Rising Star Aaron J Nelson: “We are interesting enough as people to be interesting to other people”

We had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Aaron J. Nelson.
Aaron J. Nelson — born and raised in Chicago - was the youngest adult Simba on Broadway. His film and TV credits include Unexpected, The Breaks (VH1), and Chicago Fire (NBC). Aaron received his Bachelors in Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago. He furthered his studies at The Pandemonium Studio led by Christopher Bayes (Yale), Shakespeare with Susan Hart (Chicago Shakes) and Identity School of Drama (IDSA).

Thank you so much for interviewing with us! Can you share your story on how did you get started in the film industry?

I have always been a person who enjoys imitating people. I particularly enjoyed imitating celebrities for my family. But I didn’t get serious until I did an internship for Disney World. I was friends with Goofy, Tiggre, Balu, and many more different characters. I interacted with people at the parks and created experiences. I remember going home, watching videos on tiger moves, exploring how to sigh, greet, wave, how to sign autographs. I took getting into the character seriously. I could not speak, so body language was vital. When I finished my internship, I came back home to Chicago and decided to do acting. I was always a musician, I was a singer before all this, used to make and produce music, but I realised I like imitating life and people. So I came back, found a monologue, auditioned for an agent, was chosen and stayed. In 2020 I auditioned for Identity School of Acting, got in and started studying very seriously.

Who are you grateful to for your success and can you share a story about that?

First of all, God. I think what we do as actors is a very spiritual thing. I think the best acting is when you are connecting with somebody else’s spirit. Sometimes we watch something and think it is false, even though we can’t always pinpoint it. We know it’s not real because our spirit in us can identify true spirit over there. I am grateful as God helps me to be in tune with it.

Family support for sure. And actor friends, who have been in the industry for a while, who encouraged me to study. I could go through a lot, to who I am grateful! There is one teacher, in particular, — Christopher Bayes, head of physical acting at Yale. He introduced me to the acting style called clowning. And it is a lot of physical and emotional stretching. I am most grateful for it because I was very shielded as a person before that, so it opened me up.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

So many interesting stories! There was one day, I was doing extra work in Chicago. I tried to do anything to get on set, to do stuff. And this movie ‘The Dark Knight’ was shooting there. So I got a job as an extra portraying the national guard. And I remember we did this one scene, where we are at the old candy factory covered up as a hospital. I remember wondering why Joker dressed up as a nurse. He did not speak to anybody, but you could see him smoking a cigarette and walking around. And I kept wondering why was he dressed like that, like what’s going on. And then I saw how it played out when the movie came out! I got a glimpse to see Heath Ledger when the Joker blows up the hospital. That process was one of my favourite things to see, and I didn’t even know it was him!

What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far? How did you overcome it?

Learning to trust myself. We get so many tools and see so many different ways. People are successful, and we want to get that formula. But I think, the only formula, that’s real, is the truth. Right? It’s about being in the moment. Even a simple conversation like this could be a scene if you scripted it — it has characters and tactics. We just put labels on it, but they are all human interactions. It is about trusting that we are interesting enough as people to be interesting to other people. I don’t have to overreact to be interesting.

I have been through some things in the industry. I have been a lead on Broadway, yet my journey with Lion King had many ups and downs. And when you reach the pinnacle, the fire starts to flicker and die. Then you doubt yourself on what are you capable of. It took a long time for me to climb back up. Covid was like a big blessing. I felt like I was sliding until the world stopped, and I could see myself again. Taking time off Broadway helped me a lot. I study a lot with IDSA. I work with industry creatives with no motives but just creating, so that helped me out.

What do you do to prepare for the role?

One of my cast mates from Broadway noticed that anytime I would swing easily on auditions, those are the ones that usually book. But for example, the ones that I do everything and try to micro-manage, try to hit everything perfectly, I never get those. I would get callbacks but never the roles. Of course, sometimes life prevents me from putting in too much time, from diving too deep into audition script, as I have two kids. Then I look at the script to know what I am doing, to know my lines, intentions. And, surprisingly, those are the ones that book!

What methods or techniques do you use to find truth in your character’s behaviour?

I need to know my character. I am still learning the process of it. I always answer questions on my backstory and intentions. See, once you get on set, it moves so fast, you get to rehearse maybe once or twice, and you shoot. And all you get is to play with the person that’s across from you. You can plan as much as you want to, but it’s not real until it’s real with another person. I can’t plan how I am going to react to something that I haven’t seen. So I usually use the Meisner technique for that. Also naturalism from Stanislavski. The emotional range of clown technique.

What are your top 3 tips for actors that are starting?

1. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy the journey.
2. Trust yourself.
3. Do the work.

What has been inspiring you lately?

Life. I think. My life, my classmates. I opened up to see life more. Taking in life fully. That’s inspiring to me.

What movie would you recommend watching and why?

That’s tough… There are so many! I think right now would be One Night in Miami… (2020), as it was amazing. The stories and complexities of the characters and relationships are just brilliant. You get to see a lot of different archetypes of people trying to navigate the situation. And Sound of Metal (2019) pretty cool too. Paul Raci acting was so natural, almost like documentary style. I love that type of acting.

What is one message you would give to your fans?

We are just getting started. There will be so much more to come. Stay tuned.

How can our readers find you online?

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5347803/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/iamaaronjosephnelson/