Meet Tyler Gaylord | Actor & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tyler Gaylord and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tyler, what do you attribute your success to?
I guess we will jump right into it with this one. There’s been a lot of talk about a self-made person. Especially when it comes to Hollywood. Publicists and talk shows love to weave these stories of celebrity success to inspire belief. I though, feel this is disingenuous. Arnold Schwarzenegger has lived one of the most full and unique lives a human being can have, once said, “The concept of a self-made man, is a myth. I would never have made it in my life without the help. So this is why I don’t believe in the self made man…as soon as you understand that you are here because of a lot of help, then you also understand that now is time to help others.”

I know that any success I’ve had, and any success I will have, will be because of the incredible people in my life. I am just a scoreboard for the beautiful people who have given me their time, belief, and love. Which is why almost every photo I’ve selected for this interview contains some of the people who have been there with me along this journey. It’s just a small way to be able to say thank you for helping make me the artist I am today. There are many people not in these photos who I feel are instrumental to my success and I’m sorry I couldn’t find ones to add.

So. People. The people I have around me are the most important factor behind any of my success.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Has it been easy? No, it hasn’t been easy, and it’s only going to get harder from here. But I’m nowhere close to where I want to be and I still have so so SO much to learn. So I actually hesitate to say anything because as we grow and continue along our journey, our understanding changes. And what I know right now may not actually be the best advice. So, there are two pieces of advice that I think are smart to give:

1. Find mentors in your life that are where you want to be, and listen to them. Listen to the person who has the fruit on the tree.
2. Stay in the game. If that dream is still something that you want, do whatever it takes to stay in the game. This is my second time in LA, and it’s way harder to move out the second time than the first.

What am I incredibly proud about? Well, that would have to be my latest film, Who Dunt Dunt Dunnit. Written and directed by Thomas Tulak, this is an incredibly funny whodunit murder mystery in the vein of, Clue with the self-awareness of a Mel Brooks film. Thomas shot this large cast on weekends over 2 1/2 months. I couldn’t even fathom the gargantuan task he had a creating this ridiculously fun film and I was honored to be a part of it.

We have already won awards at other indie film festivals. And we just screened the film at Kevin Smith’s inaugural SModcastle Film Festival. What an incredible achievement and I could not be more proud of this film. So stay on the lookout for it once it’s available on VOD.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s only one spot that I really want to talk about. Obviously I love the beaches, the restaurants, the rooftop bars and the lights of the Sunset strip. And if this was a podcast I would probably share with you about one of the most incredible weeks of my life. Where some of my friends from Maine visited just as things were opening back up during the pandemic.

But, I wanted to share this quick story about my favorite spot in the city. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was a 20 year old kid with absolutely no money in my pocket. I had moved out here with my best friend, having took a four day bus ride, and landing in Studio City (it was the most “Hollywood” sounding city I could find when I was moving from Maine).

I lived in an apartment complex near the corner of Ventura and Vineland, and after one particular stressful day, I took a walk and called my mom. Little did I know, as the incline of the street grew, that I was actually taking a small hike. I was enraptured by the cute, almost cottage looking houses on the bottom of the hill. At the time it was October, so everyone had decorated for Halloween. And I just kept walking, curious about what would be at the top, the houses went from cute cottages to extravagant houses. The city started to fade below me, and when I had reached the peak, I had found myself on a place I had only ever heard about; Mulholland Drive. I was mystified by the view.

Millions of lights below all representing millions of lives at once. Each life had its own dream attached to it and I could see every one of them from up here. I had never felt so connected to this foreign city until that moment. It instantly became a hike I would take anytime I needed to clear my head, which, when you’re pursuing acting in LA, happens quite a lot.

Even to this day I still escort anybody visiting me up to the top of Mulholland. Most people don’t really want to hike it with me, so we usually drive to one of the lookouts. But it’s up there I’ve had some of my best conversations, shared some of my biggest dreams, and cried over some of my biggest defeats.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Honestly, there are so many people that it’s really hard to pick just one. But I’ll pick somebody who is instrumental in any success I’ll have moving forward and did not, sadly, get a photo. And that man is my acting coach, Mark McPherson.

Mark is somebody who instills confidence into others. As an acting coach, he improves your artistry regardless of where you are in that journey when you meet him. But more than anything, he has given me the wherewithal to aggressively pursue my dreams.

I’ve always been a big dreamer. That has never been an issue for me, but sometimes those dreams were so huge that they could crush me. My ambitions were so intimidating that they were the opposite of inspiring. In fact, they created inaction due to intimidation. But, there’s something about Mark, where you just begin to believe.

Now thanks to him, I’m not just an actor, but I’m a writer, director, somewhat of a producer, and I’ve even performed some music! Again, none of these things happen without the incredible artists and connections I have around me. But I think before I met Mark, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to collaborate with them. Now, I just want to create bigger and bigger things.

Instagram: @tylergaylord

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-gaylord

Twitter: @RogueTyFighter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tyler.glord/

Other: I also have a podcast on Spotify with my best friend Freddie; The Watering Hole. You can find us here – https://open.spotify.com/show/5iKdTQTqfkhhKs11oMrOaK?si=5a0769e777184205

Image Credits
Becca Thompson