An Interview with Nicholas Gunn
Nicholas (Nick) is an actor whom I’ve known since 2007, back when I lived in Melbourne, Australia. We’ve worked on several projects together and, despite now living on opposite sides of the world, we still keep in touch. For the UK readers, Nick has had a couple of stints on the popular show Neighbours over the years. Anyway, I thought I’d ask him a few questions so you too can get to know this talented actor.
David: Okay, tell us who you are and what you do?
Nick: My name is Nicholas Gunn and I’m a trained professional screen actor from Melbourne, Australia
David: Can you describe your journey into acting and what got you started/hooked?
Nick: Growing up, my mother always took my brother and me most weekends to our local shopping mall - Chadstone, to see a movie. It became our thing that we all do. Mum also enjoyed reading up and performers she liked or perhaps found handsome. Actors such as Alec Baldwin, John Travolta and John Stamos. The internet was in its infancy at this stage, so gossip magazines such as ‘New Idea’ or ‘Woman’s Day’ were regularly lying around the house. I found myself also reading these magazines and becoming familiar with the names of certain films and who were the stars. We had a local video shop that also had quite a wide catalogue, from a young age I immersed myself in my two favourite genre’s; Horror and Comedy.
Several key things influenced my decision to want to be a professional actor. I’m naturally an introvert/ quite a shy person - the idea of having to work with different people every time you do a new acting project would challenge this area, placing you in new and different social circumstances with new work. But the idea of going to work and creating something for an audience that they would pay to watch was and still is an exciting privilege. Having an occupation where you get to go ‘make pretend’ in front of a camera - it’s genuinely such a pleasure to do this and attempt to do it well.
David: I miss video stores… So, how do you prepare for emotional scenes or moments of vulnerability in your performances?
Nick: Taking the time to do a proper script analysis. Inputting practical and active notes that help service the story of the scene. Every actor has their own process.
I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing two separate mentors - Bruce Alexander from the Melbourne Acting Studio, and Richard Sarell from the Rehearsal Room. Bruce taught me the value of experimentation with brave ideas/decisions and being willing to fail. Richard provided an active process of breaking down the script itself and understanding the story and what the characters are talking about. A combination of Richard Sarell’s Rehearsal room technique and associating/linking emotional experiences from past life experiences has been the most effective approach to moments of vulnerability and emotion.
David: We met in 2007 at the Melbourne Acting Studio with Bruce Alexander, have you done anything similar since then and do you recommend actors continue to hone their craft through classes? Actually, I know you mentioned Richard from the Rehearsal Room and I also spent some time there after you left.
Nick: Yes, I have done several courses with different acting teachers - I think this is quite a common road for many actors. As an actor, you wind up picking up many different processes or methods and combining them all to make it work for you. It just helps to have a great sounding board to discuss how you can utilise the skillset and tools learned and how to practically apply these to a scene.
David: What role or project are you most proud of, and why?
Nick: I had the luck and pleasure of playing the lead role in a horror film called Lemon Tree Passage. I was the villain and altered the character’s look with a shaved head and goatee. After a deep script analysis, I was able to picture how the character looked - simple things like altering your appearance to, in this case, make the character look more aggressive or intimidating was very satisfying.
David: What has been the most challenging role you've ever played, and how did you prepare for it?
Nick: As much as I love the comedy genre, it’s also incredibly hard to execute correctly as it unfortunately doesn’t come naturally to me. I played a fast-talking/arrogant television executive in a TV series called ‘The Weatherman’. In terms of preparation, I was lucky that the writers of this project just so happened to be the directors. Ensuring that I knew the lines back to front, I wasn’t confident I could get to the right place performance-wise, so I just ensured to trust the director’s vision. Listening and trusting your director is key to a good performance.
David: How do you choose the projects you work on, and what factors influence your decision?
Nick: The quality of the writing and whether the character I’m being cast for is suited to my strengths. The better the writing is, the easier our job is. Ensuring the story makes sense to me. My decision is solely based on these two factors.
David: I love asking this question - what’s a movie genre, a role, or a type of character you haven’t played yet but would love to explore, and why?
Nick: It would be great to continue exploring a character like the executive from the Weatherman TV series for two to three seasons. Just to see how that character would develop and what layers could be added to the character. A character in a comedy TV series that gets to develop over multiple seasons would be a great experience.
David: Can you share an instance where you had to make a difficult decision regarding your career, and how did you handle it?
Nick: I had an opportunity to stay in the United States back in 2015, but I wasn’t ready to commit to the move and stay there unfortunately. It was fear, fear of the unknown at the time, and having to start all over again in a new country, finding an agent, and building up my credits and reputation after I had spent 7-10 years doing this in Australia. I was incredibly anxious, scared, and immature. I didn’t handle this well and felt this was a failure. I lived there for six months before coming home. I was burnt out and felt I failed myself and the people around me by not establishing my career over there. I handled it both poorly and lazily.
David: I remember you going through this and it’s not a failure at all but a learning process and character growth for yourself. Even getting the chance to spend 6 months over there is still 6 months more than most ever get the chance to, so be proud that you even dared to try. Right, let’s finish with this - when you are not acting, what do you do to unwind and relax?
Nick: Weights, diet, and exercise. Video games are a huge passion. Time with my family and daughter, going to the cinema and of course watching TV series and movies. Once a week, I get to eat some junk food. It’s a must and I look forward to that all week!
David: Amazing and you have been encouraging and inspiring for my own fitness journey. We trained together at the gym for a while back in Melbourne, but now we bounce ideas off each other (from the other side of the world) in everything health and fitness (and occasionally film). Thanks very much for taking the time to do this Nick, it is very much appreciated.
Here’s links to Nick’s pages below:
Website: nicholas-gunn.com
IMDb: https://m.imdb.com/name/nm3238882/
