Instantly Hooked: Jack Parr on "Greenlight"
Jack Parr is an actor and producer known for This World We Live In (2017), Tog (2019) and Undercover Hooligan (2016). Recently, he starred in the short film Greenlight, the first narrative short in the Amazon Exclusive anthology A Series of Light. We had the pleasure of chatting with Jack about the role, life on set, and much much more!
A Series of Light is an anthology series which explores the darkest sides of humanity, through technology, connection, intimacy and heartbreak. Greenlight follows former child star turned heartthrob Sam. He desires a change in image, but is in for a dark surprise when his webcam is hacked.
How did you hear about Oxygen Films and get involved in this project?
I first heard about Oxygen when I was University in Leeds. I was studying Sports Science and I really wanted to try out acting, so I signed up to an acting website called StarNow and applied for a bunch of things, and Gage offered me a role in his second feature film, Beneath The Shadows. I had one scene, and I was PETRIFIED of acting in it.
What resonated with you most about the script?
This script resonated a lot because it was based on a true story that happened to me a few months before we filmed. I had a scary hacking email, Gage and I spoke over the phone about it, and then Gage asked if I’d like to do something on it. So I really connected with the story as though it was my own.
How did you prepare for the role and develop your character?
I really wanted this character to be likable from the start so everyone would jump on his journey and be with him for the whole time. I really worked on how to make him enjoyable to watch in such a short space of time during the prep which was pretty straight forward, allow him to be charming, polite, funny. But the main thing that was difficult to imagine was this characters Child Star Fame. I could never imagine how the big stars handled child stardom so it was hard to imagine what that was like and get to that place.
Are there any fun or humorous tales from the set that you can tell us?
I don’t know if Gage would like me to reveal this. But we filmed for HOURS with our co-star Alexandra Marlin over in LA, she was probably up at 3am filming with us on FaceTime to get all her parts. We wrapped her scenes and she went to bed. Now onto my part for the rest of the shoot, we shortly found out that the camera had somehow deleted all the footage from her section. So we had to record all of her scenes again and sort it all out in editing. I did not envy Gage on that day. We cracked on though and got the shoot done.
What drew you to the performative arts? How did you fall in love with acting?
I was just about to head to Leeds to do a degree in Sports Science. It was the summer in between college and university so I was enjoying myself and relaxing. Out of nowhere a huge budget movie came and filmed on an estate I lived right next to in the middle of nowhere. The word buzzed around the villages and so me and a couple of mates went down to our local village hall where they were based and asked if they needed extras. They did and assigned us to be German Soldiers for around 5 days. I had an absolute blast, met loads of people, saw how movies worked; the actors, producers, directors, set designers, make up artists, wig specialists, costume department and many more jobs buzzing around set. I was instantly hooked. As soon as I went to uni, I was looked for acting classes, read books and applied for acting jobs. I wanted to be back on a movie set so bad I couldn’t handle it. I ended up quitting Sports Science and pursuing a career in acting.
What are some tips you give those aspiring actors out there for how they can hone their craft?
Well — I’m still very much learning my craft and progressing. I’m nowhere near the level to be giving advice. But the advice I give to someone who’s just starting out, I always say get the basics right. Get professional headshots, a good showreel and take acting classes. I started casting about a year ago and the main thing new actors do wrong is the basics. Most people don’t want to splash money out on the basic things because they cost quite a bit, but they won’t progress as quickly as they would if they invested money into their career. For example, I spent probably two years gathering footage from short films and student films I’d worked on to finally get a showreel, and by that time it wasn’t even that good. If I had just paid a professional showreel company £300 to make me one, I would have had a great one within two weeks. And I could have been applying for bigger jobs for the next two years instead of gathering footage and getting turned down from jobs for not having a showreel. A lot of actors come to auditions unprepared, they are reading from the script, they are late and it comes across as unprofessional. Learn your craft, take classes and read books. You must do something every day towards your career in order to become great at what you do.
Do you have any upcoming projects you can share with us?
Yes, I do have some very exciting projects coming up. I am in Marc Zammit’s next feature film called One Thousand Flames. His directorial debut was Homeless Ashes, and he’s directing another film starring Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte. So I’m really excited to work with him! I have a project that is super exclusive, NDAs and all the hush hush, so I can’t really say much… but I’m waiting for them to get back into production, as I booked the role just before lockdown, so it got cancelled. But my fingers and toes are crossed that they resume filming with all the same cast and crew, and I’m still involved in the production!
Wanna learn more about A Series of Light?! Check out the links below!
A Series of Light review
Gage Oxley On His Anthology A Series Of Light
Jake Watkins On "Redlight"
Rochelle Naylor On "Whitelight"
James Coutsavlis On "Starlight"
Charlie Harris on "Blacklight"
Bruce Herbelin-Earle On "Limelight"
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!