Today we’d like to introduce you to Elijah Knight.
Elijah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a kid, I used to run around in Bostonian parks and bite other kids. When the other moms came complaining to my mom, she told them “He’s trying to kiss them but he just doesn’t know how”. It’s that same need to express myself and interact with others that ultimately lead to acting! However, I didn’t start acting until I was 20 years old due to the fact that I’d been too busy playing ice hockey as a goaltender for all my teenage years (which btw has helped me tremendously on my actor’s path: netminding is like acting on cam, you get all the action and the public/camera scrutinizes your every move!).
Ironically, I picked up the Art of acting in the most unartistic place possible: the Swiss Army. During my mandatory military training to become a Swiss Army Ranger (what I’d call it in US lingo), we had a lot of ups and downs and the best way to cope with the adversity was humor. Thus, I started impersonating our sometimes “psychopathic” drill sergeants on a daily basis, which culminated in a sketch show at the end of basic training.
Right then and there, I was bit by the bug.
After my basic training, I went to Business School at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and enrolled in the local Students Theatre where I performed numerous plays and eventually started acting in audiovisual projects.
In my first music video, I realized that acting for film is what I want to do with the rest of my life.
I took classes regularly and worked on set as much as possible until acting, at last, became my profession.
During this journey, I also spent half a year in Beijing, China to explore the Chinese market and work on my film-fighting and stunts. I also got my MBA in that period so when people ask me which acting school I went to, I jokingly tell them Business School as one is always pitching, selling, or networking like in the industry. 😉
Since I grew up trilingual, I act in French, German, and English-speaking productions and I’m blessed enough to have found representation in Paris, France, and Berlin, Germany.
This journey has been cathartic and I’m so grateful I get to do what I love and add the California market to my path!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been the opposite of smooth but at the end, I think the adversity is one of the reasons I love it so much. I noticed that whenever I “have a streak” and start booking more regularly, I also slowly start becoming a little complacent. To that, there’s no better wake-up call than an unbooked audition for a dream part. I try to always be thankful for those reminders of how bad I want this dream and how hard I have to work for it.
Having spent most of my career in Switzerland, which is a tiny film market and where the costs of living are huge, surviving financially has been tough but also humbling. It’s made me realize that ultimately, the only things I truly need are my art, good food, and a wonderful family and friends!
Regarding the art form itself, numerous roles have been and are very challenging: whether it be reaching to the depts of my soul or crawling in cold mud for several hours (which I also always did as a kid and absolutely love!) to deliver a believable performance – these are the struggles I live for.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
There is an abundance of actors. I’d say that my USP is that I combine action and comedy in film without compromising depth and I do so in three native languages (Français, Deutsch, and English; grew up trilingual all over the globe).
I wouldn’t necessarily say I specialize in one genre as the diversity of roles and film worlds is what makes acting so appealing to me. Nonetheless, I tend to do a lot of action and comedy or action-comedy movies.
The project I’m most proud of is a Swiss Lord of the Rings spin-off movie “Battles of the Fords of Isen” where I play the lead Rohirrim Dunhere and which should come outfall 2022. I had to learn sword fighting and Irish for this part!
What sets me apart from others is that I have a background as a special forces soldier and a college hockey player (played for my business school next to acting). Those experiences combined with my language skills not only help me create compelling characters (also physically) on cam but also give me the competitive mindset to survive in this industry.
Moreover, having lived in the US, Switzerland, Austria, and China helps me add many cultural layers to my character.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Puuu, great question! Probably not the advice everyone wants to hear but I’d say the most important thing before finding an “industry” mentor is to find/have a strong family or friends’ group independent from the industry. Those are the people who love me unconditionally no matter how hard I succeed or fail. They’ve always been there in difficult times.
As to mentoring and networking in general, I’m still learning on a daily basis but here’s my advice: Once you are interested in others, you become interestING (btw, that also goes for acting).
I love going to film events and I usually go with an open mindset of treating everyone the same and talking to whoever will talk to me. Of course, I’ll try to talk to a director here and there but I’ll also talk to a sound guy or the local cleaning lady even if her profession is not acting-related (and I’ll enjoy talking to non-film people for a change!).
In that regard, I believe in karma. 🙂 Plus, as a byproduct, talking to many people will make you seen by other people, which might make them want to talk to you in return. 😉
I’d for sure recommend going to any film networking event; one never knows who one will meet!
Regarding mentoring, I believe it´s really important to talk to or hang out with actor friends regularly as to understand one is not alone in this profession.
Instagram is NOT ENOUGH to keep in touch with the industry and solely using that channel may be harmful as one may have the feeling that everyone else is doing “better”.
There’s no social media substitute for meeting and feeling real actor buddies and growing together!
For casters and industry contacts, I have a yearly newsletter I send out where I summarize my year in one mail. I believe 1-3 mass mails a year makes sense (I use Mailchimp and I’m very happy).
Then for some casters I know, I might write them once a year presenting my newest material.
Finally, regarding my agents: I keep them posted on what I do regularly and ask them for their opinion on new showreel scenes, etc… It’s important that my agents know I’m either working on the craft or working on my personality.
Contact Info:
- Email: actorelijahknight@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.actorelijahknight.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actorelijahknight/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elknec/?ref=page_internal
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYqW5x5xHQ3vEXTt2iz3b9A/featured
Image Credits
Michael Ryser
Silma Production
Swiss Army
Elijah Knight
Maurice Haas Photography
