An Interview with Actor Van Alpert

Recently, I was invited to the screening for the short film "God Bless America" at the Anthology Film Archives Cinemas in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. After meeting the director, Rodrigo Diaz McVeigh, and the actors, Carson Grant and Van Alpert, I asked Van if he, too, would like to do an online interview.

Hi, Van. Tell me about yourself? I was born in New York City in the summer of 1986. My mom was a model from Holland and my pops was a shoemaker from California. I come from a family of artists making me a very creative person.

What was your inspiration to become involved in acting? As I was growing up I loved to tell stories with voice impressions when entertaining my classmates or at the dinner table. My friends and I used to practice voices a lot in school too, in the lunchroom and classrooms. I decided to join my school's Drama program, turned out to be my favorite class. I enjoyed studying historical plays and making short film projects. During my senior year I performed a monologue at a Central Florida Theater event and received partial scholarship to the New York Film Academy. When I turned 18, I moved to New York to study theater. I am currently enrolled at the Lee Strasberg School for Film and Theater.

Do you have plans for any new projects? I star in a short-film titled "What A Putts" a story about a Pro-Golfer who takes life for granted and gets cancer, directed by Andres Del Gado. Also during the summer, I directed a short-documentary titled "Stanton Street" based on the homeless shelter "The Bowery Mission", and stories from all kinds of people who lived there in the 1960's-2007. I wrote a short-comedy with Sebastian Price titled "Addicts Anonymous" which I will also star in, shooting early December.

Tell me about your role in the short film "God Bless America". I play Sgt. Stanley Jefferson which was an interesting role to play. This was a Marine on a mission with very strong values for his friends, and extremely determined.

Stanley couldn't cope with the fact that he wasn't able to accomplish his mission in New York City. The taunting flashbacks and intensity of the Bronx in New York City leaded him to desperate measures.

I had a lot of fun on that project with my hometown friend, and creative partner Rodrigo Diaz McVeigh. It was a great experience for us, we started a great team, and everyone felt it was the right time and place to make a film on the subject of war.

What are your plans for the future?I plan to move to Los Angeles, California and start auditioning next year. I plan to study film while continuing my scene work in school. I also plan to finish the feature length script that I'm working on with Rodrigo Diaz McVeigh. Lastly, I plan to continue creating a team of individuals with dialectical ingenuity who strives to change the world with "DIAL DIRECTIONS."

One last question, what do you like to do in your spare time? I enjoy drawing, painting graffiti, reading, and writing on my spare time.

Thank you very much for talking with me Van, and keep up the great work. To see Van in the trailer for "God Bless America" go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw1y_0f17gQ