In a profession shaped by auditions, rejection, and the constant pressure to land a breakthrough quickly, Brian Gilleece has chosen to remove the clock from his career. Pointing to actors including Harrison Ford, Bradley Cooper, Alan Rickman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kathy Bates — whom he worked with on Matlock — he questions how many remarkable careers might never have happened if every performer had imposed an age limit on success. “Imagine if they gave up. What would we have lost?” he reflects.
That philosophy runs through a career that has already included projects such as Westworld, Hollywood, and Matlock, and now enters a new chapter with his recurring role as Iain in the second season of Sugar. In the interview, Gilleece discusses building a character who initially had no scripted dialogue, what he learned from watching Colin Farrell both on and off camera, and why teamwork, patience, and learning to recognize his own accomplishments have become essential parts of his life in Hollywood.
You mentioned that growing up in New England, acting never felt like a profession that was realistically available to you, and you initially studied business before moving to Los Angeles. Was there a specific moment when you realized you needed to leave the conventional path behind and find out how far acting could take you?
It’s not that it was one defining moment, more of a lifetime of observations, it just felt clear I wanted something else. New England is beautiful and a wonderful place to grow up, but is a pretty traditional version of life and I never felt like a “white picket fence” type guy. I just came to realize that version of life would not be fulfilling for me and I needed to see what version of life would be. I’ve always felt very fortunate to have studied business in school because the Acting business can be very unpredictable financially and I’m a pretty lousy waiter, so working in business has always given me a solid financial base to build from. Also it is something else to spend time and energy on in between projects which is important, what do you do when you’re not acting, because that is one of the biggest parts of being and actor, how to not go stir crazy.
You describe acting as a lifelong pursuit, in contrast to sports, where there is a much clearer physical and temporal clock. Has that sense of having no fixed deadline changed the way you approach ambition, rejection, and success in your career?
I’ve seen so many actors who give themselves this arbitrary clock, “If this does not happen by the time I’m 30 I’m quitting” or “If I’m not a series regular in the next year I’m going home”, that’s a lot of pressure. And think about how many great actors we would have missed out on if this was the case. Harrison Ford, Bradley Cooper, Alan Rickman, Sam Jackson and even Kathy Bates who I worked with on Matlock, all did not get their “break” until later in their lives and careers and have still been incredibly impactful. Imagine if they gave up. What we would have lost? I’m in it for the long haul. I love acting, so why would I put a clock on it when it is one of the few professions that does not require one? Who knows what the future holds. And as far as “rejection”, I’ve worked in professional outside sales for over 15 years, officiated ice hockey, umpired baseball and did stand up comedy, I’m just fine with difficult feedback, it’s sort of my default position.
Iain began as a recurring character with no scripted dialogue, which meant much of the character had to be built through presence and physicality. How do you create a memorable personality when you initially cannot rely on words?
Well, let me preface, I was trying to support Colin’s show the best I could by bringing as much to my guy as possible. As far as being memorable I’ll leave that to Colin and Laura, who were fabulous. One thing I did do was always try to hold a secret, one that nobody else in the scene knew to try to create a sense of mystery. The audience does not know who or what these guys do, what they are up to, what their relation to Sugar or Charlotte is, so trying to create a sense of mystery was really a focus.
You and Moose Khan thought about details such as how your characters would sit, hold a drink, or move through a room. Is there a small gesture or physical choice you gave Iain that audiences may never consciously notice, but that reveals something important about who he is?
I’d love to have been able to pull a Brad Pitt and always be finishing some food in the scene (I love when he does that), but it just didn’t work out. No, there was nothing in particular that was “locked in.” You have to just play the scene in the time and place your at. In the restaurant we made some choices that were very different then at the party because our relationship to Sugar had changed and the story had developed, so we just focused on being present and consistent with the main characters and supporting the story.
You spoke about observing Colin Farrell not only as an actor but also as a leader on set. What was the biggest difference between admiring his work from a distance and witnessing firsthand how he builds a character and interacts with a crew?
Colin is one of the most intense actors I’ve ever had the pleasure of observing, he’s so exciting to watch. When he clicks on for the scene it’s like he is looking right through you, he is just so expressive and committed, I believe it’s why he has had the career he’s had. He’s simply undeniable and impossible to not watch. I dont know his process for Sugar but I do know there was a considerable amount of physical and mental preparation. Every time I’ve watched one of these great actors up close it looks so effortless, but that is only because they’ve put in all the work prior to landing on set. Colin was no different and equally makes it look so easy. In the same breath he’s very collaborative with the team and engaged in simultaneously advocating for his character but also for whatever is best for the show. I like leaders who lead by example, and Colin is great at that as a #1 on the callsheet – he gets the best of everyone on set, because he demands it of himself.
On Westworld, someone from your earlier life spotted you in the middle of this enormous production and told you, “You’re doing the thing, man!” Now, after Sugar, Matlock, Hollywood, and so many other projects, do you still have moments when you need to stop and recognize how far you have come?
I recently had the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game, (definitely a bucket list moment), I think 6 year old Brian would think that’s pretty cool. When I was walking to the mound the announcer was announcing to the crowd some highlights from my career and I had a little moment and thought “oh yeah, you did all that!”. Obviously I have big things I still want to accomplish, but I’m working on being able to focus on and be proud of the experiences I’ve been lucky enough to have rather than the ones that slipped away or haven’t been realized yet. It’s wild to look at who I have had the chance to collaborate with – sometimes it does not seem real. Also, I’m an Aries so patience is not really my thing, I want everything yesterday. But being a bit more present couldn’t hurt. I think taking a look around at the stadium the other day in the moment was a start. Also I tossed a 65 mph strike down the middle of the plate, so that was a relief!
After working with creators including Ryan Murphy, Jonathan Nolan, Derek Cianfrance, and now the team behind Sugar, which lessons from those experiences do you hope to carry into the characters — or perhaps projects of your own — that you want to create in the future?
These are all major productions and every single minute of screen time costs hundreds of thousand of dollars. The constant theme across all of these sets was just how important every single department is. Hundreds of people contributing to the making of the show. Skilled artists, stylists, craftspeople, all doing their jobs at 100%. That is the only way projects of these magnitudes come together. I don’t know if you have heard this, but sometimes, actors can be little self centered and think they are the center of the universe? The reality is you’re just part of a team that is expected to do your job at the same high level as everyone else. Keeping that mindset is the best thing you anyone can do. I leaned that from sports and I’m very grateful for it, its a gift to carry that through to this career, which is very similar. Another thing that all of these big projects have in common is they have all shot in Los Angeles. All the best things I’ve been a part of have shot in the best place in the world to shoot film and television. There is no other place on earth you can get the level of talent in every department as LA. Colin made a point to shoot Sugar on location in LA because he recognized you gotta go where the best people come together to make things. I happen to agree, they are in Los Angeles and I’m heartened to see a lot of production return to LA.
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