Watching Showtime

The actors of Brotherhood have been more than generous with their willingness to sit down and talk with me about their experiences on the show, their love of acting in general, and so much more. Last week, I had the opportunity to interview William Decoff, who plays Officer Walsh on the show’s second season. He has a lot to say about acting, life, and Ethan Embry (who he worked closely with on the show)!

On your IMDB page it says you’ve had a wide variety of careers in your lifetime, from police officer to pro wrestler to massage therapist! Other than your love of acting, what are some of your favorite working moments, and what was the worst job you’ve had?

When I was very little my Mom & Dad encouraged my brothers and I to follow our dreams. As I got older I realized that as long as your prepared to work at it. You can live your dreams. I sure have.

When I was 5 years old I told my Dad I was going to be a Pro wrestler. Fourteen years later I was in the ring. Wrestling was great when I broke in. The Territories still existed. For a guy in his late teens early 20’s it was incredible. Between the girls and the partying it was a great time. I got to work with some incredible people. I was broken in by Killer Kowalski and wrestled Jos LeDuc, Sailor White, Hans Schmidt, Bruiser Brody, Abdullah The Butcher, Danny Petty and hundreds of others. I had a run as the International Jr. Heavyweight Champ in Montreal in 1983. The New England Heavyweight Belt and a couple Tag Team belts as well. I worked as Sean O’Reilly. I retired at the age of 27. Drug use in the business was rampant. A friend of mine Mike Von Erich committed suicide as a result of the wrestling lifestyle and other pressures. I don’t consider myself very bright. But, I always know when it’s time to go home.It was time. I thank God everyday because now I have a wonderful wife and a son that I cherish.

I did a few Indie Movies in Dallas & Florida around 82 or 83. I got the acting bug. But at the time Wrestling was the priority. My first acting coach was the late Raphael Ramirez. He gave me a ton of instruction from the time I was 14 way into my 20’s. I met him while I was a bus boy at Romies Quarterdeck in Danvers Mass. They did Broadway type shows. He was an amazing teacher.

After wrestling I was a Prison guard, bouncer, bartender, eventually the bodyguard and driver for the Mass. State Attorney General. I landed a job as a Police Officer in Boxford Mass in 1989 or so. Retired a couple years ago and I’ve been acting since. I have a lot of life experience. There are very few characters I can read for that I haven’t known for real in life. From Bikers, to hyper-intellectuals, fake intellectuals, to cops, con men, to almost anything.

I also became a Massage Therapist and got a I got my degree in grief counseling.

The best Job I ever had was wrestling. The fun I had on the road was amazing. I can and have bored my friends for whole weekends with recollections of my long lost youth! lol . My wife always finds it amazing that I can remember a story from some drunk night in Amarillo Texas in 1981. But I lose my glasses 5 times a day!

The worst job I ever had was wrestling. Seeing my old tough guy friends dropping off in their 20’s and 30’s has done a number on me in many ways.

When did you decide to pursue acting as a career? What have been some of your favorite moments, favorite roles?

After I retired as a police officer my wife encouraged me to attend an audition. I did pretty well and got a lead role in a film “Little Man”. The Director Bruce Naffah was a pretty talented guy. He taught me a lot and encouraged me to keep going.

I hooked up with a Providence Director named Richard Griffin. We have done 6 or 7 films together in the last 4 years. He has stretched me as an actor and always takes me out of my comfort zone. Along with Raphael Ramirez he is the most instrumental in getting me out there to try to take it to the next level. Richard Richard is a great friend and teacher.

What have been some of your favorite moments, favorite roles?

Working on Seepage! A couple years back. We were in the woods in Connecticut in the middle of a 20 hour shoot at 2AM It was 90+ degrees! Getting mangled by mosquitoes. But But we were all non-union indie actors doing it out of love. Not making a dime. And, I guess when you’re a journey man like me. In acting, wrestling, screenwriting, being a cop, whatever, you have to love it. And I sincerely do love acting.

My favorite roles Clay in “Seepage, a character called “The Director” in the short film “Snuff”. And Brancato in “Brotherhood”

Can you talk about your experiences on Brotherhood, with the various actors and production crew? What brought you back to play Officer Walsh, and will we get to see more of him?

Well I had a role in Season 1 as “Smallface Brennan”. But the whole thing got cut. I was pretty disappointed. But, that’s just the way things happen.

