Hunter Stiebel Interview | Actor, Filmmaker & Creative Community

To start off, Hunter, why don’t you tell us a bit about your career as an actor? How long have you been doing it, and how did you first get started?

Well, Steve, life is a circle and I've been acting since the beginning. Next question, please. 

Too deep? Not deep? You're concerned for my well-being? OK let me try to answer that again, then. 

I've pretty much known I've wanted to act since the first theater performance I saw. I was fortunate enough to grow up in New York City and had parents that loved the theater. So I've been seeing theater my whole life. I remember seeing Yul Brynner in The King and I. Mostly, I remember the audience giving a standing ovation and just being blinded by a sea of bodies double my size. Being in the center of a standing ovation when you're less than half the size of everyone else can be quite intimidating.... and frustrating. 

I started taking theater as an art form really seriously in high school. Thanks to a great teacher Peter Royal, some awesome friends, and my school Fieldston, which strongly supported the arts. I got a BFA in theater at SMU in Dallas, TX (Yes, I went from NYC to Dallas to train in theater). 

I started my professional career with a year's internship at The Milwaukee Repertory Theater. There I understudied most of the shows of the season while simultaneously performing in several. It was an incredible experience where I learned so much about the business and art form of American Theater. I then spent three years working in some incredible Chicago Theater. I moved to L.A. many years ago and have been doing mostly TV and commercial work since. Although my theater work was mostly the classics and dramas, my work in film and TV has mostly been comedy.

What kinds of roles do you most like to play? What have been some of your favorites? 

I think my favorite roles to this day are still ones I performed in Chicago. I had the joy of working at the Tony Award-winning Steppenwolf Theater in a show called The Chosen. To be working with such incredible collaborators on the Steppenwolf stage was just an inspiration in every way. Another highlight was my first role in Chicago. I was cast as Dracula by the cult indie favorite Defiant Theater. There are no words that describe how much fun that was. I wore old-man vampire prosthetics, jumped out of coffins, and shot stage blood at my colleagues, all while creating really great theater. SO MUCH FUN.

How do you prepare for a role? What’s your process like?

I'll tell you what I tell my students: I treat a script as a mystery. I'm looking for any and all clues that can offer me guidance and inspiration to create a character, figure out where they've been and where they're trying to get to. That's a very short version of that answer. Once the work is on its feet, I become a stickler for rhythm. You gotta do all the "work" before. Then you get to play and hone in on that rhythm. Someone once said...it's all in the timing. 

What was it like working on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend?

Fun. Next question, please. 

Oh, you'd like to know more? Exciting and inspiring. I don't know how Rachel Bloom wore so many hats and had time to sleep. Starting with the creators Aline and Rachel, the entire creative team was so talented and created an environment that encouraged taking chances. 

The first episode I filmed was the first episode being shot after the pilot. It was so clear to me this show was something special, but the world hadn't seen it yet. It was an exciting time. 

You’ve also written and directed a couple of shorts. Tell us a bit about those! 

My latest BnB is about a couple that spends the night at a mysterious Airbnb and tries to survive the night... and also get a good review. It's a thriller comedy and is the closest example of how my brain ticks than anything else I've created. It's fun and available to stream for free on Youtube distributed by Alter.   

I also loved working on Do You Hear Something? a micro-budget film of epic proportions for Sencit Music. Sencit creates much of the music you've heard in major trailers for film and video games. Its creator and owner Mike Zarin is a close friend of mine. I love the way his mind works and it's always a joy to collaborate with him. 

What are your plans for the future? Any dream roles?

Gimme that series regular in a sitcom, please. Oh heck, I'll happily take regularly recurring in one. I love sitcoms. They are the closest thing we have to repertory theater in Hollywood. Every week you put on a new "play" from beginning to end for a live audience, what could be more fun?

And finally, what advice would you give to others looking to pursue a career in acting?

You're not as old as you think you are. If you want to do something, find a way to do it. If that challenge is too daunting (because of other important commitments like family), start and just take baby steps in that direction. You're one baby step closer... and let's be honest: Eventually, babies always get what they want. 

Hunter has been part of Epiphany Space since 2016 and collaborates regularly with community members.