Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Beck Williams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Beck , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
A project that’s truly meaningful to me is a recent film I wrote, directed, and acted in called PACE, which is currently on the festival circuit. It’s a short film that also acts as a proof of concept for a feature length script I’ve written, and I’m so proud of what we have been able to create. PACE truly is an indie labor of love, a film that I spent most of a year working on getting off the ground, hitting road blocks and wondering how I would even get it made. Thankfully with grit, the stress of crowdfunding and the support of amazing people, we got the green light. Our team fell into place and we got to tell our story about two boxers finding friendship in the midst of major life altering decisions. This story is close to my heart and touches on the challenges of personal growth at the risk of loss, as well as highlighting the trans experience. In a time where our community is facing so much threat, telling a story that shines light on trans representation feels significant and special. Being able to hire and work with such an amazing team, most of who are LGBTQ+, was a special and unique experience. I’m so grateful that our film exists, that I got to create and collaborate with an excellent team.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m an actor, writer, and director passionate about crafting stories that explore complex characters with marginalized experiences in universally relatable ways.
With an extensive background in theatre, I have delved into film and television the last several years. Acting for me is a special and unique art – I feel I get to live more life, more experiences, stretch my understanding and world views beyond my current circumstances. How wonderful to live more than one life in a way.
As a writer and director, I love taking flawed, complex characters with backgrounds a general audience may not be familiar with, and exploring the raw, human elements of these people that make them so accessible and relatable to us all. I tend to like putting my characters in situations in which they dig themselves into a hole, but the whole time we can’t help but root for them and empathize with their damaging choices.
Though I tend not to define myself by my identity, it would be amiss not to mention how wonderfully impactful my journey in transitioning has been on my art. Growing up, acting was a portal into self-expression I couldn’t experience in day to day life. Fast-forwarding to today, I have never felt more at ease and connected to my art than when fully embracing who I am. Having evolved and transitioned, I am grateful for the lens through which I get to live life – a truly special perspective I wouldn’t trade for anything. I feel that it gives me a deeper empathetic perspective that carries into all of my work.
Something I am proud of is the impact my work has had on folks in my community. It’s been fulfilling to receive messages and be told in person how much my work has impacted folks, has made them feel validated, seen, and represented. The excitement about PACE and other works portraying the queer community has truly been the most rewarding part.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson I had to unlearn surrounds the beliefs I had about pursuing an artistic career. Of course as artists we face work instability and constant rejection. I inherited the belief growing up that if I just worked hard enough, I would succeed in the ways that I wanted. And while that’s not entirely untrue, there’s more to it. There is so much out of our control in artistic fields, so much. So while it’s important to work hard, I had to learn that there are ways in which I need to let go and have patience. To understand input doesn’t equal output, at least not right away. Timing, circumstances, everything impacts whether or not you get the role or get a project produced. There is what I can control, and then there is everything else. This has also redefined how I think about success. I had a pretty narrow idea of what that used to mean to me, and now, realizing how much I am doing, having come into this industry broke with no prior knowledge or connections, I am starting to truly appreciate getting to do my art however it comes.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think something that non-creatives may not have insight into is the lifestyle of creatives. I think of the iceberg example – where you only see the tip above water, but there is a huge mass unseen under the water. This is what it feels like to me and what I hear from fellow creatives when it comes to our work. There is so much under the surface that folks don’t get to know about. Hard work, triumphs, things that move us closer to our goals that the world doesn’t get to see. And that’s okay. But I know for a lot of folks it can be frustrating. Where a non-creative might see a couple of credits or projects, they don’t know about the countless auditions, meetings, hours working on a draft, portfolio of un-produced work, classes, live performances that are ephemeral and completely missed unless you were there, etc. For everything you see, there is way more you don’t see. And I think that’s important to share.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beck-williams.com
- Instagram: @beckwillz_
- Other: https://pacethefilm.com
Image Credits
Cameron Rice, Jared Hawkley