A man walks 18 miles to vote and gets turned away—again and again. That true story sits at the heart of Otis’s Dream, the award-winning short that changed the trajectory of Christopher Greer’s career and galvanized communities across hundreds of churches before a pivotal election. We invited Christopher to unpack the craft and the calling behind portraying Otis Moss Sr., how the film landed on Oprah’s radar, and why a role tied to his own family’s history felt less like an audition and more like destiny.
We go deeper than credits. Christopher shares the years he juggled courier routes with on-set days for Empire, Widows, Captive State, and Chicago Med, and the hard choice to bet on himself while caring for his mother during her illness. He breaks down his approach to acting—blending Meisner, personal memory, and research—right down to discovering a “sharecropper’s gait” by channeling his grandfather. There’s a post-apocalyptic thriller on the way, a slate of scripts in the works, and original music from a multi-instrumentalist who’s written hundreds of songs.
If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll get clear, practical guidance: how to begin as an extra, where to find auditions on Backstage and IMDb, and how to treat every set like a paid classroom. For writers, Christopher lays out smart first steps—register your script, leverage the International Screenwriters Association, and pitch to markets that are actively seeking your genre. Above all, he returns to one lesson he’d give his younger self: be patient. Let relationships, reps, and craft compound.
Subscribe for more candid, craft-centered conversations, share this with a friend chasing a creative career, and leave a review to tell us what resonated most. Your support helps us bring more stories that turn passion into purpose.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Tired of surface-level inspiration? This raw, transformative documentary digs deep into turning pain into purpose. Mainstream platforms wouldn't touch these powerful stories of resilience, but you can access them now on elrodvnetwork.com.
Hello, and thank you for listening to Thirsty Topics podcast! I'm Lawrence Elrod, and every week Meryl Klemow and I dive deep into the stories that matter, the conversations that shape our world."
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_04 (00:17):
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Thirsty Conversations.
I am here with a great friend ofmine.
His name is Christopher Gritter.
Christopher has done a lot ofacting.
He's actually been praised bysomeone that most of us know.
So I'm gonna let Chris tell youwho that person is and give you
(00:37):
a little bit of an insight onhim.
SPEAKER_03 (00:39):
Okay, well, thank you for having me, Lawrence.
It's a pleasure to be here onyour show and Kristen.
SPEAKER_00 (00:45):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Someone introduced me.
SPEAKER_03 (00:49):
She just said it.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
I'm not like, yeah, I'm the great friend.
Hi.
SPEAKER_03 (00:53):
All these cameras see her.
Okay, anyway.
I did a movie about a year and ahalf ago, uh, right before the
election.
It's called Otis's Dream.
And it was about um uh a man, ablack man in the 40s, who was
trying to vote.
And he walked for 18 miles to uhseveral different polling
(01:18):
places, three different pollingplaces, and he was turned around
saying that he could not vote.
Now, during that time, they wereactually giving the right to
black people to vote, but theyweren't letting them do it.
And so um that was a uh a storythat of lore in the uh Otis Moss
family and uh Otis Moss III,doctor, Reverend Dr.
(01:41):
uh Otis Moss III put together amovie called Otis's Dream, in
which we've um been on the umthe the circuit of uh excuse me,
I'm sorry, the circuit of uhdifferent festivals and we
actually won, I think, somewherein the area of about nine or ten
(02:02):
different awards.
And I actually won.
SPEAKER_02 (02:06):
What did you win?
SPEAKER_03 (02:07):
I won Best Actor in a short film uh for Oh the
Sister In.
And um it was actuallydiscovered by Miss Oprah
Winfrey.
Because our cinematographer wasKeith Walker, who actually
worked at Harpo Studios for foryears.
And so, and so he just called upOprah and said, Oh, you need to
(02:28):
check out this movie.
This is the movie that you'vealways been talking about.
Does he call her O?
I think.
Okay, anyways, continue.
That's that's what I call her.
I said, Hey, O.
Well, but um um they're veryclose.
Um and uh he gave her a call andshe did an interview with
(02:51):
Reverend Dr.
Otis Moss about the movie, uhOvis Moss III, because it's
actually three of them.
I played Otis Moss Sr.
And Otis Moss Jr.
is a pastor who was instrumentalin the civil rights movement,
uh, along with Dr.
Martin Luther King.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
And so that is that that'sthat's the history behind that
(03:14):
whole story.
And uh Oprah in a um a couple ofher shows, um, one back in I
think 1984, I think it was, andwhat in 1990, during that
election, she told a story aboutuh Otis Maw Sr.
doing this trek in order for himto uh vote.
(03:36):
And she said that he is thereason why she votes.
And so when we brought that toour attention, she called uh um
called in uh Reverend Dr.
Moss III for the interview, andwhich was uh featured on Super
Soul Sunday, the Sunday rightbefore the election.
And also, a little anotheranother little tidbit, um it
(04:00):
that movie was sent out to over500 different churches and that
helped turn the uh state ofGeorgia from blue to red or red
to blue, from from them from uhuh Republican to Democrat.
And so not only did it actuallytouch a touch people heart their
(04:25):
hearts and uh show them theimportance of voting, it also
helped turn an election.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:33):
As an actor, I have to ask this.
There's a lot of history to thatmovie.
Those are those are like somebig shoes to fill.
How did you feel about that?
SPEAKER_03 (04:44):
Well, um there was a uh a director, his name is uh
Christopher Nolan.
Uh Christopher Nolan sent me aemail or text or called me, I
forgot which one it was.
Um he called me up and he said,I put your name in the hat for
this particular movie.
He said it's a small movie, andyou know, it's not paying that
(05:08):
much, and you know, blah, blah,blah, blah.
And I said, Alright, cool.
I I didn't know that ChristopherNolan knew that I was alive.
Right, exactly.
I've known him for over 30years.
SPEAKER_02 (05:18):
Really?
SPEAKER_03 (05:18):
But, you know, he's been making, he's made over, oh,
half a uh probably more than adozen films as a director.
Yeah.
And I was like, man, uh, Chris,can you hook me up with a you
know a roll or something?
But I didn't even think that heknew me, that I existed.
But he had been following me andme not knowing it.
Sure.
And so what happened was I'mgonna get to your your your
(05:39):
answer.
Yeah, I've been waiting for yourquestion.
Thank you.
So um, after he let me knowabout that, I he said, he said,
I'm gonna send you the script.
So he sent me the script, and Iread it, I got all the way to
the end, and I was like, I knowwho this is.
Oh.
And so um, because I went backto the story that Oprah told on
(06:01):
our show during Rock the Votewith Puffy and uh Christina
Aguilera and uh some otherstars.
And I was like, I have to dothis movie.
And um once I sent in myaudition tape, and then the uh
producers and directors umactually took a look at my my my
(06:24):
uh audition.
They said, we want to see moreof this guy here.
And so they asked me severalquestions, and one which
actually touched me, which was,Why do you think that you could
play this?
And so, you know, sometimes Iactually get misty about the
answer because my grandfatherwas a sharecropper, and Otis Ma
(06:49):
Sr.
was also a sharecropper.
And so um I had to do someresearch in order to find out he
had something that was called asharecropper's gate, meaning he
had a certain type of walk,right?
And so I couldn't Google that.
I Googled it, but it was likeit's no type of walk.
(07:10):
Right.
Like, well, what does it looklike?
What do you look like?
Exactly.
So so I had I sat back and Ithought about it.
I was like, hmm, my grandfatherwas a sharecropper.
And so I walked like my mygrandfather.
And then come to find out, oneof my relatives, um, after they
saw the movie, uh sent a messageto me on Facebook and they said,
(07:33):
Do you know that Otis Ma Sr.
is buried in our family cemeteryin Georgia?
Wow.
Wow.
Gave me chills.
SPEAKER_00 (07:44):
Absolutely.
