- 1 week ago
Actor Nick Sagar plays Anderson Louis on the new STARZ series "Run the World."
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Sometimes you just gotta jump off the cliff.
00:03Nobody ever talks about what it feels like when you're falling.
00:07What makes you think the next time you jump, you're gonna fall instead of fly?
00:11I am a woman phenomenally.
00:18I would love if you could kind of take me back.
00:21I know you're from London. I think you're supposed to move to L.A.
00:25So I would love to kind of start with when you fell in love with acting and started pursuing it.
00:30Yeah, you know, I kind of have always had a love for acting and performing.
00:36I mean, growing up, we was very much into, my brothers and sisters,
00:40we was very much into sports and performance and movies and TV.
00:45And ever since a kid, my parents always pushed like, you know, theater.
00:50Okay.
00:51These like local theater productions and school after classes where they had like drama and those type of things.
00:57So I always did it for fun.
00:59Okay.
01:00I didn't quite know it was, I would have loved to do it as a career back then,
01:04but because, you know, you don't see too much of that represented when we was younger.
01:09I didn't think it was a path for people from my background.
01:14Yeah.
01:14And then it wasn't until I went, I got to 19 years old.
01:17I went to university to study media because I thought, I mean, if I get behind the camera, then I can work my way.
01:25Yeah.
01:26But I did not enjoy the course.
01:28And then eventually after, I think I lasted six months and I need to do something I really love.
01:34And it was like, you know, let me try acting.
01:37I kind of just went from there.
01:38And it worked out.
01:43Now, a lot, you know, I've been doing a lot of interviews this year, obviously.
01:46And a lot of performers have shared that it was just a struggle.
01:49So, in the past year, you know, not performing, not acting, you know, but I think you were working on your series probably during this time.
01:57So, what was quarantine like for you?
01:59Yeah.
02:00I mean, there was the first, I believe, six, seven months was super quiet.
02:05Okay.
02:07You know, I mean, it was difficult and I can imagine super difficult for everyone out there.
02:12Yeah.
02:13At first, the initial stop was kind of like a break.
02:17I was like, okay, I might as well take this as a break and work on stuff that I could around the house and spend more time at home and, you know, being more present with family and stuff.
02:28But I did miss performing after a while.
02:32And luckily, the series kicked in late last year.
02:36So, about six months into during when the quarantine hit.
02:40But it was, I'm extremely grateful because, you know, I realized what was going on for everyone around the world.
02:47And to be able to go and do what we love was very blessed.
02:51Yeah.
02:52So, tell us about Run the World and your character.
02:57Okay.
02:59I've gotten to see a couple episodes, but I want to hear your words.
03:04Run the World is, I'm just so grateful.
03:08I think they've really managed to create something that's relevant.
03:13It's perfect for this time.
03:16It's a story that's needed to be told because, you know, I love all forms of media, all forms of drama, all forms of stories.
03:25And I just feel like a lot of the stuff has been focused on maybe, you know, it's always hardships and suffering.
03:35Whereas this, I feel like it's more of a celebration of the culture.
03:38Yeah.
03:39We're getting to see four young Black women run the world.
03:45And, you know, this is something that has been happening.
03:50I have, you know, I'm sure we all have friends and I have aunties and sisters who are crushing it.
03:55And these stories don't really get to be told.
03:57So, to be involved in a show that's telling it and it's accurate and it's funny.
04:02And I'm so grateful to be a part of it.
04:05I really do think it's something that's needed in this time.
04:09Yeah.
04:09Now, your character, I'm told, he's described as a Mr. Big type.
04:13Now, is that how you would describe him?
04:19What's your take on your character?
04:22Yeah, you know, I can see where that comes from.
04:25I suppose maybe a younger version as he starts to grow into that.
04:32Yeah.
04:34Anderson is Ella's, excuse me, he's her ex-boyfriend.
04:40Yeah.
04:40And due to career choices, they had a split.
04:44I don't want to give away too much.
04:46This is what happens at the start.
04:48But he, you know, realizes, although that his career and things that he wanted was taken off,
04:53he's missing the love of his life.
04:55Yeah.
04:55So we see him trying to navigate, balancing what he wants with his career and trying to get his lady back.
05:03Yeah.
