Infinite Growth on a Finite Planet

For some people, it takes years to find a career they are passionate about. This wasn’t the case for actor Greg Kasyan. At the age of just 5 years old, Kasyan knew he wanted to be an actor. It’s difficult for him to remember what exactly inspired this decision, but he has stuck by it ever since.

Born and raised in Los Angeles before moving to Glendale, Kasyan officially began his acting career when he was around 7 while continuing to attend public school. “It was interesting balancing acting and all that,” says the 18-year-old actor. “My friends didn’t really understand what that was.”

Starting out so young and having already been to hundreds of auditions, Kasyan was able to develop a thick skin when it came to receiving rejections as a normal part of the process. Having this mindset, he says, allows him to do a better job during the course of auditions – to stay focused and give a hundred percent when there is less anxiety involved in readings.

Kasyan landed his first leading role in the 2017 feature film Quest - the Truth Always Rises and starred as Mills, a 12-year-old graffiti artist who is losing faith in integrity. On set, he worked alongside seasoned actors such as Lou Diamond Phillips, Betsy Brandt, and LaKeith Stanfield (“I tried to absorb as much information as I could”). The tips and techniques he learned while filming contributed to his foundation as an actor both on and off set. He began to focus much more on channeling his emotions into his scenes and continually asked himself, “How can I make this feel real to me?” He then started breaking down the scripts he was reading in order to see each scene from the point of view not only of an actor, but also of a writer, director, producer, and viewer.

Kasyan’s most recent project, Netflix’s Daybreak, features a group of high schoolers facing life after the apocalypse to navigate through and survive the new world they live in. Despite its dark subject matter, the series is full of the typical comedy and drama that come with being a teenager. “My character’s name is Eli Cardashyan,” he shares. “Eli didn’t really have a lot of material possessions, so now he’s making up for lost time by taking over the Glendale Mall.” As filming in Albuquerque, New Mexico spanned the course of 6 months, Kasyan found himself in an area that he didn’t know too well and without friends and family from home – but luckily, the cast and crew quickly became close, and Kasyan felt fully supported and comfortable throughout the process.

When he isn’t acting, Kasyan enjoys boxing and hanging out with friends and family in L.A. Besides his dreams of cultivating a career reminiscent of Leonardo DiCaprio or Robert De Niro, Kasyan also wants to positively impact today’s youth. Through first-hand experience, Kasyan understands the difficulty of staying on the right path – as opposed to the negative aspects of partying, getting caught up in what everyone else his age is doing, and choosing what to devote his time to. “I just really want to make a positive impact in the world before I leave this place,” he adds. “That’s pretty much it.”

Writer: Tara McDonough

Photographer & Videographer: Sandra Selva

Stylist: Beatrice Balaj

Men’s Grooming: Benjamin Terry

Editor: Eiko Watanabe

Special thanks to Tuck Hotel (@tuck.hotel - www.tuckhotel.com) & Diablo Restaurant + Cantina (@diablotacola - www.diablotacos.com) & EPK Media (@myepk & @epkmedia - epkmedia.com)