KTS Interview with Kett Turton, 2016

Kett Turton Source had  the chance to chat with actor Kett Turton and talk about his life and career.

 

 

 

Identifying with some of the characters you play must be complicated, maybe even painful? How do you prepare for the part? Do you have some ritual?

 

Haha. I guess it is a bit ritualistic. Most of it happens without me thinking about it. I enjoy it though, so if there's pain it's masochistic.

 

What inspires you as an actor, writer, artist?

 

People. It's all about people watching with me. When I act a part, it's my friends and families and even just people I've seen on the train or wherever. It's about noticing differences and then seeing how they are similarities underneath, in disguise. I like that.

 

Some of your writing has seen the light of day lately. There was a performance of a short play you wrote as part of Serials at the Flea in NYC. How is writing similar to acting for you?

 

I'm a complete amateur as a writer. Hardly anything I write would ever even be read by anyone except me and I'm sure that's for the best. It is similar to acting for me in that it helps me make sense of the world, or try.

 

What do you think of the actual panorama of the film industry?

 

Haha. That's a good way of putting it. I love it when I'm working and bitterly resent it when I'm not.

 

Can you tell us more about Curmudgeons in Love? The short film you recently completed with Danny DeVito.

 

Sure. I got to work with Danny on Weiner-Dog and had a lot of fun. Lucy DeVito of course is so funny in Deadbeat and we know each other from around New York City. They wanted to make a film together of this play by Joshua Conkel, Curmudgeons in Love. They gave me the script and I loved it and we all got together and filmed a movie one weekend. It was fab!

 

How was it working with Danny DeVito, who directs as well as acts in this?

 

He's so into what ever he's doing as a director. So focused and alive to it. It's a passion for him, which is great to be around, and there's a lot laughter obviously. Him and David Margulies, who I'm sorry to say recently passed away, are like so raw in this film, I think we all felt lucky to be doing it together.

 

You've worked in Film and Theatre in Vancouver, New York, LA and London. Are there any differences you've noticed between these places in the industry?

 

Haha. Sure. It really is like one big tribe though in some ways, show business, whatever you want to call it. I'm inspired by a lot that comes out of the UK. Music, film, plays and acting itself in particular. I'm a total anglophile.

 

And you studied at RADA in London. What was the most important thing you learned there?

 

Time is of the essence.

 

Why do you think people are drawn to the mysterious, dark nature of some of your characters? Personally, I found your performance as Adam in Cinemanovels unusual in that way.

 

Because Adam was just this nice, nerdy guy in a way? I see what you mean but he also carries on an affair with this married woman doesn't he. And there's some ambiguity in the film as to how much he knows about her life. This is the age of Facebook after all, although it's never mentioned in the film. And he admires her fathers work so he would have heard of her. Like what is he really doing in that building in the first place? Is he aware of hid own true motivations? With him all of that was off screen, below the surface. There was a cut scene where Adam and Ben cross paths in a bar and commiserate, never fully aware of the parts they're playing in each others lives. Like I say though, that's not what the movie is about on the surface. I find all the parts you don't see of the character to be most intriguing sometimes.

 

what makes a story interesting to you?

 

That. What I just said Haha. Also, I like to see a character change. By the end he should be a different person from when he started, and along the way he should do things we may not have thought he would, or he may not have himself. That's what makes a story alive to me. And that's when it's interesting.

 

Favorite actor/director you'd absolutely work with?

 

Haha. There's not many I wouldn't work with. I'll say Ralph Fiennes, he's both.

 

What movies or plays did you enjoy seeing most this year?

 

I just saw my friend Lydia Wilson smash it as Kate Middleton in King Charles III on Broadway! Get it girl.

 

 

 

You can follow Kett and be up to date on his twitter : @kettturton 

A huge thanks to Kett who made both this site and interview possible!