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Its 6:55 pm sunny/cool/writing

Welcome to ‘8 Questions with…..”

Finding my interviews is always a challenge. As I type this,I am looking at my list of interviews that are out and awaiting for them to be returned. Out of 13,only 5 have been returned and two people simply just declined because “The Inner Circle” isn’t People Magazine or TMZ and I can respect that. So when artists approach me about doing a interview,its actually pretty exciting,it means that someone likes what I’m doing and wants to be part of it. Someone like our next guest,actor and martial artist Sky Patterson. Sky sent me a friend request and a very nice note asking if I would be willing to do a interview with him. Well after taking a look at his background,this was one of the easiest calls I had to make. Sky is one of the most interesting human beings I have met,a top notch martial artist,a international traveler,a man of books and education and a hard working actor. So what has led to Sky’s journey to all these various interests and paths that he walked on,well that is what I wondered as well and I found my normal 8-10 questions weren’t going to be enough and that I was going to ask a few more. I was glad when Sky was open to this and welcomed the added questions…the truth was I could have asked another 15 but we’ll save those for another round in the future. But for now,I am going to get out of the way and let Sky answer his first 8 Questions ………

Please introduce yourself and tell us what you’re currently working on.

I’m an actor and writer in Los Angeles. With the stay at home order, I’ve been writing a lot recently, and I’m currently working on two feature scripts. One is an 80s zombie comedy, and the other is a story about a collegiate wrestler.

How are you dealing with the Covid-19 lockdown,how are you staying busy?

There has definitely been a lot of Zoom. I’ve done several table reads, improv meetups, and done self tapes with friends reading for me virtually, and vice versa. Many casting directors have had open calls so I found every one of those I could and submitted to them all. I’ve also recorded some monologues on my own for fun. The rest of my time has been spent writing, reading, watching movies, and staying in shape. Needless to say this is an unprecedented situation for us all, but it’s really admirable how some people have found ways to lift each other up and collaborate.

What was it like grwoing up in your home? What were your three favorite memories as a youngster?

I grew up in Portland, OR. The city has changed a lot since I lived there. Since elementary school I was involved in theater, but my life definitely changed when I started martial arts. One of my most formative memories was watching John Carpenter’s Escape From New York for the first time, which is still one of my favorite films to this day. The morning after I put on a black tank top and walked around my house acting like Kurt Russell. Another great memory was getting to introduce special effects legend Ray Harryhausen at a screening and Q&A for the Northwest Film Center when I was in third grade – my dad told the organizer how big of a fan I was and they offered me the opportunity. And one of the greatest times I had growing up was getting an apprenticeship in high school at an arts magnet summer camp co-sponsored by Nike and Weiden+Kennedy. We basically got to live in the woods down in central Oregon for two months and make a short film with all the equipment they had. I learned a ton about filmmaking and had a total blast.

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What led you into the martial arts? Can you explain what your style of martial arts is?

I started on a total whim – the summer after 8th grade I was feeling like I needed a hobby to keep me occupied, so I decided to try martial arts. I watched Enter the Dragon with my brother and he told me I had to study Chinese Kung Fu, because that’s what Bruce Lee did and he was the best. So I found a local Kung Fu school and signed up. It turned out they did Shaolin style, as well as Wushu, which I had never heard of. It’s basically a style created for solo competition that is very flashy and exciting to watch – Jet Li was the Chinese national champion in Wushu. It places a high demand on flexibility and explosiveness, and I ended up training seriously and competing in that style for about 10 years.

What three things have you learned and taken away from being involved with martial arts?

The biggest lesson I learned competing was when I got back from China. I placed as the runner up in several championships, and I asked my coach what I could do to take it to the next level. He said “when you’re on the mat, it’s your time. The judges have to pay attention to you, and no one else is allowed on, so enjoy it.” After that, instead of trying to block everyone out before my routines, I would look at the entire crowd and think “I’m going to show them something they’ve never seen before.” And I started winning. I also learned early on to place a premium on nonviolence and to avoid confrontation any way possible, which is a quality all great martial artists value. And to give back – my first instructor made us clean up the studio every day and help him teach kids classes because he said when you get something from martial arts, you have to give back to the martial arts.

Why is education important to you? What led you to choose USC for your college education?

Growing up education was seen as the most important thing in our household. My dad had the dream of me getting a scholarship to a good university and there was some conflict when I started doing martial arts classes 5-6 days a week, but I never let my grades slip. USC was my dream school for the film program, and for the opportunity to come to California. When I applied I made a mistake on my film school application and actually got denied, but they let me in as an undeclared major. A couple weeks into the semester I got a call from someone from the film office who had seen my essay and wanted to offer me admission there on the spot, so I took the opportunity.

Where did your love of China and its culture come from? How hard was it to learn the language?

The summer before college my mom gave me a book called American Shaolin by Matthew Polly (who has also just written the greatest ever biography on Bruce Lee). It was a story about an American college student who dropped out and went to live at the Shaolin Temple for two years. I was incredibly inspired and wanted to live my own version of that story – I felt like I had an advantage since I had already been training in Wushu seriously for four years, but I didn’t have the money to go to Shaolin so I felt the only way I could get to China was through study abroad at USC. They had a minimum requirement of 3 semesters of Mandarin in order to be eligible so first semester of freshman year I signed up, and I ended up eventually switching my major to Chinese. The written part is a little challenging but the words and grammar aren’t actually that hard, as long as you can differentiate the tones (Chinese is a tonal language so the same word in a different inflection has a completely different meaning). As I went along I saw it as another example of giving back after you’d received something – I had gotten so much out of martial arts that I wanted to pay my respects by learning more about the language and culture.

