Interview with British Actor & Producer Johnny Sachon

Johnny Sachon‘s parents met at a local drama group so he grew up around the theatre and acting. Johnny doesn’t believe there was a specific moment in which he decided an acting career was what he wanted, it’s just something he had always wanted as far back as he can remember. “I do remember, when I was extremely young, that I was in a play and I did something that made the audience laugh… so I did it again and then every night after that.” says Johnny

Johnny enjoyed being able to get a reaction out of people and he thinks that has carried forward in his career, although not so much in the direction of comedy and not in recent times. In 2010 Johnny Sachon graduated from Guildford School of Acting and since then he has worked in TV and Film. Recently, he worked on the world’s first interactive feature film “Late Shift” and he understands that 20th Century Fox are now working with the company on their “Choose your own adventure” film.

Big shout out to the lovey duo of @katiegoldfinch and @JohnnySachon who lead #AnimusShortFilm with their focussed performances. Katie has a feature at @berlinale and another two in prep and Johnny’s knee deep in prepping a feature of his own. Top collaborators. Lovely people. pic.twitter.com/3UfIeSTQqZ

— MJ Blackman (@JokersPack) February 11, 2018

indieactivity: Did you study acting?
Johnny: I started in local theatre, then was lucky enough to attend Arts Ed Tring and later study at GSA. I can’t find a precise moment in time I decided to follow acting as a career – it’s just always been there and I’ve never seriously considered pursuing something else.

While studying at GSA one of my teachers, Julia Carey, really helped me find my home on screen and from that moment on screen acting has been my love and focus. I enjoyed the depth, extreme focus and nuanced performances on screen and felt fulfilled by this for the first time. Studying never stops for actors, getting out of Drama School, working and then I never think we stop learning.

Producer Johnny Sachon on playing “Elliot” in Blackman’s ANIMUS

indieactivity: What acting technique do you use?
Johnny: I don’t believe in any one “method” of acting. In my opinion if you follow one thing too stringently at some point, it’s doomed to fail. However, Lee Strasberg’s teachings have really resonated with me over the years and I base most of my work on his techniques and what I was taught by Julia Carey at GSA.

To this day I still refer back to the notes I made in her class. For a long time Michael Caine has been my hero as one of the first successful working class actors and his book on screen acting was my bible. I’d suggest any aspiring actor should have his book in their arsenal.

indieactivity: Do you take courses to improve your craft?
Johnny: I do sometimes attend acting classes and workshops to keep fresh. I read a lot of books on acting and practitioners as well and constantly try out new things. Another way I do this is to develop my own work with other actors, Directors and Producers. The thing I love about this is that I can often try out new things, often with people I trust, so that I can push my own limits while learning from others but also walk away from the experience with a product that we can all use to promote our work with – usually a film.

indieactivity: What acting books do you read?
Johnny: My two favourite books are Michael Caines “acting for screen” and Lee Strasberg’s “Notes”.

indieactivity: How do you keep fit as an actor?
Johnny: Physically I go to the gym 5 days a week, weights and cardio. I occasionally attend Martial Arts classes and enjoyed boxing for a few years. Mentally is quite a different ball game – I try and keep work and life as separate as possible and I now mediate a lot. I’ve spent a lot of time on self reflection – I feel that if I can understand myself more then I’m able to understand the characters I play better as well.

Making a clear distinction between them and myself has become very important for a balanced life. Acting is often so up and down it’s just not always healthy for life so I strive to find more balance day to day. This also helps with the resilience you need for the amount of rejection you face as an actor.

indieactivity: How do you prepare for a role?
Johnny: I always read a script through at least once immediately. I have to make connections and understand the lines, why the character is saying what they are saying and then I can learn the lines fairly quickly. As soon as I’ve learnt the lines I step away from the script completely and focus on the character. That’s a long process so I won’t go into that here. I feel that once I’ve got the character the lines will come naturally. I don’t like looking at the script too much while filming, instead I try and keep it as fresh as possible.

indieactivity: How do you create a character in a script into a person?
Johnny: I start by reading the script and note down “absolutes” – so information the script gives me that are absolutely true. They’re often things like age, where they’re from, perhaps their job etc. Then what other characters say about them, what they say about themselves and other characters.