I got chills when you said that.
SPEAKER_03 (07:46):
So that means that the universe It was meant to be.
It was meant to be.
Oh, yes.
And it's like I was chosen forthe to play this role.
SPEAKER_00 (07:57):
Oh, that's wonderful.
SPEAKER_03 (07:59):
Yeah, so I hope that answers your question.
SPEAKER_00 (08:01):
I mean, it's gonna you know that's funny.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:05):
It took a while to get to the point.
SPEAKER_00 (08:08):
No, that's I mean, that's amazing.
And I mean, and Lawrence and Italk about similar things all
the time when it comes to ourshow that you know the the
things that are meant for youwill find you.
Exactly.
And I feel like that is thatrole for you, that it was it was
meant for you, and the universealigned itself in so many ways
to to to you know that's exactlyhow I felt.
SPEAKER_04 (08:26):
That's exactly how I felt.
SPEAKER_00 (08:27):
I love that.
I love that.
SPEAKER_04 (08:29):
You know, I I I was taking a look at a lot of the
work that you did up to thispoint, and I was kind of curious
because you guys actually havesome really great films and and
great roles that you played.
Thank you.
Um which roles probably standout that brought you to this
point to put you in thisposition?
Because obviously, you know,every actor has certain roles or
(08:50):
certain movies or productionsthat stand out more than others
that, you know, in their mindhelp propel them to where
they're at today.
SPEAKER_03 (08:58):
Right, right.
Um wellest's dream was one ofthose movies that actually uh
got me um uh more known than Iwas before.
Um there's a movie that I did umduring the pandemic.
Um it was during 2020 weactually started shooting, we
(09:21):
started shooting in February of2020, and we ended up finishing
in October, I think it was, of2020.
So they had been shooting themovie um two years before they
brought me in.
And then they added 30 morepages of dialogue because this
(09:42):
particular character needed anarc.
They didn't just want him to bejust the uh wild renegade
killer.
They wanted to give him a softerside and see how see how he got
to where he was before hestarted.
The backstory, absolutely.
unknown (09:58):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (09:59):
So what they did was they brought in this character
that's kind of kind of like umDenzel Washington in Book of
Eli.
Okay.
He was like he was kind of likea mentor type of guy, but had
this type of um this backgroundthat no one knew anything about.
Now the name of that movie iscalled Later.
It's an apocalypse apost-apocalyptic thriller.
(10:22):
And right now they're inpost-production and it's at
three hours long right now.
They wrote the song, I mean theywrote the song, excuse me, they
wrote the movie, um, I thinksomewhere in 2017 or 2018.
And to give you a background onit, it was um it was after it's
(10:48):
it's supposed to be 2025, andit's five years after the
pandemic.
And he wrote it in 2017.
Wow.
Yeah.
And so they're editing it, andum, I think Monday he said he
was gonna release one clip fromit.
Um it's called Later, apost-apocalyptic thriller.
(11:10):
And that that one actually, Iwould say that it that it
actually I would say showcases alittle bit more, no, a lot more
of my acting skills rather thanuh Otis's dream, which was was
pretty good, I think.
SPEAKER_00 (11:30):
Well, when it comes now that you know the details of
the pandemic, do we make it outalive?
You know what happens in 2025now, clearly.
SPEAKER_03 (11:37):
In the movie, I can't tell you what it is.
SPEAKER_00 (11:39):
Oh no.
Oh no, it didn't sound good.
I can't tell you whatever.
Um, but I do want to know.
Real question now, realquestion.
Did you always know you wantedto be an actor?
unknown (11:49):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (11:50):
Um I knew that I was gonna go either one or two
routes.
Well, actually three routes.
Uh I was either going to becomea m musician, a famous musician,
um, a pop star or whatever, rockand roll R and B.
Um, I was gonna become an actor,or I was gonna become an
attorney, but most likely anentertainment attorney.
SPEAKER_01 (12:12):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (12:13):
Because I still had that creative blood flowing
through my my veins.
I'm a musician.
I've been I play nineinstruments, I compose, I've
written over 250 to 270 songs.
Oh my gosh.
I've been writing since 1977,which is I'm gonna tell you how
many years that is.
(12:34):
It's a while.
Well, I'm gonna tell you howmany years.
It's a while.
Yeah, it was a while.
I've been writing for 40 years.
So um, other than that, I um Iwas either gonna be musician, uh
actor, or a lawyer.
unknown (12:46):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (12:47):
And then with the lawyer, I was I wanted to become
uh governor of the state ofIllinois.
Which is still possible.
SPEAKER_00 (12:53):
Well, nothing's impossible.
Exactly.
I think you should become famousthough, like really famous.
Famous and then become famous.
And then become government.
You can be like aSchwarzenegger.
SPEAKER_03 (13:01):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (13:02):
Perfect.
We figured out your career path.
SPEAKER_03 (13:04):
I had a joke for that, but I won't give you that.
I was thinking about it too.
I just changed my last name aswell.
SPEAKER_04 (13:37):
Well, everybody, we gotta take a quick break because
uh my direct is looking overgonna be kind of crazy here, but
don't go too far, we'll be rightback.
Welcome back, everyone.
We are here with amulti-talented Christopher
Career.
SPEAKER_02 (13:58):
Hey.
SPEAKER_04 (14:00):
Chris, I was just kind of curious.
Um, there's people thatobviously uh watch our show, and
a lot of people are inspired todo different things, especially
with the pandemic.
People are really branching out,you know, really following what
they want to do in life.
And there are people out therethat either are thinking about
getting into acting or maybehave started acting.
(14:23):
Um, what advice would you givesomeone as far as really trying
to make this a serious career?
SPEAKER_03 (14:29):
Don't do it.
I'm just joking.
I'm just joking.
Um of course, anything that youput your mind to doing, you can
do.
If you think that you can do it,you're right.
If you think that you can't doit, you're right.
So it's up to you to find thatthat that that uh spark inside
of yourself in order for you togo out there and and do it.
(14:52):
Um I started off in movies, Iwould say at age 16.
And right now I'm 57 years old.
Of course, by this time I'msupposed to be super famous.
I'm supposed to be a household.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (15:07):
Right.
But the thing is that in betweenin between 16 and 57, life
happened.
Um after starting off in in highschool, I was in a a movie
called My Bodyguard, not TheBodyguard.
Oh, I thought my bodyguard.
Martin Maul, Ruth Gor Gordon.
And so uh from then on I went toanother uh television show which
(15:29):
was called Lady Blue, which wasan ABC miniseries.
It was a detective story.
And uh it actually uh starred uhDanny Aiello.
SPEAKER_00 (15:39):
Oh, his name's familiar.
SPEAKER_03 (15:40):
Yeah, Danny Aiello just passed away.
He was in um a lot of things.
He was in uh Do the Right Thing,um Um Harlem Knights.
You know, and so um when I wasin those particular movies,
that's where it's actuallystarted my career.
And so after that, I went awayto college.
(16:01):
And I was studying uh politicalscience at Bathum Cookman in
Daytona Beach, Florida.
And so I did that until after Ifinished my undergrad, came back
to Chicago, started a band,started to get back in the
movies.
And so I was doing a lot ofextra uh gigs.
I was um I was doing what's thename of that?
(16:23):
Turks and stirrup echoes byKevin Bacon.
Um I did some movies with uhKeanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman
called Deep Impact.
Um just a lot of a lot of uhstuff, but I was doing it behind
the scenes.
But but doing that, I waslearning the craft of how
everything worked.
And so I would be behind thedirector, like, what is he
(16:45):
doing?
Okay, and and you know, how arethey doing this?
And I'm looking at this and it'slike change the lenses.
Like, what are you changinglenses for?
Let me use it.
And then so I would see theafter effect once I see it on
TV.
