A fresh new face in the entertainment industry, Conor Husting has quickly positioned himself as a one-to-watch. He can soon be seen starring in Netflix’s new series The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia as Tad, a pure-hearted kid who sees the glass half full.
I got the chance to talk to Conor about the specific person that he credits with helping him decide that acting is what he wanted to do for a living, his audition process for The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, working with Mario Lopez and more! Keep reading to see what he had to say!
Tell me a little bit about how you got into acting originally.
I’m from California, so I was exposed to acting at a young age, but I got my start after my now manager scouted me.
Was there a specific person or experience that you would credit with helping you decide that acting is what you wanted to do for a living?
Growing up, I struggled in school and had no real ideas about what I wanted to do with my life. So, when I met my manager, and he offered to start sending me on auditions, I just sort of went with it. He put me into classes and encouraged me to work hard at honing my craft. He’s responsible for guiding me on a career path that I genuinely enjoy.
Do you have a personal acting “bucket list” of things you still want to accomplish in your career? If so, what are some of the things on it?
In my brief career as an actor so far, I’ve mostly done multi-camera comedy. So, the “acting bucket list” is pretty full. I want to do it all — action, horror, drama, etc.
Let’s move on and talk about The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia. What was your audition process like?
My first audition for the show went very poorly, but for some reason, they called me back to audition again. I did better but it still wasn’t very good. I didn’t think they were going to invite me back to try again, but Robert Prinz told them to bring me in one more time, as we had worked together in the past. After some discussion about the character, it just clicked and I went on to chemistry read with Paulina [Chávez] and Reed [Horstmann]. The rest is history.
On the show, you play Tad. What is he like? How does it fit into the story?
Tad is outgoing, impulsive and optimistic, usually functioning at high speeds. I like to think those traits are what make Tad such a valuable friend. He’s always encouraging Ashley to follow her heart.
I know a lot of actors bring a bit of themselves to the characters they play so in what ways would you say that you are similar to Tad and in what ways are you different from Tad?
Tad is a particular side of me, for sure. There’s little difference between the way in which we act when we’re excited. However, Tad is, for the most part, consistently optimistic, whereas I can be quite cynical sometimes.
From the trailer, it looks like there might be some kind of romantic relationship developing between Ashley and Tad. What can you tease about that?
Regardless of Tad and Ashley’s “romantic relationship”, they’re good friends. Tad lifts Ashley while Ashley brings Tad back to earth. They’re right for each other.
Mario Lopez is an executive producer on the show and even makes a guest appearance in the trailer. What’s it been like working with him or at least just having him around?
Mario is a beam of light. He is always encouraging and so much fun to work with.
Last question — we’re called Talk Nerdy With Us because we all have an inner nerd so what is something that you’re currently nerding out about?
I’m currently “nerding out” about meeting John Franklin from Children of the Corn at an audition earlier today.
The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia is currently streaming on Netflix. Make sure you follow Conor on Instagram.
Featured Photo Credit: Storm Santos