Se7en Questions with Actor
Carl Wharton

Who are some of the artists or some of the works that inspired you to get started in your field? Of today’s current artists, who do you draw inspiration from?

I have always been inspired by Sir Laurence Olivier especially in his performance of Othello. Richard Burton also had a wonderful charisma and natural approach to his characters. Although I have always been inspired by the works of Shakespeare, I feel a greater love for the works of Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson.

I have followed the development of Daniel Day Lewis as his methodical approach to creating and becoming his characters. His depth of research and emotion is inspiring, Christoph Waltz is also a wonderful natural actor with such emotional depth.

What have thus far been some of the negatives of being an indie artist in your field?

I feel that to cherish the positives in this business one has to accept the negatives and there are many to experience. I think the biggest negative which continues to grow day by day is the mind set that actors will work for free. It seems that acting and film schools are not encouraging their students to learn how to draw up budgets to cover actors fees. It becomes a catch 22, as these future filmmakers offer professional actors perhaps food and drink as payment, with the promise of footage for showreel, which most of the time doesn’t materialise. This is expanded by actors accepting to work free of charge, thus the effect spreads out into the wider business world and lowers the standards of what is or isn’t acceptable. I know of no other profession where people are expected to work for free. I must add, that there are many film makers who do their best to raise some form of budget for production, even if it is minimum wage.

What have thus far been the positives of being an indie artist in your field?

The freedom of creativity is the biggest positive. To work along like minded creatives and produce a fantastic piece of film or theatre through raw passion is a fantastic reward. When a team of individuals compliment each other through their skills and thus this results in a masterpiece, now that is one hell of a positive. Also the fact that every new project brings with it new challenges keeps the passion alive. The passion has to come from within to keep one in this business.

What have been your favorite completed projects to work on up to this point? Can you tell us a little bit about them?

I have recently completed a couple of horror projects. The Tombs, which was filmed in the historic tombs in London through EnMar Productions. I portrayed the technical engineer Gary, who is working on a TV celebrity show, following a groups of celebrities in the haunted tombs, but all is not what it seems. A great experience was had filming inside these haunted tombs. 

Feel the Dead was shot in Sicily on Mount Etna where I worked with the Award Winning Italian director John Real, Ghost Film Pictures. Here I portrayed Dr. Chris, who on the surface seems to be trying to help prevent the spread of the virus which is turning people into zombies or walking dead, but yet again there is a twist in the tale. This is due for release on US television or possibly Netflix.

What projects are you currently working on or have planned for the near future?

I am fortunate to have several projects already lined up. I have just completed my scenes as the German Dr. Kauffman in the W.W.I. epic, Eleven from Shaking the Tree Productions, written and directed by Rock Salt, and award winning D.O.P. Sean Cronin.

This was a challenging role to portray speaking only in German, but very rewarding to achieve it. This is still in production but will be distributed to Cinema later this year 2018. 

I am booked to portray Dr. Earth 11 in the future production of Time Warpers to be filmed in the U.S. and due for release in 2020. It will be directed by Max Forzan and produced by CIA Multinational Corporation. A super hero film full of excitement and adventure. Another project I am involved through CIA is a unique television show called Council Cell. Watch out for updates.

Where do you see yourself in a few years and what would it take for you to consider your career a success?

I have been working in this business for over thirty years, which in itself is a success. To me, I have always taken the approach that success is not denoted by how much one earns, but by being able to work as a creative in a difficult industry. So much so that it no longer feels like work but more like a way of life. I am currently in the process of gaining my 01 visa to work in the U.S. which will open up more opportunities for further projects over there. Once I have obtained my visa, I already have offers from Talent Agents for Representation in the U.S., so I will continue to expand my international credits and enjoy my journey.

If you couldn’t do this anymore, what career path do you think you would have followed and why?

I have always been into fitness and health and have worked as a fitness and gym instructor for many years alongside my acting. I assume my path would have taken me into that realm on a bigger scale. I also trained as a Joiner before I attended drama college so that would have been another option. Either way, I would always be creative and enjoy the journey.