Sebastian Bellamy is a young actor living in the Vancouver area who is at the very beginning of his professional career. With the support of his family he successfully finished acting school and is now embarking on a promising new life.
This exclusive interview with Sebastian was originally published in Ferreira Fest 119.
AN INTERVIEW WITH SEBASTIAN BELLAMY
FF – Hi Sebastian, it is such a pleasure to be talking to you today. Welcome to Ferreira Fest!
SB – Well, thank you! It’s a pleasure to talk to you.
FF – Okay, great. Well, let’s start with something really simple. Let’s hear a little about yourself. In a sentence or two, or maybe three, please tell us: who is Sebastian, and what gets you up in the morning?
SB – All right. Well, I came from a small town, and I was really into singing and acting, I loved watching movies and cartoons and stuff like that, and I just realized that pursuing your dreams is obviously something you should do in your life because if you don’t do what makes you happy, then what are you going to do?
FF – Right. You’re going to be miserable for the rest of your life.
SB – Exactly, exactly. And if you don’t at least try pursuing your dreams then you should just at least do what makes you happy and you should at least try. Because if you try then you know that it’s either something you want to do and pursue, or it’s something that you don’t want to do.
FF – Right. Great. So, I understand from Louis that you are an aspiring actor, so tell us a little bit about how and why and when you got bitten by The Bug.
SB – I just finished acting school, actually. Which is, well, that was an experience, it was great. It was scary at first, obviously. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. And I’m glad I did it. It was really fun.
FF – So, was there an event in your life, or an experience that you had, where you felt like, “oh, man, this is really awesome, I want to do this”?
SB – I think probably the first Jim Carrey movie I ever watched, which was Liar Liar. That was great.
FF – And that told you that you wanted to do something like that?
SB – I just thought that it would be fun because you get to play so many different characters and do all these things. And watching Jim Carrey just get to be, I mean, Jim Carrey.
FF – Yeah.
SB – And, he’s amazing. Even Ace Ventura, just watching all of his movies, and watching how different and how unique each person is, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.
Because, during my times of walking around, even just going to the grocery store, I’d look at somebody and I’d always think, I wonder what their life is like, or what it would be like in their shoes; I always wanted to know their past and stuff like that, or what they’re doing or what they’re going through, [that] kind of thing.
FF – Right. People watching. That’s an absolutely perfectly legitimate way of creating a character.
SB – Yeah.
FF – Exactly.
FF – Now, as you’ve gone through acting school, what is the role or the project that you’ve done that you’re most proud of so far? It might be a class project, or a show that you were in. So, what’s your greatest pride, and why was that special for you?
SB – I think, that’s a good question, actually. I think it would be, one of the things that I’m most proud of is, me and my friend in high school, he was my only friend in high school, we were putting on a play, or, our school was putting on a play.
There were two plays, and me and my friend wanted to do something different, also because we were in both of the plays. But we wanted to do something special. So, we chose to do two small skits from Monty Python at the start of the show.
And I think that’s something that I’m most proud of because I was very shy in high school, and telling a teacher that I wanted to do something like that was, well, it was like a base step. And… it was the Pet Shop skit which led into the Lumberjack skit, so I had to sing in front of all the people that were there.
And singing in front of people always scared me. Even though I like singing, and took lessons for singing for two years. It’s always been frightening.
FF – Well, and then, those are two of the most famous Monty Python scenes, too. So, I’m sure there’s the additional jitter of, well, everybody knows these.
SB – Yeah, exactly.
FF – Well, that’s great that you challenged yourself with that. That’s awesome. Now, many young and aspiring actors face quite a bit of opposition from their families – “don’t be a starving actor”, “learn a real trade”, blah blah blah, you’ve heard it all before, but that’s not really the case for you. So, tell us a little bit about how the support of your family has helped you to achieve the path to your dream career.
SB – Well, I would say that my parents are probably some of the greatest parents anybody could ever have. We don’t have a lot of family, it’s just me, my dad, my mom and my brother. And, they’re all extremely supporting of what I do. And they’ve always pushed me to pursue the things that I’ve wanted to do in life because they know that if you want to do something, you should do it, because if you don’t you’ll be miserable. And they want me to try it, and they want me to succeed, so they keep pushing me to keep going, going and going. Just, pushing on through.
FF – That’s great. So many parents that are the exact opposite from that. That “learn a real job” and all that kind of stuff. And they don’t understand that learning to act is not just learning to act but it is all kinds of life skills you pick up, what they now call “transferable skills”. They go into a lot of other areas.
FF – So, you really lucked out with your family, in that they saw that. [They] may not be able to verbalize it, but at least encourage you in that direction.
SB – Yeah, exactly.
FF – So, that’s fantastic.
SB – I consider myself extremely lucky.
FF – Awesome. So, what are your plans now that you’re done with acting school? What are your plans for the near future? And what’s next on the agenda for you?
SB – Plans for the near future… right now I’m looking for an agent, so I’ve contacted one so far, and them I’m probably going to go find some others and set up some meetings and stuff and see if I can get representation under anybody, of course. Not just anybody, but someone that I jive with. Somebody that I can work with and create a business out of.
FF – Right. Tell us a little bit more about the search for an agent. Not everybody’s familiar how that works, so, what is your current path with that? What do you do? How do you apply? How do you talk to people? SB – One of the easiest ways, is calling up an agent, you want to search for an agency and then find some names, some people in the agency and then call them, see if you have a connection with them on the phone, sort of thing. And, after that, you can ask them to set up a meeting, or they’ll ask you to e-mail them some of your material so that they can see a bit of it. And then you can set up a meeting from there.
