Los Angeles, CA (August 15, 2023): Actor Alex Garfin is this week’s featured guest on Hollywood at Home with The Creative Coalition. In this episode, listeners get rare, behind-the-scenes dish on Comic Con. Hollywood at Home is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and more.
Listen now at:
For planned coverage, please link to:
http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast
Highlights from Hollywood at Home featuring Alex Garfin:
The first time he was a featured guest at a Comic Con: “I was 17 years old. It was at the Raleigh, North Carolina Galaxy Con. It was electric… You walk in, and everyone in that building is a much bigger celebrity than they are outside of that building… It was exhilarating.”
With Comic Con comes great responsibility: “If you are a part of someone’s life in a parasocial relationship, [you gotta keep it up or] it’d be like unpeeling Santa Claus to a kid who wasn’t ready to see what’s behind.”
Comic Con sets fans and celebs on an even playing field: “I’m a big Star Trek fan, and I just met George Takei in Austin… I tweet back and forth to William Shatner now. The more that I’ve climbed the ranks in my young life so far, the more I’ve realized just how much of an optical illusion it all is.”
On being mistaken for a cosplayer at Comic Con: “[In Austin], I tried to cut the line and tried to get on stage for the cosplay contest as a cosplayer myself, and these guys in these costumes were livid at me. And then the announcer sees me there and I walk on… Some people are laughing because they recognize me, and a lot of people think I’m a cosplayer myself… And I’m starting to walk back to my table and they go, ‘you know, there’s this guy up there on the screen that had a great cosplay of you…’ ‘He was even wearing your clothes.’”
On how he got into music: “The beginning of my journey with music was that we had Freestyle Fridays [at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City], and one day I went up – I had just started learning chords – and I started playing that Imagine Dragons song ‘Demons,’ which is kind of cringe now, but everyone turned off the lights and put up their phones, and it was a great moment to perform.”
On broken pianos and How It Feels to be Free: “There was a time in my sophomore year where I really didn’t have any friends to speak of, and I went down to the music room. The music kids would never allow us in the practice room, so it wasn’t a place for [actors]. Some of these practice rooms had pianos that were broken, so I learned how to fix pianos. No one would know the piano was fixed… And I started to learn how to play chords… Whenever I was really down, I’d play that song I Wish I Knew How It Feels To Be Free by Nina Simone… I learned how much music meant to me.”
More about Hollywood at Home:
Hosted by The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk, “Hollywood at Home” brings listeners intimate portraits, key moments of discovery, and “art and soul” conversations with iconic entertainment industry personalities from the big screen to the boardroom, from L.A. to D.C. Listen now at http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast.
Previous guests include Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA”), Jason Alexander (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Alan Cumming (“Schmigadoon!, “The Good Wife”), Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Middle”), Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”), Willie Garson (“And Just Like That…”), Colman Domingo (“Euphoria”), Kerry Ehrin (“The Morning Show”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”), Ken Olin (“This is Us,” “Thirtysomething”), Anthony Rapp (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Grace Caroline Currey (Shazam!), and Alfre Woodard (Clemency, “Luke Cage”), among others.
More about The Creative Coalition:
Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is the premier nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. The Creative Coalition harnesses the unique platforms of the arts community and entertainment industry to make positive impacts on social welfare issues. The Creative Coalition also creates award-winning public service campaigns, including #RightToBearArts, to promote the efficacy of the arts. Actor Tim Daly serves as the organization’s President. For more information, visit https://thecreativecoalition.org.
Media Contact:
Max Jordan
mjordan@thecreativecoalition.org
C: 240-506-7913
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