05:03Now, how much like him are you?
05:08There's elements.
05:09There's definitely elements there.
05:11Like, I like how driven in his career he is.
05:13He's very grounded.
05:15Yeah.
05:15He's also a romantic and belief in love and connection and having that person there who, you know,
05:24when everything's going, however it's going in the rest of the world,
05:29you have that person there who's your safety net,
05:31who you can come to and support each other.
05:33And that's a big part of who he is.
05:36Yeah.
05:36Looking to lose it to find out.
05:39Because sometimes us men can be a little bit stupid, you know?
05:45A little smack around the head from the universe to say, what are you doing?
05:50Listen, I'm quoting that.
05:53You better recognize.
05:55Exactly.
05:59And thinking about your career, I mean, this isn't the first time we've seen you.
06:03Obviously, you know, Princess Switch was huge.
06:06Have the Half Nights, Shadow Hunters.
06:08You know, what does it feel?
06:09You know, I think for here in American audiences, it's like you're this, you know,
06:13breakout, heartthrob, sex symbol, you know, is how we see you.
06:17You know, is that how you feel?
06:19How does it feel, you know, to see things written about you like that?
06:24It makes me smile.
06:26You know, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't flat.
06:29But I don't know.
06:34Maybe it's the way I grew up and my family.
06:36We never really take anything serious.
06:40Always out of love.
06:41We're always joking with each other.
06:43And, you know, we always try to see the funny side in everything.
06:46Yeah.
06:47It helps, you know, keep us grounded and keep me grounded.
06:51So I never, like, really feed into it.
06:55I'm extremely flat.
06:56But I'm actually quite shy at first.
07:00So when I do meet people, I can be a bit like, until I get to know you,
07:04and then it's like, will you ever shut up?
07:08No, I'm extremely flat.
07:10Sometimes I don't know how to take you, though, because I'm like, what?
07:12It's a lot, I'm not sure.
07:18And thinking about your background, so I read half Jamaican, half Guyanese.
07:22Is that right?
07:23Okay.
07:24So my reference is I have a very good friend who's Guyanese.
07:27But, you know, New York Guyanese, and she'll always have her accent.
07:31And it's hilarious.
07:31Like, I love just talking to her.
07:34But what's the experience like, you know, from the UK?
07:38It's very similar.
07:39The Guyanese people, they love their culture, no matter where they are in the world.
07:45Yes.
07:47They're pepperoni, you know.
07:49Yes.
07:51That's the wonderful thing.
07:52I mean, we shot in New York, and, you know, they have little Guyanese,
07:56and they have so many Guyanese people there.
07:58Yeah.
07:59I noticed in Toronto, when we was doing Shadowhunters, too,
08:02there's a huge Guyanese population, probably more than London.
08:05I feel like London, they're more scattered.
08:08Okay.
08:08Whereas in the East Coast, I feel like they have these sections where they've come in.
08:12Yeah.
08:13And I loved it.
08:14I absolutely loved it.
08:15I was able to go in and get, you know, the whole cooked food that I needed.
08:19Nice.
08:20I've missed their cuisine.
08:22Yeah.
08:22It is funny, because Guyanese people are like,
08:25don't matter where around the world.
08:29That's it.
08:30Exactly.
08:31It's like family.
08:32They start mentioning these uncles.
08:34You know, you might know this one.
08:35You might know.
08:36Exactly.
08:38Exactly.
08:38Yeah.
08:38She's moved to New Orleans, and she found even, like, a little community there.
08:42And she's like, it's like home.
08:43We find each other.
08:45We do.
08:45Yeah.
08:45And now, was your family supportive of, you know, you pursuing the arts from the outset?
08:53I'm very lucky and grateful.
08:55If it wasn't for them, like, their support is tremendous from day one.
08:59I mean, they were always supportive of our sports, and I say art, because my brother is an actor
09:06as well, and my wife is a DJ and producer, and my dad was into fashion, and everyone's
09:13kind of into some form of art.
09:15Yeah.
09:15And they just always pushed and supported.
09:18And even when I told them I was dropping out of university to be an actor, they were supportive.
09:25Okay.
09:26Well, funny enough, my mom, who was the one who came to all my shows, she was a bit more
09:31like, my dad just said to me, all right, I'm giving you a year to show me some progress.
