Albany’s Chandler Lane lands first movie role

ALBANY — Even though he showed up on the set hoping for a role as an extra, when the opportunity presented itself for Albany’s Chandler Lane to land a principal part in the upcoming faith-based drama “Prayer Never Fails,” the burgeoning actor knew he could seize the moment and pull it off.

“I was originally just an extra on a basketball team in the movie, but then I heard that the assistant director needed somebody to play this 6-foot-3 African American guy named Tremaine,” said Lane during a recent phone interview from his apartment in Valdosta. “I’m not a 6-foot-3 African American guy, but I knew if I could get one chance to read that’s all I’d need; just one chance.”

Lane’s intuition proved correct when, after three different readings arranged by fellow cast member Jessica Webb, he was told he had landed the role of the newly revised character “Trevor.”

“When Jessica told me that I had gotten the role, I was freaking out actually,” said Lane. “I was super excited. I can’t describe the feeling. I’ve been waiting to hear that. I was shaking, and I couldn’t breathe right. I thought, ‘I am technically a professional actor.’”

Indeed, Lane’s name now shows up on the movie’s Internet Movie Database (IMDb) page alongside well-known actors such as Lorenzo Lamas, Corbin Bernsen, Lynn Whitfield, Cathy Lee Crosby, Clifton Davis and Nick Lashaway, who helped the young actor get used to performing in front of a camera.

“Acting in a movie took some getting used to,” Lane said. “We did the same takes six or seven times because you have to make sure every little thing is right. The director said early on he was fine with ad-libbing, though, so I got to ad-lib a lot of lines, which was fun. I worked a lot with Nick Lashaway. I watched him so hard and paid attention to how he ad-libbed. I actually ended up getting some really good stuff in there.”

Lane ultimately spent several weeks driving from his home in Valdosta to the film’s Madison, Fla., set, shooting his scenes for the movie that, according to IMDb, “follows the fictional story of a high school basketball coach who after being fired for praying with this players, listens to his higher power and hires an agnostic, gambling lawyer to file a lawsuit on his behalf.”

Landing the role of Trevor in the film was not only Lane’s first time getting an important “speaking” part in a film, it was the first time the young actor had ever worked on a movie in any capacity, which is an experience he says he won’t soon forget.

“Oh man, it was so cool the first time I heard the director say, ‘Lights, camera, action,’” Lane said. “The main actor opened a door in front of me in the scene, and I remember his face looking at me and seeing all the lights and the cameras behind him filming. I’ll never forget that. As soon as that happened I thought, ‘This is real right now. This is not play time. This is something else right here.’

“It was really neat being thrown to the lions. I took what I had and ran with it. And I think it really went well. You never know until the movie comes out, but we did a good couple of scenes and I have a good bit of lines. I’d say maybe I’ve got 10 minutes of screen time. I don’t have a lot of lines, but I’m still a principal character.”

While acting in front of a camera was certainly a new experience for the up-and-coming professional, inhabiting a principal role was nothing new, as Lane had managed to land several of those during his time participating in productions at Albany’s Deerfield Windsor School. He graduated from the Albany prep school in 2013.

Lane, who said he often lacked direction growing up, listened to encouraging words from a middle school teacher and made the fateful decision to try out for a part in the school’s spring musical his eighth-grade year and managed to land a non-speaking part in “Fiddler on the Roof.”

He followed the next year with a much bigger, and much to his liking, comedic role in the school’s production of “Hello Dolly,” in which he played Barnaby Tucker. It was from that performance that Lane fell in love with entertaining and decided he was going to dedicate all of his energies to his new passion.

“I’ll tell you what it was, it was the limelight,” Lane said. “I loved seeing the audience and being out there. In ninth grade, I had my first principle role. It was ‘Hello Dolly.’ I had a lot of funny stuff to say, and when the audience would start to laugh at jokes it was awesome. I loved it and knew that this was what I wanted to do.”

Lane continued acting and perfecting his craft through his remaining years of high school, securing important roles in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” his sophomore year, “Once Upon a Mattress” his junior year, and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” his senior year.

Additionally, Lane was involved with the school’s One Act Play each year, which culminated in the school winning the state competition for the team’s performance of Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage.” In fact, Lane proved so critical to that outcome, he took home the state outstanding actor award.

“He really did show a lot of talent by the time he was a member of the state-winning One Act Play team,” said DWS teacher Lindsey Stewart, who was Lane’s eighth-grade English teacher before working with him in the theater department. “He goes for it full-force. He’s good at making an impact.”

It’s not surprising Stewart is such a fan of Lane’s. It was her encouragement that persuaded the then eighth-grader to give acting a shot after realizing he was not focused academically. Because she knew Lane was a good athlete who played football, ran track and was on the wrestling team, Stewart had a feeling that if he got involved in theater, he’d bring the same work ethic he always displayed in sports to the stage.

As it turns out, she was right and Lane credits Stewart, along with her mother, who at the time was in charge of the school’s theater productions, for helping guide him down his road to becoming a professional actor.

“I really have to thank Lindsey and Diane Giddens, who were my high school drama teachers,” Lane said. “Lindsey convinced me to do that first musical, and they did all this stuff for me because they saw potential. If not for those two ladies, I would not be on this path today.”

The fact that Lane is back on the acting path, after take a break for a while as he got acclimated to college life in Valdosta, is news Stewart is delighted to hear.

“He’s kept me up to date on what’s going on, and I’m so proud of him,” said Stewart. “There’s always a few students that when they graduate they leave a little hole in our theater program. He was definitely one of those. He’s good at making an impact. He’s got charisma. I had always hoped he would carry on.”

And carry on is exactly what Lane hopes to do now that he’s had some success. He said he currently is in a position where he needs to stay in Valdosta for a while due to school, where he majors in theater at Valdosta State University, and his job delivering pizza.

Even though he can’t immediately take off to a place like Atlanta, where he could find more acting gigs and hire an agent, he still plans to make the most of his time there by getting involved in local theater.

“Before (doing the movie) I had been procrastinating,” said Lane. “I th0ught maybe I didn’t want to do this. But you know what, this is me, this is who I am. I’ve decided I’m going to audition for everything and work on building my resume. There are steps I have to take, and I have to make do with what I have.”

Lane’s fans will get the chance to see him on the big screen next spring when “Prayer Never Fails” is set for release.