Because of my commitment to such a variety of movie and television professionals in the industry, sometimes I happen upon an actor almost as if by chance. In the case of Brett Rice, I noticed a random tweet in passing from his manager (the same manager who represents the amazing Brennan Elliott, as a matter of fact) about a year ago, and I reached out to him for an interview almost immediately. Unfortunately, his is one of those interviews that occupied a folder on my desktop and waited patiently for publication. I cannot thank Brett enough for his kindness and tolerance during this period of waiting, and it is my supreme pleasure to share him and his incredible talent with my readers today.
RH: Brett, so nice to chat with you today.
BR: Same here, Ruth. Thanks for reaching out.
I actually happened upon you because your manager tweeted something out about you, and when I looked you up, I realized I’d seen you in a wide variety of things.
That’s great! I love talking to people and telling my story, so thank you for the opportunity.
As I was reading a little about your background, and I found out you were in the military.
Yes, I was in the army from ’74 to ’77. But I was stationed in Maryland. Although I went through basic training and all that, I actually worked on a golf course for my three years in the army. I was very happy to make my time in the army work as well as it did. And the best thing was it got me a mortgage for my house.
In relation to acting, was that something you were always interested in?
Actually, yeah, but not to this extent. Back in the ’60s in high school and church, we did plays at church, and I got involved with a folk group in high school. It was a Catholic high school. I spent three years singing with that group. I liked the limelight, I guess.
Sully premiere
When I got out of the army, I went to a community college to try to figure out what I could do with the rest of my life. I wound up booking an audition with a friend of mine. He was going to an audition, and I just went with him for support. The director saw me and said, “Hey, I’ve got this part that would be perfect for you.” Back then, I was young, thin, and good-looking. And I was right for that part. I said, “Sure, I’ll do it.” He asked if I had any stage experience. I said, “Well, yeah.” And to make a long story short, opening night, I forgot my lines. But I fell in love with the stage and the immediate gratification of an audience.
So I stayed in the theater for years, and up until about eight or nine years ago, I was doing theater while I was doing film and television. The stage does not afford me the kind of life that I am used to leading. In the last eight or nine years, I’ve concentrated on paying my bills. I live in Florida, but I have an apartment in California, and I go out there about six or seven months out of the year. You have to balance that time out. I went out there for a reason. I didn’t want to be a big fish in a small pond. Through a series of mutual friends, I was happy to get connected with Todd Justice {my manager} while I was visiting LA back in 2004. I honestly have the utmost respect for him and all he has accomplished in the time I’ve known him. I am very grateful to him and his agency. The way it works for me is I set up jobs in LA, and I fly out there to work, and then I come home and hang out with my wife. We rekindle whatever we can, and then I go back out. I have a wonderful wife who takes care of everything here, and I couldn’t do it without her.
I’ve heard similar stories from my acting friends in Vancouver who go down to LA for a period of time every year. They often cite their significant other as one who can keep the home fires burning and keep everything together while they are away.
Brett and his wife
That’s a thousand percent truer for me ’cause literally, my wife runs everything here. She was an actress…well, she still is an actress. She works in production and does a few jobs a year which brings in a little extra money. She takes care of everything here, and all I have to do is travel and make money and put it in the bank. And she really takes care of everything else. She has sacrificed a lot for me. So I give her all the praise there.
As I examined your credits, I realized just how many things I’ve seen you in. Some of the credits I’ve seen of yours even go way back.
Yeah, my credits cover quite a bit of time. My first job was back in ’81 when I was on a show in Atlanta. I did a two-year stint on a soap opera called The Catlins. It was on TBS and Proctor & Gamble backed it. I learned all my camera techniques from all the actors that came from New York and LA to work on the show. The producer happened to have cast me in my first professional stage show, which was a musical parody of Gone With the Wind. We got sued by the Margaret Mitchell estate because it was too close to the language of the original. So we did a satire on the parody of Gone With the Wind. We changed it just enough.
To make a long story short, the producer and I got along, and three years later, I crashed an audition. He saw me and said, “Brett, do you want a job?” And I was like, “Chris, yes, of course!” He said, “Good. You’re the bad guy.” And it was set to start in two weeks, and I was one of the stars of the show, and it was as simple as that. I didn’t have an agent. I crashed the audition. So here’s what I tell other actors, and I say this without trying to be disparaging towards women or men, I say, “Man up! Go out and get it! No one’s gonna give it to you.”
