Life & Work with Clayton Landey of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Clayton Landey.

Hi Clayton, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Wow. Well, I’ve been a working actor for 54 years. However, my first time on stage was in the 4th grade as Poppa Easter Bunny – a role I took not with the best of intentions. Frankly, at 8 yrs old, I really didn’t like the only kid who auditioned for it so I went for it and got it.. In high school staying after school and doing the musicals meant I didn’t have to go right home and do homework – and the bonus was there were girls. After a rough spot in college – and I really needed to get my grades up – a couple of the football players told me to take a particular dance class. If you never missed a class you received a B. If you did anything in the semester ending show – even pulled the curtains open – you got an A. Well I was a long hair freak playing goalie for the soccer team at UH (1971). I plugged a mic into a record player and sang the lead over Sha Na Na’s version of Remember Then and had two hippie chicks dance around me. A. The teacher was Patsy Swayze, Patrick Swayze’s mom and choreographer of the film Urban Cowboy and for The Houston Ballet. She said I should be in the Drama Dept. and arranged an audition. 18 credits later I graduated with a B.A. in Drama. Two months before graduation I was cast in a show going to New York so 3 days after graduation I was in rehearsal at La Mama ETC the center of the experimental theatre world. In Sept 1974 the Academy Theatre – then in Buckhead – brought me to Atlanta. In 1980 ABC was doing a talent search led by Joyce Selznick (yes, one of those Selznicks). They saw 750 actors in each of six cities. They brought six of us from Atlanta to LA. Almost 30 years later I decided the love affair with Los Angeles was over. Either LA was done with me or I was done with LA. Either way, we decided to return to Atlanta. So, here I am 54 years after I started, still working and now with over 400 film, theatre, episodic TV and commercial credits as an actor, with a number of awards for my work on stage. I’ve also worked as a writer, director and as an award winning producer. I currently teach a number of classes I’ve created and co-created at the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta’s Tony winning regional theater. And having served in every position on the Atlanta Local SAG-AFTRA Board I am currently the SAG-AFTRA National Board member representing Atlanta. I’ve also led the creation of The Muriel Moore/Danny Nelson SAG-AFTRA Conservatory. The Conservatory provides free educational classes and lectures for Union members in good standing. We only ask that members bring a non perishable food item for donation to local food banks. As a result we have donated tens of thousands of pounds of food to our community.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No road worth taking is a smooth one. But in this business – and yes it show BUSINESS – every bump in the road is another opportunity to learn and grow. That may sound like a cliche but the other choice is to make it a road of anxiety, judgement, bitterness and despair. You will hear an awful lot of “nos” in this business. There is no way to say no to me that I haven’t heard. I’ve been too old, too young, too thin, too fat, too ethnic, not ethnic enough. My favorite was too young and handsome to play opposite a particular star. There is an old saying in sales: No is just a request for more information. So give them more. But by learning to celebrate every win – no matter how small – one perseveres. A cup of coffee. Your favorite dessert. A slice of pizza. Celebrate all the little yeses. We become so performative that we neglect the joy of process. And in the performative we open ourselves to the judgement of others. In this profession more than most. A key lesson for me – and one I use in my classes – is a quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer: ‘” what you think of me is none of my business”. Totally freeing. Allows one to follow their instincts, their impulses without the fear of the judgement of others. If you then get where you want to go in any given moment, buy yourself that latte and celebrate. The road to success in our business – whether you define success as an inner satisfaction or use the decisions of others and their perceived goals to define it for you – is nothing if not one long series of bumps, potholes and roadblocks. Problems to be solved, goals to be achieved, intentions to be met. When ABC brought me to LA I was under option to them. That option for a studio contract came due the day we went out on strike. Welcome to LA. There I was. In LA knocking on doors – the one thing I had told myself I wouldn’t do. So what does an actor do? I got in class. I studied more. I spent a year with Daryl Hickman filling in weaknesses that I knew that I had. (and followed that later in classes with Stella Adler and then by invitation with her student Marlon Brando in the only class that he ever taught) It also connected me with like minded actors and I began to find my tribe out there. Doors still were not opening. I got with a group of people who wanted to create a special kind of play. We created the play, built the theater and formed an acting company. Everyone in the show had to bring someone from the industry to see it. Someone brought a casting director who saw our first show and thought I might be right for an upcoming role on Knots Landing. I got the audition and the job. It was to be 1-3 episodes. We turned it into 24.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well, as an actor, I’m known for my versatility. For not allowing myself to be placed in any one particular box. My career transcends genres and styles. I’ve starred and guest starred in both comedy and drama. Soap opera, westerns, horror, sci-fi. I’ve played lawyers and thieves, gangsters, judges, cowboys and pirates, military leaders (colonels and majors – Stargate: Atlantis even sent me to save the universe), dishwashers (again, I am the guy The Blob sucked down the drain), even politicians. I’m a character actor who occasionally plays leads or a mix of the two. I’ve found that if you can prove you can do one thing very well they’ll give you a chance to show what else you can do, Knots Landing got me the Representation that I wanted. Box filled, box checked. That and my work on Knots got me an audition for my first Movie-Of-The-Week, a western. Got it. Box filled, box checked. The role had some comedy in it. This led to an audition for a comedy pilot. Got it. Series Regular on the first half-hour comedy on HBO. Box filled, box checked. The more you prove you can do the more opportunities present themselves. But don’t let me make it sound easy. Another old cliche is also an old truism: The harder I work, the luckier I get. If I’ve had hundreds of jobs – and fortunately I have – then I’ve had thousands of auditions. What sets me apart? Resiliency and persistence. When I get knocked down I come back up swinging. What do I have to do to move forward? What do I have to learn to do that? Now, what I am most proud of – the accomplishment of one of my students. While most of my/our students are working actors in theatre, film and television, one stands out. She went from our class to Yale Drama. She studied with us, we coached her on her audition and she was one of four chosen to attend out of the 1400 applications that they accepted. If you receive, give.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Everyone’s path is different. All you can do is follow yours. You can’t try to be someone you’re not – and, hey, they’re all taken already, anyway. Be the best you that you can be. That’s all there is. The better actor you become the better human you’ll be. The better human you become the better actor you’ll be. Learn what you have to learn – and never stop learning. The minute you stop learning you stop growing. And it’s all down hill from there.

Pricing:

• Scene Study For The Working Actor – $300 for 4 sessions
• Get Out Of Your Head -$400 for a six week arced course

Contact Info:

• Website: claytonlandey.com and https://www.alliancetheatre.org/classes/adults/