lose value. Our foundation is tight, it was the first thing we worked on, that we built when we first met. It wasn't just, "Oh yeah, I like you and we just spend time together or just eventually start hanging out." No, it was "okay let's get through everything, let's talk about everything". Whenever we have an issue; I'm like alright let's talk about it. We're not going to wait a couple of days to let this thing get hot, we're going to deal with it now baby. Let's do it. So we communicate.
TN: When I called you said you were sneaking out of the baby's room. How old is the baby?
GS: He'll be 4 months this month.
TN: How is parenthood working out for you two?
GS: Easy, I mean I don't I don't see what the problem is.
TN: From a different perspective, this could be viewed as a great time to be quarantined. You guys are now able to have some time that you may not have otherwise because of the quarantine. You're able to enjoy him as a newborn.
GS: Absolutely, he changes every day, day by day. He looks different and I'm like; "Wow, you look like more of a human today"! He follows me with his eyes, and I'm sitting there looking like, I can't keep my face off his face. And then I think I'm too much, am I that Dad? I'm like alright, come here, give me a kiss! And then I think, I can't do that, I'm too much. Then I think "Am I getting on his nerves"? Then I'll hold him, and it feels like I'm Pepé Le Pew right now and he's the cat. Because I'm like "Come here baby" (French Accent included) and he's like "Ugh, get away from me"!
TN: How did you get involved in this project, The Ghost Who Walks?
GS: Well, there was a nationwide self-tape and I believe that Cody (Stokes), the director received my self-tape and felt that I brought something to the character that he hadn't seen yet. He sent three sets of sides and when I read through the sides a few times, I could feel a distinctive arc, I could feel that they were from different parts of the film distinctly just in like beginning, middle, and end. I crafted my work to tell this story as a whole in the audition and I didn't think anything of it because normally when you audition you don't hear anything back unless you book it. I hadn't booked it yet, but this was the first time a director wanted to speak with me before booking me. I wasn't sure what to take from it because I've never had a meeting that came in advance. I assumed, maybe; it was a vetting process or he just wanted to give me a second read. He came out to LA and I met him at a coffee shop where we actually just talked about life. It wasn't about the film, for like three hours he was just trying to make sure that he could work with me. If we met eye to eye on a professional level, on a work ethic level. He asked me if I read the script. He thought he sent me the script, I hadn't read it so I think that kind of impressed him even more because I was able to deliver so much from what he gave me. I went back and I read the full script that night, and I fell in love with the idea of a father just wanting to get back to his family and be that mainstay that he's never been able to be to his daughter. It really touched me that this was a crime film, but it was about a desperate man trying to reach his family, choosing to do something greater versus films with these constant archetypes where they come out of jail, they have all the wit the right things to say and they behave the same way. They (characters) become caricatures of some sort, and I felt like this was a real breathing human being who had feelings. You really don't care about your characters or the leads in a lot of crime films, they just seem cool, but he felt like someone that I could care about and someone that I could bring to life in a way that other people wouldn't. I reached back out to Cody and I told him I really wanted to do it and he said alright man, I got you let's do it. It was that simple. A lot of times there's a multiple-step process of auditioning and meetings with different reps and producers, but he chose to cast me.
TN: I told you I'm very critical about movies and it's only because I feel like a certain subset or maybe genre of films targeted towards our community tend to be dumbed down. I don't like it, I think it's insulting my intelligence. With this movie, what I noticed early on was that there wasn't a heavy focus on unnecessary dialogue. I noticed that and that there wasn't even a focus on the music per se. Different feelings were evoked with the location, from the way Nolan walked, and from the way he entered a room. Did you notice that when you were reading the script and when you were filming that the dialogue wasn't unnecessary? Everything that was said was for a reason and I appreciate all the dialogue that was expressly stated. Is that something that you noticed or is that something that attracted you to the role?
GS: Well, what attracted me to the role is every scene was different because every relationship had a very specific impact and meaning for it. With a lot of these films, it feels like they can easily be one noted like every character is the same way with every person they encounter. But he had real relationships with his father, with Stitch.
TN: Listen, the relationship between Nolan and his father; amazing! Again, the dialogue in that scene was so necessary and poignant and then again with Stitch. With stitch turning on him, I saw the disconnect of "Do I remain his friend, or do I protect myself to get back to my daughter"?
