8 minute read
Rising Star
It’s a jet-setting life for Elias Kacavas
BY ELISA GONZALES VERDI
If you see a plane overhead, there’s a decent chance that Elias Kacavas is onboard. The actor, a Manchester native and Central High grad, has spent the last few weeks on a press tour for the recently released second season of “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” where he is a series regular as Greg Mantzoukas.
Kacavas has also booked roles in HBO’s “Euphoria” as Young Cal, and as Aristotle in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.” We caught him during an unexpected break in his packed schedule, which was somewhere in between playing a gig at the Rex Theatre in Manchester and being the grand marshal at the city’s Taco Tour. In a window seat at the Stash Box in Manchester, Kacavas took a moment to breathe and tell us about all he’s been up to, before having to catch his next flight.
New Hampshire Magazine: You graduated from NYU’s Strasberg studio and studied method acting. Do you still method act?
Elias Kacavas: When I was getting ready to audition for NYU, I made sure to read every book I could find on acting. Adler, Hagen, Strasberg, Meisner, Lola Cohen (which is a branch of Strasberg — she still teaches there). I read every one I could find, and there were pieces from all that worked for me, but overall, the method that I worked best with and connected with was Strasberg. I trained in that for two years, and when I dropped out, I continued to hold onto many of the facets that they teach over there, but I have pieces of everything.
NHM: When people think “method acting” they think of this really intense process. Is that what you do?
EK: The public conception of method acting is much different than what it really is. Method acting is really just using your real-life parallels with the character, and having that emotional transfer. It generates the most realistic and visceral emotions.
NHM: What made you want to get into acting?
EK: I grew up doing accents and impressions and playing the guitar for my parents when they had company over, and that was just a great expression of self. Basketball was the other one, and when I followed that route to its finish, I was looking for other options and potential career opportunities. I just had this strong instinct in my gut that performing was the right one.
NHM: Was it hard breaking into the industry? What’s your experience in LA been like?
EK: I still live in New York City. I think that it’s the greatest city on earth, but I will move to LA eventually. Just the business in general, the entertainment business, is tough. It’ll take your dreams and spit them out in the blink of an eye, and then it’ll give it back to you and start to change your life in the next. It’s so good to you at some moments, and it feels like its torturing you in others. Every job can change your life, so it’s an emotional rollercoaster. I’ve been fortunate enough to not have had a lot of bad dealings… thanks to my agents, managers and team for looking out for me in the right areas, and my parents put a good head on my shoulders and gave me a strong moral compass.
NHM: “Euphoria,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Pretty Little Liars” have very established casts, with some big names. Was it ever intimidating walking onto those sets?
EK: “Euphoria” was pretty intimidating, but strangely seamless. I think, in part, because everyone was so welcoming, which was the easy part. They were all so excited for the young Cal storyline, so it was just really awesome.
My first day shooting, we had like 300 people in the gymnasium. I wasn’t that nervous because I was just made to feel so at home so quickly. I was pretty nervous for the first season of “Pretty Little Liars” because I had seen Bailee Madison. She had been doing stuff with Sandler and everybody, and it was her show and it was a reboot of a classic. We’re all trying to match that iconic style and live up to the name, and that was intimidating because it was just a bunch of young kids running around and it was nuts!
For “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” Nia Vardalos made me feel so at home. She got me a little gift when I showed up in my hotel; it was a little dish made out of an olive tree, and it was really sweet. She left me a note that said “welcome home” and it was like — oh my goodness — moved me.
NHM: What has been your favorite role so far?
EK: The thing that I really hold close to my heart is the young Cal storyline on “Euphoria.” Not only did that allow me to put my foot in the door and open up a lot of opportunities for me, but it gave me the chance to really show what I had been working so hard at. I got a lot of chances to tell a really complicated character story and show what made him into the version that Eric Dane plays. There was so much weight to it, and there were so many people who have reached out and told me how that story, that little 15-minute segment, has changed their life.
NHM: So, you’re commuting between New York and LA? What does that look like for you?
EK: I’ve been riding the bull for the last three weeks. I had a film shoot in New York City, got out at 3 a.m., drove 4 1/2 hours here, then did six hours of press for “Pretty Little Liars,” and then Taco Tour, and then my band and I rehearsed for a gig at the Rex. Then, I had to fly out to LA on Tuesday for the “Pretty Little Liars” premiere, and then fly back at 4 a.m. to make it for show at the Rex. It’s been a jet-setting life, but it’s a lot of fun. I think living out of a suitcase a bit is what your 20s are for.
NHM: What do you miss most about New Hampshire while you’re traveling?
EK: The peace. It’s so peaceful here; it’s regenerative. It brings my batteries back to life.
NHM: So, in your crazy jet-setting lifestyle right now, you have 24 hours back home. What is your must-do New Hampshire itinerary?
EK: I would do a nature hike with my mom and my dog (a beagle, Vinny). If my brothers are home, (I) go to Castro’s for a cigar and have some Scotch with my dad. Maybe dinner at the Foundry, which is probably my favorite restaurant around town, or Fotia, the Greek place. That’s an excellent new restaurant. If my friends are around, I would invite some people over and we could sing and play music for a jam, and then maybe work out at the YMCA and grab a steam. Sounds like a pretty good day.
NHM: You’re in a band? What do you guys play?
EK: Rock ‘n’ roll. Our main influences are the Rolling Stones, Springsteen, Dylan, all the classics. I’ve been playing guitar for seven years. I was a junior in high school, and I just became obsessed with it. It’s totally my passion. I’m better at acting, but music, for whatever reason, is my passion, and it keeps me going for sure.
NHM: Did you do any of the school productions in high school?
EK: I missed the opportunity to be a part of Central’s theater program, but when I was at Derryfield for middle school, I was Templeton the rat in “Charlotte’s Web.” It was my first credit, but after that I didn’t touch the stage for a long time.
NHM: What made you want to try again and go all in?
EK: I just believed it was the thing I was best at. At the end of the day, I believe I was able to express myself fully, and I was able to amuse people with my accents and impressions, and it gave me a sense of worth. There’s nothing else I want to do than the thing that makes me feel like I have purpose, so I took a chance on it.
NHM: So, at this point, what are your big goals and next steps?
EK: If you asked me in college, I would say to be a working actor, and I think that still holds. I think the main goal in this business is to be working, but ideally, I’d want to be someone who’s able to pick and choose my projects, and pick characters that really challenge me and ones I have a passion for telling.
NHM: Do you see yourself going down an indie film path?
EK: Absolutely, and I think that’s the route I’m taking now. That’s where you find the most interesting projects and characters, because you have to stretch your budget, and you can be more creative when you have that grounding.
Off the Cuff with Elias Kacavas
Songs on Repeat: “Breathe (2 a.m.)” by Anna Nalik “Hospital” by Madison Cunningham “Norwegian Wood” by the Beatles Next on the Reading List: “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac Go-to Red Arrow Order: Mug of bacon and a veggie omelette
