How did you go from becoming a licensed attorney to becoming an actor?
Michael Roark: "I think all of us, especially this day and age, have multiple sides to us; we all have things we want to do. I'm very much not just a one note person. When I was growing up, there were other things I wanted to do as well. I started doing theater in college, and when I left, I had that decision: What do you do after college? I could have gone either way, and I thought, 'I'm going to do both.'
When I went to law school, I went with the idea that I was always going to jump back into acting and into film at some point. When I got out of law school, it was '09, when the market was down, so it kind of just expedited my return to [acting] so I kind of juggled both for a little while. But not too long, because I was fortunate enough to get some early success.
Law still serves me in a lot of ways. I do things in real estate, I do things in producing, and what a law education gives you is a lot more than just the ability to represent someone in a courtroom. It gives you analytical ability, you discipline your mind in a lot of ways, so I don't think there's a day as an actor I work that my law education doesn't serve me in some way. It teaches you preparation, and preparation is everything."
