In the world of television and film, few actors possess the versatility and charm of Roark Critchlow. With a career spanning decades, Roark has brought to life an array of memorable characters, from his role as Hannah’s father in the hit series Pretty Little Liars to his recent portrayal of Roger in Lifetime’s Secrets on Maple Street. In this exclusive interview, Roark opens up about his journey in Hollywood, sharing behind-the-scenes stories, the challenges of stepping into diverse roles, and what drives his passion for acting. Whether he’s on the set of a suspenseful thriller or a heartwarming Christmas movie, Roark’s dedication to his craft is evident in every performance. Join us as we dive deep into his career highlights, upcoming projects, and the wisdom he imparts to the next generation of actors.
Recently, you join as a guest the tv show Irrational, Can you tell us a little bit about the story of your character and any memories from the set?
This is the truth about Hollywood. This is true Hollywood stories. Irrational is a well written show that has a lot of layers. So there’s a lot of little stories happening. My role was very small, but it’s like sometimes you have a situation where it’s a mystery or whatever. They’re always mysteries, and so the people are trying to figure stuff out, and you need to have a clue that allows them to carry on with their detective work. And I very much was just part of a scene that gave a clue to the story that needed to be told. So it was, everybody’s good at nice, you know? I mean, it was a good experience. The director and I had a funny experience. It’s hard to explain, though. Cause we had an interesting moment, but more than that it was me as an actor going, okay, I’m not here to be some superstar actor. I’m here to take this story and move it from here to here.
And that’s what I did. So it was nice. It’s good to stay in touch with what’s going on, to understand the story so that you can do a better job and to not to be able to give everything you have, if that’s what is required. And to be able to say, this isn’t about me, I’m moving the story along. Do as best you can, but make sure that everything is clear. So I’m going to be teaching acting at a college in a town in Canada starting in the fall, in October. So teaching acting on film, camera on film, acting. So it’s good to be able to have the experiences where you’re reminded about things that you can teach people so that they understand, you know, if they get to get out of school and they get a job, and then they can realize not only how to do the job, but what the job is and what’s the best way for them to do the best job they can, even when it doesn’t feel like they’re being the hero.
Can you share a little bit about your time in the show Pretty Little Liars?
I was Hannah’s dad, so Ashley (Benson) played Hannah. We met first season, I think episode two or three or whatever and she was 17-18, I don’t know, 18-19 years old, I don’t know how old she was, but not very old and I’m not young. So you get onto a show, you go: what am I going to talk with about this person when I’m talking to this actor who’s a star of the show? Again, I’m the dad, I am not the hero of this piece, but you know, you want to get along with the person and how do you talk to a 17 year old? I’ve got two daughters, I know I’ve had 17 year old, but they were, you know, in the different situation, okay. So we were kind of uncomfortable for a bit and not bad.. you know, she had a phone.
So like, hi, how are you? Great, hey, and you know, back to the phone, so I forget how it came up, but I started talking about Days of our lives because I don’t know why or it might have been her even. Someone else said, oh, I remember you from Days of our lives. And she says, well, who were you on Days of our lives? I said, oh, it was Mike Horton. She goes, oh, I played your niece on Days of our lives when I was two years old, when Missy had, when Missy Reeves had the baby, when what’s Missy’s character, Mike? And the heck was my sister’s name on the show?
Anyway, Missy Reeves character was my sister and she had a baby and so they had to have, you know, baby actors occasionally. And Ashley was two years old on the same set as me, as on Days of our lives and her name played, Ashley was the name of the baby that she played. So it was just fun because then we were like laughing about like connections and all that stuff and we got talking enough that we both realized that we were kind of fun. I think she was no offense to anybody, I think she was the funniest, the funniest little liar. In real life we could laugh and we were kind of naughty, you know, I wasn’t too serious about it. She’s got a good sense of humor and we had a lot of fun. Right? Yeah. Other than that, it was a great job. I mean, on top of that, it was a great job.
The interview with Roark Critchlow has been edited and condensed for lenght and clarity. Watch the full video interview at the top of the article!
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