This is Me: Cameron Monaghan

What do you dream of becoming when you grow up? A common question asked of every child and teenager. For Cameron Monaghan, he decided he wanted to act in movies when he was just a child. His energy and exuberance for life inspired his mom to channel his passion into local theater, and that same energy and exuberance has followed him through his acting career and landed him numerous roles. The versatility of Cameron’s imagination allows him to jump into a wide variety of roles, actually walk in the shoes of his characters and face the problems they face. Cameron is inspired by the weird, the mundane, and the aspects of humanity that contain a depth of character. One of Cameron’s goals in his career is to keep expanding the type of roles he plays, because he doesn’t want to get bored with the same type-casted role over and over again. Why change what works? In the wise words of Rafiki ("The Lion King"), “Change is good.” It’s important to challenge yourself. Cameron has a contagious energy that not only challenges himself to try new things and reach greater heights but those around him as well.

Can you tell us a little about your start in the film industry? You started doing commercials at age five. Is that correct? Well, I grew up watching movies and television from a very young age. Basically, how I learned to read was through the captions on TV. I had a lot of energy. I was a pretty hyperactive kid, and my mom wanted to find some way for me to focus that energy. I told her I wanted to be in movies, so she got me involved in local community theater, and I really took to it. So we started doing some commercial group work and moved on to film and television auditions at eight years old. I landed my first movie, it was The Music Man with Matthew Broderick, that I shot in Canada, and I really really loved it. I’ve been doing it ever since.

What sort of things inspire you as an actor?

It’s sometimes hard to narrow it down, because you take inspiration from anything you see. Just people walking down the street can inspire you. Or, if someone does something weird with a coffee cup, you might steal that. I’ve always been a massive fan of Gary Oldman ("Dracula," "The Dark Knight"). I love people who have the ability to shift between a large variety of characters and personalities, and not be pegged down to one type. I think Sam Rockwell did that as well ("The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy"). I’m a big fan of the Coen brothers ("The Big Lebowski," "True Grit"), Quentin Tarantino ("Pulp Fiction"), movies with really great dialogue and memorial characters.

Do you like to do accents like in Tarantino movies? Yeah all of that!

Have you taken any acting and film classes to learn technique, or has acting been an inherent skill since childhood? I did when I first started out. I took a few classes, mostly just audition thinking type stuff, like “Hey, you’re supposed to say your name” and “Don’t look at the camera,” but after that, the basic building blocks, I kind of just learned through on the job experience as well as studying other actors.

You said that you like to play a variety of characters. How do you usually choose what auditions to go for? Either I have to find the character intriguing or some element of the script. Or if the writer or director has done some interesting stuff, I might consider the project specifically for that reason, but I generally am only interested in projects that have something odd or different about them. That’s kind of been my main factor.

Are there specific genres of film you like to pursue? No, I don’t want to have a specific genre or a specific type of character. I really want to have the greatest spectrum possible.

It seems like you’ve accomplished that so far. I’m working towards it.

Do you have techniques that help you get into character before acting? Not really. It’s different with every character. Sometimes it could be a specific song or style of music might really reminds me of the character, sometimes it could start from the shoes and work your way up from there. It’s just about finding some greater element that reminds you of the whole of who this person is.

So you’ve been in a lot of movies lately: "Mall," "The Giver," "Vampire Academy," "Jamie Marks is Dead." Do you identify most with one of the characters you’ve played? Well that’s interesting, because the character I play in "Jamie Marks is Dead" is very shy and reclusive, as opposed to in "Vampire Academy," he’s pretty outgoing and sarcastic and affable. I think the character I play in "The Giver" might be my favorite in how complex his arc is throughout the story. It’s a little different from the book. The book is great, but it’s very short so it doesn’t exactly translate into a full film. So they had to add certain elements, and one of the elements they added was really boosting the character of Asher that I play. He starts as Jonas’s best friend, and then from there, kind of shifts...I don’t want to give anything away. It’s very hard to do without giving anything away. Basically, he becomes a very tragic character, very fallible, there’s something very human about his story that I really related to.

