Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Jorn Sundquist.
Hi Erik, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was raised in the Bay Area – my Father was a general contractor and my mother was a professional dancer in New York prior to marrying my Father and becoming a homemaker. I also have twin older sisters. I grew up playing soccer, it was BIG in my family…a lifestyle and passion. I played in Germany for a year in high school and even won a national championship with UCLA. After my soccer career ended, I finished school and graduated from UC Berkeley with highest honors in political science. I was setting my sets on a career in law but ultimately decided the Summer before I was to begin law school that I would go into the building business like my Dad. After a time, I was restless and developed a keen interest in flying airplanes. I obtained a commercial pilot license with a multi-engine rating, but just as I was starting to look in earnest for a career opportunity 9/11 happened. The timing couldn’t have been worse to try and be a pilot. It took several years of being really unsatisfied professionally before my wife Renee finally said to me that I needed to enroll in acting class and get on with it. Although I had a family with two small children, she encouraged me to take the leap. Once I got into it, I was hooked. Even when the great recession happened and our home was foreclosed upon and we filed bankruptcy, she never wavered. She said this is what you’re supposed to do so we’ll get through it together. I have to say she has lifted me so many times when I was at my lowest, it’s incredible really. I felt like such a failure when we lost everything and I was struggling to provide for my family. Then to go out and try and be an actor in that situation was more than I could handle. I’ve tried to honor that faith she’s put in me by persevering. So, beginning in 2010 I grew a consulting business, utilizing my years of business and construction experience, which allows me to have flexibility in my schedule to pursue acting. It’s the ideal scenario and I’m very grateful for it.
I want to be an example to people, especially those starting 2nd or 3rd careers (or dreaming of that) – to show them it’s possible and not to limit themselves. When people are living a life with purpose and meaning, one that fills them up with joy and passion, I think the world becomes a better place. I really dislike limiting thinking, it removes possibilities and makes people unhappy. I would urge people to consider my story. Going completely broke, losing my home while trying to support a family, and I’m living my dream of becoming an actor. It’s never too late!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
“But he’s such a nice guy”…said the AD, to which the Producer replied “It’s called acting”! These were the words I heard a few days into shooting my first feature film in 2009. It was in that moment where I realized the power I had to truly convince people I was something I am not. Not just bad…maybe even evil? It was not my first project as an actor, that role required me to play Lucifer, the fallen angel from heaven. A trend was starting to take shape, and it was solidified when I landed a Guest Star role on Criminal Minds as the UNSUB in season five. In fact, that role put me on a CBS voter poll as one of the top 16 UNSUB characters to that point in the show’s history. There was no turning back from the momentum that found got me cast in numerous roles as the antagonist…varying from creepy to seriously deranged. The truth is I love it. There is nothing more fun than playing the villain. Full stop. You have permission to really misbehave, and that suits me fine. I am somewhat of the black sheep in my family and have always been someone who would rather buck the system than adhere to its rules. I have embraced it to such a degree that I keep a notebook of villainous characters in film, rating them on my own scale and defining what I think makes them so effective. It’s an art unto itself, that when done effectively, makes the protagonist shine like bright metal. I’m thinking about the audience, how can I best satisfy them? How can I really make them detest me? You never really know how effective you are, but recently my sister told me that by the time Warpath* ended, she was happy to see me get bludgeoned to death. Yes! I thought to myself.
I’m inspired greatly by the performances of Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood, as well as Heath Ledger’s Joker. So those types of characters would be dream roles for me. However, my dad loved James Bond, so I have many fond memories of going to the movies with him to see bond…others too, but I think I shared his sense of adventure and travel, along with the intrigue of espionage. Therefore, if I could wave a magic wand and suddenly become a Bond villain in the next film of the 007 series, that would have deep meaning for me on several levels. It would be the ultimate. I visualize it every day…not kidding!
*Warpath is currently out on Amazon Prime, iTunes, YouTube, and DVD. I play Eric Daley, one of the main villains in the story.
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?
The most obvious one is the importance of not taking the blessings in your life for granted. I am so grateful that I have such an awesome, supportive family and that I can take provide for them. The other thing that has stuck with me is how interconnected we are as a society. I have been baffled by some of the decisions made by certain individuals who are only thinking of themselves through this pandemic. One major awareness for me has been that I am part humanity of a society and the decisions I make affect others in some way. I guess my maverick tendencies might have been tamed slightly, with a respect for behaving in a way that benefits the society as a whole. It’s a little corny, but it’s true. I think I’ve become less self-centered and selfish when I see how so many have suffered. Shout out to health care workers and first responders.
I love quotes, and I’m fond of writing them myself, but I think there is one that I go back to over and over because of the power in it. “Let your desires be the same as your life experiences”. I’m not sure even who is behind that one, but it really speaks to me. About trying to be present, in the moment and not always looking for something to happen or someplace to be before you can enjoy yourself. I’m hard on myself, I am, and it’s often difficult for me to be satisfied with any accomplishment, large or small. So if I can go easy on myself and accept the decisions I’ve made (and when I’ve made them) I have a better shot at enjoying what’s right in front of me. It’s not easy, but I do recognize the importance of that. This has also been underscored by the pandemic.
I’m also a drummer, and being a musician saved me when production halted. I had a tremendous creative outlet that really was my therapy. I got so much better at my paradiddles and five stroke rolls!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: erikjornsundquist
- Twitter: @erikjornsundquist
- Other: imdb.me/erikjornsundquist/
Image Credits:
Remaining pictures – Photo credit – Steven Busby
