Tyler Silvers, the Co-Creator, Executive Producer, and Star of the comedy series “Becoming Jiff” is an up and coming multi-hyphenate talent. He embodies a sweet boy next door type with emotional depth, and the series he co-created harkens back to a sweet and funny New York City; a New York City that showed up in “Flight of the Conchords,” “30 Rock,” and all the way back in films like “Annie Hall” or “When Harry Met Sally.” Where does Silvers draw his inspiration from?
Acting Inspirations
“I think the most important thing in my job as an actor is to give my character humanity. And in simpler terms that just means make the audience like him,” Silvers says. When asked which actors he likes to watch and learn from, Silvers replies: “Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. They’ve played so many different characters, and no matter how imperfect the character they are playing may be, they always make you feel deeply for them. If you don’t feel for the characters you are watching you won’t emotionally connect to the film.” He is also a big fan of some younger blockbuster actors, “Chris Pratt and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the two actors right now who I always love to watch.” But those are not the only actors he gushes over, when pushed further Silvers adds: “I think one of the most underrated actors ever is Kathy Bates. She is really amazing. I mean, just watch “Misery” and “The Waterboy”, or her very funny role in “The Office, she can pull off comedy, drama, and everything else. Any time she steps into a scene she’s magnetic.”
Filmmaking Inspirations
“I love the movies that can make you laugh and cry. “Once,” “Spirited Away, “Jerry Maguire,” “The Graduate,” there’s too many to list. If I had to choose specific filmmakers I would say Nora Ephron, Cameron Crowe, John Hughes, Judd Apatow. I’d also add filmmakers like Spielberg, Nolan, Zemeckis, JJ Abrams; the scope of the films they make are unbelievable, but no matter how big the films are they always have such great emotional cores. And I’d add Malcolm D. Lee. He keeps directing the most enjoyable film of the year almost every single year.
“All these filmmakers make films that you can get totally immersed in,” Silvers says. “No matter what is going on in your life, they take you away to another world where you can laugh, learn, think, and feel. That’s what truly inspires me. Those are the films I’d like to be a part of.”
You can watch Silvers’ acclaimed comedy series “Becoming Jiff” on Amazon Prime Video (it was recently included on the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award Shortlist for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series), and on his podcast “Quadruple Overtime” (guests include comedians and writers from “Saturday Night Live,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “The Wall Street Journal,” and others). And what’s next for Silvers? He’s currently working with his collaborator and brother Forrest Silvers on a feature film and TV Pilot.
