Where are you from and where do you reside now?I was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, grew up in Darien, Connecticut, went to college in Massachusetts, lived in NYC from 1972 until 1991 when I then moved to Los Angeles; lived in LA until 2008, when we moved to Long Beach, California where we currently reside.
What is your artistic discipline?
I began as a painter/artist before I really made a professional life as an actor and eventually playwright; I continue to paint, act when the call comes, and the writing continues with plays, stories, poems, and my recently published hybrid memoir, Tin Sea.
When did you become a Member?
Pretty sure it was 1983.
What is one of your favorite EST Memories?
The 1991 Marathon of One Acts, working on Randy Noojin’s You Can’t Trust the Male with Lynn Ritchie, directed by Melodie Somers; a romantic comedy, about a Polish mailman who falls for this lovely woman in his evening English as a Second Language class; we’d done it as a staged reading in the OctoberfEST—Bill Wise saw it and loved it and Curt Dempster, the prime mover of EST for so many years and the final arbiter, not so much. But Bill, in the juried meetings to select the Marathon plays, kept fighting and lobbying for the piece—and finally, Curt relented, which was such a surprise and triumph—as well, it turns out, when it debuted in the Marathon and was very well received.
It’s also a fond memory because it coincided with my leaving NYC for Los Angeles: in 1990, after driving cross-country to be in LA for what was then known as “pilot season”, I booked a supporting role on a pilot called “Sisters”, came back to New York, was called to return to shoot five more episodes, returned to NYC, and while working on “You Can’t Trust the Male”, I made the decision to move to LA in hopes of more paying work; as the Marathon finished its run, I got the call that NBC had picked up “Sisters” for 13 more episodes—a happy/sad event: so happy to be moving to LA with a job in hand (oh so rare) and sad, because it was one of the last times I worked on stage at EST.
What is influencing or inspiring your artistry right now?
I juggle among books I’m reading and re-reading and then friends who are doing the work, day in, day out…I just finished reading Larry McMurtrey’s 802 page delicious epic, Lonesome Dove, and I marveled at the ease with which he entered the mind/heart/soul of one character after another, so gently, so fluently; I re-read every autumn Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast—which I highly recommend to every young artist/writer—it’s such a romantic book about Paris, but also such an elegiac tale not only of love and loss, but about the daily fidelity of creating, with Hemingway, the writing.
In terms of friends, Robert Pokorny, who lives here in Long Beach, is a very gifted painter who is just now being recognized. We met at Trader Joe’s 15 years ago, he’d worked there for about 18 years until three years ago, he broke through and now only returns to TJ to buy groceries and see friends before returning to his studio to paint. A real homage to what I call the “artist’s faith”—on stage, it’s “the actor’s faith” – but that leap we must take and keep showing up and believing in one’s passion and commitment.
Another friend, is the actor/writer Graham Sibley; we worked together on his first TV show, Boston Public—I played a pedophile priest (!) and he was my assistant—and ever since, I’ve watched, like Robert, his steadfast commitment to the work, the love of process, and the balancing act of wanting a family and wanting a career, both of which he struggled for and now has. We’ve since worked on plays together, back and forth among our respective projects; we continue to check in almost every week, his friendship and work ethic a constant inspiration.
Who are your artistic influences?
The painter Fairfield Porter, who was also a gifted writer: I met him my junior year at Amherst College and he became my mentor; Holly Prado, she became my writing mentor after I’d moved to Los Angeles, a gifted poet and brilliant, wise and gentle counselor of writers; the acting influences are so many but two teachers really lit up the dark for me, an Actors Studio alumnus, John Costopoulos, and the fervent seer of actors, Larry Moss; also, I must add a wonderful character actor, who I met now and then at an Adult Children of Alcoholics meeting in NYC who helped me when I was grappling with what I’d call “artistic envy”, which seems inevitable in our fame heavy/compare and despair culture. He helped me see and advised, “Take joy in the excellence of others.” It’s a mantra that has stayed with me and helped lo these many years, especially as I’d work with a whole array of gifted actors, all of us seemingly equals, until suddenly Paul Rudd, Chris Pine, George Clooney, Kevin Bacon, John Turturro, on and on, their careers would suddenly take off—and I’d watch and marvel and yes, here comes that “spoiling envy” until my friend’s maxim would kick in, “Take joy in the excellence of others”, which continues to remind me, we all have such different journeys—and how grateful I am for the one I’ve had/am having (!). And with that mantra, I can continue to wish them well. And do.
What was the best play/film/TV you watched recently?
A bunch but two that stand out: one just debuted on Netflix, in four episodes, called Adolescence, co-created (and acted in) by Stephen Graham; and a call-back in these painfully challenging times, Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom on Max—please, just watch that opening pilot episode when Jeff Daniels’ character calls out America, its flaws, yes, and its great and worthy and even realized aspirations—it continues to move me and inspire.
What advice do you have for emerging theater-makers that you wish you knew?
I didn’t go to grad school, like a Juilliard or a Yale Drama or a Carnegie Mellon, where I hear tell that there, it’s not just the learning but it’s meeting many who will help you along the way once graduated. Is that true? Perhaps. Probably. But, too late. Instead, my painting and writing were such solitary crafts and the acting so excited me: it was so collegial and welcoming and I just auditioned like crazy, storefront theaters, school auditoriums, church basements, small living-room apartments, anywhere, everywhere, just dig in and explore, learn from everybody and LOVE the journey, don’t worry about results or getting ahead—the passion and love are the through line, still are. Where is your true enthusiasm and joy? Not unlike Joseph Campbell’s “Follow your bliss”. But it’s true—because there are so many ups, so many downs, and slownesses and failures—but then there’s Sam Becket’s, Fail. Fail better… and, I can’t go on, I’ll go on. And this one from Gandhi, which often helps, “Whatever you do will seem insignificant but it’s very important that you do it.” And let time be slow and shield you and give you time to grow in your craft. Don’t rush it. Fame is a horrible short cut that no longer let’s you be a fly on the wall. Awards, too, suddenly pull you into expectation and demand. Let go of that cultural cry and find your very own wonderful rhythms and know that, not being known KNOWN, lets you be known in your community and gives you the time to create what you really love, at your own pace. And what was critical for me: finding my community, which was EST – and its gift as a member was that I could call the theater, if it was available that afternoon, the 2nd floor, the 6th floor, I could come to the theater, alone, with friends, and work for a couple of hours at the theater, on a real live wonderful stage, and do my work—and as a member, to have that space for free? What a gift, let alone the great gaggle of fellow artists, communing, sharing, inspiring. God Bless EST!
What are you working on now?
Just finished writing another short play called The Palace at 4am (the title stolen from an Alberto Giacometti sculpture); working on some short haiku-like poems inspired by Basho’s The Narrow Road to the Far North; I go into the studio to paint every Saturday, if possible, working on a series of acrylics on cardboard (pizza box covers, in fact, as Saturday nights, Marie and I have Movie Night and we order pizza, those leftover covers!), called The Pizza Box paintings; and, trying to find my way into the next book after Tin Sea, which is called Cities in Autumn, about my backpacking through Europe with my then college sweetheart, the autumn of 1972.
How can people connect with you?
My email is garrettmbrown8@gmail.com; I’m on Facebook as Garrett M. Brown; and on Instagram at garrettmbrown8.