Thomas Ian Nicholas
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.
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.
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.
Usually, people write the characters into a box, and that's just not true to life.
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 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.
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.
If we replaced guns with guitars, then the world would be a concertCollection: Gun
Whenever I'm doing any film, there's always three different things. There's the script, which is really just a blueprint. And then, you shoot the movie and it's an entirely different experience than you would expect from reading the script. And then, there's the whole post process and the editing, and it becomes something else entirely.Collection: Reading
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.Collection: People
If I had 10 ideas and people said yes to all of them, half of them could be crap. But, if I've got 10 ideas and we really only have the budget for one of them, then we have to pick the best one that is our most creative element.Collection: Ideas
I believe that creativity comes from compromise. If you could have everything you ever wanted, it doesn't always work.Collection: Believe
The bigger the budget, the more you can afford to compromise with Mother Nature. The smaller the budget, the more you're like, "Okay, well, we have to do this, but how can we afford to do it." That's when you have to get really creative on the business side, as far as making compromises.Collection: Mother
Making a movie is like getting married. You're like, "Am I going to marry this project? Am I ready for that kind of commitment?"Collection: Commitment
For me, as an actor, the most challenging thing is creating the character in the beginning because you have to write their backstory. The easy part about doing a sequel is that you've done the film, so you already know their backstory.Collection: Writing
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.'Collection: Running