The Ultimate Gift
That is so true. That’s honestly how I started doing all these interviews. I’ve made lots of connections with the Hallmark network as a matter of fact.
Oh, that’s great. Well, let Hallmark know that Brett Rice–that’s me–loves Hallmark and Christmas movies, and he wants to do more.
Absolutely! I’ve noticed you have done at least one Hallmark movie.
Yes, I was in The Ultimate Gift and then I was in the second one in the series, The Ultimate Life. I was not in the third movie in that series. The producers on those movies had worked on Bobby Jones: Stroke Of Genius. So they gave me this call and said, “Brett, we’ve got this movie that’s come up.” And right away I said, “Okay.” And it turned out to be a great movie. The first and second were wonderful, but I still haven’t seen the third one.
Yeah, the third one, The Ultimate Legacy, is a little different than the other two. I think they just wanted to complete it, but it was different.
The Ultimate Gift
You know, the story of the first one was so wonderful and heart-touching at the same time. When they wanted to do a second one, it was almost like, “Guys, how are you gonna top that?” But they did a good job. And then with a third one, I mean, how do you top the other two? How do you finish the series?
True, but they are still very popular. They are often seen on Hallmark’s streaming service now–Hallmark Movies Now–or people buy the DVD’s or whatever. Hallmark used to play the other two at Christmas all the time. But the Hallmark viewers still really love that series of films.
Christmas In the Smokies
It’s such a great story. Bad guy turns good. It’s not a new subject, but the way they presented it and the feats the lead character had to go through without knowing what would happen at the end was really quite a payoff. I met the writer, Jim Stovall, and he’s blind. But he heard my voice across the room of people, and he said, “Brett Rice! I’d know that voice anywhere.” At first, I didn’t know he was blind, but I walked over and introduced myself. Again, he said that I didn’t need any introduction because he knew my voice from across the room. We went and talked for a while. It was a great script, and it was a joy to read it and do it. These producers were very much into the inspirational film business.
You’ve done several that aren’t necessarily Hallmark, but are inspirational in nature.
I like doing them. The Case For Christ was a good book. I had worked with the director before on a movie years before, and he was very loyal. He called me and a few other actors he’d worked with. He said, “We’re doing this movie, and we’d like to put you in it.” Since I read the book and knew it was great, I agreed. When I read the script, I was like, “Oh my gosh! I never thought about it this way.” So they had me stand in someone else’s shoes and see things a different way, which was such a great thing to get to do. I thought they did a tremendous job with the movie. It didn’t get the biggest response financially, but it got the words and the message that they wanted to get out.
Having said that, I am not solely an inspirational actor. I’m an actor. But I love to do family movies and inspirational movies. I am not particularly religious. However, I am spiritual, and when I see a movie that lifts people’s spirits, I’ll do anything I can to do it. But I’ve got to make a living, so I do my craft. But I do enjoy doing those movies because you know it’s going to be a good set, good people, and you’re doing something good for the audience that you’re trying to get to. But as you can see, I still often get to play a bad guy in these kinds of films.
It seems like you get to play bad guys a lot.
True Blood (Return to Oz)
Well, back in the ’90s, it seems like there was always a new civil rights movie coming out, and I was always the one who was playing the racist sheriff, lawyer, attorney…I worked with Jane Seymour in the 1994 movie A Passion for Justice: The Hazel Brannon Smith Story. I played the racist sheriff in that one. I can’t go to some parts of Mississippi anymore. They just don’t want to see my face. {laughs} There really are places I can’t go because they don’t realize I’m acting. And I’m just really good at playing those roles.
I was asked a couple of years ago or so to do another of these kinds of movies. I read the script and noticed the character they wanted me to play. There was no redeeming quality whatsoever to this character. I thought, “I’ve done this probably thirty times. I really don’t want to say that word anymore.” So unless there’s a story to tell with some redeeming quality to the ending, I told them “no.” Honestly, they could have offered me as much money as they wanted, but I just couldn’t do it. While I’m not in the position to turn down work, when I get something like that, I just have to decline.
I can understand that completely. It must get old after a while to play the same kind of role over and over with no redeeming qualities.
