Meet Sam Lukowski | Actor

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

Hi Sam, how does your business help the community?
It doesn’t.

And I reject the idea that art and entertainment exists solely to promote social change or social justice.

That’s not art – that’s propaganda.

If art changes the world – or if it somehow manages to help the community – that’s great!
And if you want to be an activist as well as an artist – awesome – do it!

But you shouldn’t have to – it should not be a requirement for opportunity or success.

If I can fix your car – the reason I should be paid to do it is simple – I can fix your car.
If I can entertain an audience – the reason I should be paid to do it is also simple – I can do it.

If I can reliably reach out to someone out there on a personal level with my art – great – that’s the service I offer. If I can’t – the audience owes me nothing because I work for them. I am not better than anyone – I only really offer escapism through empathy. Nothing more and nothing less.

Entertainment for profit is a luxury – and I am extremely grateful for any opportunity to work professionally in this crazy thing we call ‘showbiz’ – but I also have no disillusions of grandeur about it either.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Nothing more boring to an audience than an actor talking about acting.

The script is what actually matters – we actors are pretty interchangeable.

Any meaning or social commentary or political importance probably all comes from the writers – or worse – the distributors.

I guess if any one thing sets me apart, it’s that I both understand and fully accept my character type – which actors have no real control over. In this industry, your type is your type – unless you’re a celebrity, which I am not – so, my type is sleazy, violent, villains. Now, I don’t pick those roles – the Casting Directors do – but I am eternally grateful for their decisions because I love to perform and I have bills to pay. My manager once put it perfectly, he said that: my brand is ‘abused, abusive, or both.’ If Casting doesn’t hire me to work on set – I work manual labor jobs – my rent doesn’t care how it gets paid.

And after 15 years of working in this industry, I can confidently say that any of my success is due to a combination of practice, hustling, and doing favors. Unfortunately, the part that matters most in showbiz is marketability. And much like character type – actors have very little control over how marketable they are – the sooner you accept that fact, the freer you’ll feel.

So, I’d never call my career’s journey easy – but I also know that other people have it way worse than me – so, complaining about it would just make me an entitled prick. I decided a long time ago that I only wanted to play the bad guy on TV – never wanted to be a real one at home – my wife deserves better than that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Officially, COVID has ruined everything and the quarantine has destroyed our economy and social life.

Unofficially, grab some cash, tell me where and when you’ll be here, and we’ll meet up and get into some trouble together.

Can’t say too much – at least not on the record – but I can say it’ll start at a bar and end at dawn, and you’ll be laughing all the way.

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?
There are far too many people for me to list whom I owe a debt of thanks.

My wife, my parents, my little brother, and every doctor, teacher, and co-worker that has ever had to put up with me.
They ALL are owed all of my gratitude!

I believe we are not owed happiness in this life – myself included. Instead, I believe that we each owe a debt of happiness to each other. If someone has helped you in life – you must find a way to return the favor.

I hope that makes sense.

And I hope those reading – who know that I still owe them – know that I will die trying to repay them.

Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4033051/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samlukowski/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/samlukowski?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LukowskiSam/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjpoDgV-0Sc

Image Credits
LA Casting, Robert Israel, and DSME