Life & Work with Ian Coleman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ian Coleman

Hi Ian, 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?
While the seed was in me beginning with some acting and classes in grade school and high school, or possibly before, I was always bugging my oldest sister Melissa with made up stories when I was little, where I really started thinking about pursuing acting professionally was around 2010 when I got back into community theatre and was also working as a trivia host on the side. Both gave me the chance to see if I could make a go at a creative career and if I would enjoy it. From my first moment back on the stage I was hooked and performed in one play or musical right after another for years. That led me to leaving my IT career so I could dig deeper into acting training and figure out how to create a career. Something I’m continually figuring out, as I’m not sure any of us ever really do. The industry is always changing, and we have to find our place in it and navigate through the changes. The journey led me to Australia to mix in some travel with my training before eventually making the move to Los Angeles where I have lived and continue to work and train for the past 9 years.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. There have been lessons learned all along the way and many challenges to overcome. There are projects that have gone well and others that didn’t. Relationships that blossomed and grew and others that disappeared over time. This isn’t a career that I have ever felt has been reaching out calling for me. Some people have said I have a great look or a great voice as many of us hear, but none of that is worth much without a lot of hard work on both the craft and the business. I have felt called to acting, but this career rarely picks any of us out of a lineup, despite what we hear about how people are discovered. When you look deeper you can learn about all they were doing before their break happened. A while ago I heard an interview with Hugh Jackman where he said he felt that he was “always coming from behind as an actor”. I have felt the same and like Hugh, it has driven me to work harder, because I’ve never felt that any of this has come easy to me. I love the practice of it, the study of the human condition and the creation of stories and that keeps me going through the hard times. I remember when I first started training at the Howard Fine Studio, I had already taken a number of classes beforehand as well as performed in quite a lot of theatre and short films as well as a lead role in a feature film, but I was still struggling with anxiety, confidence and self-worth and finding my way as an actor. During the Foundation class Howard set an acting challenge for us and my first attempt at it didn’t go well to the point that Howard looked at me and said “Do you love acting? Because right now I can’t see it.” That was rough, but not the first or last struggle on the journey. I said “Yes, I do.” And that kept me in the class for the moment. My nerves had been killing me, but I went home and worked my ass off so that when I returned for the next class, I was a completely different actor and person. Everything changed from there because I showed what I could do and what it really meant to me, though that still didn’t make anything that came after easy. Acting is a challenging career because it doesn’t allow us to hide, it can’t be faked, we are living truthfully in imaginary circumstances as Meisner explained, but the experience is real and can both take a lot out of us and be exhilarating and energizing at the same time. Some of us can imitate other people, but none of us can do the performance the way someone else would because each of us is approaching the role from a different understanding and experience. Our uniqueness is our greatest asset because when we are right for something, it’s because it’s right for us as well, so it’s important to dig into our uniqueness.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an Actor, on stage, on camera and through voiceover and movement. What I am most known for is the short film No Dogs, a Filipino American short about the race riots that happened in Watsonville, CA in the 1930’s. No Dogs received quite a number of awards at festivals across a wide range of categories as well as two Best Supporting Actor awards for my performance and because of that I have become known, as a friend recently put it, for my “skill and strength in handling incredibly powerful yet dark characters”. That has led to quite a number of possible roles falling under that category. That short film is also one of the projects that I am most proud of. We worked hard on it and had such a great crew. No Dogs really shows all the love everyone involved put into it. When I was first pursuing my career, I really wanted to play the hero, especially a superhero, because I love superheroes, but through my journey I have also found a love for the darker roles and have learned why some people love to play the villain so much. The roles are quite fun, and you get to explore various parts of the human experience that villains are lauded for where others may not be. Some darker roles can deal with quite difficult things that are challenging to dig into, but I have never wanted to be scared of any role, so I have challenged myself with quite a variety of roles over the years. I still love heroes though and would love to play one on camera or in a video game or even a darker hero in a show like The Boys. As far as other dark characters I’m a huge fan of the show Dexter and find that to be a fascinating character study and a universe I would love to be a part of.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
This is a tough one and I guess I’m lucky to say that. There were a lot of great adventures in my childhood. One of my favorite memories is from our family trips to Maine in the summer, my father, mother, sisters and myself. We would stay for a bit at my dad’s log cabin in Maine outside of which there was a massive rope swing, just a big ole knot at the bottom of a long rope hung off of a super tall tree. The distance you would swing must have been around 100 feet or so from one end to the other, though it may have seemed a lot larger back then, out over lots of prickly raspberry and blackberry bushes, so you wouldn’t want to fall off, though I don’t remember that ever happening to anyone. It was quite an exhilarating ride. I miss that. While we were in Maine, we would often go camping at Baxter State Park, where Mount Katahdin is, which is the northernmost point on the Appalachian Trail that runs all the way up the East Coast. At the campground I remember feeding the super friendly squirrels nuts out of my hand and watching them stuff their cheeks full. I also remember my first hike up Mount Katahdin, I was 5 years old, we took the harder trail that crosses the Knifes Edge as it’s called, a part of the trail where you are walking along a ridge with steep drops off both sides, and when we reached the top, this couple who we had passed on the way up came over to shake my hand, because I had walked up the whole mountain on my own two feet and outpaced them in the process. I still love hiking and climbing mountains to this day and it’s one of my favorite escapes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ianrosscoleman.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianrosscoleman/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ianrosscoleman/

Image Credits
David Carlson, David Carlson, Matthew James Photos, Matthew James Photos, No Dogs