I imagine you’ve been pretty busy between filming all these movies and your show “Shameless.” How do you balance your time? Do you have time for hobbies or other things that you enjoy besides acting? Thankfully I really do enjoy my job, or otherwise I might go insane. Yeah, I play music. I play guitar, drums, harmonica, ukulele; I taught myself some keyboard. It’s not like I like to write music; I just play other people’s stuff. I also snowboard. I haven’t gone this season.

There hasn’t been a lot of snow this season. No, I was in Sundance for a couple of days though, but I unfortunately didn’t have a chance to go skiing. Other than that, I just like to spend time with friends and all that good stuff.

You mentioned that you do martial arts earlier today... I box. I used to do Taekwondo, and something called XMA (Extreme Martial Arts), kickboxing and a ton of different stuff. Now I just mostly do regular boxing. And then I ride bikes, I cycle, I run; I do a lot of different stuff. I like to remain pretty active. It’s mostly my short attention span though. Always wanting to be doing something.

So you were born in Santa Monica, but you grew up in Florida. Do you still split your time between both of the coasts? No, I’m LA based now. I’ve been living here for about ten years. You know, you go back and forth a little bit when you first move, but after a certain point...Most of my family doesn’t live there anymore anyway. I have a couple of relatives that live in Northern Florida. My hometown is much more south, so there’s no real reason to be going back there anymore.

You enjoy the LA culture more? Yeah, it’s a different culture. I enjoy LA. There are slightly more seasons here. Slight shift, but not as much as the rest of the world. I was a few decades younger than most of the population in Florida.

I’ve also read that you played in a bunch of crime dramas: “Monk,” “NCIS,” “The Mentalist,” “Law and Order,” “Criminal Minds,” “Fringe,” “Numb3rs,” “Rizzoli and Isles.” What sort of roles have you played in those episodes? I played a lot of killers, bad guys, and villains. I guess when I was younger, I had a sweet face and was pretty unassuming, but people obviously thought that it would be shocking for me to be a psychopath.

I could see that. Those were a lot of fun. I did a ton of guest stars in different things. It’s kind of how I learned and gained experience.

Interview by Michele Davis Photographed by Isaac Sterling Styled by Melissa Triber Groomed by Myke Spezzano

Clothing credits... Image #1 - Sweater: Penguin / Coat: Jacob Davis Image #2 - Sweater: Penquin / Tee: Civilianaire / Jacket: Jacob Halston / Pants: Penguin / Shoes: Paul Kaufman Image #3 - Sweater: Penquin / Tee: Civilianaire / Pants: Penguin / Shoes: Paul Kaufman Image #4 - Sweater: Penguin / Coat: Jacob Davis / Pants: Penguin / Shoes: Paul Kaufman

Malibu Brunch

We spent Valentine's Day shooting our cover at a Malibu beach house... and what better to do then prep for brunch for everyone? We were certainly privileged yesterday, and being right on the beach made it extra beautiful.

Savour this Moment made 'beet cured salmon spread with greens and a lemon dill creme friache.' One bite of this sent us to the roof. It was so delicious, and the blends of the other foods really topped this seafood!

Again, Savour this Moment's 'red quinoa roasted vegetable salad' with their own special 'thai chile cilantro dressing.' Couldn't help but finish this entire dish amongst the dozen of us. Healthy and delicious.

This can definitely be enjoyed hot or cold, we found. The 'shakshuka (middle eastern egg and tomato dish)' is really a brunch charmer. Some of us on set said they didn't even like tomatoes, but this changed their minds (or this dish was just everything perfect and more).

Buttermilk, Inc even came to whip up their red velvet and ube pancakes. We've tasted pancakes all of our lives, but never have they tasted this delicious!

What we drank? Almond Milk LA! They came in different flavors - pure, cocoa, honey, and lavender. Each of them our favorite...is that possible? They were certainly refreshing and absolutely yummy with all the cookies and cakes we ate (no regrets, it was Valentine's!).

