INTERVIEW @olivertrevena Life has been a complete non-stop adventure

We talk to British Actor Oliver Trevena who made a successful career for himself in the US about his various projects, including his passion for fitness and business…

British born Oliver Trevena is a star of the Hollywood screen and has done something very few British people have accomplished – he moved from the UK to Los Angeles and carved a successful career as an actor, entrepreneur, and fitness enthusiast. He has starred in films including The Long Road, The Good Guys, Leverage, The Forgotten and How To Rock. He is also the former TV host of the celebrity chat show, Young Hollywood. We asked him about relocating to LA and also about his attitude to fitness…

DH: What motivated you to move to LA and how difficult was it?

OT: We’re going back 20 years now. I grew up in Hastings and had an amazing upbringing. But there was just a couple of bigger moments that shifted my mind into thinking I needed change. I was 18 years old, and I was walking back home one night, and I was jumped by three guys and pretty much pronounced dead on the scene. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was in a coma, and I spent the next nine to 12 months of my life in surgery.

It made me more driven to experience something different. I did get some compensation. At the time, I was a struggling performer. I was doing a lot of theatre and I was about to leave on a cruise ship for a theatre show. So I ended up with some extra cash. It did open some new ways of thinking. A friend of mine was in the States, and I went to visit and loved it. I remember checking into the Hyatt Hotel on Sunset, right in the heart of Sunset Boulevard. I checked in for a few nights, negotiated a rate and stayed there. Back then there weren’t a lot of British people there, the only ones were expats living in Santa Monica who were construction workers. So, I got noticed and started to build my life from there.

DH: What was your first big break? Or was there a moment you were literally walking down the street and were discovered?

OT: It was a little bit of everything. I fell into music first; because my friend was performing, and they were putting together a boy band. And I met Vic Scott who did New Kids on the Block and Boyz II Men. We got connected and that helped me get my visa. I started to write music.

I just love performing. That’s what I grew up doing since I was four years old. I was in ballet school. I did 12 years of ballet theatre. I was open to everything. I was just like, ‘I’m in Hollywood. Tell me what you want me to do’. That put me in front of a lot of different people.

DH: Tell me about your first big break into screen work.

OT: I fell into TV hosting. It was a great opportunity. And 12 years later, I was still doing it. I got to meet a ton of people and I was good at it.

There’s business stuff that I’ve done in between things. It was a lot of work to juggle. But to be able to do something else knowing that if all else failed, I’ve still got A, B, and C. Every one of us has our own journey, right? I got back into acting. And it’s paid off. It’s been a complete non-stop adventure. And one that really is still just beginning.

DH: Your roles have been really diverse. Do you think that has helped with the other projects you’re now working on?

OT: Yeah, I think it’s probably also down to the fact that I just love working. When someone says, ‘I’ve got this project, do you want to give it a read?’ I’m more likely to say: ‘Let’s go for it’.

I love working with different coaches and teachers, because you get little nuggets from each one of them. I find it somewhat therapeutic. So, I’ve always trained, I’ve trained in improv, which really helped my hosting work, I’ve trained in comedy. So, I was always trying to constantly add strings to the bow. I’m 41, I feel like I’m getting my momentum.

DH: Is looking after your body one of your passions?

OT: 100%. I was living in the hosting world, which was so much fun, I’d go from doing the Grammys pre-show to interviewing everyone that I’ve ever wanted to meet in the music world to doing a show for the Hollywood Reporter. I had my own show. So, it’s a very glamorous, but a non-stop paced life. But I was just getting extremely burnt out physically.

DH: And that’s what led you into fitness?

OT: Exactly and because I wanted to feel better. Your body is your mind, your mind is your body, it’s connected. If you have a healthy body and you’re conscious of what you’re putting in it, you are suddenly a happier human being, you’re more focused.

I’ve been the ambassador for a British (clothing) brand called AllSaints for 12 years now. When they launched in the US, at first it was just fun and then it became a lot more. When I get involved in something, and I love it, I can’t help but stick my nose in. I learned things like where to open a store and growing a market.

