A Martini and a Chat with Chris Chuky

Under the breezy London twilight, Lady Eleanor was able to sit for a martini and a chat with the newest addition to Eleanor UK, visual poet Chris Chuky. Grab a seat, grab a drink, and allow your mind to be captivated by the creative expedition and thoughtful approach of this imaginative storyteller, for their riveting exchange was recorded below for posterity to enjoy.

Lady Eleanor: Darling, what was it that lured your heart into the world of advertising? 

Chris: As humans, we just have that innate desire to tell stories and hear stories. For me, advertising has always been another means to tell a story. Selling a product is telling a story. 

I grew up as an actor, as a performer. And I translated that into working on music videos and short films and reading scripts. It's all the same process – telling stories. 

I learned about commercials through being an actor. I saw just how big the sets were. It was a crazy feeling to be part of a commercial and finally see the final product. 

I remember being in a Levi’s jeans commercial and watching it in the cinema, and being like oh! that’s me! In the corner quickly for a few seconds! 

Another thing is my dad was someone who always had a camera out. He always documented everything. He was always filming everything. And surprisingly, I adopted that as well. I'm always documenting moments. I'm always filming the moment in school, I'm always the guy with the camera that's capturing what's happening. Let's shoot a video or let's record your monologue. Or I always like to capture things on camera afterward. It's just a nice feeling to be able to go back to a memory. Nostalgia is a nice feeling. You get addicted to it.

Lady Eleanor: Tell me more about your experience as an actor. 

I started acting as a child. My parents put me into drama school as a kid to build my confidence. And I ended up loving it. I took it to another level. Because I began acting so young, I almost had a director’s role by the time I got to secondary school. I was the person people asked, Chris what ideas do you have? What do you think could work for the story?

I studied acting. I've done a lot of theater. I performed at the National Theatre. I got an agent round about the same time, I started film school. 

The first day I was supposed to be in film school, I was actually on set acting in a music video. I've done a lot of auditions and a lot of short films and commercials. 

Lady Eleanor: How do you think your acting background shapes your approach as a director?

I can always relate with the actors. There’s that connection you just have with a performer, that you're able to relay information in a certain way to help encourage them. 

Being an actor, you become very aware of the set and the dynamics of the set, and you're able to drive the set, because you have the experience of just being a people's person. You’re able to understand people and navigate situations with a lot of people. 

Acting is about understanding story. Being able to find that fire and passion. I can really kind of play off that and bring the best out of a performer. Because I've seen how it's been done with me. And, actors and performers all have different processes. so I find what works for them.