Actor Patrick Fabian is probably best known for playing Howard Hamlin on the TV show “Better Call Saul.” Fabian earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Performance from Penn State. He's returning to central Pennsylvania for a screening of "Driver X," which he stars in, during the Centre Film Festival Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Rowland Theatre in Philipsburg. The film is about a father who, after losing his business, is forced to work for a ride-share company.
Miriam Colvin
So first of all Patrick thank you so much for being here and interviewing with me today. You got your BFA in performance here at Penn State, how does it feel returning back to Centre County now after all this success you’ve gained as an actor?
Patrick Fabian
Well first of all thank you for saying “all of the success” instead of “all those years that went by.” The truth is I’m the class of 1987, which surprises me as much as it surprises you, but what’s really great is I loved going to Penn State: for the act of going to college itself, and then the theater department helped give you the tools to go ahead and have a career. And as you’ve said, I’ve been gone for a long time and it’s been a crooked crazy crooked line of a career and I’m so excited to get the Alumni Award for the College of Arts and Architecture. It is a full circle and I can’t wait to go talk to the class and you know teach people and tell them what little I know and see what sticks.
Miriam Colvin
You’re hosting a workshop for the Centre Film Festival about acting, is educating others something that’s become important to you through your career? Is there anything you wish you knew as a young actor?
Patrick Fabian
Oh boy, would’ve could’ve should’ve. Not only am I over 50 I’m also a dad, so it’s like anything I say sounds like I’m saying “you ought to do this.” One, I do like being able to offer some of my experience because it might help people avoid the mistakes that I’ve made as it were. I think that’s why advice is usually given. And I also like to encourage people because life’s a big broad wonderful thing and I found that having an education was a great springboard in order to enjoy this crazy life that it is.
Between my junior and senior year I moved to New York. And I ended up waiting tables in New York City and I thought I was ready. And I called Michael Connolly, who was a professor at Penn State, and I called my dad and I told them. I announced. I didn’t ask them, I announced what I was doing. And both men did me a great service. My father wrote me a letter and he said, I don’t pretend to understand what you wanna do, in terms of being an artist, but I do understand in the world having a degree at the very base level shows other people that you know how to finish something. And then Michael Connolly wrote back to me, my professor, and he said “oh so you’ve got a job and you got a place to live? Oh fantastic that’s great, but you know... if you come back here I’ll make you a better actor. And it’s really only nine months of your life. But if you don’t want to come, that's cool, stay, good for you.”
And both men sorta tossed the ball back in my court. So I stewed on it for about a week and then I called Michael Connolly back and I said, “I think I’m actually gonna come back to your class.” And he just said “Okay. I’ll see you in September.” I called my dad and I said, “Yeah, you know what? I think I am going to go back and then finish school.” and my dad said “Okay. Let me know when you need me to write the check.” They never did anything else, they just said OK. So I got to come back sort of on my own terms after they had manipulated me wildly like a nineteen year old boy could be manipulated, but you know what? It really helped change the trajectory of my life. It was a really good thing.
Miriam Colvin
"Driver X" is screening this Saturday and your character is someone who is struggling financially and ends up working for a ride-share app similar to Uber and Lyft. I know acting can be a stressful life-path, I know you waited tables at the beginning, did you find any similarities in yourself to Leonard with the hustle of finding success in your early career?
Patrick Fabian
The hustle, it’s great that you used that. That’s been a big deal these days. Right? “What’s your side hustle,” “what’s your main gig,” and the “gig-economy.” And all of that implies there’s never any time to relax. You always have to have some sort of a financial incentive to be doing the thing you’re doing. What I like about "Driver X" is that it speaks to that notion of Leonard was doing something that he loved doing which was music: having a record store, being passionate about it. But unfortunately life changes and things happen that you have to adjust to. And the record business, like bookstore business, changed. So he had to figure out what to do mid-life. Somebody who’s gone through a midlife change of like, "Oh, well, now I’m on a different... I’m not young anymore,” is the only way to underline it. I’m not young anymore. So what does that mean? What does it mean for my relationships? What does it mean financially? What does it mean for my career, to my hopes, and my dreams? And I think "Driver X" kind of touches on how you go through that particular change. I like to call it a coming of middle age story.
Miriam Colvin
You’ve travelled all over the country for filming and for screenings of movies you’ve been a part of. Is there something particularly different about coming to a film festival in a smaller community than that of LA or New York? How does this Film Festival differ from the others you’ve participated in?
Patrick Fabian
I think what’s great about film festivals that are on the smaller scale is their homegrown attitude and their homegrown springboard. You know, these days because of our phones and the technology that everybody can have in their hands, stories to be told from all over. It’s not just Los Angeles or New York or Chicago. Right? Philipsburg can tell the stories. And the stories of Philipsburg and the stories of Centre County, in and around Penn State, are stories worth being told and should be told. And should be told by those who live them and know them. Not from some outsider who’s coming in to tell it. I mean there’s always gonna be that bent, but I think homegrown stories and homegrown support for homegrown art is the way that everybody gets to experience art and stories.
Patric Fabian stars in the film “Driver X,” which will be screened at the Rowland Theatre in Philipsburg Saturday at 1 p.m., as a part of the Centre Film Festival.