As always, we must have Sugar Dayne's custom cookies everywhere we go. Look how sweet these conversation hearts were! And because our cover girl's name is Krysten, they drew her name on a handful of the cookies!

La Monarch Bakery's strawberry shortcake... Need we say anything more? Not only were they busy on Valentine's Day, but they were kind enough to set aside our order.

And their chocolate covered strawberries! Valentine's Day is not complete without these.

Sucre Shop's adorable utensils and their pretty straws (pictured below). They were Valentine's Day themed, and had our names all over these!

One of our favorites, Sara of Matchbox Kitchen, baked and decorated this ombre cake (with our Zooey-teal color!) and even made that Krysten topper. She was so sweet! And this cake was ridiculously delicious!

This is Me: Max Adler

You probably recognize Max Adler from his role as Dave, the bully from "Glee." But we got to see a whole different side of the goofy actor who was all smiles and the furthest thing from intimidating. We sat down with him at Studio Café in Studio City, one of the many restaurants where he waited tables before he got his big break with "Glee."

His tales of countless restaurant jobs – and getting fired for everything from toilet paper to a 75-cent muffin - kept us laughing all morning, but his Hollywood story is truly inspiring. While we are sure that Max makes a killer cappuccino, we can’t wait to see what else he will do on screen!

Molly: You really are a true Hollywood story. Tell us where your journey began. What was your first job in Los Angeles? Max: First job in Los Angeles was at the Marriot. I used to valet in a Marriot in Arizona. They transferred me out here. The only position that available was in the Woodland Hills Marriot and on a map it looks much closer to Hollywood. I had no idea how far it would be. So it was like an hour and a half trek every day to get there. I worked there for a couple of years. Five days a week. You know, 8-14 hours. It was long days. I was miserable, depressed, and so broke at that time - it was Ramen noodles every night. All the money from the Marriott would just barely cover the utilities.

So to make ends meet, and cut corners, the Marriott has a giant warehouse closet of thousands of toilet paper rolls and paper tolls. When I needed it, I would just take from the Marriott. Then one morning I came into work and they said that the boss wanted to see me upstairs. I went up there and he said, “Sit down. What can you tell me about this?” He handed me an 8 x 10 black and white still shot from the security camera of me holding all these rolls of toilet paper. And I just said, “You know, times are tough. I’m so sorry. I did what I had to do. I can return them.” Anyways, they fired me for theft because they couldn’t prove how long it had been going on, how much I had taken. So I got fired for stealing a few rolls of toilet paper. That was the first job.

Molly: Hilarious. What was your move after that? Max: Jobwise? I worked at Macaroni Grill. I got fired from that for missing shifts for auditions. Because, basically, my mentality was that I moved here to be an actor. And I can do whatever to make money, but I wasn’t ever going to miss an audition or an opportunity for a shift at a restaurant. I promised that to myself. So there were times when I couldn’t get the shift covered and I just would not come in. Because I would think, “I’m not going to miss this opportunity.” I worked at Hugo’s for a few weeks. Missed some training shifts for auditions - so I got fired from that.

Molly: You brought a muffin with you today. Tell us about the muffin story. Max: Ah the muffin story - Mogan’s. It was in the Pacific Palisades. There was a regular, an older woman in her 70s, named Jackie. Retired. She’d come in every single day and her tradition was to have a vanilla latte and banana nut muffin. And we would always shoot the shit and schmooze and she would always tell me about her grandchildren and her travels and I would tell her about my aspirations. And, you know, we formed a little friendship. She came in one day after I worked there for about a year- just really down, like something was off. I asked her, “What’s going on? Are you okay?” And she said that she had just come from the doctor and had gotten results and she had breast cancer and was trying to deal with that.

I felt so bad and said, “Look, your muffin is on me. Get out of here. Have a good day.” And the bus boy told the manager that I didn’t ring her up for the muffin and I got fired from Mogan’s for giving away free pastries- to a poor older woman that just found out she had cancer. They didn’t want to hear my side of the story. I begged, I pleaded. I told them, “Look, I can’t pay my rent if you fire me. I need this job.” And they didn’t want to hear it.

