The actor and his mother agent, a filmmaker, reflect on their first meeting, his indie film beginnings, and the grounding role nature still plays in their lives.
Words by Olive Walton
Interview by Daniel Peddle
From star football player to sensitive leading man, Mitchell Slaggert has had quite the journey into acting. His childhood dream of joining the Marine Corps shifted into playing college football, and after a chance encounter with Daniel Peddle on campus, he was ushered into the modeling world – a path that ultimately led him to acting. Growing up in North Carolina gave him long stretches of time alone in the woods, space for thought and reflection that he now sometimes craves amid life in Hollywood. Speaking to me from the house he built himself, Mitchell reunites with Daniel to reminisce about how it all began, how acting can make you a better person, and why time in nature is something neither of them takes for granted.
Olive Walton: I’d love to hear the story of how you two became acquainted and Daniel, a follow on question to that, what was it that you first saw in Mitchell?
Daniel Peddle: Oh, boy. I was at Cucalorus Film festival with my debut narrative Sunset Edge and my nephew, Jacob, was in my movie. I met him at his college campus as we were rushing to the film screening and I saw Mitchell pass me. Literally just scooting by me to his car and I was focused on my nephew, so I didn’t say anything. I got down like half a block and it felt like God tapped me on the shoulder saying “Nope, go back and get that guy.” Well I always listen to that voice, so I turned around. I go running back and I see he’s gotten in his car about to pull off. I got him to roll his window down and handed him my card. He contacted me, we met up and I filmed him doing his runway walk, got all his information in an alley in Wilmington and sent it to my friends that were agents at a modeling company in New York. Within a few weeks, he’s debuting on the Calvin Klein runway in Milan. It was incredible! Then I had a filmmaker friend of mine reach out to me and they said, “We’d love for Mitchell to audition for one of these parts.” They met at our office in New York, Mitchell had never even held a screenplay before, and he does his audition for this director. I remember getting goosebumps and when my director friend left, I turned to Mitchell and said “You’re not gonna do his movie, you’re gonna do my movie.” And so we made Moss together. That’s the origin story!
Mitchell Slaggert: It was kind of funny because I was just leaving class, headed to my car to go home. And here comes Daniel, dressed to the T in some Givenchy attire in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina and I’m like, who is this guy? Because you don’t see that often down there, someone who has delicious fashion taste.
DP: I just got back from Carolina Beach actually, and I was wandering around the wetlands thinking about Moss. All the stuff I put you through, man, no matter what you do, you always will be able to say you have indie film roots! God, it was like bootcamp. I mean, the stuff that we had you doing in hindsight, none of it was safe… half of it was illegal.
MS: Yep. Oh man, that was such a fun memory. I still remember the story from Stingray [Billy Ray Suggs, Mitchell’s real-life mentor who played his dad in the film] saying that when we first started filming, I had done like two weeks of acting training so I was overthinking it and struggling. All it really took was Daniel giving me some props and then once I was actually doing something, then I could act. You were thinking, “Okay, thankfully I’m not just throwing a bunch of money away.” After that it was off to the races ’cause we had such a good group of people. Especially with Billy bringing his charismatic energy to the set, I mean, he was literally saying that the amount of fun we’re having is gonna correlate to the outcome of the product. And it was a lot of fun. But then it was funny because I was thinking when you sent me that script, I don’t like to toot my own horn, but you couldn’t have gotten luckier that I grew up with a canoe and in those parts [North Carolina].
DP: I know, it was meant to be! I think we share these roots coming from rural North Carolina and spending so much of our childhood with nature. I mean, I would come home every day from school and go into the woods. I spent my whole childhood more or less in the woods, a lot of times by myself, searching for crayfish, snakes, tree burls… I’d take my sketchbook out or my camera – I was taking pictures even back then. It just seemed normal, but now I know that’s actually a very rare experience, and not that many people have it, certainly not anymore. But you’re someone who shares this kind of background and I think it’s really helped us bond because we have that in common, you know? Now, at the age I’m at and after everything I’ve been through in life, I just crave that alone time in the woods by myself. And I know it’s something you try to make a priority too, right?
MS: Yeah, It was funny because I set two alarms on my phone: one to come home and one for the time of the [interview] – because I was just out in the woods. It’s just medicinal being out there, you feel your soul becoming rejuvenated. And you really can’t put a monetary value on how important it is. You know how Chris [Kiely, Mitchell’s manager] meditates, well my meditation is just being out there and existing with this beautiful planet we live on. It’s gorgeous. I also wanna go back to this funny Moss story. Do you remember that National Geographic shot that we got of the alligator?
DP: Yes!
MS: It was a windy day. The canoe was just getting blown into the shore. I’m thinking, “God, that’s gonna scare an alligator and it’s just gonna run into the water.” And sure enough that happened. I wanna say we were rounding that bend and there was like a 10 footer that just jumped in the water probably 50 feet in front of me. I was like, that’s cool.
DP: And none of it was expected or planned, but we got it documented, as if we had said “Send the alligator now.”
MS: I know. Cue the alligator. It was incredible. And then Juri [Beythien], he was this guy from Germany and he was such an incredible cinematographer. He was always dialed in at the perfect focus so he could see an alligator, turn the camera, zoom in and capture the National Geographic shot. It was amazing.
DP: A lot of this stuff you’ve done so far has been very nature-centric. Do you feel like it helps you keep grounded in this volatile industry that you’ve gotten into?
MS: A thousand percent, yeah. From living in New York especially, having to just punch back home and hit the reset button. I would spend ten days in New York City where my mentality would switch, and I don’t feel like myself. Go back home, hit the reset button. So, like I said earlier, you can’t put money on it, and it’s worth so much. It is ‘the good life,’ simply put.
