Exclusive Interview with Radek Lord of “The Standoff”
Radek Lord was born in Costa Rica to a Costa Rican mother and an American father. Radek’s mom got him interested in entertainment when he was still quite young, and he has been pursuing that career ever since. His acting credits here in the US include parts in the TV series Supah Ninjas as well as films such as Polycarp, Girlfriend’s Day, and A Kind of Murder.
His most recent film The Standoff starring Ryan McCartan and Olivia Holt as well as Radek, is being released tomorrow, September 21. You can get more details on The Standoff here. Talk Nerdy With Us was recently able to catch up with Radek to find out a bit more about this up and coming actor as well as the projects on which he’s currently working.
Radek, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us. What prompted you to pursue a career in acting? How old were you when you decided that you wanted to act?
I don’t ever remember thinking or planning on becoming an actor; it’s kind of something that just happened. I was around five years old and living in Costa Rica, when my mom took me to a recording studio to record a commercial for the National Bank of Costa Rica. I had no clue what I was doing until a couple of months later on my way to school; I heard myself on the radio. That’s when it clicked for me; I love doing this. And since then I’ve moved onto bigger acting gigs!
Will you share with us what role you first auditioned for? How did you go about preparing for that audition?
I don’t exactly remember the first role I auditioned for, but I do remember the whole experience. It was pure chaos. It was basically a cattle call for a bunch of different roles for a local commercial, and it was the most intimidating thing for a 10-year-old. I had just moved to Cincinnati, I had learned English less than a year before, and I was going on my first audition. I remember most people acting so stuck up in the waiting room, talking loudly on the phone, as if they knew the role would just be handed to them and that I was even lucky to be standing in their presence.
Wow, what an eye-opener! What did you learn from that experience? How difficult (or easy) is it for you to audition? You’ve been lucky enough to live in a number of different countries already, how has this helped you in terms of your career?
I learned from that experience that most people are full of sh*t. No matter where you go, most people want to convince themselves that they are the greatest person ever to exist. And those people don’t work as hard. I’ve found that if I let my work speak for itself, I do best. I don’t like to gloat like other people in this industry, and I especially don’t think things should just be handed to me. I work hard to get what I want.
I do remember my second audition because I booked it! It was for a local water park, and it was supposed to be me and my “brother” alternating lines in the commercial. But I had learned both of the character’s lines by accident, so when I went into audition, I delivered all of the lines myself. They gave me the role and rewrote the commercial, so it was just me. (It’s on my Instagram)
Nowadays, it is easier for me to audition. Most casting offices have really tense waiting rooms – you walk in, and all eyes are on you, and it’s dead silent. You sit down, and it’s super uncomfortable because you’re looking at your competition and they’re looking at you, so you pull out your script and pretend to go over your lines, when you’re really just trying to hide how nervous you are. I don’t feel that way anymore. When I walk into the room, I try to keep it light and fun. I talk to the people around me. I already know my lines for the audition, and I know exactly what I’m going to do when I get in front of the casting directors, so I really don’t feel as nervous anymore. Once I started to feel more relaxed and confident, I started to book roles regularly.
Surprisingly, living in all those different countries hasn’t helped so far. Even though I’m Latino, I don’t go up for Latin roles. I can speak Spanish, French, BS my way through Mandarin, I have a valid passport, and still none of that has helped. It helps me on the inside because if I’m ever coming up with a character, I have so many different options from all the people I’ve met all around the world.
It sounds like you’ve put a lot of work into yourself and your audition preparation. I have to agree, that relaxed is probably your best bet in terms of appearing confident and it’s working! You’ve already had quite a bit of success – do you have a favorite project?
(laughs) I want to be diplomatic and say I love them all equally, but like a parent saying that about their children, we know that’s not true. I have loved working on “Girlfriend’s Day” the most I would say. I got to work with some of the funniest and most talented people in LA. And they are all nerds too! Echo Kellum is the coolest nerd I’ve met to this day. Bob Odenkirk called me a nerd (in a good way) on the first day we met because I kept talking about Doctor Who.
That’s great – we here at Talk Nerdy absolutely love nerds. Are you able to share anything with us about your role as Peabody in “Girlfriend’s Day”?
Unfortunately, no. Except he’s got an awesome sense of fashion. He loves wearing bow ties, because bow ties are cool. I remember Peabody’s audition very well! The character description said that he wears bow ties, so I show up to the audition wearing a bow tie. Of the ten guys in the waiting room going up for Peabody, I was the only one wearing a bow tie. When I finally got in the room, the director asked me who Peabody was but in his head and what his motives were in this movie and so on. I only knew what the director had written in the rest of the character description, so I came up with this whole backstory on the spot for five minutes and why he does certain things in the script. I was pulling things out of thin air. Finally, when I’m done, the director takes a couple of beats and goes “Wow, that’s exactly right. That’s Peabody.” And then I (knew I) nailed the audition!
If you could choose a role at this point in time, what would you choose? Why?
My ultimate goal has been to play The Doctor in Doctor Who, but I don’t think that’ll happen soon, and not because I’m not British. I think I still don’t have the experience to play such a deep and complex character like The Doctor. So I think for now I’ll stick to the character I’ve been auditioning for!
Good choices all around. We call our website Talk Nerdy With Us because every single one of the writers and editors are major nerds about something. What is it about you that qualifies you to Talk Nerdy With Us?
Well, I think by now you’ve guessed I’m a bit of a Doctor Who fan, haha. I fell in love with the show four years ago, and I’m still in love today. It’s such a magical show, and I think the reason I like it is because it shows how wonderful even the smallest things are. It makes me appreciate what’s around me more and not take things for granted. Also, space is cool and stuff.
You can keep current with Radek and his projects by following him on social media at: