Betting it All on Nigel Vonas
Nigel Vonas likes the hard way. Perhaps a more accurate way to state this is that Vonas is an actor who likes a challenge. He’s won numerous awards including a People’s Choice Award (Most Outstanding Performance) for his performances in “Danny and the Deep Blue Sea” and “Cherry Docs”. He’s been in big budget films and television programs including Universal’s The Chronicles of Riddick, (Golden Globe nominated) Prison Break, and Warner Bros. Television’s (Leo award-winner) Arrow. Still, redefining himself is the path of any exceptional artist and Nigel revels in the process. The characters he takes on are often the ones which cause both the audience and the actor himself to question what is at the core of this person. Two of his upcoming roles are great examples of the spectrum Vonas displays.
Feature Film drama/thriller Dead Weight has a disturbing premise. A woman finds herself lost in the desert with an impaled leg, suffering from amnesia, and with a strange bag that she can’t let go of. As she finds her way out, the items in the bag and a meeting with a Baby Shaman help her to confront memories indicating she may have killed her brother.” Vonas appears as this brother [Randy]; a complex and intriguing character. Randy is physically disabled man whose past brings conflict to the audience sympathizing with his current condition. His inability to comprehend societal standards and norms is off-putting while his dedication to his sister is endearing. Nigel reveals, “Randy did something in his life that I could never imagine doing yet I had to find a way to make sense of it. I had to find a way to make myself believe it was the right thing to do. When Hannibal Lecter ate people, he didn’t see it as disgusting, abnormal, or even illegal, in any way. Even though Randy did something unimaginable to most, I had to find a way to get people on my side. I had to go to places within myself in this film that I haven’t gone before in life. I had to make light of some very dark places. It was very difficult for me to escape from the place I had brought myself to with this role. It took a couple weeks of reclusiveness to get back to a touch of reality.”
Taking his ability to convey darkness to its apex, Vonas appears as convicted murdered Chris Watts in the Investigation Discovery television series American Murder Mystery. Numerous actors have created iconic villains. From Christopher Lee to Kathy Bates and beyond, these actors have proven that being nefarious is an art unto itself and is proof of range. Nigel reveals, “It’s a challenge to play a character that everyone hates and is repulsed by. This is the kind of challenge that I love. If I don’t enrage, confuse, and mystify people after they have seen my portrayal of this character, then I haven’t done a good job as an actor. Therein lies the challenge. I definitely seem to play more evil and villainous than kind and lovable characters.”
Moving towards a balancing of his roles, the actor assumes a much lighter character for filmmakers (and sisters) Hallie and Audrey McPherson’s Earthquake Country. The film centers on a wanna-be reality star’s aspirations to leave her small hometown behind by capturing footage of her family at the height of their dysfunction; her mother’s annual birthday party for her dead twin sister. Though he’s often portrayed the villain, Nigel confirms that his presentation of Mac in this film is a return to the comedy he always loved and exhibited in his youth. There’s a non-threatening duplicity to Nigel Vonas. He’s continually exploring the dark and light of himself and human nature itself. Watching him do so is a frightening delight.
