Barry Clifton’s method acting

If you were to, right now, go to your television, open up the Peacock streaming app, search for the hit modern day Western “Yellowstone,” scroll over to season five, episode one titled “Tall Drink of Water,” you would see a group of ranchers causing a ruckus in front of their state’s lawmakers, complaining about wolves that have been introduced to the Montana wilderness.

Leading this charge of near riotous cowboys is the character Miles Tatum, played by Arkansasbased actor Barry Clifton. The tall and grizzled Tatum firmly stands his ground asserting that these wolves are eating up his cattle. After being dismissed, he takes a step forward to lead his fellow ranchers into a loud engagement with the politicians.

It’s a short but effective scene, and it’s always a joy seeing an Arkansan on screen, especially one who’s a prominent figure in our own local film community. This past weekend Clifton hosted an acting seminar in conjunction with Women in Film Arkansas (WiFA) at the University of Central Arkansas. WiFA is a “nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate, empower and inspire women to pursue careers in all areas of cinematic professions.” Even though WiFA’s focus is on women in film, they welcome the support of the male filmmakers in our local community, like that of Barry Clifton.

Clifton, like the name of his episode of Yellowstone, is a tall glass of water as he towers over most people, looking down at them with his gruff, white beard. His appearance is slightly intimidating to say the least, but his voice and his demeanor were much more gentle when he took the time to shake every person’s hand in the classroom and genuinely have a short conversation. He then proceeded with the class by showing his different head shots. Each one represents a different character type: the sleazy businessman, the down on his luck bum, and the caring grandfather, each look drastically different from the last, yet somehow each fitting in their own way. He is a man of a million faces.

The first half of the lecture focused more on the technicalities of how to do a “self tape,” when actors deliver lines into a camera and record themselves. They then send these taped, cold readings to casting directors in hopes of being cast in movies or

television shows. After going over the “dos” and “do nots” of self taping, Clifton went into more details about the art of auditioning and explaining what to expect once getting cast. He said that “the real job is auditioning, getting hired for a role is just a promotion,” as he pointed out just how many auditions he does a year, and what a small number of those prove to be fruitful.

After the nearly threehour lecture, I sat down with Clifton to talk about his career and his newfound success. The first thing he made clear was that he has been told for years that he couldn’t be a serious actor while calling Arkansas his home — he wanted to be the exception to that rule. Now, Clifton has nearly 45 credits to his name, from low-budget student short films all the way up to big- budget movies with theatrical releases. He has co-starred in projects with some of the most notable names in Hollywood: Renee Zellweger, John Malkovich and Tatum O’Neal, to name a few.

Clifton got into acting relatively late in life and his backstory is a complex one. As a boy, growing up around the hanging gallows of Fort Smith, Clifton would take part in stage plays put on by the Musical Theatre at The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. He was encouraged by his mother to pursue the arts. But then after the death of his father, Clifton went through a dark period where he claims to have just “forgot” how much acting meant to him. He would later drop out of high school and join the Marine Corps. Acting would stay forgotten to him for a few decades as he pursued other ventures.

In the ’90s, Clifton found his way back to the stage to star in Shakespearean productions. By the year 2000, he was on his first film set for the movie “Chasing the Dragon” with one line of dialogue as the character “Utility Man.” From that point on he has continued working on films of all sizes and budgets, from working with first-time student directors to working with veteran film crews. Each set is more than just a job for Clifton, it is a learning experience. I asked him what his approach to acting was, or if he was a method actor. He responded honestly and openly that he had no method, “the life I lived between high school, the Marines, and now is my method.”

Clifton has spent the last few years giving back to the local acting community. He’s one of the biggest proponents in the state for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He said that SAG is one of the big things that changed his career. He became eligible to join the guild after being cast in “God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness.” It was from that point on that he was able to get a manager and an agent and was able to fully realize his dream.

At his age, Clifton realizes he’s not going to have a Brad Pitt level career. All he’s hoping to do is leave a little piece of art, and in essence himself, behind before he shuffles off into the sunset. Until that day comes, he’s going to keep sending off the self tapes and wait for the next promotion.

Barry Clifton