Rising Star Actor & Director Ian Unterman On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry
Instead of approaching an audition as a test or something to get right or wrong, enjoy the opportunity to show someone how good you are and show off your talent. Rather than contorting yourself to try to fit their version of the character, walk into the room and show them the version they didn’t even know they wanted. And then once it’s over, forget about it forever. They’ll get in touch.
As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Ian Unterman.
Starring alongside Michael Keaton, Rosario Dawson, and Peter Sarsgaard, actor/director Ian Unterman (Brittany Runs a Marathon, The SInner) joins the cast HULU’s “DOPESICK,” as Jonathan Sackler, brother of Richard Sackler (played by Michael Stuhlbarg) the president and CEO of Purdue Pharma. Their deceptive marketing became the driving force behind the stratospheric rise of OxyContin which led to the explosion of the opioid epidemic.
Based on the book by Beth Macy, the new Hulu series from Executive Producer Danny Strong (co-creator of Fox’s hit drama Empire) and starring and executive produced by Michael Keaton, “Dopesick” examines how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history. The series takes viewers to the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from several angles: doctors and patients using the drug, prosecutors and law enforcement trying to hold OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma accountable, and the drugmaker itself. The series offers an authentic portrayal of the small, working-class, predominantly white communities ravaged by the opioid crisis.
Unterman is currently credited for his work on The Many Saints of Newark, The Sopranos prequel film written by David Chase and directed by Alan Taylor (available on HBOMax), and Confetti, (currently in theaters) written and directed by Ann Hu, a Chinese/American film about the difficulties of educating and supporting children with dyslexia.
When he’s not acting or and hustling up the next project, Ian spends his time playing, watching, and talking about basketball (Brooklyn Nets), writing/playing music, and going on adventures with his dog.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
It’s exciting to be included with the talented and inspiring people you’ve interviewed for this series, thank you! I’m very lucky. I had kind of a wild childhood. I was born in Pittsburgh, PA and raised in Santa Barbara, CA, in a house where our neighbors had, at various times, an avocado farm, a miniature horse farm and an ostrich farm. Stick with me. I was homeschooled growing up. I loved reading, and read everything I could get my hands on. My mom encouraged intellectual curiosity and my parents did a good job of introducing my sisters and me to art, culture and travel along with standard academic fare. She also drove me around to countless activities and forced me to practice my violin. She told me that one day I would thank her. So… Thanks, mom. My father is a huge theater fan and regularly took my sisters and I to see shows, particularly musical theater shows, which I loved, but it never occurred to me to be an artist. I was pretty sure I was going to be a physicist, or possibly an inventor. I didn’t decide to pursue acting until I was in my third year of college (out of six).
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
When I was 5 or 6 years old, my friend Ryan and I would run wild outside creating superhero characters tailored to whatever adventure we were dreaming up. For example, I would be Cheetah Man so that I could turn into a cheetah when I needed to run really fast. Ryan would be Monkey Man so that he could turn into a monkey when he needed to climb a tree. We played that for a while, but pretty soon I wanted to be able to turn into a cheetah but also wanted to climb a tree, so it would obviously be helpful to be able to turn into a monkey. The characters became hybrids. Now, I would be Cheetah-Monkey Man and Ryan would be Monkey-Cheetah Man. You get the idea. But at a certain point, it just doesn’t make sense to limit your options in imaginary games.
That’s when I became Anyone/Anything Man. I’m still playing that game.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I had heard great things about the Williamstown Theater Festival from my best friend who spent a couple of summers there. I applied and was accepted into the apprentice program. At the beginning of the summer, I found myself in a theater in Williamstown, MA surrounded by the 75 members of my apprentice company. That first day altogether, one at a time, you had to get on stage, tell an interesting fact about yourself and perform both a classical and contemporary monologue. As we started, they would announce the order of the next three performers on a rolling basis. So, you didn’t know when you’d have to get up on stage until 10 minutes or so before you were walking up. I sat and watched incredibly attractive, talented people give monologues that left me so intimidated that I had a slow-motion panic attack; I was way out of my league and had made a terrible mistake. All I could think the entire time was, “I need to get out of here and get back to New York.” It took 7+ hours for everyone to go and by some awful stroke of misery, I was one of the last five for the day. I was sitting in a cold sweat going over my monologues and fighting my rising panic for 7 hours, plus a lunch break. When I finally heard my name called and walked down to the stage, I turned and looked out at this incredible room of young artists. I took a deep breath. I did my monologues. I would say that moment was the true start of my career. I worked nonstop that summer and subsequently spent 6 seasons at Williamstown, rising up through the workshop and eventually getting my equity card.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Oh wow, so many mistakes to choose from…When I was in college and thinking I might try acting, there was an upcoming production of Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim. I hadn’t seen the show, but I really loved the music and for some reason, I signed up to audition for it. I can’t even explain now why I did it, it was so far out of my comfort zone and who I thought I was at the time that even thinking back on it now feels like I was pushing myself off a cliff.
Anyway, I signed up to audition and was informed I needed to prepare a monologue and a song. I did so. However, I was not an actor and I was certainly not a musical theater actor, so I had to find a monologue in a book and pick a song I thought I could sing. So far so good. I get to the audition, and they bring us in groups of four. I watch three very talented young musical theater actors do their monologues and then pull out their books, give the accompanist music and sing beautifully. I was in a full panic meltdown waiting my turn, but I was already there. Finally, my turn came. I pulled it together and delivered my monologue. They said, “Thank you, and what will you be singing?” I’m was in too deep at this point. There was no turning back, so I said, “I will be singing Dan Fogelberg’s ‘Run For The Roses’”. I then ignored the accompanist, turned back to my chair, picked up the boom box I brought into the audition, plugged it into the wall, pressed play, waited for the CD to spin up and the intro to finish…then proceeded to sing 16 bars along to the CD. Spoiler alert- I didn’t get that one, but watching the others audition gave me a template. The next time, I got a callback and eventually, I played the Emcee in Cabaret.
So, yeah…I learned you don’t bring a boombox to a musical theater audition.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Tell us about your role on “Dopesick.”
In Dopesick, I play Jonathan Sackler, brother of Richard Sackler (played by the incomparable Michael Stuhlbarg) who was president and CEO of Purdue Pharma. Their deceptive marketing became the driving force behind the stratospheric rise of OxyContin which led to the explosion of the opioid epidemic. It’s challenging and scary to tell stories that have had such devastating effects in the real world, but Danny Strong and Barry Levinson gave us incredible material to work with. I am just in awe of the talent on both sides of the camera. I worked on Many Saints of Newark, the Sopranos prequel film written by David Chase and directed by Alan Taylor (which just came out on HBO Max), and Confetti, written and directed by Ann Hu. Confetti is currently in theaters and is a really lovely Chinese/American film I worked on about the difficulties of educating and supporting children with dyslexia. I really encourage people to see it if they have the opportunity. Otherwise, I’m either playing, watching, or talking about basketball, writing and playing music, going on adventures with my dog, or hustling up the next project. In the meantime, I’m excited about these Brooklyn Nets…
You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
One of my favorite quotes is from Hannibal Barca, the Carthaginian general, who after being told that his plan to attack Rome by crossing the French alps with an army of men and elephants was impossible, replied:
“I will either find a way or make one.”
He sacked Rome.
You are taking a risk and you have to embrace the possibility of failure in order to succeed. Lewis Black, the writer and comedian, used to say that as a performer, you have to learn to love your own death on stage. You have to enjoy the creative act for its own sake. What you’re trying to do is nearly impossible. Keep hustling. Keep grinding. Put in your 10,000 hours and just keep creating. No one on this planet is better at being you than you are.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- The difference between acting and being an actor — Acting is a beautiful narrative art form, the craft of storytelling. Being an actor is a very different thing. It’s a hard business and a hard life and sometimes when you’re an actor you get to act! Those are great days, even auditions and readings. But the vast majority of your job is applying for jobs. Just good to know going in.
- Instead of approaching an audition as a test or something to get right or wrong, enjoy the opportunity to show someone how good you are and show off your talent. Rather than contorting yourself to try to fit their version of the character, walk into the room and show them the version they didn’t even know they wanted. And then once it’s over, forget about it forever. They’ll get in touch.
- You’d be surprised how often it’s not about you — having spent years directing auditions, running callbacks, and being a reader, I can tell you unequivocally that there are a million things that go into casting a role. Of course, your talent, presentation and preparation will impress the room but don’t spend any time rehashing choices you made in your audition. Sometimes a role just fits a certain person. Sometimes the producers just ate lunch and are tired. It’s hard not to take it personally, but it will save you countless hours of deconstructing your psyche alone in your apartment. Or so I’ve heard.
- I think it’s useful to think about your career as a stack of bricks. You have a great audition but don’t book it, that’s a brick. You get a job that only pays subway fare and it gets a write-up, that’s a brick. You do a play, that’s a brick. Each little positive development is another brick in your stack and you stack your bricks up. You look at your stack and you look at someone else’s taller stack of bricks ahead of you. It feels intimidating; It feels like you’re at the back of the line looking at all the stacks of bricks that are taller and more impressive than yours. Just remember that 90% of the world is standing behind you, looking at your stack of bricks and thinking wow, I’d do anything for a stack like that.
- Be patient. It sounds easy. It is not.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
I think this is an incredibly important and underappreciated aspect of being an actor. Community, community, community — a network of friends/colleagues who understand or are supportive. This is such a difficult business and it’s easy to lose perspective when you’re in the middle of it all. It’s important to be able to ask questions about how contracts or call sheets work, to talk about when you are frustrated and things are hard, but just as importantly when things are going well. Careers move at different speeds, and it requires a tremendous amount of love and generosity of spirit to support your friends through their trials and successes when you are feeling stuck and conversely, it can be hard to openly discuss big career news when your colleagues are struggling. Support each other and rise together.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
So many people have helped me so much but in honor of Dopesick, I’ll say Danny Strong, the creator and showrunner. He’s done everything and been successful in so many facets of his career, as an actor, writer, director. I just admire him tremendously. He’s also an incredibly smart, funny and thoughtful presence. Working on Dopesick with him was truly a gift. When I auditioned, I agreed to shave my head for the role and when I came to set for the first time he came into HMU and introduced himself. He said, “You did everything right in your audition. And in life.” He made me feel like I deserved to be there, I had earned my place. I will carry that brick with me everywhere.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Can I quote myself? Is that narcissistic?
I often felt growing up that everyone seemed to know how life “worked” and I was just naive or uninformed or something. It was even worse when I started studying finance in college. And one day as I sat sipping a Diet Coke and looking around at my classmates and professors, again wondering how everyone but me got instructions for life, I had a structural insight. No one knows how everything works. We all just have to figure it out or make it up. And if you can figure it out or make it up better than the next person then you’re doing great.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.
I want to have brunch with Banksy, please…
How can our readers follow you online?
@IanUnterman on Instagram
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Thank you! Check out Dopesick on Hulu!
