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Not every actor gets to have two films coming out on a Friday, but that is an honored bestowed upon Aaron Holliday. He reunited with The Wilderness filmmaker Spencer King for the new drama-thriller Nickels and he also stars in the value added and insightful Chris Marrs Piliero tale Appofeniacs. Holliday talked ot Deepest Dram about his passion for indie filmmakng and why Appofeniacs is a unique cinematic experience.
Read more: Aaron Holliday Embraces Acting Transformation And Indie Filmmaking With ‘Appofeniacs’
Appofeniacs centers on a group of people whose lives are negatively impacted by deepfake videos and artificial intelligence. Aaron Holliday is Duke, a vengeful guy who knows how to use AI to his advantage. His amoral actions lead to a domino effect of violence and overall misery. Sean Gunn co-stars as Clinto Bingo (Sean Gunn) a talented artist in the cosplay industry who ends up being one of the victims of Duke’s wrath. Paige Searcy is Lazzy, a stranger whose argument with Duke at a coffee shop places her in a dire position.
I really enjoyed Appofeniacs, and unfortunately I did not get the chance to see Nickels. Both films are now playing in theaters. “I’m not gonna play it cool,” Holliday said. “It’s definitely a pinch-me moment. They’re both these fantastic indie films. I love indie films. I’ve learned so much about myself, about this career that I’ve chosen, and, you know, would say chosen for me.”
Acting is more than a profession for Holliday. It is something he has wanted to pursue since childhood, even though he did not grow up in an entertainment industry household.
“Ever since I was as young as I can remember, it was just in me,” Holliday said. “I would look at the TV and just have thoughts of, ‘Why am I not on here? Like, I wanna do this.’ It just came very naturally to me.”
Holliday was homeschooled and described himself as relatively sheltered during his childhood. No one in his family worked in entertainment, and he was not a cinephile at an early age. That said, Jurassic Park, Jaws and Alien made a lasting impression and influenced his career path.
“The fact that I saw this and knew that this is what I wanted to do, I just think it’s that testament of, you know, the universe guiding you,” Holliday said. “Me choosing it for me, but it also just in that way felt very ordained.”
Aaron Holliday Wants Actors To Take Big Swings
For Holliday, disappearing into different characters is part of the fun.
“I want to encourage sort of a level of character acting, going outside of yourself,” Holliday said. “I’m very passionate about that, about transforming, about sort of becoming a different person.”
Holliday believes performers inevitably bring something of themselves to each role, even if the actual part is seemingly far from their own persona.
“Every role you have, you add yourself, right?” Holliday said. “You can be a psychopath and still have yourself in that. That’s the only reason why we have these iconic characters, because those specific people played them. I think I’d like to see more people not be afraid to not just play themselves, and to go outside and take some big swings and get a little kooky crazy.”
‘Jurassic Park’ Helped Shape Holliday’s Acting Dreams
One of Holliday’s earliest inspirations remains Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
“I could get emotional speaking about it,” added Holliday. “It was the hand that held me. It was, I think, my first inspiration, my first dream sequence, my first excitement about this whole thing that we do.”
Laura Dern’s performance also connects with Holliday’s own approach to acting.
“She’s one of those too that I look [at], talking about taking the big swings and being that sort of larger-than-life actor who transforms,” Holliday said. “That was somebody who definitely set the precedent for me.”
Years after watching Jurassic Park helped ignite those childhood dreams, Holliday now finds himself with two movies arriving on the same day.
“To have it end up on the same weekend, both in theaters, it’s a dream come true,” Holliday said. “I’m sort of still processing it.”
Appofeniacs and Nickels are now playing in theaters.
Full interview with Aaron Holliday:
Aaron Holliday also talks about a Pivotal scene in Appofeniacs in relation to his character. I will be posting an Appofeniacs spoiler write-up on Monday. The Spoiler video with Holliday, however, will be available for our CinemAddicts Patreon members.
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