Meet Tripp Pickell

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tripp Pickell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tripp below.

Tripp, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I was born afraid of everything. One of those fears was swimming. With that came public shame at any pool or lake gathering. The nice kids who would invite me to join them received my usual, “I can’t swim so I can’t join you” speech and the mean kids were the mean kids. When I was 9 years old, I had gotten so fed up with feeling so stuck and inadequate that something clicked in me and on a vacation, at a hotel pool, I swam in the deep end, on my own. No prep, no overthinking, no one trying hard to fix my swimming problem. I just thought, “I’m doing it right now”. Through it, I learned to honor my instincts about whether I’m ready for something or not and to honor other people’s process as well. Now, when I’m feeling out of depth in a new “pool”, on set as an Actor or Stunt Coordinator, I know that I can “swim”. Also, my Granny and my Mom taught me it was ok to not be good at something right away and to say things to myself like, “Why not me? when it comes to doubting my own success.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m an Actor and Stunt/Fight Coordinator. My Acting/Stunt Actor work mainly occurs on television shows. My Stunt/Fight Coordinating jobs are mainly short films, independent films and occasionally, theatre productions. I’ve mainly been focusing on Stunt/Fight coordinating, lately. On short films, it’s just me in the stunt department, so the task I love the most is helping Actors get passed their fears, if any, let them know that whatever action scene their about to shoot, they’re going home happy, successful and confident about what gets filmed on the day. Recently, I served as Stunt/Fight Coordinator for a horror short written and directed by Surj “Sam” Das. “Las Adelitas”, an action short, written and directed by Carlos Zelaya and a WB affiliated short film, modern day version of “Rebel Without a Cause” written and directed by Juan Pablo Arias Muñoz that I believe will be shown on MAX.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Respect for everyone who has been before you, who you are living/working with and those in the future who can be affected by your actions today. Adaptability, every project is a new experience with new people with new equipment . . .etc. If you’re set in your ways, you are the machine part that is immovable and the machine will break down. Open Mindedness, I’ve experienced, if you set aside your ego, and are open to learn, the right people and circumstances with show themselves. “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

There are many impactful things my parents have done for me. In regards to my chosen career path in the Entertainment field, this story comes to mind. In 1990, I was 14 years old. One of our favorite Actors, Tom Hanks had just hosted SNL. On a sketch of “Wayne’s World”, Tom Hanks played Garth’s cousin, Barry who was Aerosmith’s Roadie. Tom was playing Barry so real and not going for big jokes and at one point, when the entire band of Aerosmith entered the scene, Tom knelt down in the background off camera. I was confused, why isn’t Tom Hanks doing more, why isn’t he being funnier than Wayne and Garth? I said to my Mom, “Why is Tom Hanks taking this small role so serious?” My Mom, who is not an Actor or in the entertainment industry, said, “He’s a professional actor, he’s playing a roadie and he’s not judging the size of his role, he’s doing his job”. My Mom kindly taught me that day to not judge anyone’s skill level, size of their role or job title as well as my own. It’s a kind, inspiring lesson that has served me my entire career of 26 years. Thank you Mom and Tom Hanks!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tripppickell.wixsite.com/stunt-actor
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tripppickell/