Veteran actor Will Roberts chatted about being a part of the Emmy award-winning digital drama series “Studio City” Season 2, where he played Dennis.
“I was very honored,” he said. “I was absolutely thrilled when Sean Kanan and Michele Kanan approached me and said that they had a great role for me in ‘Studio City’ Season 2. Then when I got the script and saw the scenes I was even more thrilled. When we shot on the days we shot the episodes… they were so thrilled along with Timothy Woodward Jr., the director, at what was happening between me and the actors that they added scenes.”
“It’s always a good thing coming into a cast such a ‘Studio City’ of star-studded extremely talented people to be asked to do more,” he added.
He was drawn to playing Dennis for several reasons. “I think what I love the most about the character of Dennis is the fact that it is really not a character that I would normally play; however I’ve spent the last 15 or 20 years being really well known for my cowboy on-screen work and weapons,” he said.
“So when they approached me and said that this was the type of character… I was thrilled. Actors, we try as hard as we can not be pigeonholed or typecast in certain types of roles. The role of Dennis, as you watch Season 2, you’ll see that there are many different levels and I also get to play serious and very funny in this series,” he explained.
He had great words about working with the entire “Studio City” cast. “Well when I came in and I was there the first day of shooting I remember specifically sitting in a circle of about 10 actors that were pretty much getting ready to do all the scenes as I was,” he said.
Roberts continued, “I looked around and I saw some of the top talents on daytime television and thoughts myself… Lock it in and blow it out.. this is a term that my good friend who is no longer with us that worked for Disney used to tell me when I was in my 20s. He would say regardless of what’s going on around you you are a star just lock it in and blow out all of the negative parts. It’s also pretty amazing to be able to know that you’re going to be playing back-and-forth with some great other seasoned pros and for that I was absolutely thrilled.”
His acting performance in Season 2 of “Studio City” was hailed as “commanding.”
Future Plans
On his future plans, he shared, “Well I seem to be on a little bit of a run and I can’t say much but I have a couple of large films coming out that when I do make the announcement I promise you that you will be the first to know.”
“I have a Netflix film a universal film and a small handful of other projects and fingers are crossed audiences will get a chance to see more of the Emmy award-winning series StudioCity… Because it’s going to get good,” he exclaimed.
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, he said, “Well you know what to be honest with you I’ve been doing this for about 40 years performing and being a professional actor, and early on in my career I worked for Fox kids as a host and while I did that I learned how to shoot edit produce and host and I embrace the technology of the iPhones and what I can say about right now is it is the best time in the world in our time to be an actor because we have so many possibilities and so much out there to go for.”
“A lot of times actors ask me what do you think the key to success of an actor in this day and age. I say you must know technology social media you need to know how to do all these things yourself how to promote a lot of times actors forget that the word ShowBusiness includes the word business… And I can tell you that I spend 25 seven days a week… hours a day focusing on my career… and I do mean 25 hours a day,” he said.
For young and aspiring actors, he said, “Well I give the same advice for young actors as I do older and that is one of my reasons for my continued success and not becoming a professional waiter… Is the fact that I have learned a lot of skills if you find me on Google or my Instagram or any other platform you will see that I have two world records.
“I’m a professional cowboy, I work for Cirque Du Soleil and I’m a professional magician… Magic Castle, Magic Circle UK, and that is been one of the big reasons why I have had a lot of opportunities. So I tell people young and old getting in this business or even some of the veterans the more skills you have the more valuable of a product you are, learn everything.”
Success
On his definition of success, Roberts said, “Success to me means doing something that you absolutely love and even though you may not be the richest or the most famous doing it you just wake up every day knowing that you have to do it… And you do it and you love the hustle as much as you love achieving your goal and passion.”
Roberts concluded about “Studio City,” “Well one of the things I wanna leave with folks about Studio City is that I think it’s been extremely cleverly written, put together, and the concept is brilliant. In this day and age where we are what I call hooked on iPhone-ics (short attention spans), we can only digest short amounts of content. I think that the creators of studio city understand this and have created the style of programming of the future. Quick, entertaining, and compelling.”
The second season is available now on Amazon Prime Video by clicking here, and it consists of six episodes.
To learn more about actor Will Roberts, follow him on Instagram and check out his IMDb page.