And so I wanted to be behind thescenes and watch it, and also be
in front of the camera and seewhat directors actually want in
(17:05):
an actor and be that.
So it was uh it was kind of likea it was a learning curve that I
I actually uh participated in.
And I look at it as, hmm, it's aschool where you're getting paid
for because you get paid to beextra and you're learning.
So actually, what happened afterthat?
(17:27):
I went went on to um um someother things and regular jobs
working for um package car delpackage delivery uh companies
that are not gonna be named atthis time because you're not
giving me any money.
So um the last one that I workedfor, where things have to
(17:47):
absolutely be there onovernight, you could do whatever
you want to do with that.
And so I was a um a courierthere.
And my uh boss told me because Iwas taken off my my uh vacation
days and off days or sick daysto actually tape Empire.
I was on Empire, did 18, 18episodes of Empire.
SPEAKER_00 (18:12):
Really?
Yeah, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (18:14):
Yeah, and I was and I also did Widows and Captive
State with John Goodman andthings like that.
And so my boss was uh seeingthat, and uh we would come in,
we would come in after being onthe road, and they would say,
Hey Chris, Chris is on TV.
(18:34):
And I'd be like, Oh man, I Iwould be on on TV in the
cafeteria.
And so the managers got hip towhat I was doing.
And so when I would come and askfor another day off, they say,
You need to figure out whetheryou want to be a courier or you
want to be an actor.
SPEAKER_00 (18:52):
Well, that's an easy choice, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (18:54):
So I said, hmm, is this particular job going to pay
me over a million dollars?
No.
Is acting gonna do it?
Yes.
So what I did was uh that alongwith um my mother became gravely
(19:15):
ill.
Um she was stricken with lungcancer, and I was her sole uh uh
caretaker.
And so they kept telling me, youknow, um, if you are taking off
days to do Empire and all therest of these other shows, you
can't take off time or be lateto take your mother back and
(19:39):
forth to the doctor.
So I said acting career, yourmother.
So I said, okay.
And so it was something that Ihad planned on doing because I
took my letter of resignation, Iput it in in my backpack, and I
(20:01):
think it was February, and I andit said, and I just I was all I
had to do was just fill in thedate of uh giving my two weeks
notice.
And I put it in my backpack andtook it to work every single
day.
On on December 5th, I filled inthe date.
And I decided, I was like, well,you know what?
(20:23):
This particular company does notcare anything about my career or
my mother.
So I tell you what, this is whatI'm gonna do.
I'm gonna quit or resign.
And I'm going into acting fulltime and take care of my mother.
SPEAKER_01 (20:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:40):
My mother passed away uh April 27th, 2020.
Sorry.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
And uh she was able, before sheshe died, she was able to see me
on TV.
In which she was like, I don'tknow why you keep doing this.
Why are you doing this stuff?
(21:02):
Thanks, Mom! You need to just goback to work.
And so I was like, mom, it'smore than that.
It is, it is.
And so um, after she finally sawme on TV, I I think that it was
I was in I was in Chicago Medand I had a speaking role in
(21:23):
Chicago Med.
SPEAKER_00 (21:24):
I saw that I'm on your IMDB.
I looked in the air, don'tworry.
Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_03 (21:30):
And so she got a chance to see that and and uh
before she passed away.
And so she's like, hmm, this iswhat you wanted to do.
And you did it.
SPEAKER_00 (21:41):
How amazing.
It's so wonderful that you gotto see that.
SPEAKER_03 (21:43):
Oh, yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_04 (21:44):
Your mom is such a sweet person.
You know my favorite video, andyou probably know which one I'm
about to say.
Wow.
When you were playing the musicand she was just dancing to the
music fun, oh my god, I lovethat video.
SPEAKER_00 (21:57):
So hold on.
You guys know each other, knoweach other.
Yeah, yeah, we do a couple ofyears, okay.
SPEAKER_04 (22:13):
You know what?
I always joke, I said either A,a lot of people like me, or I'm
just old.
Because I seem to know a lot ofpeople, so you know, we do.
You know.
Could be both, yes, that's true.
But oh my god, I love seeingthat video.
And and and I mean her eyes justlight up.
(22:35):
You can see the happiness in herface.
I love that video.
SPEAKER_03 (22:38):
And she was sick during that time.
I remember that.
And uh we lived on the southeastside of Chicago.
We lived uh on 79th in Euclid.
And uh I wanted to move her fromthat area and take her out.
We're in the south suburbs now.
Well, we well when we we movedout into the south suburbs, and
(23:00):
uh I wanted to give her final uhyears of life.
Yeah, I wanted her to be be ableto enjoy it, to relax and things
like that, not worry about whatwas going on in the inner city
and shit.
And so um that um she she wentkicking and screaming.
Did she?
SPEAKER_02 (23:20):
She was not up for it.
SPEAKER_03 (23:21):
Older people don't want things to change.
That's true.
Yeah, they do not want tochange.
And so uh that particular clipthat you're that you're uh
referring to, um, I remember Iwas putting things together in
the in the new house, and Isaid, Mom, come downstairs.
And so she said, What'd youwant?
(23:43):
Okay, she came downstairs, and Iand I put on that song, dun dun,
dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
My mother and my father used tolove to dance.
And then next thing you know,she was just oh my god.
That clip got over 2,600 views.
(24:04):
Wow.
And every time it comes backaround my memories, I said, we
get another grand.
Yep, that was my girl that stillis.
SPEAKER_04 (24:19):
Yeah.
You know what?
Hold that thought.
We gotta take a quick break.
I know we're having so much fun.
Now yeah, but for you all, donot go very far.
We're gonna take a very shortbreak and we'll be right back.
Awesome.
Welcome back, everyone.
(24:39):
We are here with a great friendof mine, Christopher Grimm.
And Kristen, I know we had todip out for a quick break, so I
will let you go ahead with yourquestion.
SPEAKER_00 (24:49):
And I had just thought of it at the time.
It's probably not a very goodone, but here we go.
As an actor, do you feel that,well, there are lots of methods,
right?
Meisner, Stanovskovsky, youknow, whatever, short lift.
Um do you feel, have you likesubscribed to any of those, or
do you feel that maybe you justlike pull from the human
(25:10):
experience?
SPEAKER_03 (25:11):
Actually, uh all three.
Uh I've studied the Miser uhmethod of uh of uh method
acting.
Um after I got the new teeth andcertain stuff, I just can't see.
SPEAKER_00 (25:27):
I don't think I'm ever gonna go bad, honestly.
That one dude.
That one dude.
SPEAKER_03 (25:32):
Yeah, and and actually, and some things I just
I just pull from just just lifeand and experiences of going
through certain things.
I mean, um mostly when you comeacross a story that someone
gives to you, uh some of thosethings mirror things that have
happened in your life.
So it's like, oh, okay, Iremember.
(25:53):
So that sounds like uh back uhin 1983 happened to me when I
was in high school.
No, no, no.
Hold on, I went in high schoolin 1983.
But anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (26:05):
When you were teaching high school in 1983.
No, I won that only.
SPEAKER_03 (26:10):
I graduated in 82.
Okay, got it in college in 83.
So that's so you know, I I Ijust pull from certain things
that uh from the experiences andand and just things that have
actually happened to me.
Um and uh from there I just kindof like put everything together
and uh that way um I can apply adifferent type of feeling or a
(26:35):
different type of flow thatmaybe another actor could uh
can't do because I still havethat that experience along with
the things that I've actuallystudied.
And uh another thing that whatI'm gonna be doing soon is
within the next couple ofmonths, I'm going to be I'm
gonna come out with a method ofhow to actually get into the
(26:59):
business.
Oh I'm gonna be teaching a aclass, well, classes on on that.
And so uh watch out for that.
SPEAKER_00 (27:07):
Um you actors out there.
SPEAKER_03 (27:09):
Yeah, all you actors out there are people that just
want to be a star.
