My guest was Brian Shoop, a SAG/AFTRA actor with over 50 credits who is 75 years old, just finished four auditions across four different cities, and has absolutely no plans to stop.
His story begins with a bank statement.
A notice tucked inside his monthly statement mentioned auditions for a community play. He went. He got the lead. Something that had been dormant his whole life suddenly woke up. He was already in his 30s, with two boys to raise, so he kept the dream alive quietly, sneaking off for the occasional commercial, until his sons left for college and he finally went all in at 47.
His first major film role was in The Rookie. The oldest rookie in professional baseball. The universe has a sense of humor.
A few things from the conversation I keep coming back to:
On the Scorsese set: Leonardo DiCaprio and Brendan Fraser worked through their lunch break, going through a page and a half of scene over and over while everyone else ate. Brian watched from upstairs with Barry Corbin and just soaked it in.
On confidence: "When I started Glenn's class six years ago, I lacked confidence most of all. Since then I have worked with more big stars than ever before in my life and felt completely at home. Not because I thought I was all that. Just because I thought, I am enough for what they are hiring me to do."
On the Severance set: He accidentally called Adam Scott "Scott" to his face. Dichen Lachman laughed. It was a great day.
On age: "Don't worry about age. That is just a number. The experience I thought was going to be a huge deficit? It hasn't been."
