We had a great conversation with Bradley Stryker less than a year ago. We don’t usually follow up so soon, but a lot has happened with this very talented performer, writer, and filmmaker.
Here is our second conversation with Bradley Stryker.
HNMAG: What was the name of the play that you just did?
Bradley Stryker: I was in New York for the winter into summer doing my Broadway debut; August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
HNMAG: Congratulations. What was your part?
Bradley Stryker: The one white guy in the play. His name is Rutherford Selig. He is a traveling salesman, “the people finder.” The play is essentially about a man, Harold Loomis, trying to put his family back together. It’s 1911 Pittsburgh and takes place in a boarding house. Mr. Loomis is with his daughter, Zonia, and he is trying to find his wife who he has been estranged from for seven years following the horrific experience of being enslaved by Joe Turner.
HNMAG: Okay.
Bradley Stryker: My character is called the People Finder because he is a traveling salesman who comes in and out of this boarding house and many other homes like it. Harold Loomis ends up paying me a dollar to find his wife. And there are all these theories about what I actually do; or if I actually know what I’m doing; but in the end I prove to be quite helpful.
HNMAG: How did you get cast in that?
Bradley Stryker: Started as a self-tape. Evolved into a call back in NYC with Debbie Allen and the creative team. And the rest is history.
HNMAG: You do self-tape for theatre?
Bradley Stryker: Same as always, but you allow for it be more theatrical because honestly, that’s what they need. It’s a tight rope for sure, but then if you are fortunate enough to get a call back, and it’s in person, you can turn up the heat a little more in that situation as well.
Honestly, I was opposed to the whole thing when the audition came in. Not because I didn’t want it, but because it was a lot of work – a three page monologue for the second audition scene, and my worst actor enemy in my head told me it was pointless because I didn’t really have a shot at getting it.
HNMAG: Yeah, I definitely get that.
Bradley Stryker: But instead, I followed my wife’s advice, and just slowly chipped away at the material. It was tough battling my demons though. I had a lot of reasons to not show up. “I’m not a Broadway guy. It’s a private club I’m not in. You either went to Juilliard, Carnegie Mellon, Yale, or came up in the theater scene.” So many excuses to not do it… but my actor nerd fell in love with the material… so I followed through.
I also had to fly myself to New York for the callback, which was a whole different bag of rocks to carry.
Honestly, I went to New York for the callback because Debbie Allen was directing the play, and I wanted to meet her. She’s somebody I very much respect and I thought it an opportunity to see what this world was about. How did this Broadway thing actually play out in real time, you know? I didn’t honestly feel like I had much of a shot to get it.
HNMAG: But apparently you did.
Bradley Stryker: Yeah, I guess so. I got offered the part three hours after my audition; which absolutely blew my mind.
HNMAG: Now you’re heading to Toronto.
Bradley Stryker: I’m gonna go to do an action film there. Truthfully, I won’t even be in Toronto. I’ll be two hours out of Toronto in Parry Sound because I’m chasing the actor, Michael Jai White, through the woods for the entire film and they apparently have much better woods up there (lol).
HNMAG: Fun. So, it’s going to be in cottage country?
Bradley Stryker: Sure, that sounds about right.
HNMAG: Good time of year for that.
Bradley Stryker: Yeah, man. Should be a lot of fun.
HNMAG: Last year we were talking about Venice Days. What is going on with that movie now?
Bradley Stryker: We finished the movie. I mean, the business model we used for that film is wild. We turned that movie into a 501c non-profit organization to raise money for charity. I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again here: if I’d have just made it a traditional movie, I would be done with it. But because of the charity aspect of it, it will be something I’m working on for a while.
HNMAG: Okay.
Bradley Stryker: It’s such an ambitious idea – using the art of film to raise money for charity. The film version of a benefit concert, right? Worth a shot if nothing else. A lot of people need help right now, so we figured, why not use this artform so many of us have given our lives to, to try and help others.
HNMAG: Right. Are there any updates with the 13th Round?
Bradley Stryker: The movie did come out.
It’s on Apple and Amazon. It depends on what country you’re in. It was successful for some of the award shows. It was nominated for I think five Leo’s two years ago.
HNMAG: That’s great. Awesome.
Bradley Stryker: Funnily enough, as an actor, I ended up winning the UBCP award for Supporting Actor for that one.
HNMAG: That’s great. Congratulations.
Bradley Stryker: It was an interesting thing, though, because I played a character, a boxing trainer with Parkinsons. Not an easy character to find. That one felt like a huge risk because if you study Parkinson’s, you quickly realize that no two people with Parkinson’s are the same.
There are a lot of similarities that you can find, but you can talk to ten people; almost every one of them will have a different manifestation of the actual ailment. I remember a definitive lesson coming from that part. Do your best, but don’t try and get it right. Do your homework; feel as prepared as possible; and then let it go. Not everybody is going to love it.
HNMAG: Nobody knows one thousand people with Parkinson’s, so it’s hard for someone to have complete expertise unless you’re a neurologist.
Bradley Stryker: Yeah. I was talking to a friend of mine, who was very complimentary about what he saw, and I said, you know, the one thing that I did figure out is that sometimes you have to make choices for a character that are going to feel risky. In this case, I had to make choices, and I had to follow them through, unapologetically.
HNMAG: Right.
Bradley Stryker: I know that sounds crazy because that’s always the job, but with something that’s such an extreme thing, no matter how you view it, you can’t play that without making some other extreme choices because the ailment itself causes extreme physical manifestations.
Honestly, it was challenge that I really loved.
HNMAG: So, what’s up next for you?
Bradley Stryker: Something fun that I worked on last summer is coming back for a second season, The Chair Company, with Tim Robinson.
HNMAG: Was that shot in Vancouver?
Bradley Stryker: No, it was shot in New York. I flew across the country for it.
HNMAG: Real quick, back to Venice Days, I remember there was something specific with that movie that allows you to have that element of fundraising and charity for it, correct? Do you think any type of story can be produced with this business model for charity?
Bradley Stryker: It could in theory be any kind of movie, but I think it would get messy if it was an action film for example with no ties to a social issue.
HNMAG: Right.
Bradley Stryker: What’s the message of the film? What are the themes of the movie? This movie; Venice Days, deals with a lot of very strong themes around the homelessness crisis.
HNMAG: Such as mental health.
Bradley Stryker: Correct.
HNMAG: Where can people help support that charity, and also watch Venice Days right now?
Bradley Stryker: The movie is not out yet, but to support the film project and the charities involved, go to: https://www.everlyent.com/venice-days
Bradley Stryker is a prolific actor, producer, director, and writer. Since he has such a strong connection from living in Los Angeles and experiencing the contrasts in Vancouver, a unique and charitable experience such as the Venice Days Film Project makes sense. We should see more innovative independent features that are very worthwhile from Bradley Stryker. We are looking forward to our next follow up which is bound to be sooner than later.