At the time I’d interviewed Sam Upton–Tuesday, a few hours before the premiere of his film “Gone”–he hadn’t seen the final cut of the film. “I don’t know what happens, that’s the honest truth,” he said, laughing. “I’m watching with as much bated breath as you are.”

Upton is a far cry from his character in “Gone,” Officer McKay, a “quintessential pig,” in Upton’s words. “He’s like this arrogant, fast-talking, macho cop,” he said.

In order to get in the groove to play McKay, Upton said it all came down to the costume. “Once you put on a cop uniform, you’re changed instantaneously. It’s crazy,” he said. “To put on an entire Portland Police officer uniform, with the handcuffs and the walkie-talkie…I just felt like, ‘I’ll say what I see and I’ll see what I say.'”

For Upton, working with Amanda Seyfried was great. “She’s such a pearl,” he said. “She came in and just rocked it. She just crushed it…and I would say, ‘That was really good

“Gone” is just one experience in a myriad of experiences Upton has had with his love affair with film. “Everyone can take something away from a film, everyone has their own interpretation,” he said. “That’s what makes filmmaking an incredible experience. I absolutely love film. I get excited and jealous when I see a trailer going into Hollywood, I’m saying, ‘What movie are they doing? I wish I was in that movie.'”

For those that want to be in on the excitement of movie acting, Upton said to make sure you know yourself. Ironically, when I asked him, he said he had just been asked that very same question. “This is crazy that you’re asking me this, because I was just talking to someone about this,” he said. “I was talking to a 20-year-old that I used to babysit him…and literally five minutes ago I was talking to him about this. What I told him was that no one is gonna believe in you, but you’ve gotta go do it yourself. There’s self doubt, but life comes down to self confidence. I know it’s tough for me to simply say ‘Have faith in yourself,’ but you won’t make it unless you truly believe in yourself.”

For Upton, that self confidence has led to him fulfilling his dream of be a big movie star, walking the red carpet with his wife to see his latest film.

Written by: Monique Jones