Tyler Gallant is an American-born actor and former pro Ice hockey player. Originally from Boston, MA, Tyler’s first love has always been acting but he successfully developed a sports career. Gallant excelled at ice hockey and played college hockey for St Norbert College and Arizona State University, where he also studied acting and Journalism. After college, Gallant signed pro and played for several years professionally. Over the years, Tyler’s been very successful in both fields and has a growing resume of film and television credits to prove it. We had the opportunity to speak to him about his career and more!
Tyler, thank you for agreeing to this interview with Occhi Magazine. Congratulations on your career to date. Please tell us how you got into acting after a long career as a professional hockey player?
Thank you so much for having me, I’m very excited to do this interview with you guys. Thank you so much, it’s been a really fun and wild ride. I got into acting at seven years old when my cousin Dennis Hurley put me in his home movies. Dennis was writing original content and making our own home versions of big Hollywood movies. I was always a very imaginative kid, I did a lot of playing pretend, so when I started playing characters in front of the camera it was a familiar thing. I am mediately fell in love with it and knew right then it would be a life passion. I started hockey at 12 when I started playing goalie and excelled quickly through the hockey ranks. My love for acting and hockey went side by side as I was the rare theater-jock in school but I was very happy to be doing the two things I loved. Getting the opportunity to play professional hockey was a wonderful experience, I met so many wonderful people and Hockey has come full circle many times with acting. So many people I’ve met in the industry have various ties with Hockey as well so the two have been an intertwined journey.
Who have been your industry influences?
my influences in the industry have been: Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy. Most of these actors Inspired me so much because they are a combination of leading man and character actor. I love that combination and I aspire to be an actor that is both as well. I typically am intrigued by character roles in films.
You train in both MMA Boxing and Muay Thai, and coach elite-level Hockey Goalies throughout Los Angeles. How physically demanding do you find the film industry and does your training and teaching help?
Yes, I love MMA, boxing, and Muay Thai training so much it’s such a great release and phenomenal conditioning. I’ve worked with multiple coaches around town and I just love it. I Coach ice hockey goalies in SoCal who play with the junior ducks AAA, junior kings AAA, Bears AAA, Tver Bulls AAA, and Mariners organizations. I find my MMA training, hockey training, and strength workouts really do come as a benefit for the physicality of my acting. They keep me in tiptop shape when I have to go in front of the camera.
You have featured on shows such as General Hospital, SWAT, Bones, and Tales From Old Town II. What have been your fondest memories, and why?
All these shows were such a great experience to work on, the thing that they all had in common was that it felt like a team or family atmosphere. All the actors were so nice, friendly and accommodating and so was the production staff. On bones and swat, I got to work with a bunch of my hockey friends who I used to play in a regular entertainment industry game every week prior to Covid. General Hospital was a great experience and I met some other former athletes that are series regulars which was great.
Your film credits include lead roles in films such as Alpha Wolf starring alongside Casper Van Dien and Patrick Muldoon. Please share your experiences of working with cast and crew, including director and visual effects genius Kevin Vanhook?
Alpha wolf was such a fun movie to make! I have always loved werewolf movies and werewolf lore since I was a kid so the opportunity to get to make an 80s inspired werewolf horror/comedy with such a blast. The icing on the cake was getting to work with such wonderful actors like Casper Van Dien, Patrick Muldoon, Robert Mukes, Jenny Van Dien, James Preston Rogers, and many others. I had a lot of fun with everyone on set, it was a really fun and close-knit group. We shot in a lot of really great locations and we had a really great werewolf costume and creature actor Dirk Ellis. Getting to work with such a talented guy like Kevin VanHook was such a wonderful experience, he is an amazing artist, a great guy, and a great filmmaker.
You’ve been in lead and supporting roles in several other films, including Blind, Rootwood, #followme, Pretty Boy, Obscura, and Against All Odds, just to name a few. What do you look for when choosing roles?
I had such a blast doing those films, they were all so different and unique in their own ways. All these films had wonderful cast and crews, many of which have become very close friends. Typically when I choose a role, I look for how interesting, unique, and different a character might be. All these characters are all very different and that has made it so fun for me. I also like to challenge myself artistically as to where I can take a character. I’ve also been very lucky in working with filmmakers that have enjoyed providing the actors some creative freedom as well.
Can you share any information on other projects in the pipeline?
Right now I have two features that are in various stages of post-production and will be out this year. They are Marcel Walz’s “Pretty Boy“ and Jerry Angelo’s “Obscura”. “Pretty Boy” is the highly anticipated sequel to 80s style romantic/slasher “BLIND”. The film is a continuation right from where BLIND ended and follows Pretty Boy during his continued love-inspired killer rampage. “Obscura” is a sci-fi/action/thriller that takes place in the desert around a secret government facility where a group of special forces runs into an aggressive outlaw biker club looking for a lost member. The two groups realize they have a bigger problem when an unknown entity attacks them, they must work together to survive.
Where can our readers find out more about you and your projects?
The easiest place to follow me is on Instagram where I post most of my updates, behind the scenes, stills, and updates on what I’m doing. My handle is: @actor_tyler_g
Thank you guys so much for having me on here it was a blast!
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