I do a “quiz” which gives me lots of ideas or answers to questions that help to fill out the character – everything from their family history, their loves/hates, their relationships, first memories, opinions etc. I then take away logic and start trying to find the character physically.

I spend a lot of time with the character, almost as a shadow. I can slip in and out of the character and put them in different situations day to day and see how they react. Logic is one thing but often people react or feel things they themselves don’t understand so I try and accept or bring an element of this with the role.

indieactivity: How do you stay fresh on a production set?
Johnny: While working on my character I find music that they either love or reflects different moment in scenes. I find music gives me an immediate emotional response so I often have my headphones on in between takes or scenes – I’ve found it helps me focus.

indieactivity: Describe a memorable character you played?
Johnny: A memorable experience was my first major role in a feature film. It was an American horror film called “Rage: Midsummer’s Eve”. I’d been out of drama school about 6 months (so it was 2011) and I landed the role of supporting lead Aaron in the film. We shot in Finland for nearly two months – I hadn’t really travelled a lot previously or experienced a full film set before so it’s something I’ll never forget. It was hard work but there were so many amazing memories on and off the set that will never leave me.

indieactivity: Explain one creative choice you took on set?
Johnny: This isn’t something I did on set but a moment that stayed with me from my experience at drama school. I was studying Greek Theatre with a brilliant teacher called Pete Harris. My job was to be such an strong or intimidating character that I could move the rest of the class (20 or so) around the space at will.

I had a very clear idea of what I thought power or being intimidating was but nothing I did was working quite as I wanted. My character was calling the “chorus” chickens and suddenly I found myself squawking and chasing the class round the room.

They were so shocked and scared by my actions that I they all ran in whatever direction I chased them in. The affect it had was that they didn’t know what I was going to do next – which was scary for them. At that moment I realised that being unpredictable was one of the most exciting things an actor could be – for the actor and the audience. So my advice to any actor would be to be unpredictable (within reason and the constraints of the film or play).

indieactivity: What do you want most from a director?
Johnny: When working with a Director I love a collaborative process. I hope that Directors trust me enough to give me room to experiment and I have enough trust in them to steer me down the right path should I need it. So in short, trust is the most important thing for me when working with a Director.

indieactivity: What actors do you long to work with?
Johnny: There are too many actors who I’d like to work with and for different reasons. I’ve followed Riz Ahmed’s career for a long time. I love how subtle and intense his performances are. I’m a big fan of Tom Hardy – I could see myself playing similar roles, the way he throws himself into a character. For that same reason I also love Jake Gyllenhaal’s work. I’d love to watch how they work and learn from them. And of course, Michael Caine is my hero – his book on screen acting was my bible for many years.

indieactivity: What advice would you give to actors?
Johnny: This career is not a sprint – it’s a long journey with extreme ups and downs, so get fit and stay fit – physically and mentally.

indieactivity: Briefly write about your career?
Johnny: Johnny is establishing himself as a forerunner in the upcoming generation of UK actors and producers. He trained at Guildford School of Acting and has accumulated a range of film and TV credits, appearing as guest lead in BBC’s Casualty (2013), directed by BAFTA and international Emmy-nominated David Tucker, then as series regular in TV drama series Deep Cuts (2014). In 2016 Johnny was nominated for “Best Emerging Talent” at the British Urban Film Festival Awards.

Other recognised credits include supporting lead in international feature LateShift (2015), supporting lead in American horror feature Rage: Midsummer’s Eve (2012) and the award winning Ghosted (2011).

Aside from his established career as an actor, Johnny has Produced high quality, daring and unique films which have gone on to screen at festivals world wide and win awards internationally.

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