Meet Casey Miller | Actor & Non-Profit Leader

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

Hi Casey, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Finding ways to keep the passion a passion instead of just work. I always say that if I quit acting tomorrow (which, to be clear, I have no plan on doing), I would still be a film fanatic. There are really outstanding programs in LA like the American Cinematheque, Vidiots, The New Bev, Secret Movie Club, that really underscore why film is such a cultural necessity and how magical it is, and I think those resources can be incredibly encouraging to people who work in film in any sense. My best friend Gunnar is also an actor (who, by the way, has a series airing on Comedy Central right now called Everybody Still Hates Chris!) and he showed me how falling in love with all elements of filmmaking and international film and historic film can elevate and inform the way that we make art today. I just did a show for Amazon over the summer that I absolutely must be sparse with details on for now, but I don’t think I’d have booked that or half the work I’ve done if it weren’t for loving film and film history.

I’m also a board member of an organization called the Tyler Sanders Foundation, which is a film non-profit where we fund scripts for filmmakers under the age of 25 who don’t have the opportunistic or financial access to filmmaking the way that LA locals do. This hardly comes as work to me, as again, I love film and I love reading screenplays, but most importantly I feel very strongly about the mission of lowering the threshold to getting into filmmaking professionally. I think it’s something many people in film can sympathize with. My care about that mission and my love and respect for film as an art form is what keeps me involved in it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I suppose easy is a bit relative – I think working in film and finding your footing is inherently tumultuous for most who get into it, but I’m sure I’ve had it a lot easier than others. When speaking to how I got into it, I cannot emphasize enough that film found me. I was a child model in my very young youth (as in, started at 4 years old) out of San Francisco where I did commercial campaigns for Old Navy, Gap, things of the like. Big box stores. I’d catch voice over auditions here and there for localized ad spots sometimes, but for nearly a decade that was my only brush-in with “acting” auditioning, until Pixar sent out a notice for Dash in Incredibles 2, which I auditioned for and did not get. Maybe half a year or so later, I got an audition for the scratch recording of Luca in Luca, which I wound up booking, and that set me on a path to falling head-over-heels in love with voice acting and prompted me to get an agent in Los Angeles for film and television representation, then my family moved from Northern California to Southern California. All of this is to say, I really did get lucky with catching the auditions that I did and having had the agent that I had in San Francisco, but I did do my due-diligence from a very young age in the modeling market.

After moving to LA, the “goings” were very slow for years. I booked Luca when I was 11 or 12, and I didn’t work again until I was 15 for a co-star spot on Euphoria. Not long after that, I did a movie called The Nowhere Inn, which was great as it went to Sundance and Tribeca and SXSW. That was a great year for my resume. After that, it was a lot of callbacks and directors reads for bigger roles, but nothing really took. It wasn’t until this year, 5 years later, where I worked again with the Amazon show. It ebbs and flows for sure. There are times where it feels like you will truly never see employment again (the SAG strike especially underscored that) and times where you feel like you’re right on the precipice of success. I think the highs are very high and the lows are very low. A half-decade stretch in between acting gigs can be a real blow, but again, I kept at it because I absolutely adore film and filmmaking. That’s what helps me overcome things.

I think my story parallels many Hollywood stories. What I’d want people to impart from what I’m saying now is that… you really never know. It’s impossible to anticipate anything in this industry most of the time – I never planned on being a voice actor, but that became the center of my life and my passion, which then folded out into performance art overall. If you’re someone who feels discouraged by your work, be it in film or in any field, I’d implore you to ask yourself why you wanted to get into it in the first place. If you trace your career back to the time where it wasn’t a career, but more of a love for something and an aspiration, you’ll find a great amount of inspiration to keep going there. You cannot change the world or the industry around you, but you can find news ways to keep your love for it alive. Also, never be afraid to do things that might be considered beneath your level. Some of my most successful, talented, and well-paid peers are still doing short films with their friends constantly in between the studio/professional gigs because it keeps the rust off and, more crucially, is a way to remind themselves of why they do it in the first place.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I have this written out in my notes app for this exact reason. I LOVE hosting friends. I’m also giving away some information that’s very sacred to me here, but I must be generous!

