Meet Max Williams

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

Hi Max, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Pt. Claire, Quebec, Canada. My father was a professional ice hockey trainer for the Montreal Canadiens at the time. Two weeks before I was born the Canadians won the Stanley Cup. I was on skates before I could walk. Hockey was in my blood.

We moved several times before I was 10 – first to Littleton, Colorado, then on to Mahwah, NJ – for my father’s work. We moved to NJ when he took a job with the New York Rangers. I was a good athlete, ended up being captain of varsity football, hockey and baseball my senior year at Deerfield Academy. Deerfield was among New England Prep Schools who excelled in ice hockey.

I also got heavily involved in acting/theatre/writing at Deerfield, realizing the arts were my true love – though I was unwilling subconsciously to give up the dream of pro athletics at the time.

I accepted an athletic scholarship for hockey to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison for my university years. I was captain of our hockey team my senior year.

I played one year of hockey professionally, though a hip injury would not allow a second season. It solidified in my mind that being an artist was my path, and after a few months of diving into theatre in Anchorage, AK, I moved to LA.

I’ve seen much here. I’ve been a lead in a show. I’ve lived in my place of work, otherwise homeless. Somewhere in between solidifies the hardened, smarter artist I have become – a successful working actor/writer/director/producer who will never stop seeking and never stop striving to evolve with humility and grace.

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?
Often artists exist in an energy of ‘no.’ Of rejection. The empathic, sensitive human I am has had difficulty with a profession where it feels at times that the harder you work in entertainment – unless it is SMART work – the less you are rewarded.

Ideally, persistent, smartly applied skill will most times move you up in a company with patience.

Hollywood offers no promises that hard work will pay off or follow a natural progression of ‘moving forward.’ Forward must be defined by the individual. Any other definitions get me lost. I had to define ‘forward’ for myself to evolve.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Experience includes a recurring role on HBO’s WINNING TIME as Jack Nicholson. I starred in Alan Spencer’s dark comedy BULLET IN THE FACE on IFC and recurred on BOSCH, BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, and AGENTS OF SHIELD, among many others.

Acting awards include the 2020 Diamond Award for Best Actor in a TV Movie for my role in Lifetime’s PSYCHO ESCORT and a multiple award-winning performance as ‘The Monster’ in FOR OLD TIMES SAKE.

Presently, I can be seen making the festival rounds in the award-winning short film COLD AS ICE.

I am also in pre-production on the feature film TOUGH SLEDDING, which I co-wrote, am co-producing, and in which I co-star. It is based on the true story of America’s 2002 Men’s Paralympic Hockey Gold medalists.

Also in 2024, CORVA & GRACIA, my first 3-D Virtual Reality Experience (writer / director / co-producer) is scheduled for multi-platform release. This has been my baby, my angel project. It involves a conversation about race, about oneness. Oneness is my ultimate interest.

I would say my intensity sets me apart.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Moving to Los Angeles with a dream and a belief in my bones. It’s what keeps me here, alive, seeking, doing my best. That ‘bone-deep’ trust in my essence is the greatest trust, and risk, I have undertaken.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maxewilliams.com
• Instagram: @max_e_williams
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-williams-06950b4b/