Join us on Zoom for another installment and live conversation in our 'Journey of the Working Actor' series with Jeremy Sisto, Edwin Hodge, William Belleau, Jon Huertas, and Michael Beach. The panel of actors will share and discuss what the audition process is like, how they prepare, and what attracted them to past, present, and future dramatic roles. Moderated by Lori Hammel. 

If you have a question for the panelists, submit it here now or live during the panel. 

Bios:

Michael Beach

With a career that spans over three decades, Michael Beach has become an established name in the entertainment industry through the diverse, complex, and captivating characters he has brought to life on screen. From drama to comedy, Beach has proven time and time again that he can do it all. This year, he can be seen reprising his role as Kareem, Warden of the main prison in Paramount+’s hit crime thriller series, 'Mayor of Kingstown', opposite Jeremy Renner. The series follows an important contemporary issue, America’s prison system, focusing on the McLusky family, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. The first two seasons are currently streaming on Paramount+ and season three is slated to premiere on June 2, 2024. Also in 2024, Beach will star as Tragic Mick, a walrus trapped in a human body who runs a magic shop in Netflix’s highly anticipated supernatural series, 'The Dead Boy Detectives', slated to premiere on April 25, 2024. 

Notable credits for Beach include his stand-out role as Mark Mitchell on Paramount+’s smash-hit 'Tulsa King', opposite Sylvester Stallone and Andrea Savage. The series follows New York Mafia capo Dwight ‘The General’ Manfredi, who was recently released from prison after serving twenty-five years, as he sets up shop in Tulsa.  The series was recently renewed for a second season, announced in February 2024. Additional previous credits in television include his starring role as Ingram Rhoades, in Apple TV+’s drama series 'Truth Be Told', opposite Octavia Spencer, Aaron Paul, Lizzy Caplan, Ron Cephas Jones, Elizabeth Perkins, and Mekhi Phifer. The series aired for three seasons, exploring people’s obsession with true-crime stories and the boom in podcasts dedicated to probing unsolved and disputed cases. In 2020, Beach starred in Ava DuVernay’s series 'Cherish the Day' for OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network to round out his myriad of TV credits, including NBC’s 'ER', NBC’s 'Chicago P.D.', Netflix’s 'Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story', CBS’ 'S.W.A.T' and ABC’s 'The Rookie'. 

In film, Beach is widely recognized for his starring role as Frank Hunt opposite Regina King, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Kiki Layne, and Diego Luna in Annapurna’s Golden Globe-nominated feature film 'If Beale Street Could Talk', directed by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins. With over eight major nominations in the 2019 awards season, the film won Movie of the Year at the 2019 AFI Awards and Best Feature at the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards. In addition to 'If Beale Street Could Talk', Beach appeared as high-sea hijacker Manta/Jesse Kane in Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ international smash hit feature film 'Aquaman', which grossed over a billion dollars worldwide since its opening in December 2018. Furthering his list of notable starring roles, Beach shined as Harold Thewlis in 'Southpaw' Entertainment’s Inheritance, opposite Lily Collins, Simon Pegg, and Chace Crawford. He also starred in the Warner Bros. and New Line action-comedy film 'Superintelligence', opposite Melissa McCarthy, which debuted on Max (formally HBO Max) in 2020. 

Born and raised in the rough inner city of Roxbury, Boston, Beach excelled in athletics and never had aspirations to become an actor. After performing in a handful of high school plays, he was accepted into the prestigious Juilliard School of Drama in New York City. Beach began his professional career in acting upon graduation, and he has been working ever since, building upon his commitment to his craft, professionalism, and innate talent.  Beach has worked with hundreds of acclaimed actors, producers, and directors over the years, including Morgan Freeman, Kevin Bacon, Quentin Tarantino, and John Travolta, to name a few. When he isn’t on set, you can find Beach cruising down California’s coastline on one of his motorcycles, working out at the gym, and spending time with his family. 

William Belleau

Growing up on a reservation in Alkali Lake British Columbia, William Belleau has drawn life inspiration from his Mother Marilyn and Father Dave, both Residential School Survivors, who helped inspire his performance as the real-life ex-husband of Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone) Henry Roan in Martin Scorsese’s critically acclaimed 'Killers of The Flower Moon'.  

After receiving a scholarship, Belleau graduated from the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Art studying acting. Upon Graduating, he returned home to Vancouver, BC where he booked his first role in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse leading to roles in Amazon’s 'The English', 'Outer Range', the Netflix sleeper hit 'Loudermilk' and Disney+’s 'Echo'. Through the years, William has given back to his community by teaching acting to first nations youth in his community. 

At the Cannes screening of 'Killers of the Flower Moon', the film received a nine-minute standing ovation at the film’s conclusion where Belleau raised one fist in the air and let out a series of passionate howls — a moment that made waves on social media all over the world as the emotional “warrior call.”

In his words “it was what I was feeling in that moment because I was just some kid who wanted to do this 20 years ago, and I there I was.” 

He is currently shooting Ari Aster’s 'Eddington' alongside Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix; Belleau currently resides in Vancouver, BC.

