Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Night Night’s Neels Visser

From deejaying at iconic venues across the globe to landing international campaigns for brands like Michael Kors to founding his own company, Neels Visser is a multifaceted talent who’s taking over the world.

But that’s not all! This year, he added actor to his growing list of achievements.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Neels about his journey in the industry, making his acting debut in Night Night, and what’s ahead for his company Glassie.

PC: From a young age, you’ve always known what you wanted to do with your life. How did you discover your passion for the arts and entrepreneurship?
Neels: Great question. I grew up in an entrepreneurial household. I had great examples between my dad, uncles, and grandfather, who all started their own businesses.

When I was younger, I started washing cars. I was trying to find something to do to be able to buy new skateboards and whatever random sh*t I needed back then. That led me to build this tenacity to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to solve problems and help people. I realized pretty quickly that I had a good skill set to do that.

When I was fifteen, I started producing house music in my bedroom. I started modeling a little bit before that, but it wasn’t really much of anything. I was living in Phoenix, Arizona at the time.

When the family moved to Orange County, I decided that I might as well sign with an agency in LA. Once I did that, I started booking more jobs and built more of a profile. There wasn’t really a secret sauce to my recipe, if I’m being honest; I just started posting what I was doing. I’d post a selfie doing laundry or flying somewhere. It was something that was super simple. I started to grow a following.

From then, I started to notice that they liked these things, these things did really well, and these things no one cared about. Once I learned what people were liking, I started making YouTube videos and started traveling a lot more for work. It was all built from there. I started to post more content on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram—that’s how it started for me. We’ve gone quite a long way since then. But yeah, that’s a little bit about the start.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Neels: Two people. One is my dad. He’s a very standup guy, and he’s a great role model. I’ve watched him build something from scratch. He recently sold his business, which has been really cool to see from a young age to where I am now owning my own business.

Then also, I’d say someone whom I think has a really awesome career that I look at as an inspiration is Ashton Kutcher. As an actor, he’s done so many amazing movies and TV shows. He’s a hilarious guy. I love watching him on screen.

In his personal life, he’s very philanthropic and does a lot for his communities. He’s also heavily invested in all these different unicorns and startups as well. He teamed up with his manager, Guy, to start Sound Ventures. What he’s done between Sound Ventures, his acting career, being a father with Mila [Kunis] is so cool. It’s like a three-pronged approach to a career. I’ve never met him, but he seems like a really nice guy.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Neels: There have been a few moments. Consistency is key. I’ve always had to be consistent and continue to post. If a new platform comes out, you have to find a way to make your own content there. Also, be true to yourself. For example, I don’t actually use TikTok personally, but I use it for my business.

But in terms of moments, I was the first male ambassador for Maybelline, which you could say was a female cosmetics brand, but now you can say it’s a cosmetics brand for all. It was unique because it wasn’t something that they had done before. It was a unique scenario in which we shared a fan base. We decided that I would deejay at their after parties. I would sit in the front row at fashion shows that they sponsor. I did behind-the-scenes YouTube content with Adriana Lima, Gigi Hadid, and all the girls they had on set. I was acting as an ambassador other than wearing makeup. That was really unique because it put me in a light where I was standing next to some icons when I was a pretty young guy who didn’t have their track record. It was fun. It was cool. I had a lot of creative control. I got to bring in my own creative team. We shot and recorded all the YouTube videos and did all the music for it.

That was a really fun campaign. I loved doing it. Simultaneously, it catapulted my career. Other brands were looking at me like, “Oh, he’s with Adriana, Gigi, and all these girls.” Like I was saying earlier, I didn’t have the track record back then. That campaign and others like that where we really thought outside the box have attributed to the larger paths of success in my career.

PC: You’re making your acting debut in Night Night. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What did you learn about yourself as an actor?
Neels: I want to say the most surprising thing was I thought it was going to be a very anxious environment because I was the new guy on set. I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t have the same experience as compared to anyone else in the cast. I’ve been on big sets and shot videos for commercials in the modeling space, but I’ve never recorded my audio and had multiple camera views of the same exact shot—that on its own made me feel a lot of pressure. If I had no one else watching me and no followers, I might have felt different. Because I felt like there were people watching my every move, I felt this pressure that if I’m not good this first time around, no one’s going to ever think I can act.

I felt like I had to be good. But the minute I got to set and even before that, the pressure went away. The minute I got to Texas (where we were shooting), I briefly met with the other cast members. I felt so welcomed. I felt like I couldn’t make a mistake no matter what I did as long as I tried and gave it my best. I felt true to myself, and I didn’t have to try and play anyone; it was more about channeling certain energy within my own character. That was the surprising part. I thought I was going to be really scared walking into it, but I felt so welcomed.

PC: How have your experiences as a model, a DJ, and an entrepreneur prepared you for this moment?
Neels: I want to say that because I’ve been in front of a camera before—this wasn’t my first time—I do feel comfortable in front of cameras. I did plays when I was growing up in school. I went to private school my whole life. Once or twice a year, we put on a full-on play or musical. I always wanted to be the main guy because I’m competitive. I liked taking the stage. That happened at a young age.

Then, deejaying and being in front of crowds, on the runway, and stuff like that gave me a bit of an advantage. I didn’t feel like I was walking into something completely blindfolded. I felt like I had a rough background being in front of a camera or having people look at me. I definitely think that was a great resource to have.

