Life & Work with Max Cazier

Today we’d like to introduce you to Max Cazier.

Hi Max, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today. 
Where to begin? I was born in London, but I spent a lot of my childhood traveling. My mum raised me by herself, so we would spend a good portion of the year in Los Angeles with my grandparents, and I’d also go to visit my dad in Vienna and Zurich. There was always a lot of code-switching that had to be done. And I’d always come back from my travels with loads of stories to tell on the school bus. I was an only child with (probably too much) energy, so I relished the chance to do silly voices for all my friends on those long drives, which is probably what led me into acting. 

I’d been scouted a few times by acting and modeling agencies when I was a little kid, but my mum had always turned them down in spite of my protestations. But when I was eight, she finally caved, and she let me audition for an acting agent. She probably thought it wouldn’t lead anywhere, but I got signed! I started working almost immediately (there weren’t many kids who could switch between English and American accents) and didn’t stop until I left London to attend university. 

At university, I took some time off to study and try out a few odd jobs, but I finally decided to get back into acting last year, and it’s been right back into the flow of things! 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Every road has a couple bumps on it, and mine’s no different! I’d say my first couple of years of being in college and being out of acting were really challenging. When you’ve been utterly devoted to a craft and made it a massive portion of your personal growth, it can be jarring when you don’t have it to fall back on. 

I think a lot of actors make their profession their entire personality, and I was no different as a teenager. When you know you have an ace in your pocket, it can be tricky not to play it; you know you can dazzle people with your resume. But take that away, and what do you have? Where’s the substance? 

Spending a few years as ‘just’ a student helped me solidify who I was in some really meaningful ways. I did try adding some new gimmicks along the way, but ultimately, I grew more confident in being myself. That confidence has only helped me as I’ve gotten back into the industry – Max Cazier, the actor, is now secondary to Max Cazier, the person. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an actor! And I’ve done a little bit of everything from theatre to radio to TV. 

My first job was a Tide Pod commercial, which was only aired in Dubai, but since then, I’ve worked on a whole range of projects: video games for Studio Ghibli and Disney, a film for Warner Bros, and even a training video for Oreo (and yes, I got to twist, lick and dunk). I was even the voice of a couple Sealife aquariums for a while! 

When it comes to meaningful projects, some things I’m really proud of, there are a couple that spring to mind: 

I starred in a radio play for the BBC when I was a teenager, and I don’t think I ever grew more as an actor in such a short period of time. I was playing James Purefoy’s (A Knight’s Tale, HBO’s Rome, Fox’s The Following) son, and was completely intimidated to be working alongside an actor of his pedigree, especially in such intimacy. James was entirely fantastic, though; he took me under his wing and showed me what it meant to work in a way that was both professional and artistically rewarding. One really memorable experience from the days we spent in the studio was when my character had an emotional breakdown. I had to cry, which I’d never done in an acting capacity before, and I was clearly way out of my depth. James took me aside for a few minutes, soothed my nerves, and gave me his tips on how to do a scene like that. When we got back, we didn’t say a word to the director; we just stepped up to the microphones and did the scene. When the director called cut, one of the crew members (who was a mother) was so shaken that she sprinted into the studio and gave me a huge hug. She’d thought the tears were real! 

Another one that will stick with me forever is The Amazing World of Gumball on Cartoon Network, which I worked on for a few years. I’ve never experienced freedom like that on anything else; they would have pictures of a character and maybe even some frames of animation done, and then I would come in and make up silly voices until they liked one enough to use it. They’d encourage me to go bigger, bigger, bigger until I’d done something that only someone with my exact voice and personality could have done. That probably taught me one of the biggest lessons in acting – don’t try to be anyone else; be yourself. Nobody else can be a better you than you can. 

I’ve got some fun new projects coming up that I can’t talk about yet, but I can’t wait to show them to people and to see what else the future holds! 

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you, and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Definitely. The pandemic was a tumultuous period for me, as it was for everyone, but I don’t think anyone came out of it without going through some deeply meaningful personal growth. For me, it was all about reevaluating my priorities and solidifying my goals. 

During the first summer of COVID-19, I’d been supposed to be an intern for NBCUniversal between my junior and senior years of college, but of course, that got canceled as the world entered into lockdown. I did some thinking and made a spur-of-the-moment decision, which completely changed my life. I called up the folks at NBC, and I asked how they would feel about me taking some time away from college and coming to work for them as a full-time intern. To my astonishment, they said yes, and that led to an entire year spent at the company. It completely reawakened my love for the entertainment industry and ultimately gave me the focus that led to my return to the acting world. It didn’t hurt to get some inside knowledge of the production side, too. 

All in all, the lesson I learned from that bewildering period of the pandemic was that, sometimes, you just have to make the crazy decision. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/max.cazier
• Other: www.imdb.com/name/nm4833636/