Paul Wesley – Ring Master

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  Well, the one thing that is in the works is a mini series called Fallen.  It is premiering on August 13th and we still have parts two and three of the mini series to shoot.  So, I am going to Vancouver in the late summer of this year to complete the rest of the trilogy.  There is a possibility that the mini series might get expanded and turned into a series, we’re not sure yet.  I saw part one already and it’s pretty good so we’re excited about it.

Q.  You’ve also recently worked on the film Peaceful Warrior.  What made you want to be a part of this project?

A.  That one is coming out on June 2nd through Lions Gate.  I read the script for a different role and auditioned for a different role.  They wanted me for this supporting role, this sort of antagonist, bad-guy in a way.  I thought it was an amazing script, it’s based on a book that’s really popular called The Way of the Peaceful Warrior.  A lot of people have read it and I just think it’s the type of movie that people could potentially watch it and be really effected by it in a positive way.  It’s not like one of these movies that you watch and forget about the next day.  It’s got a real message and I’m really into that inspirational type of stuff.  I’m pretty proud of it, it’s a pretty good movie, I think people will really respond to it.

Q.  Peaceful Warrior features quite an amazing cast. How was the chemistry on set for you all?

A.  Great, Scott Mechlowicz who plays the lead is a friend of mine and is a fantastic actor.  I got to become really good friends with Ashton Holmes who is also in the film.  We all got along really well, I didn’t really have any scenes with Nick Nolte.  But, I did meet him on set and he was a super nice, really respectful guy.  Obviously he is a fantastic actor and Amy Smart is very sweet, very cool and also really great in the film.  So, it was a nice experience.  We shot in LA and it was cool.

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from working on Peaceful Warrior?

A.  I do, there is one moment that was kind of funny.  If you watch the Olympics there are these rings that hang and you do a routine on them.  You go up there and some of the things these guys can do on them are pretty amazing.  For us, we had stunt doubles, but a lot of us had been training for a while.  I remember specifically we were on set and we had this huge gymnasium.  A big accomplishment for the rings is to jump up on the rings and sort of pull yourself up and straighten your arms out so you are literally suspended in the air.  It’s really difficult and you have got to have a lot of strength.  I know that the whole cast attempted to do it.  Scott, Ashton and I had attempted to do it several times and we all failed.  We couldn’t do it and finally one day everyone was on set and we were just about to shoot.  I jumped up, pulled myself up and somehow managed to get up in this crazy position and straighten my arms out.  Everyone started cheering and it was a really funny moment.  It was a huge accomplishment!

Q.  You had four weeks of training for the role in Peaceful Warrior.  What did your training entail?

A.  Just we all met at Gold’s Gym in Venice, they gave us memberships.  We had this trainer who was really good, he trained a lot of actors for a lot of really big films.  He put us on a diet and we did an hour of cardio everyday and an hour or two of weights everyday.  After a while you kind of took notice, after four weeks it really drastically changed our bodies.  We actually had some muscle mass which was great, of course it all went away after we stopped filming.  They had a gym for us on set, it was a gym on wheels.  It was like this big trailer with a gym and we kind of worked out and got pumped up before every scene.  I think it worked, I think we actually sold the look that we were actually gymnasts, people bought it.

Q.  When taking on dramatic roles like in your recent episode of “Crossing Jordan” and that of the role in Peaceful Warrior, how do you transform yourself into that character?

A.  Everyone has their opinion, every acting coach will teach you something different.  People always like to have their method.  I don’t know if I even have a method or if I can even put it into words.  I just try my best to really be honest with everything that I say.  I actually try to not represent what a gymnast or a baseball player would be doing.  I just try to feel what they are doing, be what they are and make my reactions, my words and my thoughts honest and natural.  That’s all I can really do and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.  When it works it is great, you never know until after you see the finished product.  There is so much involved, you do all of this stuff on set and you think it’s great and you feel it.  Then you see it put together and think, “Oh, that wasn’t that great.”  Then there are other times when you do things and you’re like “Oh, I don’t know if that worked.”  Then you see it put together and you go, “Wow, that was really good.”  I don’t know if you can ever really have a specific method.  Just keep doing what you’re doing, be honest and keep it natural and that’s really it.  I think for me what’s helpful is that with every role that I do I try to incorporate a part of my own personality into the role.  I think that’s where other actors make mistakes, that’s when overacting comes in.  When you try to be something that you’ve never been your entire life, all of a sudden it is this over the top performance.  So, I try to take a part of myself and incorporate it into every character that I play.  That way it is more accessible for me, it’s easier for me to access those feelings, thoughts and emotions.

Q.  What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A.  I try to keep busy creatively.  It’s tough, right now I have this hold with Fallen and I can’t really read for any television projects.  I can’t commit to anything major.  It’s kind of like I can sit around and watch TV and do nothing or I can do something that’s creative.  So, I decided to do a play in the mean time.  I am doing this play and it’s really great and we rehearse like maniacs and it’s very time consuming.  It’s very rewarding and at the same time it keeps my gears turning, so to speak, so that I don’t get too rusty.  I am big on music and sports as well, I try to keep active as much as possible.  I love snowboarding and I am hugely into ice hockey, though I haven’t been playing as much as I want to lately.  I have a lot of good friends out here in LA  and I’m pretty social.  I like to hang out with my buddies a lot.  Also, sometimes I like to get out of LA, sometimes LA is overwhelming.  If you spend too much time in any place you just want to go away.  My family lives in New Jersey and I like to go back and visit my family as often as I can.  I don’t see them enough.  I’ve got my little sister, my older sister, my mom and my dad and a lot of my friends from home, they are all in New Jersey.  So, I like to go back and visit the home town once in a while too.  My mom is a huge fan of mine, she’s a big supporter.

Q.  What would you like to say to all of your fans and supporters?  We’re huge fans of yours at the magazine and we’re really thankful that you were able to take the time to speak with us.

A.  Well, thank you first of all for saying that, I appreciate that.  Thank you to everyone at the magazine.  What I would like to say is that I hope over the years, and as I progress as a person, human being and actor, that every role that I play I hope I do it justice.  I hope that they are touched and moved by something that I do sometime in the future or something that I’ve done in the past.  I’m always doing my best and trying to be honest.   I’m always trying to keep it real and make every character that I play come alive.  I’m doing it for them, that’s what acting is all about.  You do it so that people will see it and it will hopefully make a difference in their life.  That it will affect them in a way that they normally wouldn’t be affected by.  I am out there trying and thank you for accepting me and letting me do what I love to do.