After he played nearly half his life in the popular CBS sitcom Community,actor Hank Greenspan Prepare to stretch your performance muscles. Known for sharing scenes with comedy heavyweights Cedric and Max GreenfieldHank grew up in front of the camera and absorbed everything he had from his co-star. Now, he is entering a new spotlight as the protagonist of independent drama Ethan BloomIt’s an adult comedy about a teenager in grief, faith issues, and the climax and troughs of first love.
In this interview, Greenspan carries the feeling of a movie for the first time, leaving behind the challenges of having a long-term play series comfortable and the challenges of working with experienced actors that helped shape his performance. He also shared some real, down-to-earth advice for young actors, talked about juggling auditions, and reflected on what he hoped would happen in his growing career. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Watch the video above or the full conversation on our YouTube channel.
I think you are very busy with performances. What makes you want to play the leading role in the movie?
Hank Greenspan: I’ve been doing it Community Since I’m six or seven years old, this is 14 now, so it’s like half of my life. I love doing the show and everyone there is very good. This is just a very good family dynamic. But, you know, this is done for five to six years in a row, and I’m a little bored.
I’ll audition for the super cool project, I’ll audition, I’ll get a callback, I’ll almost book. But then Community Can shoot, schedules overlap, and then I can’t do it again.
So I, my parents and my manager went to my agent and we were like, we’ve been doing this for a while, can you send something standalone in our way?
Soon after, they sent an audition Ethan Bloom. That’s what we get. I wanted to do something, maybe more dramatic, just a little different to make it a little cheerful.
I am surrounded by many experienced people. There is actually only another child in the movie that is famous. So, it was a real learning experience.
Josh Molina great. Rochelle [Lefevre]she helped me a lot, she had a super exciting scene where I had to give a big monologue here. I remember when we were sitting in the room she just said, “But, you want to do that… dramatic, serious. Some people like to talk between the two, some people don’t want to talk at all, and I’m cool no matter what you’re doing.”
go Community You are the place for this big ensemble, where is the first place on the call sheet, do you feel a huge responsibility or pressure?
Hank Greenspan: I mean, yes. I’m in each scene except for two scenes. So, I’m sure on my head, but that doesn’t bother me.
My shooting schedule is that we wake up anyway, sometimes the phone time is very easy, and then sometimes they are 6:30 in the morning and we shoot the scenes of that day. I’ll go home, my mom is with me, and they’ll send them to shoot the next set of scenes tomorrow. Then we will remember those, and we will write with those books. Then we’ll go to bed and repeat.
I think my mom says that, but the first thing we realize is that if we don’t show up, they can’t shoot. Like, playing Grover Community I only have four scenes per episode. So, I mean, if I’m 10 minutes late, or if I’m sick, they can do something else. Like, there are enough shows that aren’t Grover, they have the ability to be just versatile. But with Ethan Bloomuntil we were there, no one could do anything.
Therefore, we found a way to do it in a scene-by-site scenario. I mean, this is the process I love and I’m sure every actor has his own stuff. Just like some people might be able to write a book and take out the entire script from it. And the script is not that long. Just like 90 pages.
You have some great comedy stars Community. Watching them work over the years, what you bring from them to see and learn Ethan Bloom?
Hank Greenspan: Yes, for sure. This movie is fun, not just serious.
I learned a lot about action just by doing this. Just seeing others act and become interesting. You just take all of this away.
This is the last season of your show. Are you actively looking for projects like this to keep moving forward?
Hank Greenspan: I definitely want to continue doing projects like this. I still audition, so we just auditioned when they came in.
I like to do Ethan Bloom I definitely really want to do more projects like this. I’ve been doing this for a while, but these are my only two real characters. I’ve been in a guest role in other things, but Community and Ethan Bloom So far, probably my two biggest achievements.
But the industry has slowed down since the writers went on strike. Auditions are definitely less frequent than before. But yes, I would love to do more. I love acting and I think I will be acting for the foreseeable future.
What advice do you have for young actors?
Hank Greenspan: There are some differences between industry advice and performance advice because like what you do from a business perspective and then what you do with acting, but I think auditions are a big part of that for young actors.
So, the listening advice is that this may sound very obvious, but please understand what you are talking about. For a long time I just haven’t done that, and I’m not even registering that I’m doing it. But I sometimes get a line and don’t know what that means. But you have to understand what you are talking about. Because if you don’t understand what you’re talking about, there’s nothing behind the line.
Some auditions offer the entire script and are next to what you have to do, you can read them if you prefer. If you want to read the script, you can get the context from it. But if you don’t have it, I like to come up with a plot of some kind. It doesn’t have to be something super complicated, or you don’t have to make up for the whole story in your head.
But if you don’t get something, come up with a backstory for what is happening. It doesn’t necessarily mean it. You don’t have to guess what the plot is.
The audition is basically terrible. No icing. But if there is a better way, we might be likely to find it now.
You will definitely be happy with the audition because you will do a lot of things. I’ve been making them for the past seven years, but I’m still not happy with them.
