Episode 190: Steven Roberts

Over the last several years, Steven Roberts has delivered three fearless performances in a trio of searing feature films: in 2019’s In God I Trust, 2020’s Beyond The Woods, and 2021’s River Road. In the first, he’s Tyler, a white supremacist with a hair-trigger temper and major issues with his law enforcement officer dad; in the second, he’s Andrew Bennett, a suspect in the murder of his wife and the disappearance of her brother; in the last, he’s Fresno, a take-no-prisoners drug dealer who laughs when he’s staring down the barrel of a gun. These are difficult men, often unlikeable. But Steven seems unafraid to inhabit these complicated characters. He was nominated for Leo Awards for all three of these roles, and this year he won Best Supporting Performance by a Male in a Motion Picture for Fresno in River Road. In 2019, he won the UBCP/ACTRA Award for Best Emerging Performer for In God I Trust. Steven's journey to this moment is more remarkable than that of any of the characters he’s played. In this memorable episode of the #YVRScreenScenePodcast, Steven speaks about his childhood growing up in foster care and, later, on the streets, as well as what it takes to take on unlikeable characters, how he became a go-to guy for these kinds of roles in the first place, and what Robin Williams said to him that changed his life. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment