If you’ve paid attention to indie film over the past few years, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Chris Messina’s work — but he wasn’t always one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors. In his own words, Messina recounts a career trajectory full of challenges, from getting cut out of a Meryl Streep movie and nearly quitting the business to stumbling over Aaron Sorkin’s complex dialogue on The Newsroom .
Electric City
Chris Messina refuses to say he's the hardest working man in Hollywood.
And that's fair — there are countless actors out there struggling to be seen, putting in thankless hours in an effort to break through. Messina was once one of them. Now that he's found mainstream success, starring on The Mindy Project and premiering his directorial debut Alex of Venice at the Tribeca Film Festival, he is grateful for all his opportunities, as stressful as they sometimes are.
"There comes a time when you have to refill the well, so it'll be nice when things slow down a bit and I can take a breath," he admits. Sitting on the patio at Santa Monica's Palihouse, Messina looks almost peaceful, a stark contrast to the litany of obligations he's rattling off. "I finished last season of The Mindy Project, and then started prepping [Alex of Venice] at the end of that season. And then I went into a few Newsroom episodes, and then went off and shot the film, and then had two weeks off, and then went back to The Mindy Project, where I began editing the film. And then I did that throughout the entire season. The Mindy Project just ended and only last night did I finish working on the sound for the film."
While he's not one to complain, he'll at least concede that, for a time, he was working too hard.
"It was a bit stupid on my part to take on that much, and I think everything suffers when you do that much," Messina says. "I think your work suffers, your relationships suffer. Some of the decisions I was making were with only a couple hours of sleep, so I hope to direct another movie again, but I would never do that with anything else. I would like to clear the deck."
Beth Dubber
Alex of Venice — in which Messina also stars — is his film directorial debut. He was offered the project by producers Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell, who previously collaborated on Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, among others.
But it was Alex of Venice's screenplay that made Messina commit to directing.
"The script spoke to me," he says. "I recognized myself and my family and my friends and all the people I know and love in each and every one of these characters, so I wanted to give it a shot."
Messina had directed theatrical productions before, and he'd also coached friends he put on tape for films. But Alex of Venice was a unique challenge — while he was excited to take it on, he was plagued by the standard insecurities.
"When you're doing it, you're going, What the fuck am I doing? Am I screwing this up?" he says. "But the train has already taken off and you're committed and you've cast it, and you're a couple days into the film, and you're hoping that you don't mess it up because the script was so great."
Messina's career as a whole reflects an actor (now director) always looking for a way to push himself further, often at the expense of his sanity and sleep schedule. His rise from barely working actor to indie everyman speaks to his smart career choices — and yes, his occasional need to bite off more than he can chew.
"It is exhausting," Messina says. "And I have two children."
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