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Interview
with Aaron "Quick" Nelson - Actor |
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Don’t let the fact that actor Aaron “Quick” Nelson is a big sturdy guy
who can cast a mean look with the best of them if his film role requires
it, scare you off, because as witnessed in the 2016 Hallmark movie
Christmas In Homestead he
really is just a big teddy bear. In the movie, which starred Taylor
Cole, Michael Rady and Brooklyn Rae Silzer, Nelson plays Gavin Williams
the bodyguard for actress Jessica McElllis (Taylor Cole) who is filming
in a small town, as Christmas approaches.
Aaron Nelson talks about his character “He seems to be this tough
bodyguard, this intimidating looking guy and a very militant type, but
what you start to realize is he’s like a teddy bear and he cares for
little Sophie who is played by Brooklyn Rae Silzer. She is a very
talented and phenomenal actress.
He always had advice for everyone and you start to realize that
Gavin has a lot of wisdom and (you learn more) of him later in the
story. With Jessica (Taylor
Cole) she falls in love and she asks Gavin questions and he has answers
for them. He gives her what she needs, so she can see in life what she
always wanted. She is a phenomenal actress and (her character) falls in
love with Matt played by Michael Rady.”
There is an aww moment in the movie when child actress Silzer and Nelson
have an extended scene at a pretend tea party.
As for how he prepared for the role of Gavin Williams he says, “I
thought about who was involved in Gavin’s life and I had to understand
each character. For instance I looked at what Jessica McEllis was going
through in her life and I then looked at what my purpose was going to be
in her life. For Sophie played by Brooklyn I had to (consider) the
situation that she was going through. When I started to look at it I
started to compare my life with theirs and with Gavin as well. Sophie is
the age of my daughter. She is eleven years old, so having that
connection and that chemistry and knowing how kids look at life and the
things that they have in school and the conversations that they have is
pretty similar to my daughter. Brooklyn and I developed that chemistry
right off the bat.
As for being Taylor’s bodyguard I related it to how protective I am with
my sisters. I am the oldest sibling, so I am also their bodyguard. I
talk to them like I am their protector, which I am. I prepared myself
for this role exactly how I (approach) life and what I go through with
my daughter and with my siblings.
I remember when I first received the notice to audition and when I
looked at the description and I truly did not think that I was going to
get the role at all. I was reading it and I thought this isn’t me, but I
have the opportunity to audition, so I will audition anyway. I did the
audition and I thought I did okay. I did the best that I could. I
portrayed it the way that I envisioned Gavin and a few weeks later my
phone was blowing up! It was my agent and he said man you booked that
role for Gavin Williams! I said seriously? He said yes. That is how it
happened.
Every time that I watch the film and I watch Gavin it reflects who I am
and my life.”
One of the things about Christmas movies that make them so special is if
they are good movies they seem to live forever, being aired year after
year. Christmas In Homestead
is a good movie. We wondered how
Aaron Nelson feels about that type of longevity and the prospect that he
may someday watch this film with his grandchildren.
He says, “It feels so good and it is a blessing. It is one of those
things that you work hard for.
You don’t realize it until you see it in front of your eyes. It
motivates you to a point where you keep going.
It helps to open more doors for you.”
Contrast the teddy bear Gavin Williams with boxer Royce Claxton, a
fictional character, which Aaron “Quick” Nelson created for the film he
is co-producing Knockout: The
Untold Story of Royce Claxton.
“It (the movie) is still in pre-production. The movie shows the
difficulty of the things that Royce Claxton has gone through mentally. I
can’t give out too much information, but it follows his struggles and
his professional career. They gave him the (nickname) Ruthless, because
he was so ruthless in the ring. There are things that he went through
that damaged him mentally and he used his strength and anger throughout
his career. It led him to success, but it also led him to destruction,”
says Nelson.
