FMM: Tell us about your background in film.
My acting career began on stage with the Galway Theatre Company where I learned the craft of acting and direction. I embraced my newfound ‘tribe’ and the thrill of acting in front of a live audience. I had an electronic security firm at the time, but what began as a hobby became my core support through the difficulties of the Great Recession of 2008-13, where I lost my business. Since then I have worked in Hollywood (where I defined success as supporting myself though acting without doing porn!). My other twin passion is history and I returned to Ireland, to go to University and complete an MA and Ph.D., in studying the social causes of past revolution. While here, I’ve worked on Ireland’s most popular TV drama Fair City and loved it immensely.
FMM: How have you evolved as an actor since your 2015, award-winning short film, “Top of the Rock?”
I loved working on this concept short-film of Jes Bickhart, in his moving story of Irish and Italian workers building the Rockefeller center during the Great Depression. It resonated with me for all the reasons I just mentioned. Since then, I believe I am more understanding of people’s views than I was before. As an actor we must walk in the shoes of our characters and not judge their motivations or actions. That can be very difficult especially when playing seriously conflicted roles or ‘bad’ people. So I believe through my history research and the simple act of growing older I have learned to be a little wiser, which I hope leads into my acting craft in seeking the truth of my characters!
FMM: Tell us about your contributions to current affairs programs.
I have won awards for historical research projects I set up, including crowd-sourced work to digitally save old records with volunteers photographing pages of documents using smartphones and the like. This led to online and on TV documentaries, presenting or contributing to historical programs or social commentary. I’ve really enjoyed these programs and looking forward to hosting more in the future.
FMM: What would people be surprised to know about you?
I’m a member of MENSA! I don’t take it too serious. That reminds me, I need to pay my annual fee…
FMM: Your new web series, “Breaking Hollywood” is drawing a lot of attention. Tell us about it.
The superb Andi Osho and I created Breaking Hollywood as a laugh-out-loud send-up of the seedier side of chasing the Hollywood dream, in the style of The Office.
Over three episodes in our web-series, we follow my low-rent character Malcolm Funce, as he grows increasingly desperate in his attempts to lure wide-eyed foreign actors onto his industry networking week – promising them their big break into Hollywood.
Its festival screening will be towards the end of this year and then available online soon after. The trailer is online now!
FMM: Do you have a favorite scene?
There are so many – I was so fortunate to work with such fun and talented actors and personally – my own favorite scene – is with David Harewood, in the back of a London Taxi, in the sweltering heat of North Hollywood. He’s a brilliant guy and kindly gave his time and energy to playing a wonderful manic paranoid version of himself. I still smile thinking of him shrieking at me, ‘You’ve killed them!”.
FMM: Who will enjoy “Breaking Hollywood” the most?
That’s a hard one – I hope people who love The Office or Modern Family vibe may click with our Breaking Hollywood. But I do think anyone who has been on those networking weekends or discover-your-true-career workshops may have a wry smile at what we are going for. It’s all tongue-in-cheek but very much based on Andi and I’s experience of Hollywood when we first arrived!
FMM: What are your upcoming projects/goals for 2022?
I am finishing my Ph.D., finally – the COVID interruption delayed things there! And my lovely wife and I are heading stateside, where we look forward to linking up with past friends and new ones I made in NYC on Zoom over workshops, acting classes, and auditions! And to land the big one.. of course. Just need to find someone who can break me into the industry…
Breaking Hollywood is due to be released online in early 2022.
See the trailer at www.liamalex.com, & follow Liam @liamalexheffron (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram)
