Chris Bruno loves acting but lately he has found his passion in directing.  The film and television actor best known for his role on the television series, The Dead Zone was a guest star this past season on NCIS Los Angeles playing the misdirected Dominic Fryman in the episode Purity.  Besides film and television, Bruno has had a varied career that includes soaps, stand-up comedy and voice over work.  He is currently working on his own production as writer and director for a new film called Remarkable Life.  Let’s find out more about Chris Bruno….

Chris, you have stayed active in this business for a long while.  How do you keep motivated and focused?

I keep motivated and focused because this business requires you to keep reinventing yourself and I always find it challenging to do so. It forces me to reevaluate myself and look deep inside to see how I can be a better artist and human being.

Why acting?  What has pulled you towards this field?

Why acting? Well, I guess it took me a long time to realize that I was drawn to the madness of the business. It’s a bit like Jack Kerouac, We are the mad ones searching for the rush of something greater other than the ordinary. I am finally learning to accept that and embrace it rather than deny my own insanity. In LA we are the “Land of Misfit Toys”.

For your guest appearance on NCISLA, how do you get into the mind of a guy like Dominic Fryman?  His heart is in the right place but the means of accomplishing his objective is all wrong. 

Great question. Eric Lanueville the director and I had a conversation about it and we both felt the best way to play it was with justification. He fully believes he’s doing the right thing to make this world a better place.

You eventually worked with most of the cast.  What was that like on set?

I loved Chris O’Donnell. He was very gracious and welcoming. Also LL is simply a star. If you didn’t know who he was and saw him walking down the street, you would say, “That guy is somebody”. He exudes stardom but is humble and funny. Learned a lot about how people carry themselves and what we give off to the universe.

You did some directing on the Dead Zone.  Would you eventually like to do more?

I love directing and it’s my new passion. I feel the way about directing that I did about acting 20 years ago

Tell us a little bit about Remarkable Life, which you wrote, produced and directed. 

In 2003, my cousin Vohn Regensberger and I did a film together that we shot for $60,000 when you couldn’t do a film for that money. Four years later we got a distribution deal. Ten years later he approached me with another script. He and I and Marie Avgeropoulos who was my girlfriend at the time, began a yearlong process of rewrites and eventually decided the film was ready to go. We went to picture on May 4th and wrapped at the end of the month. Eric Roberts played my Dad, my brother Dylan Bruno played my brother, imagine that, and Daphne Zuniga played my ex-wife. Mark Margolis from Breaking Bad also was amazing in the movie. And Marie played this twenty-something that opens my life up to self-discovery.

What’s up next for Chris Bruno?

My show Family Tools just got cancelled which sucks but it opened up the idea of doing comedy again so I might start doing more of that. I also wrote a pilot called World of Hurt that was currently optioned about a cop that infiltrates the biker gangs by fighting out of an MMA gym based on an autobiographical experience I had in Vancouver.

We appreciate Chris stopping by to answer our questions on NCISLA Magazine.  We look forward to seeing Remarkable Life soon and all of Chris’ future endeavors!

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