Robert Craighead is an award winning actor, writer, producer and country singer. Craighead is known for his recent roles in Seth Rogen’s Hulu TV series, ‘Future Man’, as Detective Vincent Skarsgaard and as Tyler Perry’s “go-to” country sheriff. He was series regular, Sheriff Mobley, on Perry’s ‘Too Close to Home’ and currently stars as Sheriff Conley in Perry’s ‘Ruthless’ on BET Plus.
You have worked in the entertainment business for over 30 years. What is the key to longevity in this business?
I guess you might say the key to longevity in this business is to approach it more as a lifestyle. Being an actor for me is not something that I do, it is more what I am, who I am, a way of life.
When I was younger and first starting out, I felt an urgency to find success quickly but as I settled into my career, I realized it was much more fulfilling to simply enjoy the whole process. If you are fortunate enough to make a living as an actor, you are living the dream, be grateful for every opportunity you get to perform.. It’s a great way of life, if you live it in the present and appreciate the gift you’ve been given.
You are respected as one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood. What role have you enjoyed the most?
LOL, I always consider the role I am currently working on the one I enjoy the most. Actually, creating a character and working with the writers and director to flesh it out is my favorite part of the process. On a television series, you even have more opportunity to have time to allow the character to grow in various directions and develop idiosyncrasies.
When I first read the character of Detective Vincent Skarsgaard in “FUTURE MAN”, I knew immediately who I was. The way I spoke, the manner in which I walked, the thought process I needed to have in order to truly understand what Skarsgaard was going through.
I was originally hired for a TW- episode Guest Star but as we worked on the character with the writers and fleshed out the possibilities, the role kept expanding to what became two seasons. Seth Rogen and his team were very open to all of our ideas, for example, when Skarsgaard gets demoted from Detective to Meter Maid, I recommended I wear extremely short, shorts…the producers howled. I’m pretty proud of the character we developed.
Tell us about your role as Sheriff Conley, on Tyler Perry’s “RUTHLESS”. How do you prepare for this role?
I absolutely LOVE working for Tyler Perry! I have been extremely fortunate to have worked for him now for the past five years on two series. Sheriff Conley was offered to me shortly after my role as Sheriff Mobley ended when “Too Close To Home” was canceled.
I wanted there to be a big difference between the two Sheriffs, so I started with my appearance, I shaved my goatee I had been wearing a few years and cut my hair shorter and dropped about 30 lbs (which was needed, anyway, lol)
Sheriff Mobley was kind of a bumbling country bumpkin, small town Sheriff type, who looked at himself as the patriarch to the community. He wanted to be everyone’s friend and to help solve all their problems.
Whereas Sheriff Conley, is more of a hard nosed by the book cop, having one time had aspirations of being an FBI Agent. However, as we have progressed into season three, we will begin to see another side of Sheriff Conley evolve that I think is really going to blow our fans away.
Tyler Perry has a way of getting to know his actors and finding their interests and incorporating some of your personal style into the storyline. For example, Tyler knows I sing country music, so one day at the end of shooting a scene where I had been drugged, before we cut, Tyler yelled out, “Ask him if he likes country music….now sing him a song!” Which I did, Tyler kept it in and the audience LOVED IT!!
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for many more seasons of working as Sheriff Conley and at Tyler Perry Studios.
What is your advice for upcoming actors today?
The best advice I can give to a young actor today is to prepare yourself. Find an acting class and a teacher that you feel can help you grow and learn your craft. Too many young people go into the business today without having any training whatsoever. This is your chosen profession, take it seriously and put in the work. I always use the analogy that a baseball player cannot go into a game and hit a home run if he hasn’t gone to batting practice!
Most recently, you have produced the award-winning film, Amazing Grace. What led you to this project?
Nina Brissey and I have worked together on a couple of World Premiere Musical Comedies over the past 10 years and became close friends during that time. She approached me wanting to make a film together and so we hashed out a few possible scenarios before deciding on something that hit very close to home for both of us. Nina went to work with veteran screenwriter and playwright Steve Mazur to develop this beautiful story of a father, who is a Vietnam Veteran and his caregiving daughter’s relationship dealing with his alcoholism and PTSD. We raised quite a bit of money on Seed & Spark to get the project started and then were fortunate enough to have Kevin and Geric Frost, producers whom we had worked with before, collaborate with me financially to get the film finished. We have been very fortunate on the festival circuit this past year and thrilled to have been honored by winning numerous awards at various festivals throughout the U.S.
We will be having our West Coast Premiere at The Pasadena International Film Festival September 9-16th and then at The NOHO Cinefest, October 1-7th. We are so excited to finally share our film in Los Angeles!!
Do you have a favorite scene?
I guess if I had to choose my favorite scene in “Amazing Grace” it would have to be a very simple scene where the Father (played by me) and my daughter (played by Nina Brissey) have a quiet touching moment as she is tying my shoes. In this moment, the reality of how much he needs her and the love they have for each other is brought to the surface without a word being said.
Your screenplay, “Catch a Fallen Star” features music by CMA and Grammy winner Paul Overstreet. What inspired you to write “Catch a Fallen Star?”
Paul Overstreet and I met about 7 years ago when I starred in a World Premiere Musical Comedy based on 17 of Paul’s hit songs. The play was “Sneaky Old Time” by Steve Mazur and Directed By Mike Myers at The Ruskin Group Theatre in Santa Monica.
Paul and I hit it off right away and quickly became great friends. We have done a few live concerts together in various cities across the U.S. and have even collaborated writing on a few songs and recorded them in Nashville with some fantastic musicians. You can catch Paul and I in concert coming up September 25th in Electra, Texas at the 100th Birthday Celebration for The Grand Theatre, a Texas Historical Landmark. All proceeds go to the continued restoration of this 100 year old Opera House.
In regards to “Catch A Fallen Star”, I had for years been thinking of a storyline about a country music singer and his relationship with a son he had never known. While working on the play, it inspired me to put the story to paper and what I came up with was an award winning screenplay that Paul Overstreet offered to write all of the original music for. We are still in the process of finding funding for the film so if any of your readers are interested in making a movie about family, love, redemption and country music, just let me know!!
What’s next for you?
I just returned from Mexico City where I was working on a film with my old classmate from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Writer/ Director Nick Cassavetes. The film is a true story that Nick adapted a screenplay for from the book by Boston Tehran “God Is A Bullet”. It stars Nickolaj Coster-Waldau, Ethan Suplee, Jamie Foxx and Maika Monroe. I’m thrilled to be a part of this film and to work alongside my old friend after all these years. Nick is a phenomenal Director.
Next, I start filming another new film ‘Redville” written and Directed by Isaac Eaton in late August in the high deserts of Southern California.
You can catch the second half of season two of Tyler Perry’s “RUTHLESS” starting in November on BETplus and we already have season three in the can and ready to air.
In London, we have the World Premiere of our film “CRABS!” on August 26th at Frightfest before it heads back across the pond for release in the U.S. and of course everyone is looking forward to the release early next year of the sequel to our blockbuster video game “God Of War’.