DP: And it doesn’t cost any money. That’s the irony of it. It’s always there for everyone. It’s funny when I think about everything you’ve done so far and how it all started. It’s just incredible and now I’ve also learnt what is really involved to pursue being an actor. I have a lot of young people that I mentor through Sundance Collab and some of them say they want to be an actor. I tell them “Do you know that’s like saying you want to win a gold medal at the Olympics? Do you realize the work that has to go into that?” I mean, it is comparable to pursuing athletics at the most elite level. It takes that same kind of commitment. I know you’ve been a lifelong athlete too, so that metaphor must ring true for you as well. How are you navigating all of this?
MS: I think I was always planning on joining the Marine Corps and I don’t half ass anything. I was getting up at four every morning to train with a retired recon Marine. And Billy …
DP: Old Stingray. I miss him so much.
MS: Stingray, yeah, Billy Ray. He helped me get that mentality of whatever you do, you’re gonna do to the best of your ability. And that definitely helped out with this career because it’s never been more competitive. A lot of people are trying out for these same roles and you really have to decide how to make yourself stand out in these auditions. I wish I could say that I’ve definitely got this, but no, it takes a lot of training and dedication and time in class working on it. I would just say it’s not for the faint of heart.
DP: I remind you sometimes, ‘If at any moment you are not enjoying this anymore, and I know it’s not all pleasurable, you can always stop and go pursue whatever.’ I don’t know, I think I feel some kind of responsibility, like, oh shit, I got you on this path. And I just wanna remind you sometimes, ‘Dude, if you ever wanna get off, you can get off.’ But then I hear what you say about acting, what you’ve discovered in yourself through it, and just your love for it. For me it’s the same thing for filmmaking. I call it ‘my calling’ and it is almost a religious term. Especially growing up in the South and going to good old Southern Baptist churches, it does feel like this is something that the universe wants me to do. In saying this, I know you’ve said that you feel like acting is your calling. Can you explain what you mean by that and in your first few times acting – Moss being one of them – what made you feel you wanted to dedicate your life to this?
MS: It was essentially how I spent my whole life preparing to join the Marine Corps. That didn’t come to fruition because of a car accident I had when I was a child, and I came across you and you just plucked me from somewhere and threw me into something else. It happened so quickly, it felt like it was meant to be. I draw parallels to how aggressively I was training to do one thing and then another thing happened and you know, when the good Lord opens the door for you, you’d be a fool not to step through it. I also don’t want you to be burdened with a sense of responsibility or anything because I’m an adult, I’ve made this decision and I feel the way that I feel about it. It’s a no brainer for me because I’ve fallen in love with a craft and it’s both addicting and frustrating, but as I grow as an actor, I grow as a human, and as I grow as a human, I also grow as an actor.
DP: We both grew up in the south and obviously different time periods, but we had these radically different experiences. I was like a little fat kid, I was pretty ostracized and bullied a lot, whereas you were the star football player, the popular guy. Especially with your training to go into the military, coming from a military family, that’s a way of life that is built on the idea that you have to push your emotions down to your toes and, and press forward with the task at hand, you know? And so when I was growing up as an artist and learning how to find my voice, you were learning how to bury your emotions and get from A to B in the most streamlined way possible, becoming an alpha male. So now you’re in this career where you’re having to do the exact opposite of what you did growing up, I’m curious what’s it been like getting in touch with your emotions and all the things that you need as an actor?
MS: It’s kind of been incredibly beautiful. Being more in touch with my emotions has felt like being reborn a little bit. It’s incredibly liberating. I told you this, Daniel, that once we first started going down this path, I just mentally chucked it in the fuck it bucket and just started doing it. I fell in love with it. When you nail a scene and it was heavy but after – what you get out of it, you’re like, wow, it felt so good. It’s definitely therapeutic because a lot of guys, especially where we’re from, are taught the same way I was, to just bottle it up and shove it down. That’s not healthy.
DP: Do you think all the skills you have learnt in acting help you with your relationship?
MS: Absolutely. It’s a path that I’d never thought I would even go down, but now that I’m strides down that path, well let’s start running!
DP: How does it help you with your relationship? I’m actually really curious about this because you know, you seem to have a really healthy one now. I know you guys are deeply in love and it’s a beautiful thing to see. You must be doing something right, right? What about acting helps? Is it learning how to listen?
MS: I think what it comes down to, and I can attribute it to a quote my mother said which is “Understand their perspective.” So with my girlfriend, going down this path and just understanding perspectives of these different characters I’m auditioning for or playing, I think I’m able to dissect what’s happening and see where they’re coming from. That’s something I don’t think I had or wasn’t taught to do earlier in my life.
DP: I mean, I can tell too, I’ve known you since you were a teenager and I’ve seen you grow in really unexpected ways. It’s great to see you get great gigs and accolades but also just watching your relationship flourish, that makes me just as proud. I’m imagining that the better you get as an actor, the better you’ll get as a partner, they kind of go hand in hand.
MS: Well, when you find a unicorn, you hang onto it. She’s a rare human and I’m falling madly in love with her.
DP: Well I am looking forward to seeing y’all both over the holiday!
MS: Yup! You can come see what I’ve been up to at the ole homestead!
DP: Cannot wait!
Talent @mslaggert
Photographer @jgeigs
Stylist @gio.a.b
Grooming @verofiore_pro
Styling Assistant @nicola__destro
Videographer @patrick_invernici
Interview @danielpeddle