Breakfast will always be at Bobs Big Boy or Paty’s – those are some wonderfully preserved pieces of history with some pretty classic delicious breakfast food to boot. I do prefer Paty’s for the food – their bacon gets way crispier than Bobs. However, Bobs has The Beatles booth, the David Lynch booth, the John Waters history, the Big Boy photo op, so it’s hard to trump that (especially for a tourist).

I think East LA has some of the coolest things for people traveling through town. If it’s a weekend, hitting the Silverlake flea and the Los Feliz flea is a crowd pleaser, especially for people who aren’t necessarily from a bigger city where they don’t have big versatile markets like that. It’s a fantastic way to kill an afternoon.

Speaking to Los Feliz, a revivalist screening is a must. The Los Feliz theatre has their partnership with the American Cinematheque and has some excellent screenings through their Cinematic Void series, which is the coolest. They’re always doing screenings on 35mm, which is my favorite format to see a movie. And the ambiance is great. And the concession is cheap. If not there, a screening at the Egyptian or the Eagle Rock Theatre with Vidiots. I make it a point to take any out of town visitor I have to revivalist screenings, not just for my own interest, but because it’s a resource that’s not offered anywhere else the way that it is in LA.

For additional recreation, the beach is always good for non-coastal visitors, and I always make time to go to Malibu or Zuma beach. I think Santa Monica pier or Venice are more fun if you’re from LA, but Malibu is more serene and scenic and possibly a bit more digestible for out of town visitors. Going up through the Malibu mountains alone makes it worthwhile. I also love taking people to local bookstores, like Alias books in Atwater Village or Skylight books in Los Feliz. If my guest is up for it, hitting a local show at the Zebulon in Silver Lake, The Smell in downtown, or Sound Studios in Van Nuys is always fun. For music lovers who are less interested in the local scene, Amoeba is never-not a crowd pleaser. That said, outside of going to Amoeba or the Egyptian, Hollywood is pretty much strictly avoided by me and the company I host.

Now for food… this is where the aforementioned generosity comes in. Every, and I truly mean every person I’ve taken to Casita Taco Al Carbon in Burbank on the corner of Victory and Magnolia has absolutely loved it. I HIGHLY suggest you order the carne asada tacos with cheese, onions, and cilantro, and nothing else. It will blow you away. As I write this, my mouth is watering. Everyone has their “best taco” in LA, but I would argue in a courtroom that these are actually the best. The women who work the counter are also the friendliest ladies you will ever meet. They’re like sisters to me at this point. Dune in Atwater Village is much more well known, so no secret there, but it’s some of my favorite Mediterranean in the city. Their lamb is killer! Lastly, All India Cafe in Glendale and Pasadena is some of the best food overall in LA. It almost pains me to put it in public forum, but they really deserve it. Any item there will be worth your dollar. Also, for late-night dining that isn’t diner food, Figaro Bistro in Los Feliz is great.

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?
My parents are the reason I’ve been able to pursue acting and have encouraged me since the ripe age of 12 when I first stumbled into voice over work, so the unconditional support from them would be my number one. Otherwise, the aforementioned best friend Gunnar Sizemore has been like my north star when speaking to my artistic development as an actor coming out of my youth and into my young adulthood. Two acting coaches, Joshua LeBar and Devon Kawoka, who couldn’t have had more opposite teaching styles but both instilled great disciplinary values in me when it comes to regarding screenplays that I’m either auditioning for, cast in, or now reading for the foundation – which brings me to my last point, the Tyler Sanders Foundation, whose mission is evergreen and so dear to me and something I’m very fortunate to be apart of.

Bonus: Wim Wenders, Kyle Maclachlin, David Lynch, Julianne Moore, who are some of my favorite people in film who have very directly inspired me from an impersonal distance.

Instagram: caseymille.r

Image Credits
Brandon M. Young

Screenshot from HBO’s Euphoria Season 1 Episode 5