09:38And some things worked.
09:40But they were incredibly supportive, you know, in those times where it got hard.
09:45I mean, I was auditioning in two countries for nearly 10 years.
09:52Wow.
09:53Before the have and have nots, which was something where I can actually survive off my career now.
09:59And they were supportive, no matter what.
10:02Yeah.
10:02I didn't need that, because there was times where it got hard.
10:06And they were always there to pick me up.
10:08Yeah.
10:08Now, what kept you going, you know, through that 10 years?
10:12Because I'm sure, you know, I mean, that's a long time.
10:14And it's hard.
10:15You know, sometimes people will throw their dreams away.
10:17You know, what kind of sustained you during that period?
10:20I just have such a love for it.
10:23You know, even when I'm around, I'm very much like family and friends.
10:27That's how I like to spend my time.
10:29And even when I'm around them, you know, it's always what ifs and creating and being silly
10:35and trying to make them laugh.
10:37And, like, I just like to perform.
10:39And I noticed that in myself.
10:41And I just knew that it was something that I was going to get great joy from.
10:47Excuse me.
10:48But I think the key for me was realizing I was already happy without it.
10:54Okay.
10:54That really helped because I was basing a lot when I was younger.
10:59It was based on a goal, you know, when I leave the neighborhood, when I get all these things,
11:03then not necessarily I'm going to be happy, but I'm going to be in more of a happy place.
11:09But I remember one day when I actually had lost pretty much everything.
11:14You know, I'd been through pursuing a career financially where I was okay to points where
11:20I was, like, raiding a piggy bank just to get to it.
11:23But what I noticed, I was, like, I've got good people around me.
11:28I've got family and friends who love me.
11:30Yeah.
11:30I was laughing every day.
11:32I was, like, it can't be that bad because I'm a fan of the gym, you know.
11:36Yeah.
11:36And just standing at my local store back home in London, standing outside kicking jokes with the friends.
11:43And I was, like, man, this is it.
11:44You know, if I have this, then I'm okay.
11:47It stops.
11:49That's when we have a problem.
11:51Right.
11:52I think that was important for me was realizing just placing my happiness elsewhere because
11:57sometimes we can – I watched this amazing documentary that HBO had that was documented
12:02for American football players after they retire and dealing with that loss of energy that they get
12:10from basically being worshipped.
12:12Yeah.
12:13It really set things into perspective for me because I was, like, wow, you know, we can
12:19place our happiness elsewhere in relationships, in the quality of our days, in stuff we do
12:25for fun.
12:26Yeah.
12:27And that just hit really hard for me.
12:30And I was, like, wow, I'm already happy.
12:31And that kind of changed my mentality towards pursuing the dream, so to speak.
12:37Okay.
12:38I love that.
12:39So I have to confess I've stalked your Instagram a little bit.
12:42But easy question, though.
12:47I've seen you do Muay Thai.
12:49Muay Thai.
12:49Is that right?
12:50Yeah, yeah.
12:50So I would love if you could talk about getting into that.
12:53And then also, you know, are you interested in doing action models?
12:59Hell yeah.
13:00Yes.
13:00Yes.
13:00Yes.
13:01So I started off, like I said, as younger, my dad was a martial artist when he was growing
13:10up.
13:10And he pushed us into that.
13:13Like, we did karate when we was younger, me and my brothers and sister.
13:16And we got pretty far.
13:18But like a lot of stuff we did as kids, you know, we stopped doing it.
13:21And it wasn't until I moved to L.A. at 21 and my dad came with me and he just pointed at
13:28this martial arts studio, which was Taekwondo, and he said, I think you should go start it
13:32back up.
13:33And I was like, okay.
13:34And I did.
13:34And it was such a, I'm so thankful to him for that.
13:37Because one, it was a wonderful decision to action with some of the movies that I grew
13:42up in.
13:42Like, I love Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Van Damme, Arnold.
13:48Like, it was that era, you know, superheroes before the superheroes.
13:53I remember Arnie taking on 130 guys.
13:55I'm like, I don't know what is it.
13:59Come out.
13:59Exactly.
14:01Well, I have a huge love for action.
