steep newsletter: behind the scenes with debo balogun

Ensemble Member, Debo Balogun, recently wrapped filming his upcoming project Exes of Christmas Past, set to premiere this holiday season. Debo pulls back the curtain on working on a film set versus performing for the stage in this exclusive interview.

How is the process different between working on a movie and doing live theatre?

I guess one of the big differences for me is the amount of rehearsal you get. For a play, you're used to having 3-5 weeks of rehearsals where you're cracking into the text, exploring on your feet with your castmates and the director, asking questions, and getting to know your character. The preparation process for a theatre actor is much longer and more collaborative - you have the time to really work the play into your bones. Whereas, in film, you're doing a lot of the prep work on your own at home. Maybe the film director will have a day or two of rehearsals prior to when principal photography starts where the actors will read the script aloud and get the opportunity to ask questions. But for the most part, that prep work is done solo. Then you show up to set with an idea of your character to put forth (while still being malleable to direction), you set and rehearse the blocking for whatever scene you're doing maybe once or twice, then the director calls "action" and the scene is filmed (several times from several different angles). And then you move on. What you did in those takes is how that scene will live forever. I find that it is a much more mechanical process than doing live theatre.

It comes with its benefits too. If you mess up in a take, you can just start over and the editor will cut around it. On stage, you don't get any do-overs. But what you do get on stage is the ability to immerse yourself in a story chronologically (usually) from start to finish. And that is really thrilling to me. Long story short: both mediums are very fun and rewarding to work in even if they come with their own set of limitations.

What is it like working on a movie that is set around Christmas time?

In the case of this movie: warm. We shot the film in the final weeks of April when the weather ranged from 40 degrees to 70 degrees. The actors were costumed as though it were December so naturally on those hotter days of filming things got a little sweaty. Luckily production came equipped with ice packs to help cool people down.

Beyond that, there is an air of joy and awe working on a Christmas movie, in no small part due to the amazing work of our Art Department who made all of our sets look absolutely magical.

What was the best part about working on this film & why?

Truthfully: the people. I don't know how but production managed to assemble the kindest, most patient, talented, and collaborative group of people for their cast and crew. Not only was everyone astoundingly good at their jobs, but also everyone was genuinely committed to working together to make the best movie we could. That type of work environment is crucial when you're working 12+ hour days.

Also getting to stay at the Cherry Tree Inn Bed and Breakfast was amazing! Much of our film takes place in a B&B, and so we spent a full week shooting on location at the Cherry Tree Inn in Woodstock, IL (pictured here). Fun fact: it's the same B&B that the movie Groundhog Day was filmed!

Since we were working long hours and Woodstock is a good 50 miles from Chicago, production arranged to have myself and other members of the cast crew stay overnight at the Cherry Tree B&B throughout that week of filming. It felt like a cute little Christmas sleepaway camp!

Exes of Christmas Past is a very different piece compared to A Case for the Existence of God. What do you change about your process as an actor in order to play such different roles?

I would say the process for A Case was definitely more research-heavy as an actor. During rehearsals for that play, our director Robin Witt shared a lot of information about the demographics and culture of Idaho, specifically the city of Twin Falls, ID where the play takes place. Since the character I played in A Case was an adoptive father, I did a lot of research on the ins and outs of the adoption process in addition to being curious about understanding the unique set of anxieties and other emotions that can come up when navigating a harrowing process such as straight adoption or fostering-to-adopt.

With Exes I was able to take a more light-hearted approach. The movie takes place in a fictional suburb of Chicago, so there was no research to be done on the location. My character Ellis is a quirky, big-hearted, well-intentioned guy who is unfortunately plagued by a lot of relationship anxiety which is a plight I can relate to very well, so there wasn't a ton of work I had to do in order to step into his shoes. Because of this, I think I was able to relax more which led to some really lovely moments on and off camera during this shoot.

What was your biggest takeaway as an actor on this project?

Whenever I have wrapped on film or TV projects in recent years, my takeaway has always been "trust yourself". That definitely still rings true this time around, but it's also accompanied by the lesson of "trust your crew". The thing about acting on film is that, at the end of the day, the way your performance looks and is perceived is entirely out of your control. Once everything is shot, the director will work with the editor (in this case our director Jake Jarvi is also editing the film) to pick out the takes and moments they liked best and stitch everything together to make the finished product. My job as an actor is to give them a series of solid options to choose from and then trusting them to use those options to craft the best, most compelling story they can. During this project, it became clear to me how much faith you need to have not only in yourself but the people around you. Because no one wants to make a bad movie. It's in the collective's best interest to spotlight and lift everyone else up on the way to achieving that shared goal of a finished quality film.