We were lucky to catch up with Travis Farris recently and have shared our conversation below.

Travis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I believe that we are all born actors. It’s instinct. We adapt to survive. We evolved in living moment to moment and staying alive, and passing those experiences on through our DNA and then through our communication to the next in line and so on and on… More to the point of my experience, I learned to tell stories from my parents and grandparents. My mother is from an large Mexican family that is very close, they were always part of each other’s lives when I was small, and my grandmother’s house would be full of voices and laughter and expressions and big emotions. My great-grandmother on my father’s side, Elsie Mae taught me how to be still and listen to stories that spanned generations, words with lessons and meaning. My history. It was and still is invaluable.

As far as classical acting training goes, my first experiences that made me aware of “acting” as an art and craft from the inside out was studying theatre in London in my early 20’s. Beautiful work, classical theatre in the heart of the theatre world. It changed my life…

Looking back… I don’t really like looking back from the perspective of “What would I have done different?” There’s just too much, and you can’t. You can only learn and move forward and try to do a little bit better…. but for the sake of the question… I would have stayed in London and kept studying in the theatre. I would have learned discipline. I would have learned to be still and listen, not just try to feel, express, and push. I hope I would have learned to love and let go. To relax and breath… I’m still a work in progress.

Obstacles: Front and center, MYSELF. Fear, doubt, negative thought patterns, inherited belief systems, self sabotage!!!! You know, all the shit we all have. I was also raised in a rural community that wasn’t completely devoid of the arts or outside thinking, but the world was pretty small, conservative and restrictive at the time. At least it felt that way.

Travis, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born and raised in Texas into a multicultural background. I’ve pursued eclectic life experiences that have enabled me to become a storyteller first and foremost. From working on my family’s cattle ranch and roughnecking in the oilfields of New Mexico to studying classical theater in the West End of London, I’ve tried to live a life uncharted and without constraints in order to pursue my passion as an actor, creator and producer. I try to strive to stretch myself beyond the conventional. I attempt to push out of my comfort zones as often as I can… that’s my broad stroke painting.

A little deeper… I was a a kid raised on a working cattle ranch in a small town. I was always curious, liked art and was in some kind of trouble most of the time. That curiosity led me to making a life out of seeking things out that interested me, trying out different paths. I found acting after an early life and education that more or less revolved around sports. I walked into an acting class at a time when I was trying to figure out who I was and what was my purpose. Acting scared me. It pushed me to be honest, open and vulnerable, to really listen. These weren’t things I had been accustomed to up to that point. My emotions, feelings, triumphs and insecurities were mine and mine alone. But the moment to moment and relying on my instincts was a parallel that I could draw on from my time playing sports. I’ve been excavating the layers of myself along this journey ever since. It’s beautiful and maddening at times. I feel like I was lucky to have found my calling when I did.

I hope I’m able to connect with people through the work. I like to think we can all share pain, joy, brightness, and sorrow, HUMANITY through art. That’s always my benchmark. Sometimes it’s just showing up, saying the line and hitting your mark, but I try to put a little heart and guts into it every chance I get.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think the artist’s journey is one that has to be synonymous with resiliency. You had a bad audition, bounce back for the next one!… you’re broke, find a way to survive till the money comes again… car broke down… nobody will hire you, someone broke your heart, etc… The list goes on and on and yet we keep going, you have to really want it. Sometimes it makes no sense, you want to scream, you want to cry, but you find a way to push forward and hopefully you learn a little something in the process. For me the art has been the thing that has saved me in my darkest times.

Two particular occasions I always think back to when I’m feeling low: I quit the business when I was still pretty new, maybe two and a half years in. I checked out, turned off my email, parted ways with my reps, shutdown my casting websites and got lost. I went to work on a drilling rig in the middle of nowhere. I got really simple with my life, worked , made some money and tried to figure out what I really needed in life. I eventually ended up back in LA, fell in love, traveled for a while and thought I had it figured out… I needed to be an actor, not wanted, but needed. One thing led to another and I started a class, started auditioning, booked small things here and there. I had a humbling day job. I felt good, I was finding my way. Then It all went south. I got dumped, I had blown all my money from working the rigs, and I was a few weeks away from living in my car and showering at the gym. I was about as low as I had ever been in my life. Then out of nowhere a casting director I had done a showcase for many months back reached out. She had seen a short I had worked on, remembered me from the showcase and wanted me to come in and read for a guest star spot on new network show. I was floored! I was in a terrible frame of mind. I almost talked my myself out of going in. But I did, and I read and I got a call back. Now, I ended up not getting the role, but this turn of events snapped me out of my blues, it gave me some clarity and focus. It was a path and life reaffirmation when I needed it the most. And shortly after I started to climb my way out of the hole, I found a little studio, started to make a little more money at my restaurant gig, booked a short film. I survived. My art was what pulled me through.

The other that stands out was when my dad died. It was 2020, I was a brand new father in the middle of the world shutting down for an unknown virus, and I had just lost my father after years of fighting cancer. I spent 3 months trying to help my family work through all the things legal, emotional and spiritual that come with losing a parent and spouse. I was a wreck. Completely spent and broken wide open on so many levels. I had been back in Los Angeles two weeks and I got a call from a director friend who I had worked with in the past. He had a script, some modest funding and a crew who was willing to work under the safety protocols. His lead actor had dropped out, but he thought I might be right for it and wanted me to put myself on tape. On one hand, I couldn’t imagine doing anything, much less running off to a sci-fi horror set in the mountains, but on the other hand, I thought that might be exactly what I needed. To go to work! To work through the beautiful, dark and absurd world I had found myself in. Sure enough, I booked it. My first lead in a feature, under the less than ideal circumstances. But again, I told myself “let the art lead you. Let the work set you free. Heal you!” and I went and we worked. I pushed and found my way through it, I tried to use everything I had in me at that moment and I left those mountains a lot better off than when I got there. And once again, the work, the art, the path had saved me.

Now, neither one of the projects were a win on paper. I didn’t get the TV job, the feature to this day is still tied up in some kind of post-production financial limbo, but that’s not the point, that’s not what I got into this racket to worry about. That wasn’t my candle in the dark. It’s the work, the art, the love for it. You gotta love it!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

These days it is to connect first and foremost. Connect with myself, connect with my partner(s), connect with humanity. Connection… It’s what I strive for most lately. Good or bad be damned! Give me a real honest connection with another artist, an audience, myself and I’ll walk away with a full heart almost every time. Without the connection I feel empty, lost.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @travisfarris https://www.instagram.com/travisfarris/
• Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4754572/

  IMDBPro: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm4754572/overview

Image Credits

Feature Photo: Peter Konerko

Misc Photos:
Kelly Nash, Ashley Randall, Chris Violette, Brent Rowland, Rob York