GS: As an actor, you don't just read the script, you read the script, you create your character, you do your character interviews with people who may have been in those situations, you do a lot of research and work before you start. You even write. So I wrote background stories for each character that I knew before I went to shoot in Saint Louis. I'd already written pages and pages of my relationship with each person, so when I walked into a room with this person; even if I didn't meet them in real life, I had a personal connection that I had already created through this character. Those were the feelings that came out because I was able to harness and create this story, this background story that gave character history within those conversations and you didn't need all this dialogue. If you walk into a room, and you see a cousin or a sibling, even if you say a few words, your body language and how you interact with them will show either you've known them all your life or they recently came back into your life. But how you speak to them and how you encounter them in a room can show your relationship; not just me giving you a bunch of heavy dialogue and exposition. Having created that before I went to the set gave me that ammunition and confidence to create and communicate that quickly.
TN: I'm trying to figure out why is it that you are able to do this and it's not something that's a constant amongst actors. You've just given me the perfect explanation as to why I had certain feelings and emotions in different areas of the film because you did your research. Is that not something that's taught within the acting field universally?
GS: I wouldn't say it's taught universally I would say it's not done universally because you have people who want to be on the screen and who want to be on the poster. They don't want to put in the extra work. I'll tell you this, say you take a class, each class would maybe be four weeks, it'd be an ongoing class. You'll have people that go in class and they won't look at the scene. Some people read the full script, so they will understand and learn the character. They will ask themselves 50 questions of the character; "When were you born? What day you were born? What're your mother's/father's names? What was your first sexual experience? What school did you go to? What do you feel about your mom? What do you feel about your dad?". These are all the things that if you get a two-page scene in class you need to ask yourself 50 questions or more so you understand your character, or you can create your own background for your character. So you can create this living breathing person. Some people will get the script, read the script; just read the three or four pages that they get, and won't go any further than that. They'll just try to be believable in these moments and when you ask; "So what's your mother's name?" they respond; "I didn't get there yet". "What's your father's name"? "I didn't get there yet". "What do you do for a living?" "I think it said in the script, I think I'm a Doctor." "What kind of Doctor? When did you graduate from Medical School?" They don't think that stuff is important. So it seems like some actors are empty shells and they're just reading lines.
TN: By definition for you, does that show the difference between a good/mediocre actor as opposed to someone who becomes a character?
GS: I wouldn't say mediocre I would say it's the difference between someone who respects the craft and someone who doesn't.
TN: From the beginning of the movie when Nolan stepped out of jail with the cigarette and the conversation had through the fence, it made me feel that you were believable from the very beginning as a character, and I wanted to see where it was going.
GS: Thank you. Something that I hope people took away from this is that when you watch art and film, the best feeling for an actor is for people to get a feeling from the work that you do. To know that the audience is impacted emotionally or they're moved is the greatest feeling. As opposed to the audience saying they watched it and it was cool, I watched it was good, it was a thrill ride. So when you have people that can get feelings in different areas, genuine feelings it makes the work that you put in worth it. I believe that I'm an actor when you believe in the story that I portray.
TN: Going forward, how do you make sure that you're not typecast?
GS: I only pick roles that I like. I think it's one thing when you typecast yourself and it's another thing to let other people typecast you. I can't get typecast if I don't keep taking the same jobs. You either accept the roles or you don't. I want to go for different things, roles that move me and I'll keep doing that. At first, those were features. I was doing short films, any character, anything that stretched me. I've done all different characters, learned from seeing things from different lenses to connect with not just characters, but connect with people through these characters. So those things that people saw me in, they'll see me and they'll go "Wow! I can so see you in this." I have to keep doing different projects so people can see what I have to offer.
TN: Do you ever see yourself doing any kind of comedic acting or are you just focused on dramas or maybe a dramedy?
GS: I will do anything that touches me. I love comedy I love drama. I think the thing about drama that really gets me is that drama; everybody needs to laugh; but when you get people to care about the same thing, you can change perspectives in the world. So when I see drama and I see them done right where you care about characters that you normally wouldn't care about or people just make you go, "Man I keep thinking about this one thing"; it brings me a sense of satisfaction. I love drama, I want to do comedies too, but right now, I really want to focus on being known for that right now, and then I want to switch up and surprise people later.
