Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Silcox.
Chris, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I started out in San Antonio, TX competing in Gymnastics and spending the rest of my time in Theatre performing and reading plays – whatever time was left over was spent in a Movie Theatre and icing my knees and back!
I competed for the University of Illinois Gymnastics team where I became an All-American NCAA athlete at the same time pursuing my degree in Theatre and Acting.
After school, I performed in and created shows for Cirque Du Soleil in Montreal, Las Vegas, and LA.
Now I act in & perform stunts for Films and TV shows here in Los Angeles and Abroad as well as create my own short films. Projects where I’ve acted in and perform stunts for include: The Greatest Showman, Wonder Woman 1984, Westworld, Future Man, and Spider-Man Homecoming – where I had the pleasure of being Tom Holland’s Stunt Double in the Spidey Suit!
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I’d like to think I’m a part of a community that tells great stories.
I thought I was an actor but that made me feel helpless. Constantly waiting for people to let me know when I could perform.
I thought I was a stuntman but that made me feel like cannon fodder (and sometimes I am quite Literally in an actual cannon/catapult about to be mortared through the air, near fire & debris…) But this made me feel just as expendable.
So now… I make my own short films and help others make their films. It’s the only way I feel like I can take ownership of my fate. I don’t have to audition or wait for the phone to ring. I just have to set up a light, a mic, and a camera.
Most of the time I’m still helping friends or bosses create action for their projects. We create fights, helping them design the acrobatics/movement for characters (or camera) and we even help with the creature qualities of a character. This is really a team effort and it’s a lot of fun. It also pays the bills so I can free up my own time later.
I make my own films and acting opportunities by shooting them in my house reciting a monologue, or film my girlfriend, Jenn, dancing on the beach.
I’ve been enthralled with plays my entire life but also with the visuals of film, so I try to combine them by taking plays that I think have cinematic potential and shooting small parts of them as best as I can, most of the time with a crew of One. Because of my stunt experience, I try to film fights and add movement whenever I have a crew of Two or more!
I was just given permission to shoot an excerpt of RHINOCÉROS by Ionesco. Absurdity and whimsicality with a dash of action and good rhythm. That’s what I’m in to.
What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Look to your friends if you’re lonely.
I’m lonely often, but it’s the only way I can get anything done for myself. For me, nothing beats a few hours of deeply concentrated work or practice time.
Get together with creative, happy people often though… Ideas come much more quickly and thoroughly when you’re in a group setting.
It’s scary but try to plan out a project, however small with three people. Plan like your are going to War. Be ready for all contingencies, weather, sick friends, difficult clients, producers, and talent. Then see how you delegate everything. You’ll learn a lot about yourself. Most Importantly, see it through until you’re Finished. Completing a project, no matter how small, is an enormous self-esteem boost and builds momentum to do it again and do it better.
All that and Erase Instagram…You can post something…then erase it. Instagram is not a community. It’s a slot machine of everyone else’s dream world.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can watch my short films, monologues, tutorials on YouTube & subscribe to my channel. YouTube – Chris Silcox:
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCr7PQNFYe0PvC5Vj9S–57g
Contact Info:
- Website: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCr7PQNFYe0PvC5Vj9S–57g
- Instagram: @chrisilcox
- Twitter: @chrisilcox
Image Credit:
Ryan Parma, Mike Quain, Laura McCranie
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
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