Chris Greer can make you a star.
It could happen, never know.
SPEAKER_00 (27:19):
Never know, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (27:24):
But other than that, I put I put everything together.
I have certain methods that I II kind of like keep to myself.
They're kind of like secretive,but they seem to work.
Sure.
And uh it depends on you can'tapply it to everything.
You can't, because um differentroles calls call for different
(27:45):
types of feels.
Yes.
And so so with that, yeah, I puteverything all into one, and
then I mold that character intowho I want that person to be, or
whoever the director or theproducer is trying to get across
of what this person is like.
SPEAKER_02 (28:02):
Sure.
SPEAKER_04 (28:03):
Now, you know, looking looking back, because
actually what you just said justpopped in my head.
I wanted to know if you had theopportunity to go back to the
young Chris and knowing what youknow now, what advice or what
would you tell your younger selfthat maybe you know now that you
didn't know back then?
SPEAKER_03 (28:26):
Watch your credit.
Um wow, you know, um we'll weall uh learn different things
during this journey of life.
(28:47):
And uh what I probably wouldtell um uh young Chris, be
patient.
SPEAKER_01 (28:55):
Be patient.
SPEAKER_03 (28:56):
This because that's something that it took a while
for me to learn, to be patient,because um sometimes making
those rash, quick decisions arenot the right decision.
And so that's what I would tellyoung Chris if he was listening,
because he had a hard head.
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
I was gonna say, did he listen?
Would he have listened?
No.
No.
SPEAKER_03 (29:21):
He he was headstrong, he uh didn't care
about living.
It's weird.
You know, all that all that fastdriving I was doing and stuff
like that.
You know, it's somethingstrange, and and I know I come I
come up with all kinds ofstrange stuff anyway.
Um, you know, if you're drivingdown the street and you see like
a box in the in the street, yougo around it, right?
(29:44):
Oh yeah, sure.
Not young Chris.
Not young Chris.
You go over it.
That's you go through it.
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
You know, the young Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (29:54):
And you had no idea if it was empty, right?
Like there could have been therecould have been a puppy in that
box.
SPEAKER_03 (29:58):
Could have been a puppy.
Could have been a puppy.
So you were a murderer.
Could have been right, exactly.
Pretty much what we're sayinghere.
Chris, the puppy murderer.
SPEAKER_00 (30:05):
The puppy murderer.
Fantastic.
SPEAKER_03 (30:06):
Yep.
And just like just like now, I'mI'm the guy that if I drop the
ice cube on the floor, I don'tkick it on the refrigerator now.
SPEAKER_00 (30:14):
That's so responsible.
SPEAKER_03 (30:19):
Goodle.
These things you learn, youlearn with maturity.
Right.
And you know, you I see anythingin the road, I'm gonna write.
Whether the animal is dead ornot.
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
Switching, switching.
Changing language.
SPEAKER_04 (30:45):
Just for the record, we love animals.
Yeah, me too.
I got several of them.
SPEAKER_00 (30:50):
Um, okay, so um you have always you're a musician.
Yes.
You uh wannabe attorney.
So are you still thinking ofbranching out into like writing
and directing?
And then you said you have ayou're branching out into
teaching a little bit.
So what are other otheraspirations?
SPEAKER_03 (31:11):
Yes, well, um this coming uh this is March.
So I think April or May, I'm ina movie called Sessions, and uh
it's gonna be shot in Atlanta,and uh after that I'll be
directing a movie called Three.
Uh this will be my thirddirecting debut.
SPEAKER_00 (31:30):
If you need a 36-year-old female actress, I
know where you could find one.
I'll keep you in mind.
SPEAKER_04 (31:37):
Let's let's send this plug book.
SPEAKER_00 (31:39):
I mean, you know what?
You have to do it on camera oroff.
SPEAKER_03 (31:41):
There you go.
Right, exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (31:43):
So you will be directing though.
SPEAKER_03 (31:44):
Yep, I will be directing.
Um when it comes toscreenwriting, I am also a
screenwriter and I've writtenabout five or six different uh
screenplays.
And so one of them is going tobe finally shot in I think it is
June or July this coming thiscoming year called The Other
Side of the Sun.
(32:05):
And this one I'm supp or I wroteit.
I'm supposed to be directing it,I'm starring in it.
Um the soundtrack is 80%finished because this I've been
working on this uh I would sayfor the last five or six years.
SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
So you the soundtrack is a lot is all you.
SPEAKER_03 (32:22):
I wrote I wrote all the music to the soundtrack.
Uh-huh.
And um and I'm also gonna docraft services.
I'm gonna be cooking.
SPEAKER_00 (32:29):
Are you are you a cook?
SPEAKER_03 (32:30):
Yeah, I cook good.
SPEAKER_00 (32:31):
Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_03 (32:32):
Yeah, but I'm not gonna do that part.
I'm actually thinking about noteven acting in it.
I was just gonna direct it,produce it, and do the
soundtrack and things like that.
SPEAKER_00 (32:42):
So I know we've been talking about I'm sorry, it's
probably your turn, but I have aquestion.
Um so we've been talking aboutactors and kind of their step
one.
But if you have a movie idea, ifyou have a script, where would
someone go to s to start?
What's their step one?
SPEAKER_03 (32:57):
Hmm.
Well, the first thing that youcan do, um I uh actually have my
fiancee is a screenwriter also.
Uh matter of fact, the moviethat's going to be shot this
coming uh April, May uhsessions, uh she wrote it along
with her partner, uh JohnAlexander.
(33:20):
And um they start off by uhfirst having the idea and
getting together with someoneelse if you choose to.
And once you have all of yourthoughts and everything together
with the with the uh thescreenplay, then they pitch it
to two different people.
And sometimes people are like,hmm, that's interesting.
(33:42):
We're going ahead, we're gonnago ahead and and um and film
that or we're gonna shoot it, orwe have a budget for that and
everything.
So um that is something that youknow you have to really
investigate and see, you know,who would want that particular
uh script, or if they're lookingfor certain things, you can go
(34:03):
to the InternationalScreenwriters Association and
they'll say, like, hey, we'relooking for horror films, we're
looking for love stories, we'relooking for this and that.
And then you just reach out tothose people.
Make sure you copyright itfirst.
SPEAKER_00 (34:14):
Okay, that's a good thing.
SPEAKER_03 (34:15):
Make sure you copyright it first because an
idea is an idea.
Somebody might be able to saythat, you know, this was my idea
and make a make a milliondollars off of it, and you'll be
mad.
SPEAKER_00 (34:28):
Oh, mad would be the word.
SPEAKER_04 (34:29):
Yeah.
Chris, we had so much fun today.
I don't want to leave outwithout asking you this final
question.
SPEAKER_02 (34:37):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (34:38):
If someone is watching right now and they're
really serious about gettinginto doing acting, what advice
or what direction would youpoint them in if they want to do
something right now to make thatfirst step?
SPEAKER_03 (34:51):
Okay.
That first step, I would um Iwould start off as an extra.
Reach out and go to um like anIMDB, go to uh backstage, um
apply, get subscribe to thatparticular app, and then you'll
see what's out there.
Sometimes they're looking forextras, sometimes they're
looking for lead actors and andthings like that.
(35:15):
Apply audition for them.
And it's a it's a growingprocess.
You'll start you start makingthose stair steps all up to
start them where you want to be.
Because I'm not anywhere closeto where I will be.
But you know, I I have to goback to young Chris and become
(35:39):
patient.
But it's coming, definitely.
SPEAKER_04 (35:43):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for being onthe show.
We have so thank you for havingme.
And don't be a stranger.
I'm not.
I'll be back uh tomorrow.
Come on through.
For everyone else, don't go toofar, we'll be right.
(36:09):
Well, we had such a great time.
Oh my god, Chris is so funny, sotalented.
