Sara Barrett sits down with actor Bill Oberst about his work on stage and on the screen; they also talk about the roles he enjoys playing and the reason he chooses such roles.

 

SB: I am honored to get the chance to speak with the talented Bill Oberst Jr., whose extensive credits include countless

 genre filmsand stage plays.

 

BO: Thanks Sara. I really appreciate the chance to speak to your readers.

 

SB: I'm sure the readers will be delighted to hear what you have to say. So, what inspired you to get into acting and when did

you know it was what you were going to do with your life?

 

 

BO: I have this weird belief that we are born to do a specific thing with our lives. I believe we are all given a vocation.

 

The trick is to make your vocation your occupation. I have always known that I wanted to be an entertainer and have never

wanted to be or do anything else.

 

I am most comfortable entertaining people. I'm not a great actor but I do like making people happy.

 

SB: You were a stage actor in New York for many years. What was your favorite role in a stage play?

 

BO: Mark Twain has to be a favorite of any actor who has played him; Jesus Of Nazareth was amazing opportunity to live

out my faith onstage and the role of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (the German pastor who was executed for taking part in a plot to

kill Hitler) was very moving to my heart and soul.

 

There's no role I have not enjoyed - I am always happy to be working.

 

SB: What stage role do you absolutely want to play before you die?

 

 BO: Richard III, just to do the "Now is the winter of our discontent" speech. I use part of it on my website (www.billoberst.com)

 n a section called The Anatomy Of Fear:

 

"I, that am rudely stamp'd, Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time

 Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, And that so lamely and unfashionableThat dogs bark at me as I halt by them

 to spy my shadow in the sun Therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, I am determined to prove a villain"

 

I often wish that kids were taught more of the Bard. There is such wisdom and heart there. Lincoln knew large chunks of Shakespeare by heart. His favorite was from Richard II:

 

SB: What inspired you to make the jump from New York to Hollywood and do you ever plan on going back?

 

BO: I still do stage from time to time but I am a Los Angeles actor now and that means that I am a film & TV actor. I have
enjoyed the challenges of learning camera acting over the last 3 years in Hollywood. It's really very difficult, a whole different

set of skills than the stage requires.

 

SB: Do you consider Hollywood your home now?

 

BO: I sleep in Hollywood, so I guess so!

 

SB: You have done extensive work in the horror genre in the few years you have been in Hollywood. What types of roles are

 your favorite and why?

 

BO: I like roles that explore the darkness that comes with the territory of being human. There is a sort of melancholy that we

 are born with...at times it twists into madness or violence...and we all have to learn to face it. But everything in our society

 says "No! Don't face it. Be distracted instead." So I think that storytellers (and that's all filmmakers are at root) can help provide

 a catharsis by letting people do their self-examination in an entertaining way, maybe even subconsciously.

 

Plus I am ugly, and people love to see an ugly guy do very bad things! It really is fun for me, too.

 

SB: What role has been the closest to who you really are?

 

BO: I just did a lead role for director Jourdan McClure in a film called Children Of Sorrow, which will be out later this year.

I played a cult leader, Simon Leach, in the desert. The part as scripted wasn't much like me, but when we got out there

 

Jourdan started asking me to improv, which terrifies me by the way, and I started pulling stuff out of my own personality.

 

This happened more and more until I realized that, except for the fact that Simon kills people, he was pretty much me as we

filmed him. I drew on everything I am  to do that role, so now I am nervous about it coming out, because if people don't like it,

well, that's me they don't like.

 

But this is a tough-skin business and I've got a pretty thick hide. I'll be biting my nails at that premiere, though.

 

SB: What would you tell young people who are interested in getting into acting in the horror genre?

 

BO: I would tell them to be sure that this is what they want to do because it is a brutal business. But if their hearts really tell

 them they must try it, then they must be tenacious. Never give up. And heed the advice
of Teddy Roosevelt:

 

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who comes

 short again and again, who knows great enthusiasms and great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; and who

 

if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither

 know victory nor defeat."

 

I am grateful to God every day for being able to make a living doing what I love. I think if you do what you love, the money will
follow. Eventually.

 

SB: Do you have a special message for horror fans?

 

BO: Why yes I do and here it is:

 

My sympathy has always been with the monster. As a kid, Iwanted to be The Wolfman, and I practiced his wicked balls-of-the-feet walk barefoot in the moonlight on the beaches of South Carolina. I must have been a sight. In college, I bought an old opera

 cape for five bucks and wore it with a suit and black shiny shoes, leaving my dorm at midnight to walk down silent sidewalks

 and imagine the power the Count must have felt.

 

I have always rooted for the monster. Now I get to play monsters. And monstrous human beings. And all manner of things

 in between.

 

I love what I do. I love every second of it. I try not to show it sometimes, because actors aren't supposed to be enthusiastic;
especially not film actors. We're supposed to be slightly jaded and mostly sophisticated. Enthusiasm is seen as a sign of the amateur.

 

But I can't hold it in. I love my job. I love rooting out the parts of our human nature that we like to hide and laying them out

for inspection.

 

I love looking in the dark mirror of the soul right along with the viewer. I'm a fan, too. That's why I
love horror. Darkness recognized is danger avoided.

 

To fans, I say thank you for the passion that you put into keeping this old form of storytelling alive and kicking (and screaming.)

 

To directors, I say thank you for the chances you've given me, and for the chances yet to come. Your instincts are right far

more often than mine. And to writers, I say what are you waiting for? Reinvigorate this grand old genre with fresh blood! Tear

apart the tired old formulaic screenplays with your jagged teeth and scrawl new nightmares by the light of the moon.

 

And if you write a role for the likes of me, even better.

 

Let's make monsters. Let's make movies.

 

See more of Bill at the following websites:

 

IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2454994/

 

Website: http://www.billoberst.com/

 

Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/billoberstjr

 

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ActorBillOberstJr

 

E-mail: [email protected]