Digital Cover: Connor Gosatti

Talent: Connor Gosatti
Photographer: Andrew Ho
EIC + Words: Anthony Vu Cao
Development: Chrissy Wang
Special Thanks: Advantage PR

Australia-native Connor Gosatti brings his passion for the art of storytelling to the screen in his breakout role as ‘Simon’ in the Netflix series “Resident Evil.” Based off the successful horror franchise by the same name, the series’ story is split between two timelines: New Raccoon City in 2022 (Connor’s role is based in this timeline), which was the year the deadly T-virus caused a global zombie apocalypse and 14 years later in 2036 London.

We caught up with Connor and chat about his inspirations, insights and role in the Netflix series “Resident Evil”

Hello Connor – How are you?

Hey GR8T Magazine, I’m doing well! Thanks for having me :)

Tell me a little bit about yourself. What attracted you to becoming an actor?

I grew up in Perth, Western Australia where a lot of my time consisted of watching movies. I remember my Nonna showing me the original Spiderman (2002) film at a young age and I fell in love with the character. I’d dress up as Spiderman, and had all the action figures, games, you name it. Then the crushing day came of realizing that shooting webs out of my wrist was potentially not something in my reach, but maybe I could be like Tobey Maguire. That’s what started the idea of acting but what sold me on it was when I saw my cousin in a play. I left that play had experiencing something I hadn’t felt before, I was only 8 years old. I was put in a state of reflection. Having been washed with emotion, I started to indulge in the new thoughts and perspectives that the show had brought me and I challenged my own perception of the world, which developed a deeper understanding and sense of connection for me. I remember thinking, what a beautiful gift I’d just been given. That is when I knew that I wanted to bring the same feeling to others. To bring a sense of understanding to the world through stories.

Who inspired you in the entertainment industry or your personal life to pursue acting? And Why?

I essentially answered this in my last response but it was my cousin, Ethan. My cousins are my best friends and getting to watch your own flesh and blood inspire you and move you in such a way you hadn’t experienced before, gave me all the motivation I needed to try out acting. I found very quickly that I loved it. I was realising that not only acting but also music were ways that I could express myself and allow me to be able to tell stories to people as I wanted. However, they were both just hobbies for me at the time. It wasn’t until my team (Foundation Media Partners, Paradigm Talent Agency, and Actors Management International) told me that I could achieve a career in acting, that I then decided to make acting my medium to storytelling and pursue it as a career.

You attended & graduated from Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. How did this academy shape your craft?

Fortunately, I had been attending classes for many years before I attended WAAPA, so I went in with a few tools under my belt already. What WAAPA did for me was help me solidify myself as an actor. I had already developed my own method, WAAPA just allowed me to try it out amongst great teachers and other incredibly talented actors, whilst experimenting with other methods and ideas. I believe you learn the most when performing opposite other great actors that challenge you and WAAPA provided that. By the end, I knew what I wanted in and out of a scene, the stories I wanted to tell, and what kind of actor I wanted to be. I can’t say I would’ve been able to validate that so quickly without WAAPA.

You play ‘Simon’ in the Netflix series “Resident Evil”; How did this role come about for you? Did you have to watch the previous “Resident Evil” films for insights and inspirations? What attracted you to his project and to the role?

It’s funny when my team sent through the audition for Resident Evil, I had just graduated from WAAPA and I had also decided to take a break from acting. I was burnout after years of training and felt like I needed some time to just gather myself away from the art. It was only when my team urged me to at least read the scenes from the audition as it was a highly confidential project, meaning it had some weight to its name. So I read the scenes and I actually quite enjoyed the writing of them, so I ended up putting a tape down. I had no idea the project was Resident Evil or who Simon was in the series, but I felt I could relate to Simon’s character. Behind his bravado and rebellious nature was a heart of gold and that’s what attached me to him. After I sent the tape through, about a couple of weeks later I got a call from my agent telling me I got the part. It was pretty surreal.

After I landed the role, that’s when I found out the show was about Resident Evil! I was very excited as I’m a big fan of the games so I actually didn’t need to do too much research on the history of the franchise, as Netflix’s Resident Evil continues on the storyline from the games. Certainly gave me all the background info I needed on Simon’s famil

Are there any scenes in particular that you filmed that stood out to you as a big memory from the set?

