Interview
Enter Jackson Harper: Actor Geoff Mays talks about all things The Curtain Call and what it was like working with up-and-coming actor Mitch Cox
L. M. WAINSCOTT • 24 NOV 2025
Jackson Harper always in control on The Curtain Call
As Geoff Mays transforms into the enigmatic Jackson Harper, we dive in with the actor on his experience filming The Curtain Call.
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There was an entire set built for you—or for Jackson Harper, that is. What was your experience like on a set like this?
Geoff Mays:​ The experience was truly amazing. Often, when working with smaller crews and lower budgets, the project can be disorganized and challenging to be part of. Definitely not the case on this set! Every single person conducted themselves professionally, and worked to support the final goal of making, what I hope will be a great film. I felt supported and taken care of as talent; in the end, I thought I was working on film with millions of dollars of budget and prep behind it.
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It looked like you had a lot of fun in the role. How did you become Jackson Harper?
Bringing Jackson to life was an engaging process. I’ve heard time and time again that reading the script supplies everything an actor needs. I’d say it supplies a lot coupled with the actor’s input. That said, Ruben wrote a very layered script that engaged me, and I read it over and over and over. With each read I discovered a little bit more and started to realize that Jackson is exposing the underbelly of the industry with his talk show. The irony of that reality is he, unfortunately, has chosen or fallen prey to being part of all the “negativity” he seeks to expose. This makes him a hypocrite; however, to keep exposing and pushing those buttons, he has to hide his involvement well. When I recognized that, I built Jackson from the question: How far would I go, and what would I do to keep my secrets? The rest of the work was making sure none of my dialogue or actions gave anything away. I worked to bury my own disgust and pain with every line I shared.
Broadcast view!
​Did it ever get too real? What was your dynamic like with Mitch?
Oh, he was absolutely fabulous. I got to know him a little as we car pooled to set each day. In the end, I feel the way we developed as actors: getting to know each other and who we are in real life, reflected in the world of the film. Mitch is clearly an actor on the rise and in real life younger than I. I am older than he and more seasoned in this business. That dynamic is reflected in the character relationship. I was so happy to work with him, and, I can’t speak for him, though I felt he naturally brought our real dynamic to the characters, the same way I was doing. In the end I believe it created a very truthful reality, and it was fun to play with him. Especially when we were trying to ‘one up’ each other in the studio scenes. I hope he and I work on a film again in the near future.
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Did you ever have to get too deep into the character? Did you enjoy that the shoot was over an extended period of time?
For me taking a break in the filming schedule was easy and did not impact my ability to dive in and relate to character. Some of that came from the way the film was scheduled. I can’t remember which order we did it in, but we did all the filming for the talk show in one weekend and all the other scenes on a separate weekend. With this separation it was almost like playing two different characters in two different shoots. Playing Jackson in studio is one persona - the public version the shell which everyone thinks he is. So that character got wrapped and then a few weeks later I got to play the “private” persona of Jackson, the gritty manipulator. Recognizing this separation made it easy to take a break between shoot days and bring the right character to set each time. ​​
'The Curtain Call' is written and directed by Ruben Harjono; and produced by Eileen Cahill and William Priems. It is set to premiere in 2026. BTS stills photographed by Nishant Mathew Thomas.