Owen Teague – Taken From FAULT Magazine Issue 24
Owen Teague first caught the eye of FAULT during his captivating performance as Nolan Rayburn in Netflix’s ‘Bloodline’. Despite his young age, Owen’s talent matches that of a performer far beyond his years. Currently filming for upcoming thriller entitled ‘The Empty Man’ and with other large projects in the pipeline, I wanted to catch up with the actor while he’s propelled to greatness.
It looks like you have a lot of thrillers and horror projects in your future. Do you find the darker productions more enjoyable?
I’ve always been attracted to darker things, ever since being a little kid. I’ve found that thrillers seem to have the fullest characters, regarding having both a dark and a light side. It’s been these kinds of flawed characters that have drawn me to the darker projects.
You play the part of Nolan Rayburn in Bloodline, are there parallels between Nolan’s character and your own personality?
Definitely. We’re both searchers, in at least an existential sense. His search is also for home, and how he’s going to eat and sleep and all that, but he also searches for a philosophical home, where he belongs in the world. I also feel that way. So because of this, we’re both kinds of distrustful of the world, and we protect ourselves, in our different ways. Nolan and I also are pretty creative people. We like making stuff. That’s only hinted at through Season 2, but it’s something I think is a big part of his personality.
That being said, our lives are incredibly different, and we deal with problems in very different ways. Everyone who knows the show tells me I’m so different from him, and it’s mostly true. But there is undoubtedly a part of me in Nolan.
What do you look for most when auditioning for a part?
I’ve found I really enjoy playing messed-up people. Not bad, or evil, per-say, but troubled. They’re complex, and becoming those people is always a combination of fun and difficult.
What’s been the favourite part of your acting journey so far?
Bloodline, and playing Nolan. When you’re with a character for a long time — multiple episodes, multiple seasons — they start feeling real to you because you know them so well. So Nolan has become this weird kind of other-me, and the Rayburns this other-family. And working on Bloodline is always such a wonderful experience, because of the people and the feeling of the set. And, you know, the Keys aren’t too bad either.
If you could play any part (even if it’s already been done), what role would be the dream role?
Oh man… well, if they ever made a movie about Jack Nicholson, I would love to play him. I mean, I’d love to work with him above that, but I’d also love to play him. He’s a big source of creative inspiration.
Who is your biggest professional inspiration?
Leonardo DiCaprio. I love his movies and what he’s done as an actor, and also his work for the environment. He’s used his power as a celebrity to do something good for the world — in this case, work to combat what is probably Earth’s biggest issue right now, and will be for a long time to come: climate change — and I think that’s admirable, and important.