TINGS:
Did you dream to be a model or actor when you were younger, or was this something that came about by chance?
Felix:
Yeah, it wasn't really on my radar to start acting or modeling, it wasn't something that I'd thought of growing up. I was always into performance and I was always into something creative or something being artistic. As I was growing up, I loved drawing and I loved... I did a bit of dancing, when I was really young.
TINGS:
What kind of dance?
Felix:
Ballet, tap, jazz, the whole trio, I was right into it until about age eight or nine. And it wasn't until I was already starting acting and already had an opportunity to give it a go on a set that I really fell in love with it. I've always played music, I had said to my parents when I was 15, "Guys, I'm going to quit school and I'm going to be a musician." And my parents said, "No, you're not going to do that." But it was definitely, I really always wanted to do something creative because it's the stuff that makes me happy, I think, and I've been so fortunate and so lucky that I've been able to do it as a job since then.
TINGS:
If you had to guess from your experiences, a time that you had to do one scene, because of sounds or whatever, the amount of times you had to do until you got the right scene, what number would you put on it?
Felix:
I've been fairly lucky, I don't think there's been... There was a couple of times I've shot at a place that was definitely underneath a flight path, there was an airport nearby or something, so it wasn't that we had to do 10 or 20 takes because we'd always be able to figure out when we could shoot in between, but it was just that every time we'd have to shoot outside, it would just be like, okay, there's about 15 planes that we got to plan for.
TINGS:
So you started with modeling, right? Did you get scouted or were you trying to get signed? Or what was that process like?
Felix:
A little bit of both, really. It was something that I wanted to give a go, and it was something that I wanted to try and see if it was something that I enjoyed. So I reached out to a couple friends who knew photographers, and I was like, hey, could we maybe organize something? And I did my first photo shoot and really, really loved it. And [inaudible], she was so lovely and she taught me so many different little tips and tricks. I was quite young, I think I was 12 or 13, and she was like, keep your face towards the light, play around within that, just enjoy creating forms and creating structures that I think look interesting on film. So she taught me a lot of that, and I did a couple photo shoots, and then I was on the train home when I was 14, and this woman comes up to me and goes, "How old are you?” And I went, "Who are you?" And she was like, "Oh no, sorry, I'm part of this modeling agency, and you might be too young, but here's my card, please come in and see if you're interested in doing it." And I was really lucky that they took me on and put me as part of their development team, which meant that I could go out and do a bunch of shoots with a bunch of different photographers in Melbourne, and really figure out what my style was, where I fit within the modeling world, and where I fit in with that whole industry. So, I was really lucky, yeah.
TINGS:
So, you're living in Los Angeles now?
Felix:
Yeah.
TINGS:
So, Melbourne's a huge city, but obviously LA is kind of the capital for entertainment. So for kids that might be in Melbourne or in a city anywhere else the world, that dream of coming to Los Angeles, do you have something that you would say to them?
Felix:
Before I moved to LA I had some really good advice. It was from a bloke who lived here for a little bit during the nineties and spent a lot of time and really loved this city and had become aware of all the pitfalls and everything that is associated with LA. He said, "Mate, it's a beautiful, beautiful place, if you know what you want to be doing, who you want to be around, and where you want to be. And if you know those things, this city is amazing. It really is." For me, I can go surfing in the morning and then I can go and find some really nice organic food. I can go and tailor my lifestyle exactly to the way I want it, but you can only do that if you know that about yourself. I feel like LA is a really interesting city, and I've had this conversation with a lot of people. LA is not really a city where you can find yourself. You can really get easily lost. I found a lifestyle that I was like, oh, this is my tribe. And similarly with the people that you can hang out with, I think if you are not certain of yourself, then LA can be quite scary and quite confronting because there's a lot of people who've moved here to achieve something. Which means a lot of people are hustling, a lot of people are trying to do their thing, which is inspiring and daunting at the same time. So it really comes into how you approach this city and it comes down to expectation, really.
TINGS: Would you say that applies to succeeding in this industry altogether? Because this is a very cutthroat industry.