SPEAKER_00 (36:17):
Yeah, it's a huge thank you to Christopher Greer,
an amazing actor, and just anamazing storyteller in general.
So he was great.
Um, be sure to follow L Rad TVNetwork on all of the platforms
Facebook, Instagram.
SPEAKER_04 (36:31):
And um, I really appreciate everyone watching.
Make sure that you, you know,come try us out.
You can actually try us out forfree, and then you'll be able to
take a look at this show as wellas other shows that we have on
the streaming network as well.
So definitely make sure that youfollow us, you you watch us, you
chime in on our social media,and again, thank you for
(36:52):
supporting us, and we have a lotmore wonderful things to come.
SPEAKER_00 (36:56):
See you later.
SPEAKER_04 (36:57):
Take care, everyone.
Bye-bye.
Hello everyone, welcome to this week's episode
of Thirsty Conversations.
I am here with a great friend ofmine.
His name is Christopher Gritter.
Christopher has done a lot ofacting.
He's actually been praised bysomeone that most of us know.
So I'm gonna let Chris tell youwho that person is and give you
(00:37):
a little bit of an insight onhim.
SPEAKER_03 (00:39):
Okay, well, thank you for having me, Lawrence.
It's a pleasure to be here onyour show and Kristen.
SPEAKER_00 (00:45):
Thank you.
Thank you.
Someone introduced me.
SPEAKER_03 (00:49):
She just said it.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
I'm not like, yeah, I'm the great friend.
Hi.
SPEAKER_03 (00:53):
All these cameras see her.
Okay, anyway.
I did a movie about a year and ahalf ago, uh, right before the
election.
It's called Otis's Dream.
And it was about um uh a man, ablack man in the 40s, who was
trying to vote.
And he walked for 18 miles to uhseveral different polling
(01:18):
places, three different pollingplaces, and he was turned around
saying that he could not vote.
Now, during that time, they wereactually giving the right to
black people to vote, but theyweren't letting them do it.
And so um that was a uh a storythat of lore in the uh Otis Moss
family and uh Otis Moss III,doctor, Reverend Dr.
(01:41):
uh Otis Moss III put together amovie called Otis's Dream, in
which we've um been on the umthe the circuit of uh excuse me,
I'm sorry, the circuit of uhdifferent festivals and we
actually won, I think, somewherein the area of about nine or ten
(02:02):
different awards.
And I actually won.
SPEAKER_02 (02:06):
What did you win?
SPEAKER_03 (02:07):
I won Best Actor in a short film uh for Oh the
Sister In.
And um it was actuallydiscovered by Miss Oprah
Winfrey.
Because our cinematographer wasKeith Walker, who actually
worked at Harpo Studios for foryears.
And so, and so he just called upOprah and said, Oh, you need to
(02:28):
check out this movie.
This is the movie that you'vealways been talking about.
Does he call her O?
I think.
Okay, anyways, continue.
That's that's what I call her.
I said, Hey, O.
Well, but um um they're veryclose.
Um and uh he gave her a call andshe did an interview with
(02:51):
Reverend Dr.
Otis Moss about the movie, uhOvis Moss III, because it's
actually three of them.
I played Otis Moss Sr.
And Otis Moss Jr.
is a pastor who was instrumentalin the civil rights movement,
uh, along with Dr.
Martin Luther King.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
And so that is that that'sthat's the history behind that
(03:14):
whole story.
And uh Oprah in a um a couple ofher shows, um, one back in I
think 1984, I think it was, andwhat in 1990, during that
election, she told a story aboutuh Otis Maw Sr.
doing this trek in order for himto uh vote.
(03:36):
And she said that he is thereason why she votes.
And so when we brought that toour attention, she called uh um
called in uh Reverend Dr.
Moss III for the interview, andwhich was uh featured on Super
Soul Sunday, the Sunday rightbefore the election.
And also, a little anotheranother little tidbit, um it
(04:00):
that movie was sent out to over500 different churches and that
helped turn the uh state ofGeorgia from blue to red or red
to blue, from from them from uhuh Republican to Democrat.
And so not only did it actuallytouch a touch people heart their
(04:25):
hearts and uh show them theimportance of voting, it also
helped turn an election.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:33):
As an actor, I have to ask this.
There's a lot of history to thatmovie.
Those are those are like somebig shoes to fill.
How did you feel about that?
SPEAKER_03 (04:44):
Well, um there was a uh a director, his name is uh
Christopher Nolan.
Uh Christopher Nolan sent me aemail or text or called me, I
forgot which one it was.
Um he called me up and he said,I put your name in the hat for
this particular movie.
He said it's a small movie, andyou know, it's not paying that
(05:08):
much, and you know, blah, blah,blah, blah.
And I said, Alright, cool.
I I didn't know that ChristopherNolan knew that I was alive.
Right, exactly.
I've known him for over 30years.
SPEAKER_02 (05:18):
Really?
SPEAKER_03 (05:18):
But, you know, he's been making, he's made over, oh,
half a uh probably more than adozen films as a director.
Yeah.
And I was like, man, uh, Chris,can you hook me up with a you
know a roll or something?
But I didn't even think that heknew me, that I existed.
But he had been following me andme not knowing it.
Sure.
And so what happened was I'mgonna get to your your your
(05:39):
answer.
Yeah, I've been waiting for yourquestion.
Thank you.
So um, after he let me knowabout that, I he said, he said,
I'm gonna send you the script.
So he sent me the script, and Iread it, I got all the way to
the end, and I was like, I knowwho this is.
Oh.
And so um, because I went backto the story that Oprah told on
(06:01):
our show during Rock the Votewith Puffy and uh Christina
Aguilera and uh some otherstars.
And I was like, I have to dothis movie.
And um once I sent in myaudition tape, and then the uh
producers and directors umactually took a look at my my my
(06:24):
uh audition.
They said, we want to see moreof this guy here.
And so they asked me severalquestions, and one which
actually touched me, which was,Why do you think that you could
play this?
And so, you know, sometimes Iactually get misty about the
answer because my grandfatherwas a sharecropper, and Otis Ma
(06:49):
Sr.
was also a sharecropper.
And so um I had to do someresearch in order to find out he
had something that was called asharecropper's gate, meaning he
had a certain type of walk,right?
And so I couldn't Google that.
I Googled it, but it was likeit's no type of walk.
(07:10):
Right.
Like, well, what does it looklike?
What do you look like?
Exactly.
So so I had I sat back and Ithought about it.
I was like, hmm, my grandfatherwas a sharecropper.
And so I walked like my mygrandfather.
And then come to find out, oneof my relatives, um, after they
saw the movie, uh sent a messageto me on Facebook and they said,
(07:33):
Do you know that Otis Ma Sr.
is buried in our family cemeteryin Georgia?
Wow.
Wow.
Gave me chills.
SPEAKER_00 (07:44):
Absolutely.
I got chills when you said that.
SPEAKER_03 (07:46):
So that means that the universe It was meant to be.
It was meant to be.
Oh, yes.
And it's like I was chosen forthe to play this role.
SPEAKER_00 (07:57):
Oh, that's wonderful.
SPEAKER_03 (07:59):
Yeah, so I hope that answers your question.
SPEAKER_00 (08:01):
I mean, it's gonna you know that's funny.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:05):
It took a while to get to the point.
SPEAKER_00 (08:08):
No, that's I mean, that's amazing.
And I mean, and Lawrence and Italk about similar things all
the time when it comes to ourshow that you know the the
things that are meant for youwill find you.
Exactly.
And I feel like that is thatrole for you, that it was it was
meant for you, and the universealigned itself in so many ways
to to to you know that's exactlyhow I felt.
SPEAKER_04 (08:26):
That's exactly how I felt.
SPEAKER_00 (08:27):
I love that.
I love that.
