Chris: Playing Dangerous Without Losing the Human Side

Chris has a natural toughness about him. He’s guarded, watchful, and a little intimidating when you first meet him. Spend some time talking with him, though, and a different personality emerges: warm, curious, slightly shy, and genuinely good-natured.

For his latest NYC actor headshots, we wanted to explore both sides of that personality, while leaning toward the gritty crime dramas and feature films he’s interested in pursuing.

Three Looks, Three Different Characters

Chris is looking to move beyond short films and into more substantial TV and film auditions. We talked about the kinds of characters who inhabit the worlds of shows like Power, The Wire, Power Book II: Ghost, and Law & Order: people with complicated loyalties, questionable decisions, and sometimes dangerous intentions. Those were useful reference points for the tone of the shoot, rather than specific shows we were targeting.

We built three wardrobe looks around working-class, mid-level professional, and more dangerous, streetwise characters. Each needed to feel believable on its own, without losing the qualities that make Chris recognizable.

The biggest visual difference came from the lighting.

For the tougher look, I used a bare 7-inch reflector positioned close and high, producing crisp highlights, hard shadows, and eyes that sat deeper beneath his brow. An eight-foot white V-flat provided just enough fill to keep some detail in the darker areas.

For the other two looks, I switched to a 48-inch horizontal softbox, positioned close to create soft shadows with substantial falloff. We could keep his face dimensional without making him look quite so threatening.

When “Too Much” Is Just Enough

Chris is naturally laid-back, which made the session easygoing. Getting him to project something more dangerous without a script or scene to work from took some experimentation.

I kept asking for “more.”

Actors often worry that they’re pushing an expression too far in front of a still camera. So I encouraged Chris to deliberately go beyond what felt comfortable. We’d shoot a few frames, review them on the monitor, and figure out where the expression actually landed.

What feels exaggerated internally can look surprisingly restrained in a photograph.

Same Actor, Different First Impression

Seeing the contrast between the hard-lit dramatic images and the friendly blue button-down shots was one of the most enjoyable parts of the session. The difference was striking.

Chris can convincingly play a dangerous character. But there’s also a warmth beneath that guarded exterior, which opens up another set of possibilities. Someone who does questionable things for reasons he genuinely believes are justified.

That’s the range we wanted casting directors to see. Three distinct characters, all recognizably Chris.