What was it like living in Beijing like? What were some of biggest cultural differences to you as an American?

Living in Beijing had a lot of ups and downs. After I graduated from college I got a scholarship from the Chinese government to do martial arts full time at a sports university there. It was actually the same sports university I had trained at in my free time when I studied abroad in Beijing during undrgrad, so I thought the adjustment would be smooth. I was wrong. I was living on my own for the first time, at a school with no other Americans, and I definitely felt alienated many times. I’m a pretty outgoing and outspoken person, but Chinese often take a lot longer to form friendships. By the end of my year there I had made some really deep and loyal friends, but there were also times when I was kind of discriminated against for being a foreigner. It wasn’t anything at the level of what is faced by many nonwhite people, but it does give you a perspective on even how something like not being allowed to sit with everyone else, or not being allowed in certain buildings can affect your psyche. At the same time there are a lot of opportunities there for someone like me. I did voiceover work, a little modeling, and acted in two feature films, so I was really fortunate to have that experience.

When did you know you wanted to be a actor? What was your first experience on a film like?

I did my first performance in 3rd grade, which was a scene from Tom Sawyer, and it was so thrilling to be alive in front of an audience. Growing up, and still to this day, I’ve been deeply affected by movies – movies that have changed my views on things, and even movies that I believe have saved my life. And those same movies can mean the same things to people all over the world. It’s a huge responsibility and privilege, and I am awestruck how telling a story – not just in written or spoken form, but with a real human being, can be such a powerful cathartic experience to watch and live through vicariously. And that’s what I believe I can help to bring to audiences. The first movie I ever shot was in Beijing called Tai Chi Zero. It was a pretty big film, and I got to work with the legendary Sammo Hung, who was the action director, and Angelababy, who was an up-and-coming star. I had a fight scene with her that we shot for 6 nights, but it ended up getting cut. The conditions on that set were challenging, it was so cold that if you left water or food out it would freeze over by the end of the night, and we were outside the whole time with no heaters. It was a great experience though and I wouldn’t trade any part of it now.

Which is more fun for you to play and why,a good guy or a bad guy?

You know, it’s funny, my dream is to be the good guy in a major feature film. But I have to say… playing a bad guy is REALLY fun. There’s something liberating about doing things that you’d normally never do, letting the id totally run wild. So I’d say that would probably be more fun, aside from maybe playing an antihero like Snake Plissken.

Who are your three favorite martial arts actors and what makes them so good?

Growing up my favorite was Jean Claude Van Damme. I loved his look, his aura, he felt like the total package, and his techniques were really smooth. These days I actually find myself going back way more to Bruce Lee, because he was such a trendsetter, and he did things that were unabashedly him, which is what really made the difference in his career, and in the lives of people all over the world.

How do you prepare for each role? What was it like shooting a soap opera like “The Young & the Restless”?

When they shoot soap operas they work very fast, to the point where ideally they get everything in one or two takes. I had a very small part as an assistant to one of the leads selling sunscreen, and in one scene I was going to be in the center of the frame, and the AD told me “ok this is your scene, so really sell yourself.” Well the way I interpreted that was my character was going to seize the moment and make it all about me… I did the take where I was really goofing off and kind of stealing the spotlight. After they cut the AD ran up to me and asked what the hell I was doing, I told him I was following his direction. It turned out that was NOT what he intended, and to just do a very normal and unassuming take. About thirty seconds later he came back and said “forget everything I just told you, the producers saw that take and they loved it – do it again!” I guess it just kind of shows that doing something authentic can be welcomed even when it may be out of the box. Typically to prepare for roles I take everything the script gives me (both textual and subtextual) and then fill in any gaps and backstory with my imagination, spending time creating memories in that life. If the role is more substantial I’ll talk to my acting teacher about it and sometimes do some coaching together.

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What do you look for in a role before accepting it?

To be honest I try to stay active and I believe any experience on set can help you be a better actor. Back when I was competing I would do every tournament I could, from international level competitions to local tournaments in high school gymnasiums. So I enjoy playing on set whenever I can, as long as it’s professional and the role isn’t demeaning.

The cheetah and I are flying over to watch your latest film but we are a day early and now you are playing tour guide,what are we doing?

Well I’m not a foodie by any stretch, but the one cuisine I feel fairly knowledgeable about is Chinese, so after taking you guys to The California African American Museum in Exposition Park (in my opinion one of the most slept on museums in LA), we’d go a few minutes down the street to Chinatown, where I’d show you the best hole-in-the-wall spots (San Gabriel has slightly better Chinese food but it’s not walkable). After checking out the Tien Hau Temple and saying hi to Sifu Lee’s statue in Central Plaza, we’d head to Redondo to get some fresh seafood (Quality Seafood is my favorite) and walk along the strand.

I like to thank Sky for taking the time to doing this interview. I am sure that once this lock down is over,we’ll be seeing Sky back hard at work and we’ll be looking forward to see what results from that work.

To keep up with Sky and his journey you can follow him by the various methods:

His personal website which you can find here. You can follow him on InstaGram. Keep up with his career by following his IMDb page.

If you are new to the blog and our interview series,you can catch up by clicking here.

8 Questions with……..actor/martial artist Sky Patterson Its 6:55 pm sunny/cool/writing Welcome to '8 Questions with....." Finding my interviews is always a challenge. As I type this,I am looking at my list of interviews that are out and awaiting for them to be returned.

#8 Questions With #art #Beijing #Bruce Lee #China #culture #education #family #interview #Italy #Jean-Claude Van Damme #learning #Los Angeles #Mandarin #Oregon #Portland #The Young & The Restless #traveler #USC

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