I saw how a brand could grow. I wanted more of it. I like the creative side of it. It’s about telling a story. Whether you’re telling a story with a brand or listening to someone’s story as a TV host it’s all communication. That’s really what got me thinking more about business.

Now on the transition to health and wellness. There was a gym called Dogpound that I trained at in New York, I was training there when I was doing the Grammys show. And I just hit it off with founder Kurt Meyers and was like, ‘Why don’t we bring this to LA?’. We put one foot in front of the other from raising capital to how to structure it and bring in the right people. I learned a lot there. Every situation, you learn a bit more.

I don’t want to be the guy that’s suddenly, ‘Hey, you should do a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, but you should also go out tonight and get some action on my tequila’. It doesn’t really make sense. It’s funny when I see so many people doing that because it’s like, ‘Do you want to live this healthy life, or you want to get hammered?’ And it doesn’t mean that you can’t have a balance, but I just don’t believe you’re authentically pushing something when you’re pushing the opposite for five hours.

I get a lot of brand deals from alcohol companies who I don’t know how but they just seem to have bottomless pits of money. Sure, I’d enjoy it. But now it’s just not for me, you know? I’m sober now.

DH: What motivated you to make a change?

OT: It stopped working for me. I had a great time on it. I just didn’t like hangovers. I’d be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to do a sober January’, or ‘Now I’m going to do three months. So now maybe six months’. Once you’ve done that, and then you do have a night out? Of course, the hangovers are worse. You’re like,’ Why did I do that? Life was so good without it.’

It’s then just training that little voice. There was an amazing book someone told me to get many years ago now called the Chimp Paradox (by Professor Steve Peters). It’s about training your inner Chimp, that little voice on the shoulder. And that resonated. It’s not like I’m now on a perfect path. But those moments get less. I think the transition is that I wanted to be healthier because I enjoy that part of life more.

DH: How do you immerse yourself in an acting role?

OT: Every role is obviously different. Depending on the depth of it, and the level of it. A lot of the action stuff I’ve done has been very heavy on the body. When it’s a supporting role, and you’re not in all day, it’s handy because I juggle between the business stuff, too. As I’m not using an accent, if I’m still British, it’s easy for me to come off the set and jump in on a business. If I have an accent, I tend to not do it just because I want to stay in the character a bit more. The role I just did in Boston, I play a man who is bipolar, suffering with depression, and he’s having a real breakdown. It was really emotional; I would get back to the hotel room and still be crying. And I’d have to pull myself out it and be like, ‘No, mate, life is actually really good’.

DH: Then I presume after a heavy role like that you need a break to reset?

OT: So important to reset. I recently did a life transformation course called “The Hoffman institute” No cell phones, no technology, and deep intensive work on the spiritual self. I honestly believe if I didn’t do that, I could have had a breakdown myself and stayed on an exhausting track in life. I was in Puerto Rico in an action film. We were filming in the rain forests, night shoots. I hate bugs. I’m holding the machine gun, meant to be a tough guy, and then some a bug would land on the back of my neck. And that’s it. I’m out. So, you’re on these long night shoots. We had loads of fun, and we would film all night. And then I would get back to the hotel, I’d work from 6pm to say, 5am. I’d sleep for three or four hours, and then set my alarm clock and boom, it was like work stuff all day. And I would be doing that nonstop, three weeks, and it drained me. I can’t do that again. People call it in the ‘flow state’, or you’re in your moment, the most powerful thing is saying no, so now I’m having to remove some things from my life and get back to having time and balance. We’re in a world where everyone wants to jump on Zoom. Setting the boundaries that you want in life is important.

DH: If you can have any superpower, what would it be?

OT: I’ve always wanted to fly. I’d love to read people’s minds. That’d be great.

DH: If you can train or be in a film with anybody past or present, who would that be?

OT: I’d love to do a movie with Joaquin Phoenix, and I’d love to train with Steven Gerrard and kick a football around.

DH: Final question, what’s your favourite indulgent meal?

OT: Chicken tikka masala with Peshwari Naan. And I love a roast dinner. You can take the lad out of Hastings, but you can’t take Hastings out of the lad, I guess.

Watch Oliver in the new Gerard Butler blockbuster - Plane in cinemas now.

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