HCAC Spotlight is a monthly feature on the people from HCAC’s community. This month, let’s get to know more about actor, Kris Mavericko and his experience with HCAC.

1. Hi Kris! Tell us a little more about yourself. 

I’m an actor/voice actor, and work across a variety of video mediums and platforms. I also take up teaching & writing assignments on an ad-hoc basis. I just completed 2 films with the school of Art, Design & Media @ NTU, and another 2 with LASALLE School of the Arts. Absolutely fascinated by the experience of having to play four characters – each with a different core – in those few days. The last one was especially intriguing: I got to play Archangel Gabriel, but with an urbane and contextual twist.

This interview is also an opportunity for me to thank all the directors, producers and technicians whom I’d worked with thus far, for trusting me with their material and for continuing to offer me such interesting parts to experiment with.

2. Why did you want to join HCAC?

I joined the Lee Strasberg’s Method Acting Introduction workshop.

My learning journey in acting was pretty much self-navigated for several years, and carried out during my spare time, as I was schooling and working during that period (National Service nearly derailed my artistic caravan forever, but thank God for giving me some mild wisdom at that time so that I somehow steered back to acting! Phew…).

Hence I wanted to shore up some fundamentals & cover some blind spots; you know what they say: “You don’t know what you don’t know.”

Taking a course through a trained and credible instructor in a proper institution like HCAC has immense benefits. Moreover, what’s enthralling about immersion in the arts is that I would never ‘arrive’, as I know I’d perpetually be in a state of healthy dissatisfaction. There are a multitude of possibilities in how a scene can be approached and executed, so continual learning is always a beneficial endeavour – which is very much available in HCAC. Momentum is also imperative, so I believe I should always be learning or doing, if not both.

4. Tell us more about your HCAC experience.

I joined the Lee Strasberg’s Method Acting Introduction workshop.

I gained a lot of new information about what art is, what acting is, the power they both have, and the responsibilities an artist carries. On the specific side of things, I had the pleasure of witnessing gifted actors & actresses bring their dramatic and comedic packages to the class, and it was a joy to view the world through their lens. You could give the same instruction to different people and they would all execute it differently. So if a student is mentally present enough, he can imbibe a lot through experiences and observations like these.

I learned about concentration and relaxation, both of which I could still improve in myself. One of my beloved takeaways as a student was specificity in character choices. Over time I had the pleasure of working in several external projects with different members of the HCAC community. It helps when you have a ‘common code language’.

_{Kris Mavericko on the job.}

5. How much did you change since you joined the course?

I became more confident and felt assured that there is a reference point that I can check back with when in doubt. I also became more daring in my choices, though I think I can be even more daring with greater awareness as I become more experienced in this line of work. I felt more assured of the basics of the game, so I set forth and tackled many more characters with verve.

One could liken it to a tree of weak roots juxtaposed with one of stronger roots (meaning: there’s still much room for improvement).

6. Do you feel like the things you’ve learnt at HCAC are applicable or helpful to your life? 

Affirmatively yes for my LIFE, and errr, for ‘BEYOND’ (afterlife) – maybe I’d do a monologue to convince the “hell-gate customs officers” that conveys why I need to be re-routed to heaven. Heheh. I feel that these workshops equip an actor with not just skills but attitude. Kamil Haque, HCAC’s founder, was very willing to answer all kinds of questions, and his breadth of international filming and acting experience served us very well. Moreover, the importance of constantly pushing oneself was emphasised in these sessions, which is a characteristic one could definitely extend beyond just acting, and with fruitful outcomes.

7. What is something that you appreciate about the HCAC community?

Because of the fact that I’ve never taken classes in any other organization before, I do not have something to compare with. However, I very much like the idea of the “support system” and “family” concepts that are synonymous with HCAC. This community feeling is important because it fosters growth, and everyone (hopefully) who’s joined HCAC has found someone like them whom they could connect with. We’re more than colleagues or acting classmates – I think several of the students have formed inseparable personal connections through what began as an HCAC encounter.

Moreover, it is good to be aware of what our fellow actors are doing in their acting work, as this serves as inspiration and motivation for one another to continue hustling and keep the fire burning.

8) How can we follow you on your future projects and endeavours? 

I’m most active on Instagram, actor_krismavericko, where I share my shooting updates (of the type that involves not taking lives, but TAKING ON lives) and some of my inspirations there. Check out my facebook page here as well.

I use these two platforms to post my self-conceived experimental efforts that are independent of any commercial projects. This is my way of personal development and contribution to my craft I so love. They also allow me to break some rules and explore the kaleidoscopic human condition in a way that commercial projects could never dream of letting you. If I were to wait for people to contact me so that I could try things out I would die a highly bitter individual, so I just let my creativity run amok in these 2 platforms whenever I have spare time!

I’d like to end with one of my favorite quotes of all time, expressed by none less than an artistic colossus, Michelangelo Buonarotti: “Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.”

I wish all the artists of HCAC the absolute best in all their adventures.