Students of theater all hope to go out into the world and make names for themselves. Ryan Honey, a 1998 University graduate, is in the process of doing just that.
Honey plays Yarmouth, a character in the upcoming film “Men of Honor,” starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is an adaptation of the life of Carl Brashear, the first African-American Navy diver. Honey’s character is one of four men who finish the naval training along with Gooding.
This is Honey’s first role in a major motion picture, but his face has already been seen on the silver screen. He was in an independent film called “Jacks” written and directed by friend and fellow student Jesse Lawler. The digital feature, which played briefly last spring at the Bijou Art Cinema, has already won two “Best Feature” titles at the American Digital Arts Festival and the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art Film Festival.Aside from starring in “Jacks,” Honey was the co-producer and helped see the movie through from start to finish.
“The dream used to be: I want to be a big movie star. But it’s more amazing to give birth to an idea and see it through to the end,” Honey said.
This overall perspective is something that Ryan has always had, his ex-professor and friend Jack Watson said.
“Ryan was always wanting to make things happen for himself,” Watson said.
Honey attributes much of his success to the experience he gained through the University’s Pocket Playhouse.
“I can’t say enough good things about the Pocket,” Honey said. “It’s where I trained, where I learned the skills that have helped me.”
Watson knows how important the Pocket Playhouse is and is proud to have it as an option for students of the University.
“In any artform, a student has to have a space to try stuff without trying to please anybody,” Watson said. “That is what the Pocket does.”
Honey has had limited time to reflect on his shifting experiences from the University to independent film and into the world of Hollywood. He has kept himself very busy all throughout his career. In college, he was one of the founding members of Absolute Improv, a group that continues to perform on and around campus under new leadership. He has also done modeling, commercials for television and the Internet and stage acting. Currently, he is working on another independent project called “The West Ender.” In this feature, Honey is working again with some of his fellow actors from “Jacks.”
“It’s a real treat to work with people you’ve worked with before,” Honey said. “You know how to get things done.”
Honey has gained a more mature perspective from his work on “Men of Honor.” The only difference between a good independent movie and a big Hollywood movie, he said, is the huge budget.
“If you’ve got $1,500, the computer and the camera, you can make a movie,” Honey said.
Sandy Bonds, a theater costume designer at the University and another of Honey’s ex-professors, believes that ambition like that is exactly what teachers are trying to instill in students.
“I think it’s terrific when students go outside the program,” Bonds said. “That is what we’re training them for.”
Honey knows, though, that much of the training an actor needs comes purely from experience.
“One of my faults used to be my unabashed enthusiasm,” Honey said. “It’s a great thing to have, but you have to try and pick the projects that you put it to.”