Molly: We’re here at Jinky’s Studio Café in Studio City. Was this your last job as a waiter? Max: So I got fired from Mogan’s. Then I came here - Studio Café, where I was happily received, and everything was great. I had done some television and films, but it wasn’t enough to quit. And after five episodes of "Glee," I was still here, because the money after the first five was not enough. And then once "Glee" started going, I peaced out, and it's been a cool ride ever since.

Molly: So you truly are the muffin man. Max: I truly am the muffin man - in the flesh.

Molly: You’re from Scottsdale, Arizona. Which is pretty different from LA. How was that transition? Max: It’s like a mini LA. It’s a much easier way of life there. You get a lot more bang for your buck. It’s a lot cheaper. Gas is thirty or forty cents cheaper. Movie tickets at night are eight or nine bucks. And you can park in any lot, any street. There are no street signs. There is no street cleaning. It’s just a much easier way of life. But, it’s a lot slower. It doesn’t have as much of the eclectic melting pot and culture of LA. And the opportunities to do what I wanted to do were not there, so I had to move. So I came here after high school, at eighteen, with the support of my family. And that’s what is pretty cool now, because they saw how hard it was and how there were a few times when I thought, “This is not working out. I’m broke. I should go home.” And every time that would happen, something else would happen. I would get a gig, or an agent. Something would keep me here. So now, for them to see me on TV each week is a really cool full circle.

Molly: What was it like shooting Glee while you still worked at Studio Café? Max: I remember one of the first gigs I got was "Ghost Whisperer." And I shot with Jennifer Love Hewitt, which was amazing. She’s gorgeous. You know, I had a crush on her for like 10 years. We were shooting one night until 4:00 in the morning. And I had to work the next day, here, at a 10 AM shift. On set, everyone was knocking on the door of your trailer, “Can I get you any food, Mr. Adler? Can I get you any coffee, Mr. Adler?” The whole thing. And then I come in here, and it’s like, “Hey! More lemonade!” It was weird. Ten hours ago, I was hanging out with Jennifer Love Hewitt. It was pretty crazy.

Molly: As far as Glee goes, what was it like being a heterosexual actor playing a homosexual character on TV? Max: I never really thought of it like that. It was just a tortured, tragic, and closed off guy who was very uncomfortable and unhappy with who he was. And he tried to mask that from society and from the world. So I kind of related it to... hmm, I’d say 99% of human beings, that have something going on inside that they’re uncomfortable with and don’t want the world to see. What mask do you have to show? What bravado do you have to put up? What front, to cover the fact that you are not as secure as you seem underneath? You know, that makes it relatable.

But, I think it was just a really smart, timely move on the producer’s part and the writers part, to tackle it. It was at the height of all the teen suicides and the cyber bullying and in the news with Anderson Cooper every week. I think what they really did was shine a light on the bullies and what makes them bullies, and the insecurities that they have. It shined a light on the other side. If anything, you almost felt sympathetic and understanding towards why someone would put someone down. And I think, in a way, that helped the victims of bullying. It showed, “Look, your tormenter isn’t as cool and as confident as he appears. He’s got some issues. He’s got some problems going on. So I think it helped a lot of people. And I was just honored and lucky to be a part of it.

