We recently connected with Hans Hernke and have shared our conversation below.

Hans, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

This all started for me when I was in High School. I went to The Master’s Academy, a Christian school in Oviedo, Florida. I was encouraged to go to drama class by my peers and some teachers. I’ll never forget my drama teacher at the time, Sarah, Thomas, asking me to play the lead role in a play called “Harvey”, playing Elwood, P Dowd. She told me it’s going to be a challenge and I said I’m up for it. I think doing that play really opened up the possibilities for me to do this as a career. I also would film projects for my English and History classes so instead of doing an actual report. I would do a full on mini short film based on what we were studying at the time like Macbeth or Foxes Christian Book of Martyrs. Creating those videos with my friends in High School got my creative juices flowing. Another fun memory was setting up a small train set in our backyard, the toy/set buildings around it would be rigged with firecrackers and gasoline. I would film it with an old school camera, and then playback the footage in slow motion to watch the firecrackers blow up on these gasoline laced toy buildings/sets because it would look like really cool explosions. My Mother caught me doing this one afternoon and she scolded me for it. Later on, she told me that was the moment she knew I was going to be a filmmaker and an actor. During my years in High School, I signed up with a local talent agency, Central Florida Talent and they sent me out on auditions and to work on Commercial/TV/Film shoots. The Master’s Academy teachers, staff, and administration were very gracious to let me go out during school days on these auditions and jobs in the film industry, but under one condition; I had to maintain good grades and keep up with my homework. If I got an academic probation at any point, I had to tell my agent and I can’t go out until my grades were up. That actually only happened one time. Without my Parents and the support of the staff at The Master’s Academy, I would not be where I am today because of all the experience that was gained at a younger age. I had a feeling this is what I wanted to do with my life and I pursued going to Vancouver Film and Acting School (for a short term), and then to The New York Film Academy at Universal Studios, Hollywood after I graduated from The Master’s Academy in 2001. Now, here I am in Los Angeles, 22 years later with a full head of gray hair =)

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I like to be involved in as many aspects of the film industry as I can. Really love doing stand-in work on TV shows, Commercials and Films. The last TV show I was a stand-in on was TNT’s “Animal Kingdom” Seasons 1-6 for actor, Finn Cole, who played J. I also enjoy helping produce independent films, and having acting roles in them. Several companies I work regularly with are Greenway Entertainment in the UK, Bad Amigo Pictures, Mahal Empire Productions, Koa Aloha Media, and Black Coppice Films in the UK as well. Over the past ten years, the momentum has been growing for my career. I’ve been blessed and fortunate to be a part of a lot of film projects which are now on Amazon Prime, Tubi, VUDU, DVD, and Blu-ray, and some had limited theatrical releases. Maintaining good relationships/bridges with your fellow filmmakers/actors/actresses is the key to keep moving forward because they will want to work with you again and hire you for their next project. Keep your network close to you. On the side, I also do a lot of banquets and catering work and I’ve been doing that since 2012. I’ve learned a lot about the food service industry and there’s a lot of events and fellow co-workers that I enjoy working with regularly at each event so it’s a fun part time and flexible job that I have with The Party Staff, Los Angeles. It has also helped me greatly with practicing my acting improv skills and interacting/entertaining guests.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, it’s the process of making a film or creating a character. When you step on set the first time as that character, you feel the moment, you have the character figured out, and you’re comfortable in your skin playing this role, the chemistry/dialogue between all the other cast members flows naturally, that to me is very rewarding. The process of watching magic happen on set with actors/actresses performances is rewarding. But also equally rewarding is watching your work on the big screen or the small screen, seeing it released worldwide for audiences to watch, and getting fan mail from people around the world telling you they enjoyed your character in a particular project. You put all of this time, effort, tears, stress, heart and love of your craft to get yourself to the finish line with a film project or a character you play, once you reach it and you hear those magic words on set from the 1st AD “That’s a picture wrap”, you feel accomplished.

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

My particular goal/mission is, I just want to continue being a working actor/producer and a working stand-in for Film, Television, and Commercials. If I can do that the rest of my life, I’ll be very happy, but I’m also keeping in mind other thing to consider later on down the road too. I hear Wisconsin has really good cheese (wink wink).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0379782/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hans_hernke/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hanspetter.hernke/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hans-hernke-6300ba5
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HansHernke

Image Credits
Cheryl Anderson, Black Coppice Films, Mahal Empire, Bad Amigo Pictures, Pain Productions, SFN Productions, Dangerous Curves Productions