So, it just depends on searching out, finding some names from different agencies and just going for it, basically.
FF – That sounds great. So, you’re totally into this.
SB – Yes.
FF – That’s awesome. Now, what would be your absolute dream role? I know this is really early to ask that kind of question.
SB – Oh, no. I know the answer.
FF – Well, tell us a little bit more about that.
SB – All right, my absolute dream would be to play a superhero in a Marvel movie. I don’t necessarily know which hero, but I’ve always thought about [it]… I know that Spider Man’s already going on. But since there’s so many different realities and stuff like that in the Marvel cinematic universe that there’s so many possibilities for different Spider Men, so, I think, one of the roles has been, that I’ve wanted to do, would be Superior Spider Man, which is a mix of Dr. Octavius and Peter Parker in the same body.
FF – Oh, wow!
SB – Yeah, that one, I think, sparks something. Because I like characters who are complicated, I think. And he’s complicated.
FF – Yeah, yeah.
FF – What else is it that attracts you to the superhero genre?
SB – I have cases, boxes and boxes, filled with comic books. And I’ve always loved comic books and read comic books as a child. So, just, comic books and superheroes, my favorite.
FF – So, was that inspirational for you as a kid?
SB – Oh, yeah.
FF – I’m always curious why people read comics. Like, what do you get out of it that is so important to you that now you actually want to go into, essentially becoming that comic book for other people, right?
SB – Yeah, for me I think it’s part of, it’s the sense of being able to play a character that has superpowers because that’s cool, and, you know, people can’t have superpowers. And also the aspect of giving people hope, in a sense. And helping others.
FF – Right. That’s great. That’s beautiful, that you’re looking out for others as well when you’re doing your craft.
SB – Yeah.
FF – So, you’re really into the sharing aspect of the acting profession.
SB – Yeah. I mean, in acting, it’s like, if you’re not working with your scene partner, then, I mean, you guys have to play with each other, in the scene. So if you guys aren’t, then, it’s just not a good connection. One thing is having a really good connection with your scene partner because then you guys can both work at your best.
FF – Right. That’s wonderful. Now, thinking back on acting school, were there people that were really influential for you, or certain classes or courses that you took that really kicked your butt but you came out of it a better, stronger person? What were some of the game changers that you encountered during your time in acting school?
SB – I think, some of the game changers were definitely the first day I went to acting school we all had to introduce ourselves and tell everybody a little bit about ourselves. I was the last one to tell everybody about myself. And I cried. That showed me that I was a very emotional person because I never really thought that I would do that, obviously.
FF – Right.
SB – And, in classes I was crowned the “class crier”. So, that was fun. That’s good, because I realize that I’m really good with my emotions and I can work with them. And, I wasn’t strong with them before I started, but now I think it’s easier for me to control them and learn how to use them for certain aspects of my career.
FF – That’s a great thing to learn. Especially somebody who is just starting to go into their preferred professional career. That’s awesome.
SB – Yeah, exactly. And I think one person who has always kind of influenced me, too, is one of my teachers, his name is Marc-Anthony Massiah. He would always tell me that it is really good for me to know how to use my emotions like I do. I sat in on some of the plays he was putting on and the people that were acting, he was directing. The actors were amazing. I was watching them, I was like, holy crap, these guys are really good. And he looked at me and he pointed at one of the guys and he said, “You’ll be able to do that. One hundred percent, I know you can.” And I knew that, I’m lucky, and I’m glad that I can, that I have people that support me in all of it.
FF – And people that see your potential. Because sometimes, it’s a back and forth kind of thing that you do something, somebody sees potential for more, and that inspires you to do better, and to be better at a certain task.
SB – Exactly. Yeah.
FF – So, you had good mentors.
SB – Exactly.
FF – That’s wonderful. All righty. Well, let’s briefly talk about Louis, and the reason why you’re here at Ferreira Fest, obviously, is because the two of you are acquaintances.
So, how did you meet? And, what’s the story behind that? How did you become friends, or, just, how did you meet?
SB – It’s a difficult story to explain. So, my parents used to work in a time share. And they knew one of the guys they worked with, and his name was David. David’s wife is a stunt woman. And she knew Louis, and Louis’ girlfriend.
And David was taking care of the dog one day, and he’s like “Oh, I have to go somewhere, so can you guys watch Billie?” And we’re like, “Yeah, for sure,” because we love dogs, obviously. Dogs are amazing.
So, we took care of Billie.
And one day, David just hooked us up. We went and I think we had dinner with them, or lunch with them, one of those. We all realized that they are amazing people. And they loved us and we loved them, so, we just kind of stuck to it. We’ve become best friends and Louis is my mentor, and I’m really lucky to have him as my mentor, obviously, because he’s an amazing actor. I love watching his performances on TV and stuff like that.
But, yeah, it was basically because we took care of his dog.
FF – So, Sebastian, how can people keep up with you and your career? Are you on social media? Is there a way that we can follow you and see what you are up to?
SB – Yeah, I have Instagram and I have a Facebook also. And I’m going to set up an IMDb for when I get more jobs later on. And then I’ll have it on there.
FF – Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us today. All of us will be following your career and cheering you on, so please let us know what you’re up to, and best of luck to you in the very near, and the very far future. So, thank you, again, for talking to us.
SB – Thank you for having me, it was awesome!
Thanks to Casey and Paco for the transcript!
Keep up with Sebastian!
- Subscribe to his Instagram Feed
- Follow him on Facebook
- Check out his IMDb listings
Another one of Sebastian’s dream roles is to play a Knight Who Says “Ni!”,
so frequent riding lessons are essential.
Any horse will do.