PC: You’ve said in previous interviews that this character is very different from who you are. How did you prepare to step into his shoes?
Neels: My character Shots is definitely a more badass, little raunchy, more of a party-goer, and carefree person than I think I may be. I honestly had to think of who I knew who was like that. Who do I go out and see? I was like, “Oh that’s the guy!” There were a few people that came to mind. I had to channel the energy that they give off to me and to other people when I’m around them.

PC: It was a relatively quick shoot for you. In your scene, you can really tell that there’s a real friendship between Shots and Jax. How did you and Taylor [Gray] build that bond? Was it instantaneously?
Neels: It was. Like I was saying earlier, the night before we started shooting, I had met them all. We were at a small diner—it was the nicest restaurant in this small little town that we were in. I was sitting there alone, thinking that I was going to grab dinner real quick and get ready to go to set in the morning. Then, this group of kids walked in. I was like, “Oh, that’s interesting. There’s this whole group of young kids. They seem cool.” One of them walked right up to me and was like, “Hey, you’re Neels, right? We’re shooting with you!” I was like, “No way.”

We ended up cracking open a bottle of wine and we were all chatting. That definitely got the juices flowing. Taylor and I very quickly got to know one another. He was so supportive. He was like, “Dude, you got this. Don’t overthink it. Just be the guy. No stress.” We had such a good conversation and got along really well. When we got on set, I felt like I was talking to a friend and not an acquaintance or coworker.

PC: You’re the co-founder of Glassie. If your character had a Glassie, what would his personalized message be?
Neels: Whoa, that’s a good question. His Glassie would probably be a quote like “Send It” or “Rip It”. It’d be about going out and that kind of energy and having a good time. Maybe it could be that emoji of the two glasses cheering.

PC: That’s a great answer. As you continue your acting career, do you have a dream role that you would love to play in the future?
Neels: Yeah, I just watched the new James Bond. I’ve been obsessed with James Bond. I think it’s the portrayal of this badass dude who’s a spy; he’s got the girl, a cool car, traveling the world, and he’s low key. I love that. I always thought it was so cool. There’s a lot of other roles that I think would be cool and more edgy, but I love the sophistication and suaveness of James Bond. I’m probably too young for that role, but maybe in ten, fifteen, twenty years.

PC: As we look ahead to the rest of 2021 into 2022, what can fans expect from you?
Neels: Good question. A lot of my energy and focus goes into Glassie. It’s really where I believe I’m able to control so much of the roadmap. As the talent, you’re at the mercy of other people making a decision and choosing you, which is fun, but it’s hard to create a roadmap for yourself like that.

In the next year or two, you’ll see a lot of cool collaborations that I will be doing with Glassie. I may get involved as the talent, too, which I think is cool to have that crossover as well as having access to the resources that I’ve built through networking in my pretty short-lived career. You’ll see a lot of that.

The modeling world is kicking back in. I just shot a Michael Kors global campaign in St. Barts for the past week. That was really cool. A lot more modeling campaigns will start coming back up with COVID finally going away.

I definitely think you may see me going on auditions and casting, hopefully filming my next project in the next year or two. As far as music, you’ll definitely see me deejaying at a few clubs around the world.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Neels: One that I’ve watched a few times that I just think is so badass is Breaking Bad. I just love it.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Neels: You know what? I have this conversation with people all the time. Movies are so specific to my mood. One minute I might want to watch a comedy like Step Brothers—I could watch Step Brothers on any given day, and it’s still going to be as funny every time as the first time. But then there are times when I’m in the mood for Nocturnal Animals that Tom Ford directed. It’s very cool and very different. It’s very dark and completely different than Step Brothers. It’s a hard question to answer. If I was to put on a movie now, I’d probably watch something different than I would watch later tonight. Step Brothers and Nocturnal Animals are two good ones to mention. I also love Eyes Wide Shut—it’s edgy, weird, and cool.

PC: Favorite book?
Neels: There’s a doctor named Joe Dispenza, who I’ve talked about a few times online. He’s got a really cool series of books. The one that I’ll mention is called Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. The name alone hooks you in. It walks you through all these redundancies and idiosyncrasies like your subconscious programs within your day-to-day life and how that creates your personality traits and character and who you are to other people.

Stuff like that where I can open up my own brain and learn how I am, that stuff is really cool because I’ll read that and feel so inspired to change.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Neels: Probably Mamma Mia, honestly. Seeing it on Broadway was really cool. The songs are all great. It’s just a good classic. Otherwise, The Lion King‘s always good too, but I think Mamma Mia was probably more fun to see.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Neels: I feel like I have such weird music taste. I’m a very open music listener in terms of house music, whether it’s deep house, progressive house, tech house, base house, UK house—you name it, I love it. There are so many that I could name, but one that is more notable is Kavinsky. I love Kavinsky. I don’t think people would assume that may be on my playlist.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Neels: I want to say Ryan Reynolds, just because he’s so fricking hilarious. He’d have the right suaveness, but also make a joke out of everything. I also love Ryan Gosling. He also has some really cool roles, and I think he would play me pretty well. So, I don’t know…I’d probably say Ryan Gosling.

To keep up with Neels, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Night Night wherever you stream movies.

Photo Credit: Guanchen Liu