We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sean Barnett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sean below.
Hi Sean, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
For the first 5 years or so that I was solely acting and then started directing, a lot of my learning was by doing. I was homeschooled throughout my middle and high school career, so I didn’t have access to a formal academic theatre or creative class to learn by a certain curriculum. So, I just put myself on as many projects as I could handle at one time. At one point, I would be working on 3 big productions simultaneously (2 acting gigs & 1 directing job). I took a couple of outside classes here and there, but I never really found a teacher/class setting that I connected with until I got to college (I study Directing at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama in Pittsburgh, PA), where I am now about to enter my sophomore year. There, I feel much more validated as the multi-hyphenate creative I wanted to be deep down when I was first starting out. I can act, direct, & write in a project-based curriculum that provides endless resources and a strong group of peers beyond my wildest dreams to make things with.
Part of me questions if I just chose any acting class and stuck with it that I would be a better actor, but I honestly don’t think it would make me as aware of my creative potential in my other disciplines (writing/directing) as I did just diving in learning by trial & error. I think, for me, that overall workaholicism has put me in a place where I can actively seek out knowledge on my own accord and practice my craft practically, instead of through a typical lecture classroom setting.
Sean, 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?
Hi, I’m Sean. I’m a director, writer, actor, & comedian for the stage & screen. I grew up in a family of arts enthusiasts and educators. My dad was a jeweler, my older sisters were actors who both became teachers, and my Mom was the manager of my local community theater. I did all of the typical suburban little kid things; played sports (which I was atrociously bad at), went to school, watched cartoons & Disney Channel/Nickelodeon sitcoms religiously, & went to the theater. Well, that last one may not have been all that normal for the town I grew up in, but nevertheless, my mom persisted. She took me to see mostly musicals & dance shows where I had my first instances of actually being emotionally stirred by a work of art. I remember seeing Little Shop of Horrors for the first time on stage when I was way too young and being absolutely terrified of the plant. I have seen horror movies since then that have made me feel that same way, but nothing else came close to what that work on stage drew out of me in that dark southern California theatre that I never experienced watching TV or film.
I guess seeing that I was having these big reactions on my trips to the theater, my parents thought it would be a good idea to sign me up for the local children’s theater program acting in a production of Peter Pan Jr. and the rest became history. I started doing community & youth theater as an actor before making my way to act professionally at some California regional theatres. When I was 15, I began playing around with directing & producing my own productions. In all of this time, I have also been an avid writer, mostly with my voice being in comedy and genre-based stories. I have been able to combine all of these skills together in projects such as PowCast, a comedy superhero parody podcast that I co-wrote & directed with my buddy Tommy Tran). Maybe I should try writing a novel since I practically have written the length of one with this answer, wow!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
If I could sum it up very briefly, I would say I strive to make people laugh, escape, and ultimately feel joyful.I am a massive fan of escapism, which I think is why I am so attracted to things like comedy and big spectacle musicals. I see so much art and artists in the industry that come off to me as cynical about the world and people. In my work, I really want to help inject a kind of positivity and silliness that I feel can get lost in works that try so hard to take be “serious” and are then rewarded by the industry and the public as being “true art.” Recent movies like Barbie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and the works of Taika Waititi & James Gunn have been recent examples that have made me feel hopeful that there is room for those types of stories to be told that share a balance of irreverent humor and beautifully flawed characters.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
My big challenge is and has always been sharing the creative process with others. I think due to my homeschooled upbringing, I got used to working very independently, which has on occasion snaked its way into the projects I make now as a college student. For me, the way I overcome the want to isolate myself in my self-made creative dungeon is to just simply force myself into a deadline or meeting with a friend or trusted colleague to show them my work or, even better, actively involve them in the project. This is where having other writers/directors as close friends can be very helpful because they will be incredibly honest about your work in a way that feels solely on the work itself. Having the mindset that critiques do not necessarily reflect your overall skill as a theatremaker or filmmaker or writer, but do reflect the quality of the particular project has done wonders for me in honing that muscle of true collaboration.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @seanthanbarnett
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sean.barnett.568294/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyxGAbH-OnVgm2L1_XqWgxw
- Other: PowCast! (An Original Superhero Comedy Parody Podcast That I Co-Wrote & Directed): https://www.youtube.com/@powcast8832
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seanathanbarnett
Image Credits
Performance Photos by Mark Holmes