Myles Wyatt Clohessy: The Boy Next Door
26-year-old Myles Wyatt Clohessy’s career in Hollywood is just beginning, but his journey began a long time ago. “I always knew I wanted to be an actor. My dad was an actor,” says Myles, whose father is Robert Clohessy from Boardwalk Empire, Law & Order: SVU, and Blue Bloods. Myles grew up in Cornwall, Connecticut. “Growing up, I was always on sets. I was always going to Broadway plays that he was in. It was something that I always had in the back of my mind. I did the high school musicals growing up, the middle school plays.”
While acting seemed like the clear path, Myles had other hidden talents. “I was big into soccer, and ended up getting a D1 scholarship,” he says. He played college soccer at Central Connecticut State University for the MLS NY Red Bulls youth team, and was part of the US Olympic Development program. Unfortunately, Myles only played division 1 for a couple years before getting injured. It was this soccer injury that eventually led him to pursue acting more seriously and leave a career in soccer behind.
After his injury, Myles left Central Connecticut State University, and went to the Conservatory of Acting in State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase College, where he graduated from in 2016. He also studied at the Drama Center of London. “This [acting] is what I’m doing for the rest of my life. It was always something I wanted to do—I love being on stage—it was just a matter of how far I was going to take the soccer career,” Myles explains.
Since graduating in 2016, Myles has been booking roles left and right. He has become quite comfortable being in-front of the camera and auditioning on short notice. Presently, he has 12 projects in post-production. “Nowadays, there is so much content, you get an audition at the very last minute. I always try to memorize it because you have so much nerves going into an audition—there is a lot riding on it,” he says. But that’s not always easy, especially when you get 10-15 pages to memorize the night before. “I try to embody the character as best as possible in a short amount of time. You maybe have two days maximum before an audition.”
Getting an audition is only the start. As a young actor dipping his toes into Hollywood’s shiny water, Myles is aware of the unfortunate next phase that all actors experience: rejection. His advice for upcoming-and-coming actors: “Keep your head down and do the work, because 99% of the time you are getting rejected. Imagine going to a job interview every single day of the week, and you get told no for the whole month, until the next month, you get one job. It’s a lot of rejection and harsh critiques. Work on your craft and eventually you will hit something. It’s a lot of perseverance, you have to have thick skin.”
Most recently, Myles has been filming Glow and Darkness, alongside Jane Seymour, Denise Richards, and Bruce Davison. The medieval miniseries depicts the life of Saint Francis of Assisi and the popular historical figures surrounding his life. The role of Walter of Brianne, a Nobleman, and Count of France has become Myle’s favorite, so far. “I like it because I’m dressing up as a knight, riding around on horses, shooting in Spain and France. It’s a childhood dream. I was looking at a picture the other night, me as a ten-year-old dressed up as a knight, running around, playing pretend. It’s gone full circle with this role.”
Glow and Darkness has been filming in multiple locations, and while that would normally be exciting, the coronavirus has caused some hiccups. “It’s been a crazy experience. We were supposed to shoot in Italy, and then the whole coronavirus canceled that whole portion, they had to switch everything to Spain. The schedule has been crazy, people have been shooting 15-16-hour days trying to catch up.”
Nevertheless, Myles has enjoyed every moment on set. “It’s fun because all the characters are based on history. My character ends up fighting with Richard the Lionheart, who was the King of England. The third crusades, all the Christian forces against the Muslim forces, and all the characters intertwined throughout that history. It focuses on my character, Richard the Lionheart, and Saint Francis of Assisi,” says Myles. “Woven in there are good romantic elements and some fantasy. It’s a fun time.”
Myles is also in the Netflix original film, The Last Ferry, which premiered this March. He plays the role of Rafael, an ex-marine who is on Fire Island with his best friend, Cameron. “Without giving away too much, something happens with my ex-husband and someone finds out about it. It’s about this cat and mouse game, between Rafael and Joseph, who witnesses this murder happen on Fire Island.”
Over the last four years, Myles has luckily landed many roles. “At this point in my career, I’m not choosing my characters. Weirdly, I keep getting evil, bad guys,” he chuckles. “I get a lot of bad guys, which is really fun to play, because I’m totally the opposite from that.” While he is not a “bad guy” in real life, Myles always tries to find some personal connections with his characters --something that connects to his life. “That’s how you ground the character and make him realistic,” he says.
In his free time, Myles likes to go for walks and be outdoors. His passion for animals led him to volunteer at The Little Guild, a local nonprofit animal shelter in his hometown. “I’m a big advocate for animal rights. I have a dog I’ve had for 14 years. And my family is crazy, we had birds, bunnies, a horse, cats, dogs, a raccoon. I grew up around animals, I love them,” he says. “[At the shelter], we would take the dogs for walks, feed animals, clean their crates. I’m a softy for dogs.” Last summer, Myles married his high school sweetheart, Jhessica. She comes to set with him whenevener she can take time off, but when she can’t, Myles makes sure to adhere even tighter to his fitness routine and his sleep schedule. “I try to find a gym wherever I go,” says the fit actor.
Myles has many dreams, like being a part of an action franchise and putting his martial arts skills to good use and starring alongside Meryl Streep, who is an icon to him. “She lives very close to my hometown, in Salisbury, Connecticut, so I see her at the supermarket all the time when I’m up here visiting my family; she seems so nice. She is so talented and versatile. It would be epic to work with her,” he chuckles.
