We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Hooper a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Some meaningful projects I have done recently have been the comedy sketches that I have written, produced, and acted in. I love acting, but I also love writing, as it allows me to fully express my creative self in a way that acting does not allow.

Some recent comedy sketches we have shot, and are currently in post-production are: Max Thornwhip, Astrology Cops, and I’ll Take the Bill. We also have a Romeo and Juliet comedy sketch that we are in pre-production on at the moment. These projects, along with every other project I have been involved with, all have a special place in my heart, as they have all been stepping stones in my career.

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

When I first had a desire to become an actor was in 4th grade when I played Chip the Teacup in my local high school’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Although I never acted in anything after that until my early 20’s, it significantly influenced my life. I was mainly an athlete in high school, playing football and baseball, and played baseball for a bit in college. However it wasn’t until my final year of college I decided to leave school and move to LA to pursue acting.

A couple of years ago, I got the idea to start writing sketch comedy. I have always loved comedy and had an inclination towards it at a young age. I began writing a ton, and now have about 90 or so comedy sketches fully written (some are terrible but it’s a learning process). Being able to produce my own projects is so great because, no matter how the project turns out, it is always something I am proud of. Also, being able to act in projects that I have written is also great because it alleviates the pressure of trying to understand what the writer/director wants, and allows me to gain experience both as a writer and actor on the project.

Obviously I couldn’t do it without the help of so many people including my collaborator and director Chase Korzep, girlfriend (and fantastic actress I might add) Melanie Valero, producer/best friend Grace Raczek-Hoffman, director/producer Mirlana O’Keefe, and SO many other people. Some other people/things which have helped influence my creativity are: Key and Peele, South Park, Eminem, J. Cole, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, The Office, and Mixed Martial Arts.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think society can help support artists through funding more programs for kids in school to participate in the arts. I think the arts, and entertainment in general, are an extremely important part of society and how many of us enjoy our free time. They can have such a strong impact on people and can even change people’s lives, in my opinion. With that being said, I think that many of us in America are not as exposed to the arts in school at a young age. One of my biggest regrets is not participating in arts when I was younger. I was always under the assumption that it was not a career path, and that it did not have that much relevance to the world, and therefore always counted it out as a potential career. I believe that all areas of education are important, but if there could be more funding for artistic programs that can allow kids to try their hands at various forms of art, it will lead to more creativity and artistry.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I was always involved in sports growing up. My dad was a professional baseball player, and had my brother and I doing all kinds of sports in our youth, to help develop our athletic abilities. While I am extremely grateful for the lessons, discipline, friendships made, and other great things that came from sports, I don’t think I was dead-set on becoming a professional athlete. While I continued my baseball career in college, there was always something at the back of my mind telling me to try acting, or try something creative, but I felt I was already too invested in baseball to try my hand at a different craft. However, one day I just decided to go for it, and am extremely glad I did because I love what I do. I think that every person has some sort of pre-disposition for something they can be great at, whether it be sports, the arts, business, entrepreneurship, etc. But I think that people who are pre-disposed to being creative, may be bored easily, and find themselves unhappy with their career or life outlook, in general. This was certainly the case with me as, when I was in college, I was thinking about all the different kind of careers I wanted to pursue and nothing really piqued my interest. I was upset, as it seemed I was destined for a life of extreme boredom. However, as soon as the idea popped into my head that maybe there was something I could do that would allow me to express my artistic energy and make money doing it, I realized that’s what I had to do, and never looked back since. The one word of advice I’d give someone is to just follow your dreams and don’t conform to what you think people expect of you. No matter what age, race, gender, etc. you are, follow whatever you are passionate about and life will fall into place.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.michaelhhooper.com
• Instagram: @mhhoop
• Youtube: @michaelhhooper

Image Credits
James Pratt (Headshot Photographer)