Oracle Online

O: Where would you like to be in ten years?

SW: Hmm. You know, that’s a question I should think about more often I suppose. In ten years, I would like to be in good company, feeling as though I am serving other people, while also feeling as though I have succeeded in acting, if I can continue to do that. But also to just continue serving others I suppose. And physically, I don’t know where that will be, but just as long as I’m with good people and doing good things, that’s where I want to be.

O: Have you lived in the Twin Cities your entire life?

SW: No, I grew up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and I’ve lived here ever since I came to college.

O: Do you prefer the Twin Cities to Eau Claire, or do you miss Wisconsin?

SW: I love Wisconsin, but I do prefer the Twin Cities to Eau Claire. I don’t imagine I will be living in Eau Claire at any other moment in my life, beyond temporary parental housing. At this point I’m more of a city person. I love the Twin Cities, and what they have to offer. There’s just a lot going on here that I like to be involved with.

O: What are you involved with ?

SW: Well, right now, school is clearly my main priority, but with that, there’s also outside projects. Last summer I did a full-length, feature horror film, that actually will be shown at the Oak Street Cinema on April 2. That was a pretty big success of mine. That was the first film work I had ever done on a professional level. It was actually a student-directed film, but they’re looking to sell it, in some capacity.
Besides the work I do within the walls of Hamline theater, I’m kind of involved in just exploring the world. I don’t work outside of Hamline, I have work study job here. It’s just kind of like getting out there and seeing what’s going on.

O: What has been the most interesting thing you have discovered while exploring the world?

SW: How little I know of myself. And yet, how I think that’s a good thing to be aware of. It keeps me honest. It keeps me looking. It keeps me aware of what’s going on around me so I can learn from other people.

O: So, you like being in movies. What is your favorite movie to watch?

SW: That’s a great question. Probably the most impossible question to answer. My favorite movie to watch, well, there’s a difference between movies that are easy to watch and movies that are difficult to watch, in terms of why they’re, you know... I mean, you could have a great movie, but, let’s hear if I can just give you an answer. [Pause] I don’t have an answer actually. I will say that I return to a great host of movies that I watch over and over simply because I can’t afford to buy new ones at this point. I watch many of the films I already own quite frequently. They’re all very good.

O: If you had to match your life up to a movie genre, what genre would it be?

SW: Comedy. I would say dark comedy, because the more real it gets, the more seriously you start to take it, the funnier things become. The more humor you find in how things are sometimes, actually most often, quite irrational, trying to make sense of that is hilarious. And yet it works. And you can find yourself in it. And you can see beautiful things when you can laugh.

O: What has made you laugh today?
SW: [Laughs] I tripped and fell today. I thought that was pretty funny.

O: If you could be a gold medalist in any sport, which sport would it be?

SW: Well, I recently realized how much I respect people who are in water polo. I think it is a tremendously intense sport, and I love to swim. If I was going to be a gold medalist, I think I would like it to be in the marathon. Yeah.

O: If you could leave Hamline tomorrow and go do anything in the world, what would you do?

SW: I’d maybe go learn how to fly a plane, if that were possible to do in a day. I may see about getting some people that I care about up there with me, if they trusted me.

O: Where would you fly the plane?

SW: It would be important to know where I wanted to fly if I were up there flying it, that’s for sure. I would like to fly over to Scotland, because I’ve never seen Scotland. I’ve always wanted be over there. That seems like kind of a lofty endeavor. I don’t know what kind of plane I would be flying. I’d just fly over Scotland and see what’s going on.