John Bregar’s first thought for playing Mason was three words. Join a cult.
Mason lives on a ranch in Neagley, the Reacher spinoff on Prime Video. He starts out as the nice, helpful guy. He ends up enforcing the rules. John did his homework on cult life to get there. The rest of Mason, he says, is him.
That’s the actor. There’s a lot more to John than the actor.
He’s a studio photographer and a cinematographer. He took a short film to Lisbon and put it in front of a room full of strangers from all over the world. And he shot Neagley right at home in Toronto.
So I went looking for the guy behind the camera.
Who did he call first when he got the part? One of his best friends, and that friend has his own tie to Reacher.
More from John Bregar:
What did he buy with his first real acting paycheck? What does he tell a nervous actor in the first minute of a headshot session? How did he learn to light a face?
The Rockin’ 8 has something he had to find in a hurry on a film shoot. A snack he snuck off a set. And the hardest question known to man… how many Boston Creams could he eat in one sitting?
Where did any of this first feel like home? How has being behind the camera helped him in front of it? He’s the only artist in his family. How has his family supported him on this path?
What was it like to take his film to a room full of strangers in Lisbon?
Why does art touch his soul? He doesn’t know how or why… until you hear about the boxes of old photos.
No ego. No judgment. A safe space. That’s how John runs a photo shoot. So what has he discovered inside himself?
And the One Big Question. What’s a true thing about you that none of your characters has ever gotten to say?
His first answer was honest. “I don’t really know how to answer that.”
Then he found one.
Neagley is streaming on Prime Video. Hear John Bregar go Beyond the Mic.
Listen to other actors go Beyond the Mic here.
Discover more from Beyond the Mic with Sean Dillon | Celebrity Podcast
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