#170 | Corey Renfree | Montana Ranch to LA

Actor and chef Corey Renfree on growing up on a Montana cattle ranch, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and acting in LA. Corey Renfree is an American actor who was raised on a cattle ranch in the small, rural town of Dillon, Montana. He began acting at a young age in theater productions run by the Missoula Children's Theater. In high school, Corey was a founding member and frontman/guitarist of the rock band Climax Community. Corey's education included attendance at Montana State University and Southern Oregon University's Oregon Center for the Arts where he earned a B.F.A. in Performance/Acting, while finishing his B.S in Psychology. The beginning of his film acting career began at MSU when he was cast in various senior thesis films in addition to independent productions. Corey left Montana prior to graduating to study acting in Oregon. While acting in college, he was nominated for the Kennedy Center's Irene Ryan award three times for his performances. Upon graduation from SOU in 2019, Corey began his professional acting career at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, however the season was cut short due to the COVID Pandemic, causing a career pivot into working at residential mental health treatment centers. Throughout his college education, Corey worked as a chef in various restaurants in Montana and Oregon leading to multiple executive chef positions. He currently works as a private chef in Los Angeles while studying acting with Daniel Travis at Nancy Banks Studio. To learn more about Corey just email him: [email protected] Chapters 0:00 Welcome Corey Renfree 2:33 Montana and the Yellowstone effect 5:10 A town stuck in the 90s 10:14 School plays 12:51 Why he acts keeps changing 17:58 Does ranch life help the acting? 22:59 Changing your look for a role 25:31 Leaving a psychology degree 30:36 Finishing the psych degree and a BFA 35:43 Making a living from the craft 40:51 A wholesome path to acting 43:26 What matters more than success 46:01 Anyone who says they know how is lying 51:04 Shakespeare's invented words 56:08 Ryan's crew stuck abroad in 2020 58:42 Lockdown in a hotel 1:03:45 Private donors keeping theatre alive 1:08:53 The Guthrie Theater's artistic director 1:11:30 Short-form content 1:16:32 Hostile attribution bias 1:21:37 Homelessness in LA and Toronto 1:24:09 An agent in Montana 1:26:46 Celebrities in Big Sky 1:29:20 Back to Montana for a series 1:31:55 Ryan's first show, Tough Rides China 1:36:57 Working as a chef 1:39:28 Food brings people together 1:42:05 Gruelling kitchen culture 1:47:07 Why Ryan podcasts face to face 1:49:44 Life without social media 1:52:18 A parable about the water supply 1:54:54 Stars with no social media 1:57:32 Long-form content 2:02:36 Make a short film with friends 2:07:43 Making his own work 2:12:43 Ryan 2.0 2:17:50 An actor who wants to act every day 2:20:26 Marriage, children and acting 2:23:01 Finding inspiring people 2:25:38 Opportunities in the English-speaking world 2:28:15 A networking event gone wrong 2:30:47 Training alongside the team 2:35:48 Theatre artists in LA 2:38:25 Stay true to your art The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com