Aren Buchholz is a budding young actor who is making a name for himself (and quickly) in the entertainment world. In addition to recent guest appearances on the CW’s “Supernatural” and SyFy’s “Lost Girl,” he is also currently doing the festival rounds with the indie film “When the Ocean Met the Sky” as part of the TIFF Film Circuit.
From sci-fi prodigy to indie darling, Buchholz is one to watch.
CraveOnline: Tell us about your work on lost girl.
Aren Buchholz: I had the pleasure of playing the role of Derek Finley, a gossip king male cheerleader who loves to stir the pot and cause drama. On most projects I tend to be cast as the jock football player, so I was super excited to explore and portray a character I’d never done before, especially as quirky and unique as Derek. The head writer of the episode, Sandra Chwialkowska, would joke around with us that she’s going to write a spin-off series of mine and the character of Brinkley, played by Anna Hopkins, because our dynamic on and off the screen was too funny.
And yeah, the whole cast welcomed me in with open arms. It was a super positive set to work on. Anna Silk is a sweetheart. We had a walk-n-talk scene where I was stress eating a bag of chips and I started to choke on them a little bit, and she stopped the take to make sure I didn’t die, so that was super nice of her.
What other projects are you currently working on? Can you tell us about your film “When The Ocean Met The Sky?”
”When the Ocean Met the Sky” is an independent feature film I worked on that tells the story of three estranged brothers that must journey to a remote location in order to receive their inheritance due to a stipulation in their parents will. I played Jordan Holmes, the youngest of three brothers in a dysfunctional family. With his parents recently passing, and his two older brothers hating each other’s guts, Jordan has a broken soul. He tries so hard to mediate the battles between them and diffuse the tension with his positivity and sense of humor but his efforts are often extinguished by his brothers’ shared animosity towards each other. As I’m sure the youngest of any family can relate to, this is extremely difficult, to have your voice heard. I too am the youngest in my family so I could closely relate to him and I think sharing so many common traits led me to fully empathize with his situation. It allowed me to organically transition from innocence to his jaded apathy later in the film. It was such a delight to be able to work though the emotional arc of Jordan, I’ll never forget the experience.
Is this your first time doing the festival circuit?
It is actually my first time doing the festival circuit.
And what are your thoughts on film fests?
I love it! Such a positive experience, and we have been so fortunate to have a successful run thus far. In every festival we’ve competed in to date, we have won at least one award, most recently winning the audience choice award at the Canadian Reel Film Festival! But for me it’s not all about the awards and acclaims. I mean, that’s obviously amazing, but the best feeling for me is seeing people’s reactions after. To know that we truly affected people with our story, and perhaps maybe even made a difference? That’s the best feeling any artist can ask for. I remember in the Montreal World Film Fest, there was this gentleman, maybe mid 50’s, and he spoke only French so the translator was speaking for him, and he was explaining how he too came from a family of four brothers. And they too were dysfunctional and he hadn’t spoken to his one brother for 10 years, and this is when he broke down just a little bit, and thanked us for our film and how it made him see some things differently. It was so special for us as a team to hear, because what if next time he talks to his brother, they speak in a different tone or somehow differently to each other, that things become better? Oh man, gives me shivers. That’s why I do what I do. Love it.
You’ve worked on both film and television projects- do you have a preference?
I really don’t have a preference. Both are great for different reasons. Growing up maybe I thought I wanted to shoot movies more than TV, but everything is changing. Bigger budgets are going into television shows now and the quality and attention to detail is incredible. Shows like “Breaking Bad” and “True Detective” blew my mind. And “Game of Thrones?” Are you kidding me, it’s like watching a movie every episode. As an actor and filmmaker, as long as I can tell a great story truthfully and affect change in people, then the medium or platform doesn’t really matter to me.
We also know that you’ve done some writing as well… Can you tell us about any of the current projects you’re working on?
Yeah I do love to write! Currently everything I’ve got my hands on is still in the developmental stages and not in production yet. Right now I’m writing a comedy pilot with the producers of “When the Ocean Met the Sky,” and owners of Image Nation Films, as well as my own dramatic feature film. I can’t give too many specifics at the moment, but I can say the pilot is a crime fighting comedy.
When you’re not acting or writing, what do you do for fun?
I love playing hockey! I used to play my whole life growing up and hadn’t played for five years, but now I’m in a beer league, which is great fun. Little rusty but I’m getting back into the swing of things. I also love just hanging out with my friends, watching movies, playing video games, reading fine leather-bound books… real original… I know (laughs).