Edwin Hodge

Filmmaker, producer, and actor Edwin Hodge has most recently been seen on the popular CBS series 'FBI: Most Wanted' as special agent ‘Ray Cannon,’ which ended season 5 with Ray’s wedding, setting fans up for an exciting season 6. Hodge is best known for his pivotal lead role in the Universal/Blumhouse feature franchise 'The Purge' franchise and was the only actor to appear in the first three films. Edwin also costarred in 'The Tomorrow War', alongside Chris Pratt and portrayed Los Angeles Laker Ron Boone in HBO’s 'Gametime'. In addition to making his big screen debut with his younger brother Aldis in the classic film 'Die Hard' in 1988, Edwin is also known for his recurring television roles on FX’s 'Mayans M.C.', Apple TV’s For 'All Mankind' and NBC’s 'Chicago Fire'.

Edwin’s new sci-fi thriller 'Parallel', now available to stream on all platforms, marks the first project produced by newly formed Hodge Brothers Productions, a company he created with his brother actor Aldis Hodge.⁠ The film was also co-written and produced by the two. It follows the journey of ‘Vanessa’, a grief-stricken woman who mysteriously finds herself navigating between parallel spaces. The sibling duo created the company to raise audience awareness to Black storytellers and to expose these audiences to new types of genres, including sci-fi, a genre they particularly love. Hodge currently resides in Los Angeles.

Jon Huertas

Jon Huertas most recently starred as Miguel Rivas on NBC’s critically acclaimed, award-winning series, 'This Is Us'. His heartwarming portrayal of a character who spans decades, the 1970's through present day, allowed him to show not only exceptional, but also a physically transformative range that captured the hearts of millions weekly. Audiences also know him as the tough but affable, Detective Javier Esposito on ABC’s hit dramedy 'Castle'. His stand-out performance as Sgt. Tony “Poke” Espera in HBO’s miniseries 'Generation Kill', offered an unheralded streetwise view of the USMC's 1st Recon invasion of Iraq that Jon, being a veteran himself, calls the most meaningful role of his career.

In addition to his 28-year acting career, Jon is a filmmaker, having directed episodic television, including episodes of 'This Is Us', 'Tracker', 'The Company You Keep', 'The Rookie', DVD Special Features and Holiday Specials as well as numerous music videos, award winning short films. He’s produced several feature films, earning him an appointment to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. And the production shingle, WestSide Stories he formed with his fellow Groundlings alum Kenny Stevenson, has several TV, Podcast and Film projects in various stages of development.      

Jeremy Sisto

In a career that has moved effortlessly between film, television, and theater, Jeremy Sisto has become an iconic presence in entertainment. Eight years after wrapping an acclaimed three-season role on 'Law & Order' as Detective Cyrus Lupo, Sisto re-teamed with prolific creator/producer Dick Wolf on the CBS drama, 'FBI' currently in its sixth season. The show follows a group of agents in New York fighting terrorism, organized crime and counterintelligence to keep America safe. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Broadcast Network or Cable Drama Series at the Hollywood Creative Alliance Astra TV Award during its fifth season. 'FBI' was recently renewed for an impressive 3 seasons to run at least until 2027. 

Sisto made his first major impression on television audiences as bipolar artist Billy Chenowith on Alan Ball’s 'Six Feet Under', a role which Ball wrote for him.  The HBO series also starred Michael C. Hall, Peter Krause, Frances Conroy, Rachel Griffiths, and Lauren Ambrose.  In its five-year run, it earned three Golden Globes, three Primetime Emmys and 25 Emmy nominations.

Past television credits include National Geographic’s miniseries 'The Long Road Home' in which Sisto portrayed Staff Sgt. Robert Miltenberger, braving a heroic fight for survival on Black Sunday. Other past television credits include 'Ice' (Audience), 'Wicket City' (ABC), and the drama series 'The Returned' (A&E) based on the acclaimed French series of the same title. Sisto was also the lead in the short-lived yet critically acclaimed Jason Smilovic show 'Kidnapped' and had a three-season run starring on the hit ABC comedy series 'Suburgatory'.

Sisto’s extensive film credits include the 1995 classic 'Clueless' with Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Paul Rudd, and Brittany Murphy; the tennis comedy BREAK POINT, which he co-wrote and produced; Fox International’s 'The Other Side of the Door'; and 'Hangman', which premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival. Sisto also lent his voice to the Oscar-nominated and box office smash 'Frozen II', in addition to the Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated animated film 'Ferdinand'. His other eclectic film roles include those in 'Grand Canyon', 'Hideaway', 'Robot and Frank', 'Moonlight and Valentino', 'White Squall', 'Without Limits', 'Suicide Kings', 'Thirteen', 'Wrong Turn', 'Waitress', 'Last Night in Rozzie', and the very well received short film 'Wichita'. 

Sisto’s Los Angeles theater credits include 'Take Me Out,' which earned him a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Featured Performance, Sidney Kingsley’s “Dead End” at the Ahmanson Theater, and the one-man show 'Sanguine' at the 2nd Stage. In New York, he made his Broadway debut in 'Festen,' a stage adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg’s film THE CELEBRATION. He also starred in Beau Willimon’s 'Spirit Control' at the Manhattan Theater Club, about a man’s 30-year struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Run Time: 60 minutes