Beau Minniear is a new New Yorker and his affection for the city grows stronger with each day he gets to walk around the buzzy streets and observe its never-ending energy. This desire to explore intensity is something that also drew him to acting – a profession that gives him a safe space to rip through the highest of emotions. For us, the young indie actor talks about the power of not holding back in performance, putting on shows for animals as a kid and the joys of falling in love for just a second.

Hey Beau! Where are you right now?

I’m in New York, I just got back from Cape Cod - I went there for a film festival.

Nice! How long have you been living in New York?

I moved here full-time in April. Before that, I was going back and forth between here and LA.

What’s your favourite spot in the city right now?

Man, there’s so many! I moved to LA when I was 18, and when you’re so young, I think there’s a real need for making friends. But moving here, my favourite part about this city has actually been the fact that it feels so romantic even when you’re on your own. In other places, being alone can be pretty loud. But here, you’re just walking around and you might end up at a jazz club that has five people in it. And then, the streets are filled with music and so many smells. Maybe because I’m still fresh, even riding the subway feels romantic! Being alone here has its own power, so I’m really riding a high of exploring this place solo.

Yes, exploring a city on your own can be really entertaining!

Yeah, you learn so much about yourself. Also, watching love all around you, oh man, it’s like a drug. And then you’re walking down the street and have eye contact with somebody for a second. You fall in love and then boom, they’re gone. There’s all these little moments that happen here.

Let’s talk a little bit about acting – what made you want to pursue it? Did you have a specific moment when you realized this was the path for you?

I don’t think I’ve ever had that moment. I grew up on a ranch on the outskirts of Park City, Utah, surrounded by nature and animals that my dad would get on Craigslist for really cheap. And those animals were something to bounce the ideas off – I was talking to them like a little crazy kid. So maybe performing for them in the woods is where it all started for me. At school, I never really clicked with the drama kids, I never could quite see myself with them. And I never clicked with the football kids either. I would bounce around, get into a lot of trouble and I got suspended a bunch. I had no respect for discipline or authority at all. It wasn’t until I met a guy named Jordan Chappelle, who’s an acting coach in LA, that I first realised that the director-actor relationship is something that I crave, can listen to, and that I see this environment as a safe space for me to explore the emotions that I used to get in trouble for without the repercussions and the shame and the guilt. So yeah, it’s been an evolving process. I think that, as an artist, you’re constantly learning and constantly letting go. Acting is always a new experience. And I don’t have a hold on the process itself – it just feels like something that I have to breathe in and take with where I am in my life at the time.

Is going in and out of these extreme emotions something that you find the most thrilling about it?

Yeah. When I was younger, I always thought that being a man was about anger and that raw quality of someone like Marlon Brando [points to a poster of Brando’s film hanging on the wall]. And acting is a really great space to rip through that. Then on the other side of it, there’s vulnerability and honesty and accountability – to have that space to work through them and not hold back is the healthiest thing, at least for me. Also, it’s so much fun to cry and fight and laugh and fall in love on stage or in a project. It’s addictive.

It’s so freeing. So we know that Marlon Brando is one of your favourites. [Laughs] Who are some other actors that you look up to?

It’s always changing. Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Shannon and Michael Fassbender are a few that come to mind.

What’s something that you’re looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to the strike ending. That said, I also want actors to be treated fairly. It’s an interesting time for indie films and that’s what I love – that’s what I grew up on. So I’m excited to see the wave of independent movies that come out of this and stories that might not have been heard before. Also, I’m looking forward to the next time you come to New York and we go to some jazz bars!

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Interview by Martin Onufrowicz

Photography by Ritchie Jo Espenilla

CONSTANTLY LEARNING AND LETTING GO

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