Throughout the series, there are a few scenes between Simon and Jade (Tamara Smart) where they’re just being conversational, and slightly flirty with each other. Honestly, these were the scenes that I remember the most. You’d think it would be the more intense scenes but because the show has so much of that already, it stood out the most to me to just play a teenager. It was more relatable to me and I knew it would be for the audience as well, bringing some humanity back into the show.

Prior to “Resident Evil”, what other projects were you involved in? Tell me about your experience on the series/films.

I’ve been a part of a few local projects back home in Perth. Some of those are feature films, short films, and web series. The main difference between my local projects and Resident Evil is the scale of everything. I had the fundamentals of how a set functioned from the previous sets I worked on but Netflix really amped it up. Going from having a handful of people on set to hundreds really fastened the pace and heightened the expectations, however, everyone was there to do their job and everyone did their job efficiently. My experience on previous projects certainly helped me adapt to that environment faster.

How do you balance your professional and personal life?

By being relatively new in this industry, I can’t say I’ve figured out a balance yet. However, I feel I’m slowly figuring out how I would like to balance it and what they would look like for both my career and personal life. I believe the most important thing is finding purpose in your personal life so when you aren’t working, your mental health doesn’t decline. Right now I feel I’m in a pretty good position. I have a loving girlfriend and family, hobbies that are separate from my professional life that I indulge in and I’m in a position for more opportunities to come through in my career. If work starts to become more frequent, I’ll let you know how I go with balancing it ahaha.

Are you involved in any philanthropy or charity causes? If you are, what made you participate and how are you involved?

I’m currently not involved with any charity causes but it is definitely something I plan to be involved with in the future. Mental health is a topic I’m passionate about and I still believe it’s overlooked, so I plan on being an advocate for mental health issues down the line.

What advice would you give to young aspiring actors and entertainers?

There are four points I’d like to touch on. Discovery, expectations, patience, and purpose. For all aspiring actors/entertainers, I believe these are four topics you should focus on and always be aware of as I believe it will keep you motivated and mentally healthy. First, with discovery, you need to discover what kind of actor you are. Find your own method of acting because that is going to separate you from every other artist, and no one can do your method better than you. Discover what kind of stories you want to tell, what you want in and out of a scene and the reason behind why you act because having this knowledge is going to form the artist within you, discovering your voice.

Secondly, you need to define your expectations. Try to figure out where you want to go and what you want out of your career because it gives you a goal to work towards and you won’t be aimlessly trying to land roles. It’s also important to note that a lot of other things come with being an actor, things that you may not expect and you may not like. Everyone has their own journey and they come in all different shapes and sizes, don’t expect that your career will pan out like anyone else’s. If you do, it could leave you disappointed in yourself so that’s why it’s important to define what you expect from your current standpoint.

Thirdly, once you have those two things down it just becomes about being patient. Knowing who you are as an actor and defining what you want should give you the confidence in your ability. You know you have a voice, you now just need to wait for someone to like what you have to say. That could take a couple days, it could take forty years, you just don’t know. You have very little to no control in this industry so without patience you can become disheartened very quickly. Just know that if you stick with it, you will be heard.

Lastly, and the most important one, is purpose. I don’t mean within your acting. Those three points above should help you find your purpose with the art. I mean purpose in your life separate from acting. Even after you get your start, there are going to be periods when you aren’t working and these are the periods that can really be detrimental to your mental health. Find things in your life that bring you self-worth outside of acting so you can maintain a healthy and balanced life, instead of just hanging out for the next gig.

Also, just be kind to yourself :)

If you are not pursuing an acting career; what profession would you pursue and why?

From a young age, I’ve known that I wanted to be in the storytelling industry. If I hadn’t found acting as my way of doing that, I honestly believe I would’ve attached onto music. I love music just as much as acting, however, I just always figured I was a better actor than a musician ahaha. But if I never started acting, I’d like to believe that I would’ve pursued music. Which is a scary thought because that isn’t any more secure than an acting career ahaha, but I love being involved with music as a hobby and it takes up a lot of my free time.

What is next for you? Are you planning to relocate to Los Angeles to further pursue your acting career?

My team and I are working very closely on getting me an 01 working visa for the U.S. Once I’ve acquired that, I do plan on relocating if not to Los Angeles, somewhere near it, which will allow for more working opportunities. Whilst that is very exciting, I am also just taking things day by day. Not being so tunnel visioned is a breath of fresh air every once in a while :) GR8T