Watching Showtime

With the holidays fast approaching, I was lucky enough to fit in an interview with Brotherhood guest actor Darren Tow earlier last week. Although his time on screen was brief, he is very clearly a talented actor, and has some great stuff to say about the craft.

How did you get into acting? It looks like you’ve got a ton of experience on your resume, so how did all that happen? What was your favorite role to date?

Well first I would like to thank you for taking the time to set up this interview with me as well as taking the time and initiative to spotlight many talented actors and actresses. It’s great to know there are so many people out there as passionate about acting as I am.

As for me, the path toward my acting career was not as direct as many. I participated in theater as a child but really never thought of pursuing acting until my early Twenties. I actually started my career in modeling as a runway and print model appearing on magazine covers and performing in high fashion runway shows. The spark that triggered me to begin acting came while I was participating as an extra on the set of The Departed. Just the shear excitement of being on set and listening to queues was mesmerizing to me.

Shortly after the experience I engulfed myself in the local acting scene, taking two acting classes simultaneously as well as auditioning for any and all Independent films I could find. During the process I realized how many great people are in the business as well as the great advice you can obtain just by asking. To this day I still make it a point to ask and listen to advice and experiences from more seasoned actors as often as I can.

My favorite role to date, that’s a tough question, I guess it would have to be my role as an interrogator in a documentary called the Trail of Blood. This was my first lead role and I really put a lot of time into working on my character. The whole experience was great as my character was ruthless, brutal and had little regard for life, totally opposite who I really am. It was also meaningful as it was portrayed in China where my ancestors are from.

What was your experience like on Brotherhood? Any tidbits you can share with our readers? Got any juicy gossip we’d all love to hear about?

My experience on the Brotherhood was amazing; from the minute I stepped on set until the very end I had a blast! The whole crew all the way up to Jason Isaacs and Brian O’Bryne were amazing to work with. Both actors were extremely professional, kind and courteous. I do not have gossip to share but some tidbits. The directors really allow input from the actors as to how to make the scene better; my lines coming in were really different than the finished product.

Oh! and a compliment to Jason Isaacs and Brian O’Bryne. Great actors really do help raise the level of less experienced actors. In my scene Jason Isaacs raises a gun to my head….forget about acting; I really thought I was going to get shot by his expressions!!!

What’s one piece of advice you were given in regards to acting that you’d pass on to everyone you meet, and is there one that was so bad you would never tell anyone (except me right now, of course)?

Well being an Asian American male the advice I was given may not relate to everyone but its advice I think about often. Asian actors are caught in a perpetual Catch 22 often times we are only offered stereotypical roles, which we have to play in order to find enough work acting. But when we do play the roles we are frowned upon by our own communities. The advice given to me was to embrace these roles and the only way to move past these stereotypical roles is to improve my acting abilities and to be noticed for my acting not my by my race.

What’s next for you and acting? Do you have any good projects lined up for us to keep an eye out for?

For me I’m continuing to both model and act. You can find me in many current Providence, RI magazines modeling clothing for Area4zero1 an upscale men’s and woman’s clothing store. I’ve also recently filmed a radio and TV commercial for The Providence Journal that should be airing right about now.

**********

Thanks for taking time to answer my questions Darren! And for those of you out there who may know someone who’s been on one of the many amazing Showtime shows I talk about here, feel free to have them drop me a line. I’m always up for interviewing someone, no matter how big or small their role was!

Showtime, Brotherhood, Darren Tow