| Shaun Sipos Finds His Place
BY SUSAN MICHALS PHOTOGRAPHY STARLA FORTUNATO GROOMING HELEN ROBERTSON FOR THE CELESTINE AGENCY
November 2009
Shaun Sipos gets around. At only 27, the actor is already a veteran of many a television show, having appeared on “Shark,” “ER,” “Southland,” and “Complete Savages.” Now he’s taking on one of the most infamous addresses in all of Los Angeles, “Melrose Place.” Sipos had no intention of being an actor. Like many a Hollywood story, it was complete happenstance. “The receptionist at my dentist’s office asked me if I thought about model-ing…and I was like, fuck that. So she said, ‘How about acting’? So I went to this small Indian town on Vancouver Island and met her friend who was an agent. It was pure curiosity on my part. It was like a little adventure.” That was when he was 18. “It made me look at myself differently and I got to know myself better. It changed me so much and I realized that this was it for me.”
Sipos plays David Breck, son of Dr. Michael Mancini (the wonderfully conniving Thomas Calabro). David’s the rich kid with a chip on his shoulder, but what else would you expect from a “Melrose” character? Throw in his cat burglar forte — something he doesn’t need to do, since Daddy’s super rich — but something to keep this rich kid entertained. It’s all about the risk and the danger — the threat of being caught — that drives the young and handsome David into dangerous territory.
This “Melrose” redux is a mixture of old and new. There’s the new kids on the block — like Sipos, Michael Rady, and Katie Cassidy, as well as some of Melrose 1.0 in the mix — namely Laura Leigh Leighton, the aforementioned Calabro, and reprising one of television’s great bitches, Heather Locklear as the indomitable Amanda. For Sipos, it’s the perfect acting concoction. “It’s great to be with cast members who know their characters so well. Whatever they do, they are reacting really in character, from a deep, knowing place. Whenever you start out with something new on television, you have to build it; you get pieces of information and character little by little, much like you do in life, so having those people who are already engrained in the nuances of the show helps tremendously in this rendition.”
When it comes to working on a pilot, Sipos realized early on it wasn’t an easy task, but needless to say, he was up to the challenge. “It’s my experience that the pilot is the strangest thing in the world. Lots of pressure; you have to fit so much information, [you have] very little time to prep and you don’t really know your character all that well yet. I got ‘Melrose Place’ and I literally had five days to figure out who I was.” Sipos is a big fan of the ebb and flow of character, which hearkens back to his long-time love of history. Some of his favorite shows include “Deadwood,” “Rome,” and “Mad Men.” “When you do the research into these time periods and events, it attaches meaning,” says the actor. “It makes it real — how they feel, how they think, why they do what they do. It gives me, as an actor, great insight.” He also recently went to the opera, a first time experience that left him fascinated. “Everything is intentional in its subtleties; all for the goal in telling a story, and it’s really magical to watch.” He likens the opera to film, as it is allowed to breathe and grow and manifest, as opposed to television, where one frequently does a short number of takes and moves right along at a clipped pace. “For example, in film, you watch someone organize their things in their kitchen, making sure it’s just right — from those subtle moves, you realize as a viewer, this person is really anal. I enjoy and appreciate that patience in learning that, seeing it, and getting it right, no matter how much it takes.” Sounds like Kubrick would’ve been right up his alley.
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