I Am the Night, interview with actor of tv series Dylan Smith

I Am the Night a tv series on TNT: Dylan Smith is actor of the series, with Chris Pine, India Eisley and Jefferson Mays. Dylan Smith worked also on movie Maze Runner, on the tv series Into the Badlands.

Q. In the tv series I Am the Night you interpret Sepp. Can you describe your character, please?

A. Sepp is an artist. He also works for George Hodel. His job for George is a bit of mystery. On one hand, George has the LAPD on the payroll, which I believe is true, but Sepp is there to take care of things that even the LAPD wouldn't want to get involved in. Sepp is desperate for George's approval and even love. He sees him as a mentor, a father, even a God of sorts. Sepp is trying to make a name for himself on the Surrealist scene, and since there is much pressure for artists to push the boundaries of morality, Sepp feels inclined to take it to the furthest place he can. That more than anything will get George's affection and attention.

Look at the Gallery: I Am The Night

Q. Sepp is a Villain. Are you identified with a similar character?

A. Yeah, I have played a lot of villains, but Sepp is different in that his emotional need is so great, his vulnerability so tangible that I had to really care about him, and understand what it is to worship someone so much, because of a desperate void in myself, that I would do anything for him. In the back story Sam Sheridan and I came up with for Sepp, we imagined that I had sacrificed my own daughter, to Hodel's sexual proclivities. Who does that? It is not interesting to me to simply say, 'an evil person does'. A broken, loving, lost soul does things like that. And that made it the hardest to find of all the villains I have played.

Q. How was it working with Chris Pine?

A. Chris is maybe the purest movie star I have ever worked with. Maybe Stanley Tucci next. But that does not mean Chris is unapproachable or plays upon his status. Not in any way. What I mean is that he is naturally, razor sharp, very relaxed, instinctual and heavy all at the same time. People have said it but it is true, I think of Paul Newman around Chris. He was always incredibly alive and very present when acting with him. It is so nice to work with an actor who when they look at you-you feel they are looking deep into you to see if they believe you. Chris brings out everyone's best self, that is a movie star to me.

I Am The Night

Q. What is the relationship between Patty Jenkins and the actors?

A. Patty is a real captain. A born leader. And the best kind. She is never micro-managing, she is always watching you even when you aren't shooting to see if she might find something in you that she could reveal through the lens. She loves making movies and coming from Fine Art, and then the camera department she is both that rare grace of artist and workman. Her sets run so smoothly, so for an actor, there is no distraction, no Hollywood fanfare, its work, and collaboration. A dream of a director to work with.

Q. You worked on the fantasy Maze Runner - The Death Cure. Do you like the fantasy genre?

A. I love fantasy and wish I knew more of it, I am hoping with my newborn son that as he grows up we can get into it together. I adored working on Maze Runner. I thought Wes Ball was terrific, he cares about film, about acting, so much so that he specifically wanted me on the film to be able to be a worthy henchman of Walton Goggins, and actor I adore. I also got to know Will Poulter a bit and he made me feel good about actors. Here is a huge up and coming young actor who is deeply passionate about film, from European to Independent to mainstream features. He was such a kind and wise young man, I was really bowled over. Working in South Africa was the best, an absolute dream, adore Cape Town and Johannesburg, but also very challenging cities politically and the humanitarian consciousness of the place is incredible. They are so sophisticated in their discourse about emancipation and equality, all of which I felt put us all in the right mind frame for the story of Maze Runner.

Q. What is your favorite book?

A. Right now, it’s Manhattan Beach, because it is simply an incredible story, with an incredible heroine, set in an time (NYC pre and post WWII) But most of all I have never finished a book and gotten to the thanks section and read that as voraciously as I did the book, entirely because the research was exhaustive, groundbreaking I would say, and you felt it the whole time you were reading. In fact, you hoped that the circumstances were real, as you were reading it, such a layered, detailed New York, and it just had to be true, and then at the end of the book, you discover it was, thanks to Jennifer Egan the author and her untold amounts of research. 

Q. Is it true that you surf? What do you like most about this sport? 

A. Let me be clear I am a beginner, by all accounts. I have only been doing it for a couple of years. I adore surfing because I have always looked at the ocean, and its waves, as a natural playground. Unlike most sports, you grab a board and that's it. And it is dangerous and powerful and beautiful all at the same time. You find a headspace while you are waiting for waves that are both clear and engaged, ‘Will the next wave be the one', and good surfers are calculating so much in a matter of seconds to determine if this is a wave worth taking. So it is humbling beyond measure, being tossed and taken by a hugely powerful sensation, and it is just you. And when you catch a good wave....well there is really very little that quite competes with using simply a board to ride the immense ocean. 

Q. What is your next project?

A. My next project is my son, my wife is back directing a play and I am full-time Daddy Day Care. He is my everything and I am trying to give him my full attention. Regarding acting, I am hoping more than anything to be on Denis Villeneuve's next film - Dune.

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