In-Depth Interview With Lead Actor Jordan Pope

 'To pursue something that's as hard as this...it all comes down to passion': JORDAN POPE SAYS IN CONVERSATION ABOUT HIS JOURNEY AS AN ACTOR

Director Emma Sumlin recently sat down with Jordan Pope to discuss his upcoming role as Pearce Lauder in the short film Timeless.

Tell me about yourself. What are the most important things that define you, that you would want people to know? 

    "Obviously, like, pursuing the dream. Like a lot of people, I have this moral and it's like, don't let fear dictate your life. And a lot of people will say, you know, 'The odds of you succeeding in this is extremely low? Why? Like, why not just have something to fall back on?' And I heard this Denzel Washington speech. As soon as I heard it, it kind of changed my whole thing that you don't wanna find something to fall back on, you just wanna find something to fall forward on. So you're not falling back. You're falling forward. And I'm like, wow. So that's what I'm gonna do is, just fully embrace this life I wanna try to live. It doesn't matter if it's acting. It doesn't matter what it is. It can literally be being an advertiser, but just as long as I'm fully going for it, that's what I'm trying to do. So I guess, you know, that's just what I wanna accomplish. It doesn't matter if I'm a big movie star on, you know, AMC theatres or I'm just coaching or doing small production films. It doesn't matter. Getting to pursue something that is my passion is a win for me. So I usually just let God tell me the path I should go down."

What are your biggest passions and hobbies?  

    "I love playing basketball. That's where me and my best friend met. We met at ninth-grade basketball tryouts. Obviously, I love music. Sometimes I try to compose my own stuff. I wanted to start doing my own little YouTube channel, for just music. I can sing and all that kind of stuff. I plan to get some sort of equipment, for recording and stuff. Those are probably my two biggest passions. Basketball is more of a hobby, but music is a passion that I really love."

How did your acting journey begin?  

    "So I already told you about my acting coach. Well, not my acting coach. My vocal coach wanted me to audition for the play. I think I've always known I've wanted to do this, but I haven't known if you know what I mean. So like, I've always loved going to the movie theater. Like, that was like the best part of my day when I was a young, young kid. I was like, the movie theater. Back in 2009, I saw Avatar. I was like, 'This is amazing, I love this!' And I started to jot down random ideas for a movie or something like that. I forget what it was. Or like a TV show, and my mom, she saw that I had some sort of interest in it and she wanted to help me out with it. So she found a thing online. It was basically like a competition. Basically, submit your idea and, you know, you could make a film or produce it, something like that. I laid out a really detailed plan at 10 years old. I was just typing on the computer, like, 'Oh, this sounds cool. Let's do this,' and they called. I'm not sure if it was a scam or not, but we talked a lot for a few weeks. We left on the fact that my mom didn't want me to meet random strangers that we had no idea about. So we never went through with it. But going through that experience, you know, storyboarding my ideas and talking to actual, let's just say, professionals about it. And that's kind of where it all started. So after that, I always had ideas that I thought would look cool, that would look good for the screen. But after that, I kind of stopped for a long time. I was so excited at the possibility of making my own show, and then it didn't go through. I was really upset with my mom, but now I understand. I didn't do anything for the longest time. So me and my friend from basketball, we started to just like, make our own little skits and things. We wrote our own plays for class and stuff. We did our own things. So, that's kind of where I started to get back into it. It was hilarious 'cause we were writing our little skits. They were funny. And so we were just goofing around the whole time. Then our theater teacher was talking to me about coming to audition for the musical at my college, that's why I was hesitant about it, because I remembered, my last experience with it was terrible. 'I don't wanna do this again. I don't wanna do that.' So that's when I was like, 'God, what should I do?' And you know, I sat on it and there were certain signs that said, 'Hey, do it. You'll enjoy it.' So that's when I did it. And here we are."

Have you ever felt discouraged in your journey, either by people or your own experience?

    "100%. I am constantly feeling discouraged, but it could be acting, it could be trying to be a musician or a professional sports player. It doesn't matter. It's extremely difficult because there are so many people trying to do it. And it's a very farfetched thing to succeed in. It's a tough journey to go down, but like, you know, 'cause there's a lot of very low lows, but there's a lot of high highs. Well, there's actually not a lot, but there's a little bit of high highs. But the highest things carry you over. And so it's like, you just gotta really figure out ways to, 'cause it's all in your head. That's what this whole thing is about, it's a mental game. So like when I audition for something, I send it in, and I don't think about it ever again. And because like you'll be wondering, 'Oh man, I could've done this. I mean, I could've done it this way now.' If you start doing that, then you'll just start to question yourself. And it's just no good 'cause you can do a really good self-take or a really good audition, you know? And you can never hear back from them and it's not like you're a bad actor or anything, but they're looking for something different. Obviously, since I'm a person of faith, I mean, when I get discouraged I'm just like, 'Hey God, what's up?' One, I pray, I do that all the time. And two, I look at a list of projects I've completed or that I've booked. And at the top of it, I have a timestamp of how and when I started and I'm like, okay, I've done like 15 projects. But I've booked around 20, and I look at my notes and I say, 'Okay, I've been acting for a little over a year, and I've booked this many projects. A lot of people have only booked two, so if I wasn't meant to do this, I don't think this would be happening.' I don't think I would just be gifted this many things. So there's a lot of roles I've gotten where I have no right to get them. But, so, that's what I'm talking about. It's like, you know if it was meant to be, for not just me, but anybody else, you know, God's gonna make a way for you to succeed. That's something that's helped me in my mental aspect of whether or not it's meant for me to pursue this or not. To pursue something that's as hard as this, you gotta have some sort of underlying motivation. It all comes down to passion. So that's what gets me out of discouragement. When I'm discouraged, I remember, I just love acting, man. I just gotta get a monologue real quick and act real quick. Act it out. And you know, just realizing that you could possibly do this for the rest of your life. Even if you're in a studio apartment, but you're making a living in the film industry, you can't beat that in my opinion."