SPEAKER_04 (08:29):
You know, I I I was taking a look at a lot of the
work that you did up to thispoint, and I was kind of curious
because you guys actually havesome really great films and and
great roles that you played.
Thank you.
Um which roles probably standout that brought you to this
point to put you in thisposition?
Because obviously, you know,every actor has certain roles or
(08:50):
certain movies or productionsthat stand out more than others
that, you know, in their mindhelp propel them to where
they're at today.
SPEAKER_03 (08:58):
Right, right.
Um wellest's dream was one ofthose movies that actually uh
got me um uh more known than Iwas before.
Um there's a movie that I did umduring the pandemic.
Um it was during 2020 weactually started shooting, we
(09:21):
started shooting in February of2020, and we ended up finishing
in October, I think it was, of2020.
So they had been shooting themovie um two years before they
brought me in.
And then they added 30 morepages of dialogue because this
(09:42):
particular character needed anarc.
They didn't just want him to bejust the uh wild renegade
killer.
They wanted to give him a softerside and see how see how he got
to where he was before hestarted.
The backstory, absolutely.
unknown (09:58):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (09:59):
So what they did was they brought in this character
that's kind of kind of like umDenzel Washington in Book of
Eli.
Okay.
He was like he was kind of likea mentor type of guy, but had
this type of um this backgroundthat no one knew anything about.
Now the name of that movie iscalled Later.
It's an apocalypse apost-apocalyptic thriller.
(10:22):
And right now they're inpost-production and it's at
three hours long right now.
They wrote the song, I mean theywrote the song, excuse me, they
wrote the movie, um, I thinksomewhere in 2017 or 2018.
And to give you a background onit, it was um it was after it's
(10:48):
it's supposed to be 2025, andit's five years after the
pandemic.
And he wrote it in 2017.
Wow.
Yeah.
And so they're editing it, andum, I think Monday he said he
was gonna release one clip fromit.
Um it's called Later, apost-apocalyptic thriller.
(11:10):
And that that one actually, Iwould say that it that it
actually I would say showcases alittle bit more, no, a lot more
of my acting skills rather thanuh Otis's dream, which was was
pretty good, I think.
SPEAKER_00 (11:30):
Well, when it comes now that you know the details of
the pandemic, do we make it outalive?
You know what happens in 2025now, clearly.
SPEAKER_03 (11:37):
In the movie, I can't tell you what it is.
SPEAKER_00 (11:39):
Oh no.
Oh no, it didn't sound good.
I can't tell you whatever.
Um, but I do want to know.
Real question now, realquestion.
Did you always know you wantedto be an actor?
unknown (11:49):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (11:50):
Um I knew that I was gonna go either one or two
routes.
Well, actually three routes.
Uh I was either going to becomea m musician, a famous musician,
um, a pop star or whatever, rockand roll R and B.
Um, I was gonna become an actor,or I was gonna become an
attorney, but most likely anentertainment attorney.
SPEAKER_01 (12:12):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (12:13):
Because I still had that creative blood flowing
through my my veins.
I'm a musician.
I've been I play nineinstruments, I compose, I've
written over 250 to 270 songs.
Oh my gosh.
I've been writing since 1977,which is I'm gonna tell you how
many years that is.
(12:34):
It's a while.
Well, I'm gonna tell you howmany years.
It's a while.
Yeah, it was a while.
I've been writing for 40 years.
So um, other than that, I um Iwas either gonna be musician, uh
actor, or a lawyer.
unknown (12:46):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (12:47):
And then with the lawyer, I was I wanted to become
uh governor of the state ofIllinois.
Which is still possible.
SPEAKER_00 (12:53):
Well, nothing's impossible.
Exactly.
I think you should become famousthough, like really famous.
Famous and then become famous.
And then become government.
You can be like aSchwarzenegger.
SPEAKER_03 (13:01):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (13:02):
Perfect.
We figured out your career path.
SPEAKER_03 (13:04):
I had a joke for that, but I won't give you that.
I was thinking about it too.
I just changed my last name aswell.
SPEAKER_04 (13:37):
Well, everybody, we gotta take a quick break because
uh my direct is looking overgonna be kind of crazy here, but
don't go too far, we'll be rightback.
Welcome back, everyone.
We are here with amulti-talented Christopher
Career.
SPEAKER_02 (13:58):
Hey.
SPEAKER_04 (14:00):
Chris, I was just kind of curious.
Um, there's people thatobviously uh watch our show, and
a lot of people are inspired todo different things, especially
with the pandemic.
People are really branching out,you know, really following what
they want to do in life.
And there are people out therethat either are thinking about
getting into acting or maybehave started acting.
(14:23):
Um, what advice would you givesomeone as far as really trying
to make this a serious career?
SPEAKER_03 (14:29):
Don't do it.
I'm just joking.
I'm just joking.
Um of course, anything that youput your mind to doing, you can
do.
If you think that you can do it,you're right.
If you think that you can't doit, you're right.
So it's up to you to find thatthat that that uh spark inside
of yourself in order for you togo out there and and do it.
(14:52):
Um I started off in movies, Iwould say at age 16.
And right now I'm 57 years old.
Of course, by this time I'msupposed to be super famous.
I'm supposed to be a household.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (15:07):
Right.
But the thing is that in betweenin between 16 and 57, life
happened.
Um after starting off in in highschool, I was in a a movie
called My Bodyguard, not TheBodyguard.
Oh, I thought my bodyguard.
Martin Maul, Ruth Gor Gordon.
And so uh from then on I went toanother uh television show which
(15:29):
was called Lady Blue, which wasan ABC miniseries.
It was a detective story.
And uh it actually uh starred uhDanny Aiello.
SPEAKER_00 (15:39):
Oh, his name's familiar.
SPEAKER_03 (15:40):
Yeah, Danny Aiello just passed away.
He was in um a lot of things.
He was in uh Do the Right Thing,um Um Harlem Knights.
You know, and so um when I wasin those particular movies,
that's where it's actuallystarted my career.
And so after that, I went awayto college.
(16:01):
And I was studying uh politicalscience at Bathum Cookman in
Daytona Beach, Florida.
And so I did that until after Ifinished my undergrad, came back
to Chicago, started a band,started to get back in the
movies.
And so I was doing a lot ofextra uh gigs.
I was um I was doing what's thename of that?
(16:23):
Turks and stirrup echoes byKevin Bacon.
Um I did some movies with uhKeanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman
called Deep Impact.
Um just a lot of a lot of uhstuff, but I was doing it behind
the scenes.
But but doing that, I waslearning the craft of how
everything worked.
And so I would be behind thedirector, like, what is he
(16:45):
doing?
Okay, and and you know, how arethey doing this?
And I'm looking at this and it'slike change the lenses.
Like, what are you changinglenses for?
Let me use it.
And then so I would see theafter effect once I see it on
TV.
And so I wanted to be behind thescenes and watch it, and also be
in front of the camera and seewhat directors actually want in
(17:05):
an actor and be that.
So it was uh it was kind of likea it was a learning curve that I
I actually uh participated in.
And I look at it as, hmm, it's aschool where you're getting paid
for because you get paid to beextra and you're learning.
So actually, what happened afterthat?
(17:27):
I went went on to um um someother things and regular jobs
working for um package car delpackage delivery uh companies
that are not gonna be named atthis time because you're not
giving me any money.
So um the last one that I workedfor, where things have to
(17:47):
absolutely be there onovernight, you could do whatever
you want to do with that.
And so I was a um a courierthere.
And my uh boss told me because Iwas taken off my my uh vacation
days and off days or sick daysto actually tape Empire.
I was on Empire, did 18, 18episodes of Empire.
SPEAKER_00 (18:12):
Really?
Yeah, that's amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (18:14):
Yeah, and I was and I also did Widows and Captive
State with John Goodman andthings like that.
