“I remember doing school plays as a little kid growing up in Hong Kong. There would be a show done every year, and everybody was involved, but I think the first time I got on stage and really acted was in High School. There was a musical being put on and I was told to audition by a teacher, and I thought, “Well, why not? It could be fun to do a monologue and pretend I can sing for a few minutes.” I didn’t have any expectation of getting any part, so it was just for a laugh. Then I was told I got the lead and was kind of hooked,” says Luke Edward Smith.
indieactivity: Did you study acting?
Luke Edward Smith (LES): Yeah, I studied in Australia, a Bachelor of Drama Performance. It was a bit like a tasting menu of different techniques, but mostly it was classical training, voice, movement, and acting classes and shows. Lots of shows. We did three big ones a year to get a taste of what being in a production was actually like and a bunch of smaller ones too in between, we were always working on something. After I graduated, I worked in Sydney for a while and then decided I wanted more training, so I moved to New York to study The Method.
What acting technique do you use?
Luke Edward Smith (LES): I kind of have a mashup of the classical training I got in Sydney and the Method. I look at technique as a set of tools to use for the right problem. If I’m in a theater and no-one can hear me, it doesn’t matter how into the part or the moment I am, so I lean into my vocal training and stagecraft. But if I’m heard and the moment isn’t truthful, then what’s the point of getting up there? I try to take a complimentary and balanced approach to the work.
You are an experienced actor, how much work: creative, energy or focus do you put into your scenes?
LES: For me, it’s all about the homework I do before shooting a scene or getting up on the stage. If I’ve put in that groundwork, I can let it all go and adapt to whatever is required of me while the work is happening. There are so many things that can change once you get on set or on the stage, so many variables, but if I’ve put in that work… I’m going to be okay.
You have worked on popular shows, and films, how has each show impacted your work as an actor and your career?
LES: For me every project I’m on is a learning experience. I’m constantly looking for a way to push myself. How can I be truthful? How can I inhabit this role better than I did the last one? What can I learn about myself or others by playing this character? That’s the driving force behind everything I do.
How does the work you do on one show, compare to another?
LES: Every show has its own challenges. Sometimes you have a director who is right there with you, wants to talk about the character and choices and it’s very collaborative. Other times you get a director who is distant, happier with the technical aspects and there can be a freedom that comes with that too. Both can be great ways to work, but they require a different mindset, a different energy.
Let’s take a show you’ve done, how did you prepare for such a role: the cast, the physicality, the terrain, the climate, weather and the demands of the show?
LES: I like to read the script through once and not take any notes, just enjoy it, any good ideas will come back the next time I read it. Then I go back a day or two later and read it again, taking notes this time, any ideas, things that I’m not sure about, questions I might need to answer for myself. And then it’s about identifying the biggest puzzle piece and starting to chip away at it.
How do you create that character from a script into a person?
LES: Dive into the hardest part of it. If that’s physicality, start moving as them. If it’s psychological, start digging into why they are the way they are. Why do they behave this way? What’s driving them to do these things? Most of all, what do they want? In any given moment we want something, and you’ve got to know what it is.
How did you stay fresh on a production set?
LES: On a set or before a show, I like to find my own space. Near what’s going on, but slightly apart. I get very focused and quiet beforehand. Sometimes I listen to music, most of my characters have a playlist, it’s a great way of tapping into their emotional and mental state.
Describe a memorable character that you played?
LES: I played a priest in 2019, in a play called A City of Refuge, Father Thom. He was much older than me. He was in his late fifties, he had a drinking problem, a lot of old injuries both physical and psychological, and I spent a lot of time working out his physicality, that was the gateway into him. And it took a long time for it to settle into me. I would get off the subway at a stop before mine and walk home as him, feeling what it was like to move the way that he moved.
What do you want most from a director?
LES: I want someone who’s going to tell me the truth. Did you get what you want, or need? If yes, great, if not, let’s figure it out. I don’t want to be told it was great if you want something else and I don’t want to settle on an ok take, let’s get the great one.
What actors do you long to work with?
LES: I’d love to work with Vincent D’Onofrio.
Why this actor?
LES: I did a Master Class with him a few years ago and everything he said and did was what I wanted from my craft. He pours himself into every character and it’s always unique and brilliant.
What advice would you give actors around the world?
LES: Work hard and don’t wait for the phone to ring. Go make what you want to do.
Briefly write about your career?
LES: I started out in Sydney, Australia. I did a lot of classic works, Shakespeare is a given, but a lot of Brecht and European absurdism too. Now I do a lot of original pieces with the Primitive Grace Theater Ensemble here in New York. We push at the edges of what the human experience is and lean into those difficult places. Coming from those two worlds has given me a hunger to keep creating, to find new ways of exploring what and who we are as human beings
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