Today we’d like to introduce you to Clark Moore.
Clark, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My story begins in the border town of Laredo where my childhood was spent enjoying the outdoors working my tail end off at my dads sporting goods store and earning the title “troublemaker” at an early age.
Now although my experiences out in the world, hunting and fishing, working at both my father’s store and ranch held my attention better than academics, I had big dreams of doing things that my small hometown couldn’t offer. I racked up my first acting credits in high school productions pretty much solidifying my interest in acting, especially because I had an urge to get out and explore the world and try different things. Acting was THAT for me.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
First and foremost just trying to be an actor is something that can’t be done without a steady constant source of income. I struggled from job to job. First as a production assistant, then as an extra on films. Neither gave me much time or money to pursue acting. Then I went the traditional restaurant/bar route which I found to have its own set of pitfalls. Despite what felt like constant setbacks for years, I had alot of tenacity which only grew as rejections and failures piled up.
Another struggle was constantly sinking money into acting classes which literally everyone says you must do in order to be a working actor, but now after years, I find that very misleading and not advice I would give to aspiring actors. Most of the time actors need to be deprogrammed from all the bad advice and misleading acting techniques which literally hinder a person’s ability to act believably.
Then came the naysayers, rejection and criticism. All from people who were either insecure and scared themselves so they projected it onto me. Either telling me I wasn’t good enough, or I’d never make it or that I had zero chance in the business. Literally all true stories. As a very young man living on my own, I had wished I had better internal tools to handle those types of things coming at me from different people, but never the less it was a great learning lesson and taught me a great deal about people.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As an actor, I’d have to say I’m most proud of my work on the hit ABC mini-series called WOMEN OF THE MOVEMENT. The true story of Emmett Till and his mother Mammy Till-Mobley and his tragic murder that helped spark the civil rights movement. The show was executive produced by Will Smith and Jay-Z. For this role, we got to shoot in the actual locations in and around Money Mississippi where these events took place. And it was such a great experience to get to learn what was going on in our country at the time. I felt that I gave life to the words of the character I played and helped tell a very important story.
I think what sets me apart from others is that I don’t get caught up in all the acting nonsense that I hear on a daily basis. When I start hearing people talk about “the craft”, “the work”, or start calling it “art” I’m just turned off by that. It’s far more blue-collar than people realize. I like to be much more realistic and down-to-earth about the whole thing. The nuts and bolts of it, and challenge myself to see just how relaxed I can be about it. The art, in my opinion if there is any, is seeing how much I can throw away and then looking at what I’m left with. Watching masters like Spencer Tracy or Jimmy Stewart just do their thing without any strings attached, It’s impressive.
What were you like growing up?
Ha ha, this is funny! What was I like? I would do Anything, and I mean anything, to shock or get a laugh. As a middle child, I craved attention not only from my parents but also at school.
There was one time in grade school we were having a particularly boring lecture with a teacher, so to switch things up I stood up and walked to the chalkboard. While on the way I tripped, knocking over several desks during the fall and getting huge roaring laughter from the class…..mission accomplished!
Growing up I would watch SNL and movies, usually over and over again. Developing humor and attitudes that I could use with my friends, parents, or my siblings. Mostly trying to make them laugh. One big influence in movies I watched over and over was Bill Murray, I couldn’t get enough of his witty sarcasm. He came across as the lovable jerk and I couldn’t get enough of that.
I wanted to make movies as a kid, so I was always trying to come up with stories and using my friend’s camcorders to try and make little mini-movies to show my parents. Low and behold it was always crappy but I didn’t care, that fueled me to no end.
My parents for the most part were work-a-holics and this didn’t escape my brothers and I. We were always working and we were needed both at my dad’s store and at the ranch, where I loved to go off on my own and explore.
When not focusing on acting, I’m traveling and sailing as I’ve been an avid sailor for the past decade.
I am most active on IG @clarkmoorela and at IMDb.com/clarkmoore where I post updates of my latest works and stills from the projects I’ve been doing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.
officialclarkmoore.com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/clarkmoorela - Twitter: https://www.twitter.
com/clarkmooreactor - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/user/myinstantbreakfast - Other: https://www.imdb.me/
clarkmoore
Image Credits
Paul Smith Photography