Right. There’s no point in playing that kind of part in anymore. I’m good at it, and I know it. Unless there’s a good story involved by a good writer, I’m not going to do it. If there’s a really great story, however, I’m happy to do it. If it’s just blatant nonsense, I’m not interested.
I hear you. Now in recent times, you’ve been on a couple of my favorite shows. I notice you were on Lethal Weapon in its first season.
I loved working on that show! Those guys are great.
Woodlawn
I think I’ve heard that from everyone who has gotten to be on that show.
Every time Damon Wayans looks at you, he’s got a twinkle in his eye. You see it on TV, but when you’re up close and a few feet away from his face, he can say something to you and you try to be a badass, and I find he would just make me laugh. I had to do a scene several times because I kept laughing. We were supposed to be going at each other, and he would have this little twinkle in his eye, and I would break up. And the other guy, Clayne Crawford, who played Riggs…that guy is one heck of an actor. He impressed me a lot. I loved the series anyway. In fact, they tried to put me on the second season. They had a new casting director. And my agent had to inform them I was on last season, and they were like, “Oh, we didn’t know that. Sorry, we can’t use you.” Which was a shame because I would love to go back to that show.
I notice you were also on The Good Doctor?
The Good Doctor
Oh yeah, another great cast and crew. The writer and the cast were just fantastic. It is such a wonderful show with a beautiful perspective on the abilities and disabilities of autism. The actor who played Dr. Jared Kalu, Chuku Modu, he and I got along really well. Everyone I worked with was fantastic. Antonia Thomas, who plays Dr. Claire, she was such a great conversationalist and so easy to talk to. And Richard Schiff, who plays the head of the hospital and used to be on West Wing, he loves baseball. There was this scene where I was in bed and had these things in my head. I came back from a break. He’d been talking baseball with the director. When we started the scene up, he was like, “Look, I have no idea what I’m supposed to say! I shouldn’t have been talking baseball!” So we had to reset and wait a bit for him to get ready again. It was a lot of fun. I loved the show and I loved the series. I hope it keeps doing well and wins a bunch more awards than it already has.
In Vancouver
As far as Freddie Highmore, I knew his face. Being there was so surreal. I should have looked him up before I left to do the job. For me, it was so amazing to be able to work with Richard since I knew he was from West Wing. I loved being up there. I had never been in Canada. I spent ten days up in Vancouver and spent some time walking around. It’s gorgeous up there, but expensive! It’s a good thing our dollar goes a long way up in Canada, but it’s still pretty expensive up there. And the property values up there are crazy. You can get a fifteen hundred square foot house for about a million.
So I notice you’re also in a series called Nobodies.
Nobodies
Yes, it’s a show on TVLand. I got hired to do this character, and really, I didn’t know anything about it. I really like doing comedic roles, but I’m a big guy so I don’t always get those kinds of roles. I got hired, and we had a ball. We had so much fun. I talked to the two guys who made it, Hugh Davidson and Larry Dorf. They’ve got a cartoon they do called Mike Tyson Mysteries, and they said, “We love your voice. Maybe sometime we can get you on our show.” Not sure if that will happen, but I would be absolutely honored if they did. We had the best time, and I would definitely come back and do it again. There was a specific accent that they needed, a Texas drawl thing, and I sure had fun doing it.
With Dallas Roberts
Insatiable
Then I worked on another show that is on Netflix now called Insatiable. It was a very strange animal from the beginning, but I found the niche for the character while working with Dallas Roberts and Allysa Milano. Fantastic actors and very giving individuals. Dallas helped me to realize my role as his father and I’m thankful for the opportunity. We filmed it in Atlanta. I’m in three episodes of the first season. It was also renewed for season two.
Longmire
Then Netflix also did Longmire. That series ended back in 2017. Most of my episodes are in season five. All the seasons are there on Netflix. I would call it sort of a black comedy. I play a character who runs a beauty pageant. It sounds strange and it is. I play a father who used to be conservative, and he believes his son should be a lawyer. But his son wants to play with dolls. It gets to the heart of today’s issues in a comedic way. I am sorry the show finally had to come to an end, but I’m glad I got to be a part of it.
I recently got to see you in the Fox show Proven Innocent.
with Rachelle Lefevre
Proven Innocent
My character, Charles Lynch on Proven Innocent gave me the chance to dig deep into my soul to find the despair and angst of losing a child without knowing who took her life. Working with Rachelle Lefevre was amazing as was my scene with Kelsey Grammar. Fantastic actors who gave me the room to do my thing! I hope to be back on set with them for the next season and find out “who killed my daughter”!
