Life & Work with Archer McKnight

Today we’d like to introduce you to Archer McKnight.

Hi Archer, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today. 
I grew up in Texas. For whatever reason, my small family (mom, sister, myself) would move often. I shimmied out of my mom one fateful evening in 1989. I’m told it was raining that night. Corpus Christi was the place. 

A few years later, we found ourselves in San Antonio; we moved multiple times around San Antonio. Again, why my mom was so allergic to us sticking in one place remains a mystery. 

In 2002, we moved to Santa Cruz. These were my most formative years: skateboarding with friends, smoking from homemade gravity bongs, messing about in school, and absolutely refusing to live up to my potential… I loved it. 

Family issues arose, though, and I developed a debilitating case of OCD that forced me into independent study programs. The debt I paid for this new life indoors and away from society was a loss of my friendships and, more importantly, a loss of myself. I’d eventually move back to Texas for treatment… Houston this time, and there I remained. 

I stayed in Houston for 10 years, designing a life that was stable and consistent–the opposite of what I’d grown accustomed to. I became good at it. However, I was living with a powerful whisper from my heart that was urging me to pursue a creative life, acting in my case. Afraid of the instability I’d been taught to believe about pursuing a said creative life, I chose to hold firm to my safe and calculated existence as a personal trainer in Houston. Yet that was all I was doing: existing. 

Inevitably, the whispers grew louder. Eventually, I had to yield. Instead of doing the obviously more rational thing, like simply engaging in an acting community in Houston, I decided to go all in and move cross country in my 2006 Toyota Corolla (still have the car) to California to give my dream an honest chance. 

I started in Orange County where I knew someone who’d help me land on my feet, a few years passed, probably too many to be living in Orange County, then finally in February 2022 I came to call Los Angeles my home. I really like it here. It feels right. I’m a part of the community I denied myself for years, and little by little, my acting credits grow, my acting skill increases, and my self-assurance rises. 

Funny thing: life. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’m not really sure what a ‘smooth ride’ is. To use a poor surfing analogy, my road to being an actor has been like trying to surf a wave that’s far beyond my comfort zone in heavy wind on a board that’s not remotely designed to handle that type of wave. 

Basically, it’s been choppy. But choppy doesn’t mean unsuccessful; it just means consistent resistance. That’s cool, though, because resistance creates lessons, victories, failures, self-reliance, loving the work, absolutely f*cking hating the work… oh, to be an artist, but at least I FEEL like an artist now. 

I know I’m doing something that’s consistently demanding everything I have. I dig the scars it’s giving me. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Well, I act. As far as specialties go, I’d have to say I lean toward comedy that’s tinged in a maniacal essence that borders on unhinged. I’ve been told that my performances are contained messes… I take that as high praise. 

However, I think when you’re an actor, you begin to realize the things you know you can do, the things you know you can get away with, certain behaviors or actions that you often do because you know they work. For me, it’s the unhinged quasi-comedic/psychotic/disturbed persona. These things are certainly in my toolkit, but I’m trying to learn how to be better than these personal tropes so I no longer feel like I have to rely on them. 

I’m genuinely proud that for as much as my acting pursuits have been a powerful and continuous dick punch to my ego, they have, in equal measure, filled my soul and made me better. What makes me proud is that, though I need my breaks when things get too heavy, or I suppose in my case, when my dick gets too sore, that I never question if I’m doing the right thing. I know I am. That’s a feeling I’m not accustomed to: KNOWING that I’m in the right place and doing the right thing. That means a lot to a kid who moved around all his life. (I’m the kid, in case you were wondering). 

And what am I known for? I’d encourage you to just check out my IMDb page. Don’t be shy. 

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I like that there’s so much to do, and I love the movie history here. I actually FEEL it, and that makes it feel like home. I also love how young and vibrant the city is. It seems like so many people aren’t from here but came here to pursue something bigger than themselves. So, while I don’t obviously know everyone in this city, I feel like I’m in good company being surrounded by people who are all trying to fulfill their one personal dreams. I like that shit. 

What don’t I like? Having to constantly look down at my feet as I walk on the sidewalk in order to avoid stepping in human shit. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/archer_mcknight?utm_source=linktree_admin_share
• Instagram: @archer.mcknight