Exclusive
Connor Ross Interview
Persistence is paying off for Connor Ross. At the age of 17 he is living his
dream! From an early age, it was evident to his family and friends that Connor
possessed a unique talent and a way with people, so it came as no surprise when
Connor announced that he wanted to "be in movies". It did however, come as a
surprise that his pursuit of this goal was so passionate and unrelenting. Thinking
they could pacify him, his parents sought an agency connection and acting classes
in Texas but soon learned that Connor had bigger plans and was strategizing
a way to the place where the action is-Hollywood! Read more of Connor's Bio
at his official website: www.connorross.com.
Connor has been seen most recently in the suspense movie "Driftwood"
co-starring Raviv Ullman, Talan Torriero and Diamond Dallas Page. Be
sure to get your copy now on Amazon.com.
SO-M: What made you decide to become an actor?
Connor Ross: I have wanted to
be an actor my whole life. It's always been a hobby of mine, watching movies,
tv. It's pretty much all I did. When Iwas younger, Tom Cruise was the coolest
person. I'd always act out scenes from his movies. Finally my mom put me into
a modelling agency. After a while in Dallas I started doing very few auditions,
which is what made me decide to move to CA when I was 13 and I got an agent
and went out on auditions. I just love it. It's what I'm here to do.
SO-M: What was the audition process
for "Driftwood" like?
CR: When I went into audition
for "Driftwood," Igot the audition material 20 minutes before the
audition.
I thought there was no way I was going to be prepared and that they'd like me.
I went in and Tim Sullivan, the director, the producers and casting director
were all in the room
and I was like "Wow i'm really not prepared." I was really nervous.
But before I
auditioned, Tim talked to me about the movie and who my character was and what
Jonathan
meant to him. It was cool and really relaxed me. I only had one audition and
I guess they liked me.
I got a phone call about a week later and I was like yeah!
SO-M: Describe your character,
Jonathan.
CR: Jonathan is a kid who just
wants to be himself and doesn't want to be who everyone
else wants him to be. Jonathan in the movie represents kids that never get what
they want,
like the guy next door. He's just a kid who stands up for what he believes in.
SO-M: What was it like working
with the other guys in the cast?
CR: They were all really cool.
We bonded. We had a table read before we started shooting,
we bonded, went out to eat, hung out. They were really cool. Everyone was great.
It was
probably one of the best sets I've ever worked on because of the people. They
were really nice and
really professional. Ii just felt we all connected well and had great chemistry
and the same understanding of the movie.
SO-M: Did you all play any practical
jokes on each other?
CR: One of the guys dressed up
as ghoulish monsterish ghost and he would go out at like 2am and set up
a camera in the woods so no one would see. Then when the actors would come back
to their trailers, he
would just run out of the bushes in this costume and scare the crap out of us...and
he got it on camera and
at the end of the shoot he scared about 50 people. It should have been on America's
Funniest Home Videos.
There's also a scene where we use lots of maggots and someone put maggots in
Talan's food and left it in his trailer
and he went to eat and he didn't eat it. We got him on camera and he freaked
out.
SO-M: What was your favorite scene?
CR: Probably the most difficult
scene was at 4am and it was 50 degrees and we had rain towers set up.
It was a scene where Diamond Dallas Page is supposed to be chasing me and we
walk onto the baseball
field and it's raining and freezing. Aat the time it was like get me out of
here
but looking back it was fun. There was a squib on the back of my head which
is a device for
when someone gets shot in the movies. When the trigger is pulled, another person
presses a button
and they put a balloon full of blood on the back of my head and the blood exploded
looking
like i was shot in the head. It was fun.
SO-M: Do you have any upcoming
projects?
CR: Right now i did a movie called
"Palo Alto" which is a coming of age comedy about 4 guys coming home
from college.
It's their first thanksgiving and they meet up for their last night before going
back. I play Ben
Savage's younger brother. His girlfriend dumped him and he's pathetic and never
has any fun and I bring him to a party and he gets drunk. I'm kind of the "Steve
Stiffler'ish"
character to him in the movie. After that I did a film called "Pirate Camp,"
which is a family action
adventure pirate movie. It's about a couple of kids who go off to, instead of
summer school, a place called Pirate Camp.
I i got to learn to sword fight and combat and stuff. "Palo Alto"
went to the Tribeca Film Festival and both are in the screening
process.
SO-M: Do you have an official
website or myspace?
CR: I have an official page on
imdb.com. I used to have a personal myspace but it got too complicated. My
official website is www.connorross.com.
SO-M: Is there anything else
you'd like to add?
CR: "Driftwood" was
great. Honestly, the script was definitely lifechanging in a way for me
because it just gives everyone an opportunity. The reason Tim wrote this was
because
one of his friends as a child was sent to one of these camps. He saw what this
kid went through at these places and he got sent there because he wasn't like
everyone else.
In a way it has a very strong message and I was just happy to be a part of it.
"Driftwood" is available on DVD now on Amazon.com. Click here to order your copy! It's a must see!