Gunnar Sizemore began his acting career at age three on national commercials for Juicy Juice, Old Navy, The Hartford and Disney, just to name a few. At six, he landed his first lead voice acting job as “Miles” on the Disney pilot Miles from Tomorrowland, where he found himself working alongside some of his favorite artists, Tom Kenny and Dee Bradley Baker. Equally adept at comedy and drama, Gunnar soon booked the NBC-TV pilot The Gates and the hit country music drama Nashville, starring as “Micah Brenner.” He has also appeared on the Disney XD show Kickin’ It. At the age of 10, Gunnar was nominated for Best Actor in the short film Heartfall at the 168 International Film Festival. His movie The Night Guardian won Best Comic Book Film at Comic Con.
Showing his guitar skills, Gunnar just completed the short film By Way of Guitar, directed by Na Liu, as a dueling street guitarist playing opposite Billy Zane. In addition, he has three animated feature films all releasing in 2019, including the lead role in Nickelodeon’s next original TV movie also starring Mark Hamill.
He has had the pleasure of being directed by Jorge Gutierrez in the animated feature The Book of Life, Roger Allers in The Prophet, Denzel Washington for post-production on Fences and Pete Levin in the award-winning stop-motion short I’m Scared, created by world-renowned artist, Craola.
His colorful characters on the series Craig of the Creek, Clarence & Ben 10 for Cartoon Network, The Adventures of Kid Danger, Loud House and Shimmer & Shine for Nickelodeon highlight his diverse skills as an actor. He has also lent his voice talents to the hit show Doc McStuffins and ad campaigns for Apple iPhone. Gunnar’s upcoming films Intensive Care (comedy) and Distinction (drama) are set for release in early 2019. He also created the ongoing youtube series called Monday Shorts, where he films short films on Mondays. www.youtube.com/mondayshorts
Born and raised in Southern California, Gunnar loves playing Basketball, Flag Football & Volleyball, as well as playing his guitars, piano and his unusual Japanese instrument the Otomatone. He speaks Japanese, Spanish and is diverse in the dialects he has mastered. He loves hanging out with his Mom, Dad, his puppy Meadow and his friends. He enjoys giving back to his community by volunteering in every city he visits or works in. At school, he participates in the community outreach program Angel On My Shoulder as well as serving on Student Council, Vocal Ensemble, and the award-winning Academic Decathlon Team. He is also a proud Ambassador for the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
We had the amazing opportunity to chat with Gunnar about his latest projects and more! Check out the interview below.
Hi, Gunnar! What an impressive portfolio! We are so excited to speak with you about your projects. Let’s start with By Way of Guitar. Tell us more.
By Way of Guitar is a film directed by Na Liu and I co-star alongside Billy Zane who’s known for Titanic. It tells the story of Jake (Billy’s character) who used to be a rock-star and has fallen on hard times. As my character Andy happens to walk by one day, he hears someone playing on the street corner for money and realizes it’s his idol, Jake. Andy then pulls out his guitar and stands nearby and the two of them have an old-fashioned guitar dual. Xueran Chen, who is an amazing artist, wrote the guitar duels for use to do and being able to act and play music was a blast. It’s the first time I’ve been able to play guitar on screen since I did the Nashville show a few years ago.
What should the audience expect to see?
How simple life really can be and when you allow yourself the opportunity to open your heart and feel what’s going on with others, it’s a wonderful thing because you instinctively know what to do or how to help. When you see By Way of Guitar, you’ll see what Andy does to help Jake.
You have some feature and animated films releasing soon. You must be excited! What are the themes of each film?
VERY! On the animated side is “Max & Me” I play a character from Poland named Raymond in a story about a grumpy old man who mentors a teenager and ultimately sacrifices his life for others.
For live action, we just wrapped the film “Distinction” about an 18-year-old family friend whose character gets tested when racial bias surfaces and I play Logan, who’s his adopted little brother. Also, “Intensive Care,” which opens in Scandinavia May 23rd and then goes to Japan before opening in the United States is about three low-life criminals who try to rob an elderly lady, but I play the paperboy who always shows up at the wrong time for them to complete their task.
You’re also starring in a lead role in Nickelodeon’s next original animated tv movie, also starring Mark Hamill. That must be thrilling. How was it filming with Luke Skywalker himself?
Surreal. The project won’t be announced till later this year, but I’m just really happy to be able to play a character opposite the “Luke Skywalker.” There are so many other talented voice actors in this film and we’re all really proud of it.
What inspired you to produce ongoing YouTube series called Monday Shorts. Tell us more.
I just wanted to do something when I have downtime from school, sports and work to have fun with my friends. This summer we’re gearing up for season 3 and it’s just some over-the-top craziness. People can see what we do at http://www.youtube.com/mondayshorts.
Thus far, what has been the best experience working in the industry?
Meeting so many fun and creative people. Many I’ve grown up with by watching them on TV, and to actually be working with them all the time is great but getting to know them on a personal level has been amazing.
Do you have any upcoming projects that we haven’t mentioned?
There’s an animated series I’ve been working on for the last year and a half that will be announced soon. It’s a partnership between DreamWorks and Amazon and it’s AMAZING! I’m really excited to have people see the series. I’m also recurring on two series for Cartoon Network. One is called “Craig of the Creek” and I play Jason the Jr. Forest Scout Ranger who speaks with a lisp and tries to control the creek where all the kids play. The other is the rebooted “Ben 10” and I play Billy Billions…the bratty rich kid who always gets what he wants, even if he has to be mean. Some other shows I’ve been fortunate to guest on this year are “Adventures of Kid Danger,” “Shimmer & Shine” and “Loud House.” Regarding live action, I just wrapped the film “Distinction” that was filmed in Nashville and it’s set to release in 2019.
Complete this sentence, if I had an opportunity to do anything I want, I would do ___________?
Flying into space is something I think would be amazing. I don’t know how I would be able to top that!
We heard you met some of the “Stranger Things’ cast. How did all that come about?
Well, my buddy Noah Bentley and I went to a Q & A for the “Stranger Things” cast in Hollywood with our moms on my birthday. At the end, Noah was one of three questions they allowed, and he asked if they would wish me a Happy Birthday. Then David Harbour “Hopper” jumps up and gives me one of his famous “Hopper Hugs.” It was awesome and here’s a link to it: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialGunnarSizemorePage/videos/1635871259811978/
What’s even more ironic, one of the very first voice over jobs I did was for a film called “The Story of Pines” and it was with his girlfriend Alison Sudol who voiced the other character. You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP5TVYTxKMI
How can people follow your career and keep up with you?
They can visit www.imdb.me/gunnarsizemore and if they are on Twitter: @gunnarsizemore
Connect with Gunnar:
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4146013/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/gunnarsizemore/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gunnarsizemore
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialGunnarSizemorePage
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