Thomas Sellwood
'All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts'
William Shakespeare
'All the world's a stage' is from William Shakespeare's As You Like It, The speech compares the world to a stage and life to a play. Although Shakespeare argues there are seven stages to a man life's, to me there are truly only three. Rehearsal, Performance and finally Curtains.
Many actors often like to rush the rehearsal phase of life rushing to get to Performance. Great actors know the rehearsal stage is not a stage that has a beginning, middle and end but one that continues and if your lucky weaves through the performance stage as well. Rehearsal is arguably the most important stage in both the life of a play and the life of a man.
If you consider childhood, and youth, as a rehearsal for adulthood, you can understand why many struggling adults, those failing with performance, might have benefited from more rehearsal time. Often rehearsals can be rushed. Many have had their rehearsals cut short far to soon or else had 'directors' and 'producers' (aka parents) who did not take the time and caring to nurture performance.
Rehearsals can be broken down into stages, acting, technical, dress and full dress. Full Dress is usually the stage just prior to a show opening, a time when everything should be ready, a time to put everything together to makes sure it blends seamlessly (Something 'Turn Off The Dark' has not quite achieved).
Actor and Model Thomas Sellwood is currently in the dress rehearsal phase. After years of working, studying, modeling and of course rehearsing the 23 year, born, bred and raised Minnesota native has moved to Los Angeles to begin the next stage of rehearsals, fell dress.
All Photos by the incredible Marlen Boro
-REHEARSAL-
-Dressed For Success-
'I acted in my first play, at the age of six, in my frozen, 5,000-person, Minnesotan hometown's production of The Wizard of Oz. I had one line: goodbye, goodbye, I don't know how this works. Something about that experience spoke to me. Coulda been the lights. Or the rush of all those eyes watching me deliver my eight words. Whatever it was, for that moment I left my frozen, 5,000-person, Minnesotan hometown and was transported to Oz...and I hung onto that feeling.'
Thomas says that after his debut in Oz, a mini-retirement followed. 'Hundreds of lessons were forever etched in the front of mind and scribbled on the back of my hand.'. The focus then became education and sports. Thomas was captain of both his high school football team as well as track team. After high school he went on to the University of Minnesota where graduated in May of last year with a BA in Journalism. After graduation, Thomas was off to Iraq as a First Lieutenant in the Army. 'Definitely not in Minnesota anymore'. Thomas says the first lesson he jotted down was: 'Find out what you truly love - what makes you tick - unabashedly go after that and let everything else fade away.' Upon returning to Minnesota Thomas knew it was time to put his first lesson to the test!
'Aside from acting, or maybe alongside, I really like print work. Most gigs I get are based around in the realm of a "lifestyle shoot," but I have, and hoping to do more fashion-forward work, editorials, and images that people can look at and say "Wow."'
I think 'Wow' is a more than fitting adjective the collaboration between Thomas and Marlen Boro. Now, admittedly, thus far on FH, The Gentlemen of Marlen Boro have not actually being wearing a lot of clothing...but as a professional photographer Marlen's talents expand far beyond the land of Oz. Marlen has extensive experience working in all forms of his craft. He has specialized in working with couples to tell unique stories of weddings and commitment ceremonies. Like all of his work, professional portraiture, fashion, Marlen brings a cultured yet playful eye to his work, 'capturing honest emotions and unexpected details'.
These fashion shots showcase not just how great Thomas looks in a variety of looks, they showcase his truly incredible face, dazzling smile and the many sides of his personality.
-DRESS REHEARSAL-
Deciding to follow your passion as Thomas did is really just the beginning. Next of course comes the work. Since returning from Iraq Thomas has been working steadily on his career on his craft. Between appearances in local film and television productions, Thomas took to the stage last year co-starring in Poe at the Coin Purse Theater and taking the lead in Lovers at the Lex-Ham Theater in Saint Paul.
In between plays Thomas worked on his first feature film, Souvenirs. In Souvenirs stars James Cromwell (Babe, Six Feet Under) and Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls, Veronica Mars). Thomas says Souvenirs and will probably come out this summer. You can check out more at the Official Souvenirs Site HERE:
Thomas' all-time favorite actor is another Marlen, in this case Brando. His favorite contemporary actors, and two he hopes to one day work with are Natalie Portman and Leonardo DiCaprio. As far as TV, Thomas says Friday Night Lights is his favorite show. If acting didn't work out, Thomas says he would take the LSAT and try to get into law school.
Thomas did not rush to New York or Hollywood until he felt he was ready, he planned, expanded his resume and got his first feature under his belt. With his great looks, Thomas could have had an easy time getting noticed, but Thomas is not in it to be a flash in the pan, he is in it for the long haul.
'I moved to LA when I felt ready from a skill/experience standpoint and from a business standpoint. It seems like a majority of this industry is not based on talent but from other factors-how you behave on set, who you know, who they know, and just being resourceful to find yourself work. Minnesota really provided me a great small market to hone some of those skills, which has made, in my short time here, LA a little less intimidating.'
Thomas landed in LA less than 2 weeks ago and has already had auditions for roles in both theatre and commercial work. This week he also landed his first print gig this week! Congratulations Thomas!
FULL DRESS
-On the verge-
'Marlen is fully-aware of my "lifestyle shoot" typecast and really helped me move beyond the smiley, perfectly happy vibes that most shoots I did were.'
Thomas Sellwood
'Over the past several months, I've had the pleasure of working with Tom on several projects. Honestly, I work with so many great guys - but Tom's enthusiasm and professionalism is a cut above - always a pleasure, and the proof is in the images.'
Marlen Boro
'Marlen has this insane eye for the most minuscule details in working with the light in-studio, he'll make micro-adjustments that make the images so much better.'
Thomas Sellwood
'Tom has an amazing natural grace and self-awareness - with just a few words from me he quickly adjusted his pose or his expression, taking the photo to the next level - he just seemed to get it. Lots of guys have good smiles - Tom has honed his into a lethal instrument - it has infinite variety and is always engaging. And when he's not smiling, then you notice how expressive his eyes are.'
Marlen Boro
'It's not just the technical skills that make Marlen a great photographer, but his conceptual skills to create something sexy, edgy, but stay classy at the same time, which is why I think people have started to really take notice of his images.'
Thomas Sellwood
'Working with Tom made me a better photographer - and helping him discover just how fucking sexy he is, what a priceless honor'
Marlen Boro
'The intangible Marlen brings to the table is that he's just an all-around great guy, from the first email you exchange to when he sends you fully-edited images, he's a pleasure to be around and to work with.'
Thomas Sellwood
Thanks as always to the talented and generous Marlen Boro and to Thomas Sellwood for sharing with FH!
Check out Marlen's Official Site HERE: & join him on facebook HERE:
Check out more of Thomas on his official site HERE: & on MM HERE:
