LEN CASSAMAS

LEONARD CASSAMAS was born in Warwick, RI, on September 27, 1959, to Michael and Joan (nee' Kiernan), the third of three boys. He grew up in Rhode Island and San Francisco. A writer as well as an actor, Len has written and self-published a detective novel MICHAEL DRAYTON, DETECTIVE, and LOOKING FOR CHRISTMAS, a collection of short stories on a Christmas theme. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife and their herd of cats. He is on IMDB. 

Len Cassamas: Over the years, I’ve written three full-length plays, one one act, and several audio plays and numerous sketches. I’ve also published a collection of Christmas-themed short stories called Looking for Christmas and my take on the hardboiled detective novel, a book called Michael Drayton, Detective Guy. Last year, I made a novella I wrote called “That’s the Way of the World” available on my website, LenCassamas.com, for free. I tend to read history and biography, and, when it comes to fiction, tend toward reading classics and literary fiction.

Jon Lowe)  Michael Drayton, Detective Guy. What's that about?
LC) “Michael Drayton, Detective Guy" is a noir mystery with a literary flavor.  It features Michael Drayton, an offbeat, nonviolent, Rhode Island-based private detective, and the adventure he finds himself in after his wealthiest client is murdered on the same afternoon he is doing routine work for the man’s daughter and son-in-law.  He has run-ins and interactions with mobsters and politicians and, of course, the police and has to balance a variety of interests and loyalties while trying to act with honor—at least according to his ideas about honor.  And, on top of all that, he’s trying to quit smoking. As with all of my work, humor may be involved.  I have also adapted this for full production audio, but, since the script features over 60 speaking roles, haven’t had the time to organize such a massive project. Someday, though.
JL) How did you come to acting for film? Any commercials, games, or other media?
LC) I actually started in the olden days of my youth, doing theater, but my heart was always in film and TV.  I got burnt out doing theater and my father passed away, and I made a series of silly decisions, including deciding to retire from acting to concentrate on writing.  Thirty years later, fortunately, I came to my senses just at a time when Atlanta and Georgia in general—where I happen to live—was becoming something of a mecca for film and television production.  After getting myself back in shape by doing a series of videos I put up on YouTube as “The Car Monologues,” I contacted seven agents and got a response from one, who signed me.  Within three months, I had been cast in a web series and in a SAG/AFTRA independent film.  That was years ago.  I left my regular job to pursue acting full time.  It helps to have a wife who makes a nice living. As a professional actor, I take whatever roles I can get and have appeared on a cable crime reenactment show, several web series, and a couple of short films.  
JL) What did you read as a teen that may have influenced you to act and write?
LC) My favorite writers when I was a teen and in college were John Steinbeck, Hermann Hesse, and Raymond Chandler, along with several humorists, including Woody Allen, SJ Perelman, and Robert Benchley.  I also devoured Fred Allen’s memoir concerning his years in radio, which was called “Treadmill to Oblivion.”  Another one of my interests was the playwright and wit, George S. Kaufman, and there are roles in his plays that I still hope to have a shot at. I fell into performing as a sophomore in high school when my best friend convinced me to try out for that year’s production, which was the stage version of the book “M*A*S*H,” a book I read and enjoyed.  During our first performance, I came out on stage and had some business before I needed to speak.  During that time, despite a warning from the director not to do so, I snuck a peek at the audience.  In that moment, all my nervousness disappeared, and I thought, “Ah!  I’m home.” As a writer, I came to my vocation in the cafeteria of the junior high school I attended.  I was in study hall there, and our English teacher had assigned us to write a short story.  No one had ever asked us for fiction before, and, as I worked on the story, I had a quasi-religious experience and knew that I would be writing stories for the rest of my days.

(Update: Len co-narrated my novel Postmarked for Death with me, but graciously agreed to release rights back so that I could find another narrator and publisher. My memoir Post Office Confidential is due Jan. 1, 2023, and is in preorder. It was inspired by Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, since I once co-owned a seafood restaurant, and have worked in others. There is also excerpts from Postmarked, reviews, interviews, recommended books, and chilling details of postal shootings.)