And so my boss was uh seeingthat, and uh we would come in,
we would come in after being onthe road, and they would say,
Hey Chris, Chris is on TV.
(18:34):
And I'd be like, Oh man, I Iwould be on on TV in the
cafeteria.
And so the managers got hip towhat I was doing.
And so when I would come and askfor another day off, they say,
You need to figure out whetheryou want to be a courier or you
want to be an actor.
SPEAKER_00 (18:52):
Well, that's an easy choice, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (18:54):
So I said, hmm, is this particular job going to pay
me over a million dollars?
No.
Is acting gonna do it?
Yes.
So what I did was uh that alongwith um my mother became gravely
(19:15):
ill.
Um she was stricken with lungcancer, and I was her sole uh uh
caretaker.
And so they kept telling me, youknow, um, if you are taking off
days to do Empire and all therest of these other shows, you
can't take off time or be lateto take your mother back and
(19:39):
forth to the doctor.
So I said acting career, yourmother.
So I said, okay.
And so it was something that Ihad planned on doing because I
took my letter of resignation, Iput it in in my backpack, and I
(20:01):
think it was February, and I andit said, and I just I was all I
had to do was just fill in thedate of uh giving my two weeks
notice.
And I put it in my backpack andtook it to work every single
day.
On on December 5th, I filled inthe date.
And I decided, I was like, well,you know what?
(20:23):
This particular company does notcare anything about my career or
my mother.
So I tell you what, this is whatI'm gonna do.
I'm gonna quit or resign.
And I'm going into acting fulltime and take care of my mother.
SPEAKER_01 (20:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:40):
My mother passed away uh April 27th, 2020.
Sorry.
Oh, thank you, thank you.
And uh she was able, before sheshe died, she was able to see me
on TV.
In which she was like, I don'tknow why you keep doing this.
Why are you doing this stuff?
(21:02):
Thanks, Mom! You need to just goback to work.
And so I was like, mom, it'smore than that.
It is, it is.
And so um, after she finally sawme on TV, I I think that it was
I was in I was in Chicago Medand I had a speaking role in
(21:23):
Chicago Med.
SPEAKER_00 (21:24):
I saw that I'm on your IMDB.
I looked in the air, don'tworry.
Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_03 (21:30):
And so she got a chance to see that and and uh
before she passed away.
And so she's like, hmm, this iswhat you wanted to do.
And you did it.
SPEAKER_00 (21:41):
How amazing.
It's so wonderful that you gotto see that.
SPEAKER_03 (21:43):
Oh, yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_04 (21:44):
Your mom is such a sweet person.
You know my favorite video, andyou probably know which one I'm
about to say.
Wow.
When you were playing the musicand she was just dancing to the
music fun, oh my god, I lovethat video.
SPEAKER_00 (21:57):
So hold on.
You guys know each other, knoweach other.
Yeah, yeah, we do a couple ofyears, okay.
SPEAKER_04 (22:13):
You know what?
I always joke, I said either A,a lot of people like me, or I'm
just old.
Because I seem to know a lot ofpeople, so you know, we do.
You know.
Could be both, yes, that's true.
But oh my god, I love seeingthat video.
And and and I mean her eyes justlight up.
(22:35):
You can see the happiness in herface.
I love that video.
SPEAKER_03 (22:38):
And she was sick during that time.
I remember that.
And uh we lived on the southeastside of Chicago.
We lived uh on 79th in Euclid.
And uh I wanted to move her fromthat area and take her out.
We're in the south suburbs now.
Well, we well when we we movedout into the south suburbs, and
(23:00):
uh I wanted to give her final uhyears of life.
Yeah, I wanted her to be be ableto enjoy it, to relax and things
like that, not worry about whatwas going on in the inner city
and shit.
And so um that um she she wentkicking and screaming.
Did she?
SPEAKER_02 (23:20):
She was not up for it.
SPEAKER_03 (23:21):
Older people don't want things to change.
That's true.
Yeah, they do not want tochange.
And so uh that particular clipthat you're that you're uh
referring to, um, I remember Iwas putting things together in
the in the new house, and Isaid, Mom, come downstairs.
And so she said, What'd youwant?
(23:43):
Okay, she came downstairs, and Iand I put on that song, dun dun,
dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
My mother and my father used tolove to dance.
And then next thing you know,she was just oh my god.
That clip got over 2,600 views.
(24:04):
Wow.
And every time it comes backaround my memories, I said, we
get another grand.
Yep, that was my girl that stillis.
SPEAKER_04 (24:19):
Yeah.
You know what?
Hold that thought.
We gotta take a quick break.
I know we're having so much fun.
Now yeah, but for you all, donot go very far.
We're gonna take a very shortbreak and we'll be right back.
Awesome.
Welcome back, everyone.
(24:39):
We are here with a great friendof mine, Christopher Grimm.
And Kristen, I know we had todip out for a quick break, so I
will let you go ahead with yourquestion.
SPEAKER_00 (24:49):
And I had just thought of it at the time.
It's probably not a very goodone, but here we go.
As an actor, do you feel that,well, there are lots of methods,
right?
Meisner, Stanovskovsky, youknow, whatever, short lift.
Um do you feel, have you likesubscribed to any of those, or
do you feel that maybe you justlike pull from the human
(25:10):
experience?
SPEAKER_03 (25:11):
Actually, uh all three.
Uh I've studied the Miser uhmethod of uh of uh method
acting.
Um after I got the new teeth andcertain stuff, I just can't see.
SPEAKER_00 (25:27):
I don't think I'm ever gonna go bad, honestly.
That one dude.
That one dude.
SPEAKER_03 (25:32):
Yeah, and and actually, and some things I just
I just pull from just just lifeand and experiences of going
through certain things.
I mean, um mostly when you comeacross a story that someone
gives to you, uh some of thosethings mirror things that have
happened in your life.
So it's like, oh, okay, Iremember.
(25:53):
So that sounds like uh back uhin 1983 happened to me when I
was in high school.
No, no, no.
Hold on, I went in high schoolin 1983.
But anyway.
SPEAKER_00 (26:05):
When you were teaching high school in 1983.
No, I won that only.
SPEAKER_03 (26:10):
I graduated in 82.
Okay, got it in college in 83.
So that's so you know, I I Ijust pull from certain things
that uh from the experiences andand and just things that have
actually happened to me.
Um and uh from there I just kindof like put everything together
and uh that way um I can apply adifferent type of feeling or a
(26:35):
different type of flow thatmaybe another actor could uh
can't do because I still havethat that experience along with
the things that I've actuallystudied.
And uh another thing that whatI'm gonna be doing soon is
within the next couple ofmonths, I'm going to be I'm
gonna come out with a method ofhow to actually get into the
(26:59):
business.
Oh I'm gonna be teaching a aclass, well, classes on on that.
And so uh watch out for that.
SPEAKER_00 (27:07):
Um you actors out there.
SPEAKER_03 (27:09):
Yeah, all you actors out there are people that just
want to be a star.
Chris Greer can make you a star.
It could happen, never know.
SPEAKER_00 (27:19):
Never know, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (27:24):
But other than that, I put I put everything together.
I have certain methods that I II kind of like keep to myself.
They're kind of like secretive,but they seem to work.
Sure.
And uh it depends on you can'tapply it to everything.
You can't, because um differentroles calls call for different
(27:45):
types of feels.
Yes.
And so so with that, yeah, I puteverything all into one, and
then I mold that character intowho I want that person to be, or
whoever the director or theproducer is trying to get across
of what this person is like.
SPEAKER_02 (28:02):
Sure.
SPEAKER_04 (28:03):
Now, you know, looking looking back, because
actually what you just said justpopped in my head.
I wanted to know if you had theopportunity to go back to the
young Chris and knowing what youknow now, what advice or what
would you tell your younger selfthat maybe you know now that you
didn't know back then?
