Meet Trevor Lyons | Actor and Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Trevor Lyons and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Trevor, what is the most important factor behind your success?

The most important factor behind my success and the success of my “brand,” if you will, has to do with acceptance and surrender. Both as a health coach and as an actor, things go best when I’m able to surrender to who I really need to be. I have the most success when I stop fighting who I am, when I’m able to tap into the unique angle I offer. As a trainer and health coach, I’ve unlocked more financial success and more personal fulfillment by surrendering to the aspects of training that I’m most passionate about, and that I find most interesting, rather than comparing myself to some idea of the trainer I think I’m supposed to be (not to mention the multitude of Instagram trainer-influencer types). I’ve come to embrace my niche in the market, I love my clients, and I love my focus on functional movement, myofascial corrective exercise, and I love the process of customizing plans for individual clients lifestyles and goals. Traditional elements of training are great, but the more I’ve surrendered to a more specialized niche that I find most interesting, the more my brand and my value have become clearer to me, and the more value I’m able to offer others.

Similarly, as an actor, the more I embrace the more eccentric parts of myself the more successful my actor “brand” has become. Rather than comparing myself to the imaginary actor I think I’m supposed to be, or some actor who I perceive to be a similar character type to me, and wanting to compete with that actor (and who I subsequently get jealous of when they book that great role on that great series). The more I surrender to, and embrace, a more specific expression of myself as an actor, the more fun the work becomes and the easier it becomes for other people to see my value – not just in terms of talent but in terms of niche and the specific fit I can be in stories. A big focus for me right now is specifying and honing that specificity of my talent, rather than worrying about general, arbitrary improvement, or trying to be better than some other actor; how could I be better at what THEY do than they are, anyways?! It’s easy to get caught in the trap of trying to “get it right,” as an actor – to try and deliver the audition you think they’re looking for as opposed to delivering you – your most vivid, realized take on the character. When I’m able to focus on, and surrender to, that everything becomes more enjoyable.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

I think what sets me apart as an actor is what I bring to the table analytically and intellectually, and intuitively with regard to how the analytical and intellectual might translate physically and emotionally. A lot of actors show up on film sets and, sort of, wait to be told where to stand. Without interfering with the director’s vision, I make a point of showing up with some ideas and instincts of my own that I can contribute to the process of devising scenes and moments that the camera can capture. I think it’s important that actors embrace their creative power as collaborators, rather than simply waiting to be directed.

While I’m relatively new to the world of professional acting, as someone who came to the game late (late twenties), in some ways that was an advantage. I was able to step into it, I think, with relatively clear eyes and a lack of preconceptions. I learned some major lessons about coachability and adaptability during my basketball career, which ended in disappointing fashion, and the degree to which one can self-sabotage through stubbornness, so I came to acting very open, suggestible, and willing to be coached. I think I’m at a stage now where I’m learning to reengage more of my own creative willfulness and to put more trust in my own sensibility, learning to take more ownership of my career, as opposed to constantly seeking guidance from the people I’ve pedestalized as experts or gurus. I went a little too far in one direction as a basketball player, then went all the way the other direction at the outset of training and work as an actor, and now I’m starting to find the balance.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Well, we’d have to hit some of the trails near the foot of the mountains in Boulder, for sure. We’d have to spend a night out on Pearl Street; Rosetta Hall has become my new favorite spot. 16th Street Mall is a gotta-see area, and Mellow Mushroom is just about my favorite pizza place outside of NYC. Last but not least, just as a means of staying active, the bike trails in Boulder are a masterpiece, and one could spend an entire day exploring all the different directions those trails can take ya.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to two people. The first is my mother, who passed away in May. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a mother-son relationship that wasn’t challenging, and charged, in one way or another, but I know in her heart of hearts she wanted the best for me, and wanted to see me become my truest self, and that feels directly pertinent to everything we’ve covered in this interview. Even going through all of her belongings over the last few months has been epiphanic with regard to her journey of self-discovery over the years, and so I have taken it up as my duty to carry that torch forward with as much courage and intelligence as I can.

Next, I’d like to dedicate this shoutout to Jennifer Rincon, founder and artistic director of Visionbox Studio Theatre. Jennifer’s ability to mine text, her ability to uncover a play’s most essential meaning and the most essential aspects of a character’s dilemma, is as good as it gets. I’ve had a number of great teachers over the years, including Scott Zigler at the Atlantic Theater Company (now head of acting at North Carolina School of the Arts) and Lee Brock of the Barrow Group, both in New York City, but my experiences studying Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Anton Chekhov with Jennifer were some of my most formative, and transformative, experiences both artistically and philosophically, experiences that imbue every part of my life, creative and otherwise.

Website: Trevor-Lyons.com

Instagram: Trevor_Lyons_

Image Credits
Daniel D’Ottavio Miner’s Alley Playhouse Sean Turi