Anything else coming up?
Heartbreak was filmed a few years ago and directed by Ralph Clemente, who passed away shortly after filming was complete. He was a friend and he had great vision about directing, and he shared his vision as the head of the Valencia College film program in Orlando, Florida. It looks like it might be released next month as long as the distribution deal doesn’t fall through. They’ve been trying to get distributors for it for quite some time.
Heartbreak
It’s about a Vietnam vet pool icon, a champion billiard player and a young Korean woman played by Jane Park Smith. She comes in coaching, and he’s a drunk because of his past in Vietnam. He is just overwhelmed. The two of them help each other out. Through her coaching, their lives become bearable and he actually achieves a semblance of normality. It’s a lesson in redemption for both of them. Both of their children have a problem, and together, they figure out how to solve things. It’s been shown locally and has done very well. It would such an incredible experience to see it in the theater.
I’m a pool player in addition to being an actor, and I really want people to be able to see this one. As we know, the big theaters don’t want to take too many independent films. So then you go to smaller theaters where they don’t have the same kind of coverage or the seats to accommodate people. It’s a shame because I know this movie is great. I’ve seen the movie, and although I know I’m biased, I still believe Jane and I did a tremendous job as actors in it. The quality is very good. They fixed the colorization, the sound, the music, everything’s great. I really hope it goes forward this time. If you like billiards and drama, then film is for you!
with Jane Park Smith from Heartbreak
I really hope it happens for you too, Brett. And I just want to thank you so much for your time.
My pleasure, Ruth. I’m just a character actor who goes back and forth to LA and lives here in Florida. It may not work for everyone, but it’s worked well for me. The casting directors and producers know me out in LA now and have a handle on what I can do. I’m just glad that they keep asking about me and are willing to put me in things. I don’t have any faintest idea about winning an Oscar, but I enjoy what I do. I consider myself a blue-collar actor. We support the stars that are in the show. There’s a story to be told in each of them, and I am one of the people in it who helps tell the story. I help keep the story progressing to the best of my ability, and my friends who are actors are doing the same thing. I just love seeing some of my friends get some recognition on the shows they are a part of. One of my friends, Neil Brown Jr. is a heck of an actor out of Florida, and he’s in SEAL Team right now. And I have so many more friends who are starting to get their just rewards. They are so talented, and they are finally getting their chance to be recognized. I’m working all the time, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m not headlining anything, but they keep putting me in stuff. As long as I can keep working and smile and my wife doesn’t hate me, I’m happy!
I love that perspective, Brett. I look forward to seeing you in many movies and shows for years to come, and I thank you for sharing so much about yourself with my readers.
You’re welcome, Ruth. And thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way in my career. I am grateful to be able to do what I love for a living.
As much as I admire actors who play the leads in movies or TV series, character actors are still some of my favorite people to interview. And Brett is absolutely no exception. He has done his best to ensure that the roles he tackles are diverse and entertaining over his years in the business, and even in more recent years, he has not lost his enthusiasm for the industry and his dedication to the craft. Furthermore, he’s actually a kind, humble man who does not seek fame and fortune; he’s perfectly content to make a living as he follows his passions. He also has an incredible support system that is helmed by his supportive, caring, talented, outstanding wife.
If you have not had the opportunity to check out Brett’s most recent works in Proven Innocent, Insatiable, The Good Doctor, Nobodies, and more, I would invite you to do just that while we await his most anticipated release very soon entitled Heartbreak. Of course, Hallmark fans already know him from The Ultimate Gift and The Ultimate Life, and we can only hope that more opportunities will be sent his way from that network as people are reminded of just how well he portrays a wide assortment of characters in family-friendly, inspirational films. In addition to all of that, I invite you to check out his links below and consider following him on Twitter so that you never miss a vital update about his myriad of industry works. I can assure all my readers that Brett is authentically engaging as well as kind and humble in every sense of the word, and I cannot thank him enough for his benevolence towards me as he has had to wait for this interview much longer than I ever intended. I can hardly wait to see Heartbreak and all of his future endeavors, and I hope that many of my readers will join me in this worthy enterprise of promoting a working actor who deserves all of the support we can muster and then some!
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