Actor Daniel Williams

Posted by Charlotte Martinez in Film

Photo by Russell Maynor

Actor Daniel Williams fits the cowboy type, the outdoorsy type, the “old creepy man” type and the professor type. He has swaggered about in “Longmire’s” Red Pony Saloon, taken advice from Morgan Freeman in Transcendence (opening April 18, 2014), and even stepped into the sandals of Apollo and the boots of a Neverland pirate. He’s a retired air force officer, martial artist, teacher and New Mexico traveling man who puts family first, his acting career second, his photography career third, and never misses an opportunity to work with students— especially those here at SFUAD’s Film School.

In the course of a year, Williams has acted in more than 10 student-produced films, but after 20-plus years of teaching, “working with students feels very natural.” And as a recent full-time actor, Williams explains that his comfort in front of people and his goal of creating a high quality demo reel lead him to SFUAD’s talent call board, where he posted his headshot and resumé. Since then, Williams has made so many connections with student filmmakers that he considers the university a “home away from home.” Between Taos, his current residence, and his additional gigs spanning across New Mexico, the campus is one of the actor’s most frequent stops.

“A lot of actors that I talk to have a perception that student films are less than,” Williams says. “And I can tell you my experience has been the exact opposite. The quality of their work meets, and in some cases exceeds, that of many filmmakers who are in the industry. I will put the student films, both in terms of quality, talent and enthusiasm up against a lot of studio stuff I’ve seen.” For an example, Williams names his lead role in the student short Desolate by Nate Regier. The actor says that when he saw the quality of Regier’s work, “there was no doubt I wanted to be involved in [Desolate].” In fact, Williams was so impressed by Regier that he asked the first-year film student to compile his latest two-minute demo reel, which consists entirely of SFUAD student work.

“Working with [Williams] is a very professional experience,” says Regier. “He dedicates himself to the films he’s on and is always up for providing good input.” Regier’s short has screened at IndieQ in Albuquerque and will be screening for the National Film Festival for Talented Youth this month.

After watching Desolate, film student Chris Garcia then wanted to use Williams’ ruggedness in his short Jerry Coyote, about a man who isolates himself in the woods. Though Garcia admits he was rather new at directing, Williams’ preparations and eagerness made his work on Jerry Coyote much more seamless. “He was really cool,” Garcia says, “he asked a lot of questions to make sure he got the role right. He knows what he’s doing.” Regier and Garcia are just two of the many students with whom Williams has worked.

Of course, it was also fortunate for the faculty to have the actor available for class time, like for Peter Grendle’s Music Video course and Chris Eyre’s Directing course. Williams recalls, for example, how much he enjoyed playing Daniel Plainview in an excerpt of There Will Be Blood for Eyre’s class and says that the student director Eric Harden communicated “as clearly as any director ever has.”

But as a full-time actor, it was essential for Williams to keep up his studio background acting, which he did and still is. Involved especially in the TV Series “Longmire,” whose crew has returned to campus for its third season, Williams is at nine episodes and credits his involvement with “Longmire” in providing a recent “career-changing” opportunity: a short speaking role in the upcoming feature, Transcendence.

“It turns out [Director Wally Pfister] had re-written the scene,” Williams says, describing his time on the Transcendence hospital set. “And the first day, those of us that were on the medical team ended up getting lines and being able to play a key role.” The experience was even more inspiring when Morgan Freeman, a co-star of Johnny Depp’s, gave him some advice. Unfortunately, Williams says, he can’t share what the advice was without giving away the scene. He can, however, say that “it was very cool.”

Now with an excellent resumé and inspiring demo reel, Williams’ reputation grows. “I have heard people refer to New Mexico as the new Hollywood,” Williams says, commenting on the future of film in his state of residence. “It has so much to offer. You’ve got the tax incentives, you’ve got great weather, you’ve got a state that can look like almost anywhere.” And despite his work on studio sets, Williams says that he’ll keep his Film School credits on his resumé.

“One of the things I’ve realized,” the actor says, “is today’s students are tomorrow’s industry leaders. From a selfish standpoint, yes, I’m supporting the students and I’m honored to do that, but at the very same time I recognize that students from SFUAD are going to be returning to homes around the US and around the world and there may just be a time when a student says ‘hey, there was this guy when I was at the university that did a good job’ and I may just get a phone call.”