SPEAKER_03 (28:26):
Watch your credit.
Um wow, you know, um we'll weall uh learn different things
during this journey of life.
(28:47):
And uh what I probably wouldtell um uh young Chris, be
patient.
SPEAKER_01 (28:55):
Be patient.
SPEAKER_03 (28:56):
This because that's something that it took a while
for me to learn, to be patient,because um sometimes making
those rash, quick decisions arenot the right decision.
And so that's what I would tellyoung Chris if he was listening,
because he had a hard head.
SPEAKER_00 (29:16):
I was gonna say, did he listen?
Would he have listened?
No.
No.
SPEAKER_03 (29:21):
He he was headstrong, he uh didn't care
about living.
It's weird.
You know, all that all that fastdriving I was doing and stuff
like that.
You know, it's somethingstrange, and and I know I come I
come up with all kinds ofstrange stuff anyway.
Um, you know, if you're drivingdown the street and you see like
a box in the in the street, yougo around it, right?
(29:44):
Oh yeah, sure.
Not young Chris.
Not young Chris.
You go over it.
That's you go through it.
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
You know, the young Chris.
SPEAKER_00 (29:54):
And you had no idea if it was empty, right?
Like there could have been therecould have been a puppy in that
box.
SPEAKER_03 (29:58):
Could have been a puppy.
Could have been a puppy.
So you were a murderer.
Could have been right, exactly.
Pretty much what we're sayinghere.
Chris, the puppy murderer.
SPEAKER_00 (30:05):
The puppy murderer.
Fantastic.
SPEAKER_03 (30:06):
Yep.
And just like just like now, I'mI'm the guy that if I drop the
ice cube on the floor, I don'tkick it on the refrigerator now.
SPEAKER_00 (30:14):
That's so responsible.
SPEAKER_03 (30:19):
Goodle.
These things you learn, youlearn with maturity.
Right.
And you know, you I see anythingin the road, I'm gonna write.
Whether the animal is dead ornot.
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
Switching, switching.
Changing language.
SPEAKER_04 (30:45):
Just for the record, we love animals.
Yeah, me too.
I got several of them.
SPEAKER_00 (30:50):
Um, okay, so um you have always you're a musician.
Yes.
You uh wannabe attorney.
So are you still thinking ofbranching out into like writing
and directing?
And then you said you have ayou're branching out into
teaching a little bit.
So what are other otheraspirations?
SPEAKER_03 (31:11):
Yes, well, um this coming uh this is March.
So I think April or May, I'm ina movie called Sessions, and uh
it's gonna be shot in Atlanta,and uh after that I'll be
directing a movie called Three.
Uh this will be my thirddirecting debut.
SPEAKER_00 (31:30):
If you need a 36-year-old female actress, I
know where you could find one.
I'll keep you in mind.
SPEAKER_04 (31:37):
Let's let's send this plug book.
SPEAKER_00 (31:39):
I mean, you know what?
You have to do it on camera oroff.
SPEAKER_03 (31:41):
There you go.
Right, exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (31:43):
So you will be directing though.
SPEAKER_03 (31:44):
Yep, I will be directing.
Um when it comes toscreenwriting, I am also a
screenwriter and I've writtenabout five or six different uh
screenplays.
And so one of them is going tobe finally shot in I think it is
June or July this coming thiscoming year called The Other
Side of the Sun.
(32:05):
And this one I'm supp or I wroteit.
I'm supposed to be directing it,I'm starring in it.
Um the soundtrack is 80%finished because this I've been
working on this uh I would sayfor the last five or six years.
SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
So you the soundtrack is a lot is all you.
SPEAKER_03 (32:22):
I wrote I wrote all the music to the soundtrack.
Uh-huh.
And um and I'm also gonna docraft services.
I'm gonna be cooking.
SPEAKER_00 (32:29):
Are you are you a cook?
SPEAKER_03 (32:30):
Yeah, I cook good.
SPEAKER_00 (32:31):
Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_03 (32:32):
Yeah, but I'm not gonna do that part.
I'm actually thinking about noteven acting in it.
I was just gonna direct it,produce it, and do the
soundtrack and things like that.
SPEAKER_00 (32:42):
So I know we've been talking about I'm sorry, it's
probably your turn, but I have aquestion.
Um so we've been talking aboutactors and kind of their step
one.
But if you have a movie idea, ifyou have a script, where would
someone go to s to start?
What's their step one?
SPEAKER_03 (32:57):
Hmm.
Well, the first thing that youcan do, um I uh actually have my
fiancee is a screenwriter also.
Uh matter of fact, the moviethat's going to be shot this
coming uh April, May uhsessions, uh she wrote it along
with her partner, uh JohnAlexander.
(33:20):
And um they start off by uhfirst having the idea and
getting together with someoneelse if you choose to.
And once you have all of yourthoughts and everything together
with the with the uh thescreenplay, then they pitch it
to two different people.
And sometimes people are like,hmm, that's interesting.
(33:42):
We're going ahead, we're gonnago ahead and and um and film
that or we're gonna shoot it, orwe have a budget for that and
everything.
So um that is something that youknow you have to really
investigate and see, you know,who would want that particular
uh script, or if they're lookingfor certain things, you can go
(34:03):
to the InternationalScreenwriters Association and
they'll say, like, hey, we'relooking for horror films, we're
looking for love stories, we'relooking for this and that.
And then you just reach out tothose people.
Make sure you copyright itfirst.
SPEAKER_00 (34:14):
Okay, that's a good thing.
SPEAKER_03 (34:15):
Make sure you copyright it first because an
idea is an idea.
Somebody might be able to saythat, you know, this was my idea
and make a make a milliondollars off of it, and you'll be
mad.
SPEAKER_00 (34:28):
Oh, mad would be the word.
SPEAKER_04 (34:29):
Yeah.
Chris, we had so much fun today.
I don't want to leave outwithout asking you this final
question.
SPEAKER_02 (34:37):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (34:38):
If someone is watching right now and they're
really serious about gettinginto doing acting, what advice
or what direction would youpoint them in if they want to do
something right now to make thatfirst step?
SPEAKER_03 (34:51):
Okay.
That first step, I would um Iwould start off as an extra.
Reach out and go to um like anIMDB, go to uh backstage, um
apply, get subscribe to thatparticular app, and then you'll
see what's out there.
Sometimes they're looking forextras, sometimes they're
looking for lead actors and andthings like that.
(35:15):
Apply audition for them.
And it's a it's a growingprocess.
You'll start you start makingthose stair steps all up to
start them where you want to be.
Because I'm not anywhere closeto where I will be.
But you know, I I have to goback to young Chris and become
(35:39):
patient.
But it's coming, definitely.
SPEAKER_04 (35:43):
Absolutely.
Thank you so much for being onthe show.
We have so thank you for havingme.
And don't be a stranger.
I'm not.
I'll be back uh tomorrow.
Come on through.
For everyone else, don't go toofar, we'll be right.
(36:09):
Well, we had such a great time.
Oh my god, Chris is so funny, sotalented.
SPEAKER_00 (36:17):
Yeah, it's a huge thank you to Christopher Greer,
an amazing actor, and just anamazing storyteller in general.
So he was great.
Um, be sure to follow L Rad TVNetwork on all of the platforms
Facebook, Instagram.
SPEAKER_04 (36:31):
And um, I really appreciate everyone watching.
Make sure that you, you know,come try us out.
You can actually try us out forfree, and then you'll be able to
take a look at this show as wellas other shows that we have on
the streaming network as well.
So definitely make sure that youfollow us, you you watch us, you
chime in on our social media,and again, thank you for
(36:52):
supporting us, and we have a lotmore wonderful things to come.
SPEAKER_00 (36:56):
See you later.
SPEAKER_04 (36:57):
Take care, everyone.
Bye-bye.
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