| Intro | American actor and writer |
| A.K.A. | Calvin Ross Barnes |
| Is | Actor |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Film, TV, Stage & Radio |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 1988, Salem, USA |
| Age: | 32 years |
Calvin Ross Barnes (born January 14, 1988) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, film producer, novelist, and playwright. Barnes moved to Los Angeles in 2009, where he began his career by starring in short films, appearing in television commercials, and writing screenplays. His stage play Rise. won ‘Best World Premiere’ at the 2012 Hollywood Fringe Festival in Hollywood, California. Barnes has since appeared in the Universal Studios horror film, Unfriended (2014), which was executive produced by Jason Blum, and penned the original screenplay for the independent drama, Adolescence (2018). He has one published novel, True Grandeur (2017), and stars in the upcoming feature film, The Astrid Experience, which marks his directorial debut.
Early life and education
Barnes was born in Salem, Oregon. He studied writing, journalism, and theatre at Portland State University in Portland before moving to Los Angeles.
Career
Barnes started his acting career in 2010 when he began booking numerous short films he self-submitted for that filmed in and around Los Angeles. He began acting professionally in 2011 when he landed his first agent and began booking theatrical and commercial work. In late 2011, he moved to the Franklin Village neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills, where he began penning feature screenplays.
During his time in the village, Barnes penned his first play, Rise (2012), which went on to win ‘Best World Premiere’ at the 2012 Hollywood Fringe Festival. He also wrote his first novel, True Grandeur, which chronicles the tale of Conrad Arlington, a young Hollywood hopeful that moves to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming a great artist, all while managing his affections for Gracie Garrison, a young Hollywood it girl who takes an interest in him. In an interview regarding the novel, Barnes stated, “I was inspired by some experiences I had in my early twenties when I first moved to Los Angeles.”
In 2013, he wrote the original screenplay for the independent feature drama, Adolescence. (2019) with his friend Mickey River, which premiered at the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on June 23, 2019. He also had a role in the successful horror film franchise, Unfriended (2014), which was produced by Timur Bekmambetov and Jason Blum, and released by Universal Studios.
Barnes recently starred in the upcoming feature film, The Astrid Experience (2020), opposite South African actress Lucia Xypteras. It marks Barnes’s second collaboration with musician John That, the first being the music video Hippy Girl(2014), which Barnes directed. The Astrid Experience is Barnes’s feature film debut as director.
Appearances in other media
In 2011, Barnes portrayed the teenage version of Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan in the music video for the Avenged Sevenfold song “So Far Away”, which served as a tribute video to the band’s late drummer who passed in 2009.
As of May 2019, the video has over 180 million views on youtube.
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Rise | Playwright | Zenith Ensemble / Hollywood Fringe Festival |
| 2013 | The Absence of Sound | Dane | Also Playwright |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | “So Far Away” | Avenged Sevenfold | Teenage Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan |
| 2014 | “Hippy Girl“ | John That | Writer (story), Director/Producer |
Books
- True Grandeur: A Hollywood Novel (Magic Hour Press 2017) ISBN 978-0999161029