Felix:
I think so. And look, I'm not the person to be talking about success, I don't really view myself as an expert on this at all. I just think in life, really, not necessarily just in Hollywood, but it works so much more in your favor when you know why you're doing a certain thing, what your goal is. I think one of the pitfalls for at least entertainment, because I can speak to that, is that there's so many different reasons you can be doing this for. And that would be my advice for anyone who wants to start, is find out why you're doing it. Because they're long days, if you want to be an actor, you're shooting all the time or never, it's feast or famine. You're either waiting for a job or you are busy for three months on end. There's a lot of hard work involved with it. So you really have to understand why you want to be doing it. For me, I want to tell cool stories. I want to make people feel validated. I want to make sure that people can watch a film and come away from it having a different point of view or having a new understanding of how people interact or how people behave, that is the goal for me. And so, everything else that comes with it, like added attention or doing crazy photo shoots like this, is something that is so not on my radar because it's not my goal, but I'm so grateful that I get to do all these things. But really the goal is just to tell cool stories and just to make people feel safe.
TINGS:
Do you remember the first self tape you did or your first screen test?
Felix:
I remember the first audition I did, because I was really nervous and didn't really know what I was doing at all. I didn't know my lines, I'd never acted before, I didn't even do drama at high school. It wasn't something that I was even paying attention to. And so, this opportunity came up for Neighbors, it's a soap opera in Australia, and I was like, I won't get this, but I'll just give it a go. I took two trains and a bus to get to the studio, which is way on the other side of town from where I lived. I went in and Thea McLeod, the casting director, just sat, and I was so lucky that she just sat and worked with me. I did one take and she was like, okay, well maybe do that but tweak this line and see how it feels when you think about this instead of that. And we did, we ended up doing about 12 takes, which is not normal for an audition, but I had no idea at the time. I was like, no, this is cool, we workshopped it a bit. And then I was lucky enough to get that part. It was my first role, it was the first time I ever got to do any bit of acting, and it was only for six episodes and it was during that six episodes that I realized that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
TINGS:
What are some of your go-tos when you're rehearsing or when you're doing the self tape, when that camera is in front of you, what do you do?
Felix:
In terms of... For me, doing self tapes it's just about focusing on the story and focusing on who this person is. ... for me, I always want to make my scenes about the other person, I always want to connect, I always want to just listen and be, because that's, to me, that's what acting is. It's listening and reacting truthfully under imaginary circumstances. ... the goal is to always listen and to just pay attention to the person who's reading with me.
TINGS:
What have been some of the challenges that you've had pursuing acting?
Felix:
I think the challenges I've faced have, I recognize that I've been quite privileged and I have so many legs up in the... I'm Caucasian, I'm a male, there are so many things that have already created at this... It's not that it's helped my career, it's just that those things haven't made my career harder. So I think the challenges that I've faced I think are all quite personal, just like self-esteem, imposter syndrome, which I think is quite prevalent amongst most actors. ... a lot of the things that I struggle with related to that and related to why I want to do this. ... for me, that was a big thing of, oh, there's human nature involved in this. ... it's your job to communicate to the 5,000 kids who are watching this, who don't have a dad, that it's okay. It's okay to go through that emotional journey. ... You can make something meaningful of this job if you want to.
TINGS:
Very last question. Has there been a moment in your career where you might have met someone or got a job or attended an event or whatever it might be, that you were just like, holy shit, I can't believe that this is happening here now. I can't believe I'm experiencing this.
Felix:
The whole thing. I still, every single day, I wait for someone to be like, okay, you are done, let's go. Back to Australia. This is it, you are done. We had a nice run. Every single day I can't believe I'm here in the Chateau Marmont, filming this, getting to wear nice clothes. I can't believe that my first gig in America was Happy Together with Damon Wayans Jr. and Ben Winston as a producer, and Amber Stevens West and Chris Parnell and all these amazing, talented people. I've been so lucky, and every day I really can't believe that it's happening, or it's even happened. But even right back to just being scouted on the train, or going to do that first audition at Neighbors, there hasn't really been a point where I haven't felt like that. And it all feels insane, and I think someone's going to come and tell me tomorrow that I'm going home.
Coming Soon!