Courageous Nerd

This interview was conducted prior to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

How did your journey in acting first start?

Dylan Flashner: I first started in music, that was my first kind of journey. I did that unsuccessfully for about five years.

On a music video set, there was a producer of television. They were like, “You’d be good for this. You’ve got a look, there’s something there.” I just kind of scoffed it off, like, there’s no way this is a real thing.

The next day, they sent me an email of a script; me as the lead of a TV pilot. No one will ever see that TV pilot to this day. It started off my acting career and I’ve kept going since. That’s kind of my story with that one.

One of your upcoming projects is Kalahari opposite Ryan Phillipe, Emile Hirsch and Mena Suvari. How would you describe the premise?

Dylan Flashner: It’s kind of a survival movie. I think that’s actually a popular genre with people.

We’re stuck in the Kalahari Desert. It’s basically six people from different walks of life trying to survive a terrible situation. Shout out Emile Hirsch, who’s also in that film. He’s a great actor, he does a great job in it.

Everyone really held their own. I think people would be surprised by how entertaining and eye-catching this movie is.

That was actually the third one I’ve done with [Ryan Phillipe]. Mukunda Dewil is the director of this movie; who also directed a previous movie I did called Collide.

He gave me the call; like, “Hey Dylan, I have a movie for you, if you’re interested. It’s a character that’s sort of social media-esque. Sort of influencer type guy. We think you’d be perfect for the gig.”

I didn’t hesitate one bit; I thought it was a really fun character. It was an interesting movie and I love working with Makunda. I jumped on the opportunity when I could.

Where can people catch Kalahari?

Dylan Flashner: It should be out in a couple of months. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be out on Amazon and Apple TV. That’s where you’ll be able to catch it.

We’ll wait for distribution to figure that out before I talk too soon. I’m almost 100% sure it’s Amazon and Apple TV.

You’re also in the upcoming teen film Deltopia – what can you share about that?

Dylan Flashner: There’s a party in Santa Barbara, which is part of California at a university called Deltopia. It’s this big, wild, end-of-the-year party they throw every year.

It got a little wild one year – this is basically the story of that. Me, Hart Denton, Charlie Gillespie, Madison Pettis and Luna Blaise – we all go to this party as high schoolers. We kind of crash the party a little bit.

All hell breaks loose a little bit and drama ensues. It’s a really fun movie. I’ve been lucky enough to see it. I think people are going to be really interested in the dynamics of all the characters.

It’s going to be released on Amazon and Apple TV – we’ll see where it ends up after that. We’re still kind of in talks with where it might go. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself and jinx the thing.

For now, it’s Amazon and Apple TV.

How was your experience with that cast, which includes Luna Blaise and Madison Pettis?

Dylan Flashner: You know, it was interesting. It felt like high school, a little bit. Working with older, more seasoned people… it’s almost sometimes less of a comradery.

With this younger cast, we got along great. We worked really well together. Shout out Madison Pettis, Hart Denton and Charlie Gillespie.

Everyone was just so awesome with each other. They have a lot of experience themselves. Madison’s been doing this since she was three years old.

It’s a lot of fun for me to do the younger sets with people my age. I enjoy that, that’s what’s fun for me.

Are there any other projects you’d like to shout out?

Dylan Flashner: I wish I could talk about some of the movies I’ve been lucky enough to be doing lately.

They haven’t been announced yet so I’m just going to keep it quiet. I have been working, I have been doing a lot lately.

I’m really excited for what’s coming up. A lot bigger roles than when I started in the business. So, I’m very excited about who I get to work with, coming up.

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