Nicholas Strong discusses not letting someone put shade on your shine!

Nicholas Strong

Nicholas Strong is Artist you come across once in a while who truly sticks out but in all the good ways. I met him recently in Los Angelos when both of our plays were produced with the Brisk Festival LA. His play titled The Big Finish (which he wrote, directed, and performed) ended up making it to the Finals, and let me tell you. It is truly WELL-DESERVED! Nicholas is an LA-based actor who graduated from Ball State University. He has appeared on major networks television shows such as Under the Dome (on CBS), Nashville(on ABC), and The Office(on NBC). Other than the Big Finish, some of his other stage credits include - A Soldier's Play(Malibu Stage Company), Hamlet(Illinois Shakespeare Festival) as well as The Laramie Project at his alma mater which he was awarded as a Kennedy Center Honoree.

I fear saying that the sky is the limit for Nicholas because that would truly be an understatement. His talent and what he offers as an Artist shows me that The Sky is just his starting point so, to be honest, Space and the entire Universe should be the limit for this talented Artist! I am so beyond grateful to have the chance to feature Nicholas in my series!

How old were you when you knew you wanted to be an Actor?

I heard somewhere recently that most of us who are good at reading people develop that skill as children as a need to stay ahead of torment, a survival skill. It hit me bone-deep when I heard that. Whoever that writer is, good for them because they nailed it. At least for me.

When I was a boy, my mother and I lived with my Aunt. I have no concept of how long it was because I was so young but it was long enough for me to have seen tons of films I should not have been watching at that age. Whether it was by God’s design or the whims of the teenage cousins I was living with at the time, the movies I saw in that three-bedroom house in Indianapolis changed the course of my life forever. I cannot say with certainty that I knew I wanted to be an actor if I could have articulated it at the time, but I knew I wanted whatever it was those people had, the way that they were making me feel. I wanted some of that for my own to control and give to others.

Are there any mentors who helped you become the wonderful Artist you are today?

Hands down, my mother is and has been the most significant influence in terms of my taste level. What I think is dope and what I think is shit, has been widely formed by her introducing me to the cinema, theatre, books, records, writers, etc. She has always had a tremendous taste and a great eye for what the truth is, artistically. When I was a teenager, I’d come back from the Friday night football game or a Saturday night movie and the glow from the television in her room would reflect off of the wall. I would follow it to where she would be watching Lilies of the Field with Sidney Poitier, or the original Super Fly, or some Anna Magnani classic, and we would talk about who wrote the films, who directed the films, the lead, and supporting actors. She had all this knowledge not just about the components of the piece but why it was working. She had a structural understanding of art and she gave me that early on. I became more than just a fan, I began to dissect these things and gain a deeper comprehension of how it all comes together, beat by beat, piece by piece. Even today, I don’t know anyone who has consumed more art than my mother and I have consumed a lot.

Congratulations on The Big Finish which recently moved on to the finals at The Brisk LA Festival. What a powerful and necessary piece of theatre. What inspired the creation of this piece?

Sitting at home on the couch during the lockdown, watching the lynchings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and the tragedy of Breonna Taylor had me feeling hopeless, angry, and bitter. I did a lot of soul-searching during that time and began to have honest conversations with close friends and family, saying all of the things we aren’t supposed to say out loud, and drinking far too much tequila to combat insomnia from the stress and worry. On the other side of all that, some very clear choices were laid in front of me and I chose the option I felt carried the most light and optimism; to use art as my weapon. So I set out to create art that was as disruptive, radical, and revolutionary as possible. The type of work that makes the Black people who raised me, the Black people who inspired me, the Black people who educated and loved me stand up and say “right on”.

There is a disconnect between the mythology and the reality of the United States as it pertains to the so-called Founders. Thomas Jefferson has been romanticized to the point that it is very difficult for most of us who have been educated here to see him clearly. When I tried to imagine the best glimpse of who that man really was, it was through the eyes of Sally Hemings; the Black woman whom he enslaved and impregnated. I wondered what she felt like as a pregnant teenager, to be the property of the man who is often given credit for being a chief architect of “the shining city on a hill.” From there, I let my imagination run, let God work, and got out of the way. When I looked up, I had some pages that I thought were interesting, funny, and dangerous and reminded me of all the art that I love; the kind that sticks to your ribs, has you asking questions, and arguing in the car on your way home. The reception has been unexpectedly and overwhelmingly positive, which makes me wonder how revolutionary it really is. Can you imagine a piece where a Black woman pimp-slaps Thomas Jefferson, who is being played by a Black man, and at the end of it, white people are on their feet cheering for more? I mean, fuck me… Mind-blowing.

Are there any moments, stories, or memories in your career that stick out and will always be near and dear to your heart?

When I was at University, we had a guest director come in from Chicago. A woman named Karen Kessler. She was the Artistic Director at the Famous Door Theatre. She cast me in the Moss Hart classic “You Can’t Take it With You”. At this point, I had been denied acceptance into the Theatre department, and here this woman from “big city Chicago” saw something in me that I felt at the time others had pretended not to notice. Long story short, I was nominated for an Irene Ryan award for a part that had less than 12 lines. I’ve played “Hangman” with Stephen King on a CBS sound stage as a series regular, taken Bass lessons at T Bone Burnett’s house, and starred in a play alongside Tracee Ellis Ross, but that moment, when a stranger noticed me and found value in my capabilities, lives with me to this very day. And I was brilliant in that play, by the way. Karen Kessler, the only Karen that knew what was up!

What advice would you give any aspiring artist who wants a career in the performing arts?

First thing’s first; understand that none of the people that you admire know what they are doing. They’re all making it up as they go along because there isn’t a perfect recipe that you can follow that will give you a great play, book, script, or record. That’s the madness and the glory of it.

That being said, my advice is as follows:

1. You owe it to yourself to get as good as you can at whatever your thing is and there are no shortcuts to that. So, before you have a fanbase or a following before you’ve gone viral, learn how to do your thing.

2. Save your money the second time. The first time you get it, you’re definitely going to blow it, especially if you haven’t had it before. But the second time, you definitely have to hold onto it, because nobody is going to feel bad for you if you spend it all.

3. Don’t stay too long at the party.

4. Have honest conversations with your representation as it pertains to your goals from the very beginning. They tend to get squirrelly if you switch it upon them.

5. It’s a job, it’s not who you are.

6. Once you’re on, don’t pretend that you’ve always been on. Go help somebody else get on.

7. As long as you’re ok with living in a smaller house, you can always tell the truth. But not me because I want golden toilets and 17 bedrooms. Now get off my lawn.

8. Rock with the people that rock with you. You don’t have to win everybody over.

9. You control the escape hatch. No one can make you go.

10. Never let a motherfucker put a shade on your shine.

Nicholas Strong's Play The Big Bang will be performed this week at The LA Brisk Festival. For more information please visit -https://briskfestival.com