Henry Golding has an especially noteworthy first acting credit: The lead role in the global, critical, and commercial success “Crazy Rich Asians.” Previously, Golding had been working as a television host for BBC Travel and was invited to audition. Needless to say, he’s experienced a career shift, having since starred in “A Simple Favor,” “Monsoon,” and “Last Christmas.” Next up, he stars in Paramount’s action-packed “Snake Eyes” (in theaters July 23), in which he plays the titular character in the origin story of the G.I. Joe character.
Prior to getting invited to audition for “Crazy Rich Asians,” had you considered acting as a career?
It was always kind of a pipe dream. When the opportunity arose at first I was like, There’s going to be a time and a place when I’m going to do it, but it’s definitely not now, I’m a television host, I'm concentrating on this. But that was the universe giving me a slap ’round the back of the head like, “This is your chance, this is your moment, you should start.” It’s always been definitely a dream of mine. I knew I wanted to garner as many real life experiences, go through as many chapters in my personal life as possible to be able to hone the craft where I’m pretending to be somebody else. How can you pretend to be somebody else if you haven’t been you? That’s what I had in my head. I was always like, I'll know when I’m ready, I’ll know when I'm going to do it. Two, three years prior, I had the itch and I put myself through acting classes in Singapore while I was still doing the hosting just to see if I liked it. I fell in love with it. But then I get an email out of the blue from the BBC saying, “We’re looking for a new host for this travel show. We’ve seen some of your work, we’d love to have you on board.” A couple of years later, I got bullied by [“Crazy Rich Asians” director] Jon M. Chu to audition for him. And the rest is history, as they say.
After ‘Hustlers,’ Constance Wu Is on That Next Level How did you prepare for that audition? Has your process changed over the years?
The lucky thing was, I think I was as close to Nick Young as anybody could be: His mannerisms, just the way he is written. I was very lucky to be approached for a role that wasn’t all that far from who I was as a person. That really helped, especially for a first-time actor in a big movie. It was a lot of running through the audition lines, over and over again. I think I spent about five, six hours with an acting coach to get this one audition tape over to Jon. By the end of the session it felt so forced, but I was like, You know what? I’ve done the best I can. I spent so much time on it, so much energy. I’m going to send it. I’m probably not the right guy for it anyway, I’m sure they want somebody with a lot of experience. I heard back from Jon a couple days later and he said, “Hey man, how’d you feel about that?” And I said, “To be honest with you, I didn’t enjoy it as much. I felt like I was pushing. It wasn’t genuine.” And he was like, “I felt it. We’re drawn to you because of who you are and what we’ve seen in your hosting and who you are as an everyday person, so why don’t you do it all again but just have fun with it? Just enjoy it. Bring out you, because that’s the person we’re looking for.” The second time I did it, it felt fun. It felt so natural and that was what led to them flying me out to L.A. and having a chemistry read.
Tell us about your first day on set.
When you’re in pre-production, you always go through camera tests. Jon’s really good and he builds a set and a feel and a vibe. It’s, one, to configure all the cameras to the right settings and two, it's to see everybody interacting onscreen. Essentially, that’s your first day on set. I almost had this nervous breakdown. It was just like, What am I doing here? I think everybody goes through a bit of imposter syndrome. I just felt so awkward, I felt out of place. All the other actors were doing fantastic. I just felt like, man, they’re going to call and say we’ve got to get somebody else because this dude is no good. That’s literally what I was saying to myself the entire day. I just felt so down and out about it. I was so in my own head that it felt like my first day blues. I was like, You know what? If I can get through a day like that, the rest of this is going to be easy.
Is that the advice you’d give yourself?
One hundred percent. We’re always our own worst critics. It’s hard to separate your self-judgment from yourself. So it’s just finding peace within that barrage of self-doubt. It’s kind of like, maybe I’m not right for the role but you know what? I’m going to give 110% and I'm going to bring my A-game because that’s the best I can do. If you manage to say that to yourself and are able to achieve that, there’s nothing more you can say, no matter what demons are screaming in the back of your head. You brought what you could to the table.
What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a role?
To be honest, I haven’t had that opportunity. There’s plenty of amazing projects that have been out there in the ether and I hit up my agent and am like, “Whatever it is, I’ll be the janitor in the background of this project. I’d love to play some part.” Most of the time, it never gets anywhere, but it’s putting it out into the universe. It’s finding that balance. I know fighting for a role is really important and you need to show you’re willing to go above and beyond. But at the same time, you don’t want to be that pest. Write a letter, just don’t end up stalking the director or hanging around outside the casting director’s house. But make sure you let them know the project means something to you.
What’s your worst audition horror story?
Especially in the beginning stages of your career, you’re still trying to figure out who you are as an actor and what you can bring to a project. Sometimes you just go for roles for the sake of going for a role, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but a lot of the time they’re not suited for you. I’ve had like three or four where I’ve left the room like, “Wow, at least I tried. I’ll give myself a brownie point.” As an actor you’ve got to swallow your pride once in a while. If you’re on your high horse and [thinking] I’m too good for the role, you’re really going to close yourself off from a lot of chances. It might be a small role now, but if you get along really well with the director or if the producer sees something in you that they had in mind for another project, it always leads to bigger and better, so don’t limit yourself.
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What has “Snake Eyes” added to your acting skills?
Physicality, 100%. This film was super demanding in the combat realm of things. Physically, I had to get in shape, I had to learn a tremendous amount of martial arts and choreography stunt work. This is the first time I’ve done proper stunt choreography. There’s a sense of ferociousness within [the character] Snake Eyes, this damaged goods which I hadn’t been able to explore in my other roles. So when I was talking to Robert Schwentke, the director, about it, his take was so humanizing. It’s something that we hadn’t seen before in Snake Eyes, the character, in any of the other films. That’s what drew me to it. It wasn’t just like a gun ’em, slash ’em, action movie, it really has depth. We see Snake at his lowest, lowest point in life. He’s been led down very stray roads under the guise of him wanting to get revenge and it’s made him make some bad decisions. We see the repercussions of that and we see how he tries to make amends for that. Snake Eyes is a character that keeps a very large collection of masks because that’s the only way that he’s known to protect himself from the outside world.
How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA card?
For any young, up and coming actor, it’s always a dream to be acknowledged as a peer and for me it was SAG. I went from “Crazy Rich” to “A Simple Favor” and then I did an indie called “Monsoon” so it was only “Monsoon” that I officially was welcomed into SAG. I have been to the SAG Awards and SAG talks and it’s weird being on stage and everyone’s like, “I remember when I got my SAG Card, I did five commercials,” and then there’s me: “I wonder when I'm going to get mine!” It was like, Oh yeah, I'm actually not a member just yet.
What performance should every actor see and why?
I always fall back on “There Will Be Blood,” Daniel Day-Lewis. If I ever want to be inspired by an actor, that’s the film that I watch. And also Paul Dano is phenomenal. Those two in that movie, it’s a dream. I watch it with my mouth open.
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