What draws you to a story or a character at first look? What are you looking for when you audition for a film?

    "The thing that draws me the most is the excitement of whoever created it, if that makes sense. So, like you. It makes me more excited to be a part of it. Because, one, I'll be around a lot of passionate people, and then two, like obviously if you're excited about the project, you put a lot of effort into it. And I already know it's good. I found you on Facebook, and your post had a lot of details. And I'm like, 'Wow, she's really on top of it and really passionate.' So then I messaged you and when you messaged me back, like 16 different separate messages and you looked at my other projects, and said 'You're so great,' 'What else do you do?,' and all that kind of stuff, and I was like, 'Oh yeah, I wanna be part of this for sure.' And, a lot of people when they see that something's not paid or anything, they're just like, 'Oh, I'm not gonna do that.' I mean, there's a part of me that agrees, but there's a part of me that's like, 'Okay, so a payment? Like 300 bucks?' That's only gonna last you a week. But the film that you're gonna get from that project is gonna last forever. You can use it forever. That's more worth it than some sort of dollar sign."

How do you prepare for a character, even in an audition, that is comedic? Comedy is the hardest to execute well, so how do you prepare?

    "So I'm not tooting my own horn, but a lot of people say I'm kind of naturally goofy. So I kind of rely on that a lot. You know, kind of like facial expressions, just how I move. I've never actually done comedic roles, personally. So I've never actually had to prepare for an actual role. But, you know, when I'm doing auditions I rely more on my instincts. Comedy is actually the hardest, personally, the hardest kind of acting on my part."

How do you prepare for a heavy role? For example, when you have to cry?

    "It's hard, actually, when I have the camera in my face. That's when it's the hardest. I had a scene actually last year and I was in a wheelchair and I realized my parents were dead. I didn't know and I just woke up from some sort of thing. I came to and I didn't know that they were gone. And so I had to go into their room and look at the photo of them, and I just had to start crying. And it was tough, but there was like an hour before and I kind of just went off by myself. And, um...now that I'm starting to think about what I was going through, what I was thinking of, it's like starting to actually mess with me. It's weird, because I was trying to get myself to think of, not dark things, but things that make me sad. Possible futures that could make me sad. And, you know, just kind of letting that fly from there. I think of those things because I can't just cry on cue. If someone says, 'Hey, cry,' I can't just make it come out. So I have to prepare for it. Sometimes I just put on some music, something really sad, instrumental, or something like that, to kind of get me in the mood. That's what I did for probably an hour. I took out the music and kind of just sat in silence and tried to get in that space and I went over what I wanted to try to do in this scene and not overcomplicate it. So, now that I'm thinking about it, it's like, wow. Like if a parent died, or, I've had pets die. But, you know, that's when I was really young. So that's why I think about possible future events. What could happen if, you know, my mom died? Like, let me think about that. It messes with you. But it shows you love them. So like, I wanna try if so in that time, in that moment, thinking about, 'Man, I treated my parents terribly the last time I talked to them. I'm never gonna see 'em again.' So like, you know, I'm just gonna sit here and hold the photo, you know?"

What drew you to Timeless and your character, Pearce Lauder?

     "I mean, the passion from you, personally. That's how I know it will be a good film or a good project. Um, but what I thought was fun about my character is he was just caught in a very unlucky circumstance where he's just fallen in love and they're having a great life and suddenly he's drafted. There are a lot of different aspects and layers to these things, especially for this one because I think you told me about the plot before you even gave me the script. About like, 'They're gonna fall in love, he's gonna get drafted, and ---- (spoiler) ----.' I was like, oh my Lord, that sounds great! Obviously not great, but like that sounds like a great story. I don't know because it just sounds like this guy is just really charming. He's just always looking for a fun time and since there are not really a lot of lines in this, well, there are no lines in it at all, I feel like the interpretation is very open 'cause there's no dialogue. So I think that's something that drew me to wanting to play it is I don't really think there's really gonna be a lot of restraints. I can really just do a lot of things that I feel are right. Obviously, you'll tell me if it's wrong, but those projects are always fun. They're relaxing."

What are you excited to work on in particular with this project?

    "So, the most exciting thing is obviously working with you guys. And that's something I really love, working with so many new people who are extremely passionate about the craft. Because I've worked with a lot of people that aren't really passionate about it and I've worked with a lot of people that are passionate about it and it's amazing to work with people that are very passionate. You're around like-minded people."

What do you think will be a challenge with this project that you’ll take on?

    "I think the challenging aspect is, I would say, trying to portray a story without saying lines. I think that's the easiest part. And also the hardest part. There's a lot about facial expressions, you know, being in the right mood to portray that to the audience who's watching it, because lines and dialogue, that helps a lot because it basically just speaks your thoughts. Now you gotta speak your thoughts through how you move, with what your face is doing. What you're looking at, how you're treating your friends or whoever you're around. It's a lot easier, but it's a lot harder at the same time. The easy part is not having to learn lines. There's no stress in that. But I think what I was saying earlier is like, you have free mobility to do a lot of things, to try a lot of new things. But I also think that's a downside because your brain is gonna be like, 'Okay, what should I do next? What should I try next?' You've gotta think about so many different possibilities."

    TIMELESS IS SET TO SHOOT JULY 13-21, 2024. A GOFUNDME HAS BEEN SET UP AND THE TEAM IS CURRENTLY RAISING MONEY TO MAKE THIS FILM HAPPEN. YOU CAN FOLLOW @TIMELESSTHESHORT FILM ON INSTAGRAM.