In Season 2 I got cast as Brancato, a Providence police Officer. The name got changed on set when I did my first scene with Ethan Embry who plays Declan Griggs. He called out “Brancato” to me. After the director Nick Gomez said cut. He shook his head and said Brancato is not going to work for a blonde haired blue eyed Irish guy. They went into a huddle and 15 minutes later I was told I was Walsh!

I had a blast with Ethan. We did two fight scenes and one was a great scrap. On one take I hit the cement so hard with my knee it cracked the protective knee pad I was wearing. We trusted each other so we went hard. I think it looked good and outside of a bunch of black & blues no one got hurt. We did over 10 takes! Ethan and I did some bare knuckle bonding for sure! My wife was nervous about me doing that scene. I’m no kid anymore. I’m pushing 50. She told me to make sure I called the second I was done so she would know I was okay. I called the second I got out of work. I told her well your husband can still fight. The only problem was I couldn’t get out of bed for a week! lol

Ethan was great and along with Don Foley and Pat Pitu is best actor I’ve worked with. I sincerely believe Ethan is on his way to super stardom. His acting in season 2 has been off the charts.

(personal side note … I’ve had a huge crush on Ethan since he was in Empire Records!)

I hung out a lot with Brian Scannell who plays Silent john. Brian is a great guy with a heart as big as his biceps. I had one funny thing happen between Blake Masters and I. First, without my glasses I’m as blind as a bat. A very elderly bat! One of the PA’s was holding my glasses during my fight with Ethan. After I was done she told me she put them in a bag hanging off the side of a chair. She pointed over near the crew. I go stumbling over to the chair I thought she meant. Someone is sitting there. I start going through the bag pushing paper and stuff that were in there. I hear “William are you looking for something?” I get a tap on the shoulder the PA hands me my glasses. I put them on a realize I was going through The Producer Blake Masters Papers! I apologized up and down. He (fortunately for me) saw the humor!

I also got to work with Sarah Nicklin who is a very good friend of mine. She was playing one of the hookers in the brothel scene. I worked with Little Sarah before on Indie projects. So it was really fun to be working on this set together.

I hope they bring Walsh back for season 3. I’m pretty optimistic that they will. But if they don’t I feel proud to have been on such a great show. It is really cool about season 3 because other local guys and girls will get the opportunity I had.

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)?

“Never go where you’re not invited and always know when it’s time to go home.” My Dad who was a Command Sgt. Major in WWII taught me that. I think that applies to everything in life.

But as far as acting. Raphael Ramirez told me never let any coach try to invalidate your interpretation of a character or a scene. We all have different life experiences. I had a talk with an acting instructor that told me that I wasn’t playing a scene well because I wasn’t being natural. I asked why. He said a 21 year old girl sits down next to you and you barely acknowledged her past saying hi. I said “are you directing me to hit on her, or do as you originally said and act natural?” He said be natural. I said my character is almost 50. I’m almost 50. If a 21 year old girl flirts with me at this point in my life she is either a hooker or wants to make a boyfriend jealous. Either way nothing good is coming of it. He said he would hit on her. I said than we are just different people. Hitting on a girl young enough to be my daughter is not natural. At least to me. And I’m happily married with a little boy. It’s really not natural! You can get directed to do it different. That’s fine and you always do what they want you to do. But if your doing what’s natural to you. Usually you can’t go wrong. But what do I know?

Worst advice I ever got was the shoot on a old time wrestler named Hans Schmidt. But that story is for another day! lol

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

I’m up for a couple roles in “Real Men Cry”. I’m in the semi-finals of Michael Corrente’s Scream writing contest.

I finished the script and I’m pretty optimistic. I’m busy with the Indie projects through the winter. Richard Griffin and I are doing a short film I wrote “A winter Stroll”. Then with any luck we will have another big year in the Northeast with “Brotherhood” coming back. I’m also trying to break the NY market. I certainly will continue to try. Earl Nightingale once said “Success is when preparedness meets opportunity”. Well the lord knows I will continue to try making it as and actor and writer until I take that final three count.

Thanks so much to William for sitting down with me!

Catch up on old episodes:
season one recaps
One Too Many Mornings (s2, e1)
Down In The Flood (s2, e2)
The Lonesome Death Of … (s2, e3)
Not Dark Yet (s2, e4)
Dear Landlord (s2, 35)
True Love Tends To Forget

Showtime, Brotherhood, William Decoff