Pop Culturalist Chats with Marcus Rosner

Marcus Rosner actually didn’t grow up acting; he spent his time playing sports. After graduating high school, he took a trip with his mom to New York and saw some Broadway shows. He was hooked.

Since then, the Canadian-born actor attended acting school and has found success on screen. He has been a part of many different projects, like Arrow, Mistresses, Tomorrowland, and Once Upon a Mattress. Currently, you can catch him on the third season of darkly funny UnREAL. We were lucky enough to chat with Marcus about the show and what’s coming up next for him.

PC: Can you tell us a little bit about your character on UnREAL?
Marcus: Warren is a down-home rancher from Texas. He’s the cowboy of the season. You will be able to spot him because he constantly wears a cowboy hat. He’s gone to be on Everlasting because his mother is on her death bed, and she really wants him to settle down with a nice girl so she knows he has someone to be with when she goes.

PC: What was your biggest challenge with bringing Warren to life?
Marcus: Honestly, it was probably learning about someone who has the same sort of conservative political views that someone like him would have. It’s not something that I’ve necessarily been in a position to have to try to relate to before. I wanted to see how someone like that would fit into an environment on the show—one that’s incredibly liberal, incredibly morally ambiguous. Figuring out the fish out of water was fun.

PC: What was your favorite part of being on UnREAL?
Marcus: I don’t think there’s been a lot of TV shows out there that are doing what it’s doing right now: giving a behind-the-scenes look at how reality dating shows are scripted and contrived in a lot of ways. It’s a world that I was very unfamiliar with—and a world that I think the vast majority of the population is unfamiliar with—so just having that inside look at that while being a small piece of telling that story was exciting.

PC: Warren is described as the “bachelor cowboy.” If you were a contestant on a show like this, what would your tagline be?
Marcus: [laughs] I don’t know…“hardworking mama’s boy seeking love?”

PC: Do you have a dream role?
Marcus: I’m kind of obsessed with prison documentaries so I think it would be cool doing something set in a prison. Oh, you know what? People are always telling me that I look a lot like Christopher Reeves. Because of that, I’ve done a lot of research into his life. He had such a fascinating life: the huge movie star career, his accident, and the advocate he became after the accident. I think it’d be really interesting to try to portray him.

PC: What advice would you give someone just starting out?
Marcus: I wish I could go back in time and give myself a lot of advice, that’s for sure! It’s funny, you need different advice at different steps along the way. Starting out…it is just that luck equals preparation meeting opportunity. You can’t control the opportunities given to you, but you can prepare for them so that any given moment you’re ready for them when they come.

PC: What’s coming up for you?
Marcus: There is a project I did last month with Heather Morris, who’s probably best known for Glee. We did a short film together called Dance with a Demon. We play a young married couple who’s on a farm. Heather’s character is suffering from really deep depression, and we have an eight year old daughter. So, I’m trying to explain to her what’s going on with mommy and why she’s had to go away to this clinic—which is really hard for her to understand. Half of the film plays out in her mind; she’s envisioning mommy in this big battle with a demon. Joel Sturrock put on all this prosthetic makeup [to play the demon], and there’s this elaborate choreographed dance sequence that is their battle. It’s going to be really powerful.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

Guilty pleasure TV show
I loved the Jersey Shore when it was out.

Favorite Movie
Goodfellas

Favorite Book
The Long Walk by Stephen King

Musician You Could Listen to on Repeat
The Weekend

Hidden Talent
I can play the harmonica—I had to learn for UnREAL. Originally, my character thinks it will make an impression on the suitress, but it got cut. But I spent three days watching YouTube videos and teaching myself how to play. [laughs]

Place You Would Like to Go Someday
Paris

One of Your Favorite Places You’ve Been
Sherwood Park, Alberta—my hometown.

Person You’d Most Like to Meet Someday
Barack Obama

Photo Credit: Lane Dorsey