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Your new movie The
Headmistress - in a few words, what is it about, and what can you
tell us about your character in it?
It's
an old school haunted house story where you've got a group of assorted
people not doing well with their new situation. My character arrives with
his husband to look at the property as an investment but I have the inside
scoop on the haunted aspect.
What did you draw
upon to bring your character to life, and how much Tom Dacey Carr can we
find in Pete? You
can probably find a lot of Tom Dacey Carr in Pete. Acting is all about
relationships to the other characters. I'm a dad in real life and tend to
look out for others, so the putting others first part of the story was easy
for me. I also love architecture and exploring new spaces, and the house
itself is a character in this film. It was great to be in the space and
not on a set so Tom could geek out on things just like the character. How did you get involved with the project
in the first place, and what drew you to it? I
saw a posting and auditioned for it and immediately hit it off with
directors Christopher A. Micklos and Jay Sapiro [Christopher
A. Micklos and Jay Sapiro interview - click here]. It was pre-Covid so it was actually in person and Chris and Jay
oozed excitement for their project. It was my first big project where
someone sent me the whole script and pitched me to come onboard instead of
having to beg to be hired. Then when they explained the location and how
they wanted us to stay there during filming instead of going to
a hotel, I was hooked. To what
extent can you identify with The
Headmistress's approach to horror, and is horror a genre at all
dear to you? I
have a healthy respect for the genre from growing up with it as a viewing
staple amongst my friends, but I always watched through my fingers. Horror
seemed to evolve as I aged. First you had location pieces where I would
wonder "Why don't people just leave?" Then the Freddy Krueger
movies came and people were attempting to leave but reality was shifting
on them. And then the Scream series created a spin where the
horror came out of mocking the genre itself. The Headmistress
was great because it was old school in its set-up but
had people openly questioning why the hell they were there. What can you tell us about The
Headmistress's directors Christopher A. Micklos and Jay Sapiro,
and what was your collaboration like? Like
I said they were fantastic from the first meeting on. Chris would
apologize for talking so much about the story and the world they created
but it was so full you couldn't help diving into it which is every
actor's dream. Jay focused more on the visuals and so we would talk at
length about various shots and what they were trying to accomplish for the story.
Because we were on site the whole time we would often talk late into
the night or over the first cup of coffee in the morning as the crew
straggled in.
A few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The set was fantastic to work on. The best part about most sets (especially
low budget ones) is that everyone is handpicked, and so everyone was there
because Chris and Jay really wanted them on the team. Everyone got along
really well. There were some people who had already crossed paths prior to
arriving. Our DP had recommended DeChantel as Nikki, and I had already
run into Katie at several auditions in Chicago. Chris and Jay will joke
and say they were panicked at times but they kept a loose feel to the set
that had a real trickle-down effect. The more professional everyone is,
the more fun people get to be. That even extended to the producers who
lived nearby and took us out on the lake to relax when we weren't
shooting. It's a little thing, but when the set is organized enough to
know in advance which shots they need for the day it allows the people to
really relax. Any future
projects you'd like to share? I'm
late getting these questions back because of a callback for something that
jumps into the world of Cthulhu. Talk about a big universe.
But, no, my acting world usually comes into focus with less than a month's
notice and the writers strike has most things on hold. What got you into acting
in the first place, and did you receive any formal education on the
subject? As
a kid I loved make-believe, so this is just an extension of that I
guess. I grew up in a fairly conservative household and always expected I
would be taking a train downtown in a suit to some job but I never knew
what that would be. It wasn't until I finished undergrad with a
history degree that I allowed myself to think about acting as a
profession. I got a few roles in Chicago just auditioning but knew I
needed real training so I went back for my MFA at UNC in Chapel Hill. What can you tell us about your filmwork prior
to The Headmistress? I
hadn't done much film work prior to The Headmistress. My MFA was theatre
focused and I moved to NYC with my Equity card after graduation and really
only looked at theatre work. I did one short before hanging
everything up to move back to the midwest and become a dad. When I decided
to act again I did a couple of plays before deciding I wanted to explore
film and TV. Now they are all I do.
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How
would you describe yourself as an actor, and some of your techniques to
bring your characters to life? I'm
a character actor but I don't know anyone who describes themselves
otherwise. I'm always trying to solve the puzzle of who the writer wanted
this character to be and how I bring them to life. Everyone wants
something out of life and you have to figure out what the
character wants. Once you find that goal/objective for your character
everything starts to fall in place. Actors (and indeed
actresses) who inspire you? Jodie
Foster and Daniel Day Lewis were early inspirations but I honestly take
inspiration from just about any decent work out there. It is such a
competitive business that to even win an audition and get on set
means you've got serious chops. Your favourite movies? I'm
a sucker for a blockbuster thriller film. If I can disappear into the
world you've created I'm happiest, so a James Cameron film or anything of
the ilk I love. I just watched World War Z again last night mainly to see
the blend of our world and the fiction of a "what if" story. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
I deplore anything that
forgets to focus on the humanity of a situation or the relationships
involved. A screenwriter friend broke it down and said an audience can
forgive a plot fault and will suspend disbelief for you but they won't
forgive an emotional fault where an actor lies on camera. The Meisner
quote is "Acting is the ability to behave absolutely truthfully under
the imaginary circumstances" but it has to be the emotional truth. To
bring it back to The Headmistress, it was the great part about
Pete having Dex to look after. Haunted house and blood dripping down
walls? Cool, where's Dex? A horror film without that personal investment
doesn't go anywhere. Your website,
social media, whatever else? I
do less and less now but TomDaceyCarr on Instagran still will get you a window
into my off-stage persona. Anything else you're dying
to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Just
thank you for helping to promote and support these types of films. Thanks
for the interview!
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