TN: I'm just letting you know now that you're making it extremely hard for me to look at characters as a whole anymore. Like I said before, I'm extremely critical and I'm hearing you explain your process, how you prepare and it's pissing me off even more because it's like people don't respect the craft the way they should.
GS: No, they don't.
TN: Would you ever think about getting into television roles? There are a lot of big names coming to television to be the star of television series. Is that something you think you could do?
GS: Oh absolutely. I was getting close with a lot of auditions, and before the film came out I was doing short films but the problem is I was getting feedback from an old rep who is no longer my rep. I was having trouble because I was giving these auditions, and I'm like man I know these auditions are good because you're not getting feedback saying they're bad. I'm putting my foot in it! I know I'm doing well. Six months had gone by and I tried to set up a meeting like, okay we need to talk because I'm obviously doing something wrong, I'm not getting callbacks; what's going on? He revealed to me; in the conversation; one casting director, in particular, said: "She loves your work, she loves your reel, but she doesn't know who you are". I'm like what do you mean? He said, "You just need to keep he's doing stuff, you just need to get something big". She didn't want to take me up to producers because no one knew who I was so they weren't going to take a risk on me. I'm thinking, how can I book something if everybody has the same attitude? I told the rep, you can't let that stop you man, you got to tell them something else because them not knowing who I am and telling me to keep working; I'm not going to work if everyone's using that same argument not to give me work. I can be here for 15-20 years with people saying they don't know who I am.
TN: How do you caution an upcoming actor against something like that? How do you tell them to make sure your rep fights for you when they don't have the reel and experience that you have?
GS: I wouldn't tell them to. I would tell them to keep working. When you get to the point where you feel like you can deliver, you make that choice yourself. But if you tell that to people before they even realize what they're doing they'll preemptively jump. It's like people not respecting the craft, they won't wait in line to get better before they have that conversation. They'll try to have that conversation upfront without having anything to show for it. I had something to show for it I got frustrated, and then I had the conversation. There's an order of operations that people need to follow before they can say I think I deserve a shot. Put in work somewhere before you deserve a shot, don't be entitled. I don't feel entitled at all, I just want to get into the room and I didn't understand why I couldn't. I'm thinking maybe I need to change my reel, maybe I need to change my headshots, maybe I need to have someone else look at my auditions before we submit them, to double-check and make sure that I'm delivering everything I can. But you're telling me that it's not even my auditions, it's just because people haven't seen me in shit yet, or in something big yet. And I'm thinking, well that's what short films are for, that's what the theater is for. I'm building, I'm doing this stuff, are you using it as leverage? I am doing the work, I just spent four weeks doing a show in Hermosa, I'm busy, I'm booking jobs, I'm doing stuff but you're telling me they're saying that its nothing and I don't follow that. So we have to find a better way or a different way to get me in front of people even if it is an audition. I would go in, audition and the word I got was that people didn't know me yet and that's (the same for) a lot of actors. They won't get into a room because someone will say "I haven't seen them in anything big", "I haven't seen you on a network yet". I've been doing independent films and short films for years, I had work that's gone to festivals or is going to festivals. Are you telling me that doesn't count? You can't tell me that doesn't count.
TN: Listening to you and the fact that you take your profession so seriously and having to fight to get that break, I'm definitely getting content, but I'm also sitting here like oh my gosh this is so true! This can be applied to my life as well.
GS: Exactly, just focus on your craft. Play the position you want to play not what someone else wants to give you. A lot of people believe the only positions they can play are the things that other people can see them in. That's how typecasting happens. Don't see my potential based on someone else's credit. I'd rather fuck something up making it happen; right or wrong, than let somebody drive me off a cliff.
TN: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. I hope you and your family are staying safe during this quarantine. Congratulations again on the baby! Is there anything upcoming that we should tell your audience about?
GS: Uh, not at the moment. We're just quarantining right now.
TN: Make sure you reach back out to us to let us know about your upcoming projects.
GS: I really appreciate it, and you guys will be the first people I reach out to.
If you haven’t already, go check out ‘The Ghost Who Walks’ on Netflix, you ain’t going anywhere!
You can follow Garland on Instagram: @thegarlandscott. Make sure you check back in to see what he has coming up next and leave your comments/questions below.