14:04And then Muay Thai started about two, three years ago, which I love.
14:10And it is all really to use, hopefully, one day.
14:15Yeah.
14:16I would absolutely.
14:19Let's put it out there.
14:20Put it out there.
14:23It's going to happen.
14:26You know, and we're also in Hollywood, at least here, you know, feeling like there's
14:31this British invasion, you know, happening now.
14:33You know, we see it in a great way.
14:36Rachel always invaded.
14:38I know.
14:41I appreciate it.
14:43But how does it feel, you know, for you to be a part of that?
14:48Like I said, I'm so grateful.
14:50So, so grateful.
14:51I mean, I moved here in 2009.
14:55Okay.
14:56So I've been over here a while.
14:57So it's weird because, you know, in my adult life, I've spent more time in the States.
15:03Yeah.
15:04In the UK.
15:05And there's definitely a big part of me that, you know, feels connected to America and the
15:11UK.
15:11I'll never forget my roots.
15:12Yeah.
15:13But it was just growing up in England.
15:15We got so much American culture.
15:16And to be steeped in it and so far away from it.
15:21I was talking to my friend yesterday and we was watching, he put on a video on FaceTime.
15:27It was Weetis, the old teenage dirtbag song.
15:29Oh, my goodness.
15:31I used to love it.
15:32Yeah.
15:32What we were talking about, I was like, man, they got to wear no uniform.
15:36They had, they had the lockers.
15:38They had, you know, you could, they had proms, which were these big celebrations and stuff.
15:43We watched that from England in our like Harry Potter uniforms.
15:48Because if we had the magic, it'd be cool.
15:50It worked for it.
15:52And what we'd give to, you know, wear no uniform and have a locker.
15:55Because I mean, my friends used to take them.
15:58I mean, when I started school in year seven, I had this bag.
16:01Okay.
16:01That's why I was, it took a while for me to get a bit of a grocery bag.
16:05This bag was like half the size of me.
16:07We carried all of our books to school.
16:09So this like, this thing used to hang off my back.
16:11Oh, my goodness.
16:13And I'm like, what would it give for a locker carrying all those damn history books?
16:19But yeah, I mean, I don't know about the rest of the guys who've come over from England.
16:25But I just always felt drawn over here because of their, you know,
16:29for the arts is, you know, America really stands behind its arts.
16:36And that's something that, you know, I really appreciated it.
16:39It really, they welcomed me.
16:41Yeah.
16:42Yeah.
16:43Good.
16:46So, of course, we're excited to see you in Run the World.
16:49But what is coming up next after?
16:52There's actually Prince of Switch 3, which is coming.
16:55Okay.
16:55Thanksgiving.
16:57Okay.
16:58That's right around the corner.
16:59Yeah.
16:59Some more Switch shenanigans.
17:03Christmas shenanigans.
17:04Yes.
17:06That one too.
17:08Nice.
17:09And then give us just, you know, one or two sentences why we should tune in to Run the World.
17:15Well, you've got to watch Run the World because you have to.
17:18You just have to.
17:19You just have to.
17:20There it is.
17:21Yeah.
17:21No, you know what?
17:22It's something that is fresh.
17:24It's innovative.
17:25It's funny.
17:26And it's, I don't think there's anything quite like it out there right now.
17:31And the four ladies are hilarious.
17:35Out of this world.
17:36And connected too.
17:37Like, it's not just funny in the moments of depth.
17:41They're incredible.
17:42It really is.
17:43I mean, I remember watching when we was rehearsing sometimes and just cracking up.
17:48And it's like, yo, they're fantastic.
17:50Yeah.
17:50I really do think it's going to resonate with so many different people and just something
17:56that's really needed.
17:57Yeah.
17:58Yeah.
17:59Well, thank you so much.
18:00It's been so fun chatting with you.
18:02Excited to get to know you a little bit and see you.
18:07Know my goofy self.
18:08Yeah.
18:09You were perfect.
18:12It was perfect.
18:14Well, thank you.
18:15I'm wishing you much more success.
18:17Thank you so much.
18:18I appreciate it.
18:19Hopefully we get to do it again.
18:20You know, maybe it'll be an action movie next time.
18:23It absolutely will.
18:24Yeah.
Comments