Molly: It really was a powerful role. I know you got involved with the It Gets Better Project because of the show. Can you tell us more about the cause? Max: Yeah, I was always a big fan of 'It Gets Better' and 'The Trevor Project.' I was very aware of it. But right after the episode when my character kisses Chris Colfer’s character, 'It Gets Better' reached out to me and said, “You know, we’d like for you to do a video.” And I said, 'Perfect.' I just watched Chris’ video. I had watched Obama’s video. I was flying out to DC the next week to speak at the Kennedy Center on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League and 'It Gets Better' happened to be in DC. So they came to my hotel room and set up a camera, and then they told me to just speak from the heart for a couple minutes about what you want to tell people. And I did. And the video got out there and, you know, I’m still a huge supporter. I go to all the GLAD events and fundraisers, and The Trevor Project shows. I think it’s amazing what they’re doing. They’re using social media to reach out to the people that need it; that don’t have awareness in their communities and environments; their homes and schools. We especially find less awareness in middle America where - well you know, here [in Los Angeles], you see two guys walking down the street, kissing, holding hands, and you don’t think twice. But I think it’s not as common in other parts of the country and the world. To get that message to gay people– that look, there’s a whole world out there where this is accepted and there is nothing strange or weird, and you don’t have to feel uncomfortable or insecure – to get that message out, was really important. It’s an amazing organization, and, again, I was just glad to be a part of that and contribute.

Molly: Absolutely. Well, we already love your new character, Tank, on "Switched at Birth." How has shooting episodes for this new show been different than shooting "Glee?" Max: It’s been an amazing experience. The producers, the crew, the cast- they’re all so cool. They’re so friendly. They’re so passionate. They’re so talented. They come to set prepared. They embraced me with open arms and welcomed me into the crew right away. And I love getting to play this character, because, oftentimes I get cast as the bully or the mean guy, because of my size, and being intimidating. So it’s been a pleasure being the opposite: a caring, vulnerable, romantic guy. It’s a pleasure working with Vanessa and I’m just having a lot of fun. It’s different, because "Glee" was kind of like every few episodes - I’d shoot episode three and not come back until episode ten. It was kind of a very inconsistent thing. This is nice, because I’m there every week and there’s a nice, fluid storyline, and it’s very grounded in reality. I’m really having a good time. The finale is a cliffhanger. So dramatic.

Molly: Can you tell us any secrets?! Max: No, no. It’s going to have to do with...you’ll have to watch. I don’t want to say anything. But man, it’s very dramatic.

Molly: I guess we will have to stay tuned! How would you describe your personal style? Max: Personal style? These red pants are pretty bitchin’! Awesome casual!

Molly: Yes, we coined a new term today during the shoot. Can you define “awesome casual”? Max: Um...It’s awesome….and casual. It’s something you wear anywhere, but its very presentable and stylish. It’s not shlubby or grungy. It’s in between Venice Beach and Beverly Hills. Awesome Casual. I like the layered look. I like plaids. I like hoodies. Yeah, awesome casual is probably the best answer I could give you. I do like dressing up. I like suits. But day-to-day is awesome casual.

Molly: Awesome. Max: Exactly.

Molly: Other than these red pants, what else are you excited about in the upcoming future? Max: The main focus is "Switched at Birth," because I’m working a lot and there a lot of different emotions that Tank goes through over the course of the episodes. But I did shoot a couple movies in August and October, and they’re in post-production, so I’m excited for them to come out. One is a college comedy. It’s got Christopher McDonald and Alex Russell from Chronicle. I think it’s really funny. And another one is a comedy drama. We shot that in Michigan. A friend of mine from high school directed it. Another director I knew played my costar in the film. We had a blast. Those will come out. I think those will do some good things. Everything’s good!

Molly: You’ve got a lot going for you right now! What advice would you give to all the aspiring actors out there who are still waiting tables and anticipating their big break? Max: First of all, huge kudos just for going for it. Because I knew a lot of friends who never even thought it was possible, or didn’t have parental approval. I was very lucky in that my family said, “Go follow your dreams and do what you want to do.” I’m just a big believer in living for the day. I love that James Dean quote, ‘Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.’ I live that. And I think you have to live for the day. We’re all on this planet for a very short amount of time, and tomorrow is promised to nobody, so you’ve got to do what you want to do while you’re here. So first of all, I think going for it is awesome, and then, just sticking with it. Persistence, passion, patience pays off. If there is anything from this piece that people should take away, it’s that I was here for five years, and it was very tough, but the reward now is very nice. It’s sweet. Go for it. Follow your dreams and live for the day.

Interview by Molly Virostek Photography by Jessica Castro Styling by Sarah Chorley Grooming by Laura Raczka