MAXIMILLIAN LEE PIAZZA

Check out our interview with New York based actor, model and hip-hop dancer Maximilian Lee Piazza who is also a martial artist, specializing in Iaijutsu (Martial Art with a Japanese sword) called “Ryushin Shouchi Ryu”.

Maximilian got his start as the young Tim Kono in Hulu’s Emmy-nominated Only Murders in the Building before guest starring as Henry Von Biedermeyer in the iCarly reboot on Paramount Plus. He can also be seen as Josh in the film Spirited, a remake of the classic Christmas Carol, working alongside big names in the industry like Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell and Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer.

Hi Maximillian, please tell us a little about you?
Nice to e-meet you! I’m really thankful for this opportunity and look forward to responding to your series of questions. To start, I’m a New York based actor, hip hop dancer and martial artist, specializing in Iaijutsu (Martial Art with a Japanese sword).

Describe yourself in 3 words?
Compassionate, loyal, and creative.

How did you get started into acting?
I started out modeling for Ralph Lauren and after doing that for a few years, I discovered my love for acting. My parents told me they always knew I would be an actor or performer of some sort because as a child I would always entertain them.

How has this changed your life?
It’s changed my life in that I have had such incredible experiences through acting from traveling the world to working with some of the most creative minds in the industry who also happen to be some of the nicest as well.

What is the best and worst part of being an actor?
The best part is that it allows me to express myself through the different characters I create and experience the world through their eyes. The worst part is the rejections I and every actor experiences throughout their career. Most of the time, I handle it really well but there have been times when I was in the final mix for a project that I really wanted when ultimately the role went to someone else. Thankfully I have really supportive parents who keep me grounded and remind me to never give up. Just recently, I remember feeling really discouraged after losing out on a role and my mom sent me an article about how many of the actors I admire went through similar experiences and almost quit acting, just before they got their star-making role. Reading their stories is what really helped me see the rejection in a different light.

How do you prepare for a role?
My acting coach taught me that, as an actor, you have to be a detective and look for the clues and subtext in the script. So I always start by trying to understand the character, how he sees the world and the people he interacts with. From there, I look for my character’s motivation in the scene and, once I start feeling more aligned with my character, I let my imagination go to work in creating his behavior – even the way he moves and talks.

Tell us about your work in “Spirited,” and “iCarly?”
For Spirited, I play Josh Hubbins who is a straight-A student who is running for student council president against the niece of Clint Brigg’s who is played by Ryan Reynolds. I think we all know a kid like Josh – a perfectionist who on the surface seems confident and naturally good at everything he does, but if you look past his social mask, you’ll discover he’s just a typical teenager who has insecurities like the rest of us. For iCarly, I got to play a really quirky and comical character named Henry Von Biedermeyer who is incredibly intelligent but lacking all sense of social cues. I grew up watching the series so, as you can imagine, getting to work with the cast and being on set was a surreal experience, one I will never forget. And for those of you who are wondering, Miranda Cosgrove and the rest of the cast are genuinely kind, very welcoming and incredibly talented as you would imagine them to be.

How was working alongside a big star like Ryan Reynolds?
Although he’s one of the biggest power actors in Hollywood, I wasn’t intimidated working with him because right from the start he was extremely personable and made me feel incredibly comfortable on set.

He’s also a lot taller in real life and he’s also an incredibly generous person – I say that because of an interaction we had after I was done filming most of my scenes with him and Will Ferrell. He was scheduled to film another scene immediately afterwards, but he paused filming for some unknown reason. I didn’t realize it was so he could talk to me privately. As I was about to leave for the day, he took me aside and told me what an outstanding actor I was and that he was excited to see the actor I’d become when I get older. Obviously, hearing those words from an actor I’ve always admired not only resonated with me, but more importantly it also reminded me how powerful the words you speak to others and yourself are. I hope that someday I get to pay it forward by encouraging the young actors I work with like Ryan did for me.