Actor Brad Hawkins (VR Troopers fame) chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about his career in the entertainment business and his latest endeavors in life.
He is known for playing Ryan Steele in the fantasy series “VR Troopers.” “I think I was in the right place at the right time,” he admitted. “I never really grew up saying that ‘I am going to be an actor’. I didn’t go to acting school or go to drama class. I was just a normal kid growing up watching TV. I watched a lot of ‘Knight Rider’ and ‘Transformers’ as a kid. I was more of a fan of TV and film.”
“When I was 16, a local agent here in Dallas ran into me and told me that I had a good look and a good age. He told me that he would love to represent me, I didn’t think too much about it but I kept his hard. Then, there was an audition coming up and they wanted to see new talent. I went in front of them and I was good at memorizing scripts, and they told me that I was pretty good,” he explained.
“So, they invited me and a couple of other people to Los Angeles. After that, the next thing you know is that I am on ‘VR Troopers’,” he added.
Speaking of “VR Troopers,” he described that experience as “awesome.” “I went from not being an actor in Dallas, and now I am an actor on that TV show,” he said. “I got to do that for a couple of years, it was awesome, and then, when it was over, I moved on with my life.”
Hawkins had nothing but the kindest remarks for Sarah Joy Brown, who played his VR Troopers co-star Kaitlin Star, and he praised Brown for her talent.
For young and aspiring actors, he said, “Good luck, keep your head up, and stay strong and positive. Now, I’ve been in the business for almost 30 years. If you want to be an actor, you need to be in Los Angeles. Ever since I moved back to Texas, I hardly audition for anything here. The same thing goes if you are a model, then you go to New York. You need to go where everybody is doing it on that level, and you need to be in the middle of it.”
“Also, I highly recommend taking acting classes,” he said. “You need to realize that acting is a craft, and it’s no different than being a welder or a cook. You need to commit to acting and get in a class and do all that it entails. Get ready for rejection. You get rejected 99 percent of the time. It’s not a really fair business, it’s not about who is the best actor in the room, there are a lot of factors. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with talent, it has to do with relationships, favors, and things that are way beyond talent.”
“As I got older I started on doing something that makes me happy every day,” he said.
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he said, “Patience.” “Looking back, in my mind, I’ve had an amazing journey,” he said. “I love my life and I love what my past has led me to. Now, I am in hospitality and I own bars and restaurants and it’s an amazing part of my life. I still get to dip my toe in acting and music whenever I want to but I am not reliant upon it for gratification.”
In his personal life, he revealed that he has a baby girl that is turning one year old next month, and he has a “great partner.” “I have a family now and I am back in Dallas, where I have always been happy, and now I am happy on a daily basis,” he said.
Hawkins defined the word success as contentment. “Reaching a point where you are happy, content, and grateful with everything going on in your life is success,” he said. “Success doesn’t take an acting career, music career, or money, or fame. If you find happiness in the life that you have and the things that you love around you, then that’s success.”
For his fans, he concluded, “Thank you. You are now as old as I am. When I do Comic Cons, it is weird when people come to my booth and they are 35, so they are grown adults but when they watched me they were eight or 10. It is pretty amazing to think that it was that long ago, and that’s so cool that they are now bringing their kids to the booths.”
To learn more about Brad Hawkins, follow him on Instagram and check out his Facebook page.
