ERIC STANTON BETTS PLANS TO MAKE IT

Faking it can be applied to so many things. Just ask Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally or the recent Super Bowl commercial she did with Billy Crystal. Or perhaps a job interview. Or a political debate. We’ve all done it and we’ve all seen others do it. For actor Eric Stanton Betts, faking it just isn’t in his vocabulary.

Betts is appearing as “Mark” in the world premiere production of Larissa FastHorse’s new play, Fake It Until You Make It.

The show is running through March 9th at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. The play moves to Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage where it will run from April 3rd to May 4th.

The less you know about the play, the more surprises there will be. This is a farce where how people present themselves is not always grounded in reality. Fake It Until You Make It is set in the office space shared by N.O.B.U.S.H. and Indigenous Nations Soaring. The proprietors of each, a Native American woman at the former and a white woman at the latter, have a rivalry that gets wildly out of hand. As Mark, Betts plays a young man looking for a job. What he finds instead is utter chaos that sweeps him up without warning.

What follows are excerpts from my conversation with Betts. To see the full interview, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: What stands out to you most about this play in terms of the themes that most resonate with you personally? 

I’m part Cherokee Indian and I grew up in a very white suburban neighborhood. So it’s offered me a lot of opportunity to rediscover a bit of my heritage that I haven’t had access to most of my life. I think what’s really interesting is that this show is built around Native people and Native culture, but it’s got themes of identity and authenticity that anyone can relate to.

I think in a world full of social media, where we’re always seeing the best of the best of everyone’s lives, it’s hard to kind of figure out exactly if you’re on the right path or if you’re doing what you’re meant to be doing. It’s really cool that it’s being sparked by a Native playwright and through the lens of Native people, because I feel like through all of history, Native people have always remained true to the earth, to their lands and true to themselves. It’s great to see Native people host this conversation.

This is all housed in a farcical comedy. What surprises you most about the way Larissa FastHorse has been able to put her message in this unexpected form?

Often times when you see certain pieces of work the audience goes in feeling like they’re being taught a lesson; that they can kind of tune out or almost be offended by the work that they’re seeing. Each character has their own motivation throughout the show, but the audience gets to decide, and I think harbor that discussion, on whether or not they think that they’re doing this right or wrong.

I hope that the audience comes in and they laugh. They have a good time. They laugh at the absurdity. They laugh at the discomfort. And then, once it settles in them, they can be like, I did laugh at that, but why did I laugh at that? And then it can start to fuel some of those conversations and hopefully fuel some change, too.

On opening night I heard that there were new pages given to the cast on Friday and Saturday before opening and that there were even new pages given to you at the beginning of the week just before opening. What are the challenges of getting so many new pages that close to your opening night? 

We were working on this show all of January. We had our first preview at the end of the month leading up to opening night, which was February 5th. We were getting new pages up until the very last day. We’re coming up to our dressing rooms and we see Larissa FastHorse walking down the hall. She goes, “New scene one at your door, new scene, one at your door.” We look down and there’s a whole new scene one sitting at our door.

It is a lesson in preparation. Coming in to a new project like this you’re going to get new pages. If you are not completely prepared, meaning off book as much as possible and knowing the ins and outs of your character, when you get a new page you’re just going to be saying words. If you know everything that you need to know about your character, then you can jump into those new pages with tons of conviction and really apply yourself to the narrative.

How important is faking it for you? Whether personally or professionally, has faking it been a part of how you found a way to navigate your way through the world? 

When I was quite young, I had this need to succeed and be perfect. The best that I could be. I think part of that was hiding my sexuality and my identity as a queer person and hoping that if I was really, really good at this, that people wouldn’t notice that. The lessons that I’ve learned is that I don’t think faking it is worthwhile in any regard at all. I think you have to be really true and authentic to yourself because people can tell when you’re faking it. I think people can’t trust you when you’re faking it. If I can go into the world and present the most authentic energy that I can and be the real me, then I think that’s going to be the best path forward.

What’s the best way for you to tell when someone is not being authentic or real with you? 

I kind of have this philosophy in life, and some people think it’s very cynical, that people will always let you down; whether intentionally or unintentionally. And it’s going to let you down a little bit. If you can expect that sometimes, then it won’t be as devastating when it occurs. I tend to believe the best in somebody. I think that’s really important to just make sure that you can harbor a space for people so they feel welcome and safe. I hope that in doing so, people don’t ever feel the need to fake it around me.

We have this whole idea of how we present ourselves, which is something we control on some levels, but how people receive us or what they think of us is not something that we can control. As someone who is attractive, who participated in Mister USA for Tennessee, there are going to be people who make certain assumptions and have certain expectations of you. What do you think is your greatest asset in being able to get them to realize that their preconceived ideas are not the things that accurately represent who you are?

It’s a very thoughtful question. Thank you. That’s my pageant response right there! To be clear, I’ve only done one pageant. It was Mister USA last year and I had a really good time. I don’t think I would do another one unless it was something international.

I think what I’ve recognized in my career is that being a pretty face, more often than not, kind of gets in the way of people taking me seriously as an actor. I’ve done a few showcases and I’ve listed commercials and modeling experience and this, that and the other. I’ve gotten responses from people that are like, we’re not looking for models who want to act. And I’m like, okay, well that’s great because I’m an actor first. I’ve been pursuing this since I was quite young and modeling is something that I was able to jump into in my late teens, early 20s and make a little bit of a living off of that.

For me, what’s been important is that I just keep showing up and putting in the work. When I go into an audition, they don’t just see a pretty face, they see someone who really cares, who has compassion for the character they’re going out for and really wants to offer the best of myself to the project. I want to uplift the work that they’re trying to do.

I believe that I deserve the things that I’m getting because I’ve put in the work for it. Matthew McConaughey once said in his book Greenlights [that] he comes across people who win an Academy Award and they go up on stage and they go, “I can’t believe this is happening to me.” His rebuttal is, “Believe it. it’s happening. You’ve worked hard for this. You’re there for a reason.” So without arrogance, I think one can accept the accolades they’re collecting with humility and grace and be really grateful, but also understand the work they put into it and acknowledge that. And I do like to acknowledge that. I’m just going to keep showing up. You might see a pretty face, but behind that face is really hard work and determination.

To see the full interview with Eric Stanton Betts, please go HERE.

Main Photo: Eric Stanton Betts and Brandon Elsid in Fake It Until You Make It (Photo by Makela Yepez/Courtesy Center Theatre Group