Billy Schnase
He played in Maxwell Heesch‘s Dollar Baby Everything’s Eventual as Dink.
SKSM: Could you start with telling me a bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
Billy Schnase: My name is Billy Schnase, I am 20 years old and I am a 2nd year sophomore at Minnesota State University as a theatre major with an emphasis in acting. I’m also a freshman Graphic Design Technology major at Minnesota State Community and Technical College of Moorhead. Also, I work part time at Old Navy in Customer Service.
SKSM: How did you become involved in Everything’s Eventual?
Billy Schnase: My good friend, Max Heesch, approached me one day and asked if I was doing any big projects over the summer. I said no, and he told me about the film. It sounded like fun, so I told him I was in.
SKSM: Did you have to audition for the part or was it written directly for you?
Billy Schnase: I didn’t have to audition, but the part was written before I was involved. To be honest, I don’t think I would have gotten the part if I’d had to audition for it.
SKSM: You worked with Maxwell Heesch on this film, how was that?
Billy Schnase: It was great. Max is a very promising director who knows exactly what he wants and won’t call a shot complete until he has a shot that is akin to his vision for the project as a whole.
SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when you made the movie that you would like to tell me about?
Billy Schnase: Patrick Thompson (one of the set technicians) and I were chilling on set and we were chatting about the new Smurfs movie coming up. We started to nickname each of the Smurfs according to the actor playing them.
SKSM: Is there some part(s) in the film where you now say “I wish that I have done this different”?
Billy Schnase: I hate to watch myself on film because every shot turns out that way for me. I really would like to have had a second shot at doing the whole ‘split-screen acting’ thing.
SKSM: How did you know what to type?
Billy Schnase: I usually just thought about what I was typing about. I usually typed things like “I’m gonna kill you Andrew Neff” or “Man, I’m hungry, when is break.” Sometimes I would type mean things about the technicians on set.
SKSM: What are you thinking of the end result of the film?
Billy Schnase: I’m really impressed with what Max has done given such limited shooting time. He’s really great.
SKSM: Do you still have any contact with those from that time?
Billy Schnase: Yeah, I see most of the people involved from time to time around campus. It’s kinda cool to have had that experience to bond over.
SKSM: What did you do after Everything’s Eventual?
Billy Schnase: I was in a production of The Rocky Horror Show at MSUM and I was an actor for a film called Dragon’s Breath that has just shown at the Fargo Film Festival to good reviews. This summer, I will be performing with a local company called ‘The Straw Hat Players’ performing in 4 shows at MSUM.
SKSM: Are you (or where you) a fan of Stephen King’s work?
Billy Schnase: When I was younger, I had a collection of Stephen King short stories that my brother and I used to read and get nightmares from. Other than that, I guess my biggest bit of fandom from Stephen King comes from having watched ‘It’ when I was 12 and thought it was really cool.
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Billy Schnase: I can’t really think of anything, sorry. Haha.
SKSM: Do you have anything you’d like to add?
Billy Schnase: I’m sorry it took me so long to fill out this interview, but I finally got it in! haha (IMDb)