As for writing the screenplay, acting and directing the movie he says,
“It will be a very good experience, but also a challenge. I always look
for challenges. I think every writer, director and producer always wants
to push themselves and challenge themselves to be better in our jobs and
our crafts. I am not in this industry to settle. I am in it to grow. I
want to move people. For this to be my very first movie (doing all of
these things) I think it will be a challenge and that is what I have
been waiting for.”
Nelson plans to include in his film archived footage of former world
heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson.
“Floyd Patterson is one of my favorite boxers and I wanted to bring a taste of history into the film. I wanted to have that organic feel in a boxing movie. It’s not your ordinary type of boxing movie.
Floyd Patterson was a gentleman. The way that he carried himself there
wasn’t any drama. He was simple, but at the same time there was a flash
here and there. If he walked into a restaurant he would get a lot of
attention. There was just something about him that whether he was in or
out of the ring, he would attract attention. Sugar Ray Leonard was the
same way. Both of them were similar. They were good in the ring, but
they were also good people. They very professionally,” he says.
Life began for Aaron Nelson in Providence, Rhode Island in what he
describes as “a big family.”
“I loved sports and I come from a huge sports family. I have a few
uncles and cousins who played professional football and I have always
been very athletic. There was also something in me that drove me to
acting. Every time I watched a TV show or a movie I was always intrigued
by it. I remember when I was six years old I was sitting in the living
room with my grandmother watching
The Karate Kid and the people inside this box, the TV and I asked my
grandmother how can I be a part of that? Everything that I watched on TV
I thought was real. I wanted people to watch me. I wanted to be in that
box.
When I was in elementary school I was part of an ensemble for a
Christmas play and that is when I quickly realized and that is what I
was meant to do and to be a part of was acting. I can’t really remember
the Christmas play. When I got on stage and the audience laughed that
joy led me to a point when I loved doing it. I love moving people. I
started doing school plays and local theater performances. I developed a
passion (for it). I also started to write my own plays. It just reeled
me in. Once I got to high school I got involved in plays and drama
classes and I started off in Leon High School in Tallahassee, Florida.
In high school I also got involved in sports. I ran track, I played
basketball and football and I got to a point when I was really good at
it. I got a basketball scholarship and I ended up playing football and
basketball. That led me into professional sports. I played minor league
basketball and it was more like a developmental league to get me ready
to play in the big leagues, but at the time I was getting ready for a
tryout for a major team in a major league I tore my ACL (anterior
cruciate ligament). I had two
major knee surgeries and I went through over a year of physical therapy.
When I did get back into it I just did not have that passion for playing
sports anymore and I wanted to find another outlet and another passion.
I had gone to the gym every weekend and when I made the decision to stop
playing basketball I remember the very first weekend I didn’t have
anything to do, so I was extremely bored. A friend of mine told me that
he went to improv classes and he said if you would like to go you can
come with me. I said I would like to do that. During the improv class
there were auditions that were going on. I walked in and when they saw
me they thought I was there to audition. When they asked me to audition
I said (sure) I’ll do it. I read the description of the character that I
was going for and I got in front of the camera. I did the audition and
they loved it. They asked me for a resume and a headshot and I didn’t
have either of them, but I ended up booking the role over sixty-nine
actors (he chuckles and says it was a boost for his confidence).
It was about a team of misfits who try to win a (legal) case. I was one
of the lawyers in the office and I was in a supporting role. The movie
was called Attorney At Law.
(After that) a lot of my friends and family came to me and they
encouraged me to get back into acting. They told me that they always
believed I could do some big things in acting. I got an agent and it
took off from there.
Among the other acting roles you may have seen Aaron Nelson in is his
recurring role in the television show
Ransom’s Law, as Byron
Earles, and appearances in Black
Lightning, The Gifted,
Sleepy Hollow and
Around the Basket.
You can follow Aaron “Quick” Nelson
on Twitter or you can follow him on his
official Facebook page.
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“That
was a fun scene that I did with her. We had a ball. That was by far one
of my favorite scenes. You start the see the big teddy bear side of
Gavin in that scene as well,” then we share a laugh when I point out he
was even holding a teddy bear in the scene, “That’s right his is holding
a teddy bear!