IamA Sean Riley Smith, Actor, model, currently playing the long haired guy in the Geico How To Draw a Masterpiece Commercial, AMA!

Do you view Flo from Progressive as a friend or foe?

Haha only respect for Flo, we've actually been through the same acting school so I can't hate. Maybe she'll switch to Geico at some point

It WOULD save her 15% or more on her car insurance if she did, so that makes sense.

Exactly, so why not!

You used to train me at Excel in St. Louis, what made you decide to switch to acting or were you starting your acting career as you were still at Excel?

haha That's so awesome! So a former Excel client of mine sent some FB pics to a designer/agent in StL and a week later I was modeling.So I modeled for a month or so while still at Excel before moving on to another day job. As the market there is rather small, I tried acting as an additional route to grow and absolutely loved it. After training in StL for a few months under a few private instructors and group classes I knew that I had found a passion of mine and made the decision to leave StL for a larger opportunities.

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And now you know my character type lmao :D

That’s cool dude! Best of luck with the acting!

Thank you so much!!

Microsoft Excel?

Lol, Apple only. And Excel was/is a sports training facility in St. Louis, Missouri.

So do your friends call you Sean Riley? Sean? Riley? SR? Señor? Also, I have an uncle named Riley Smith who is an insurance agent in Oklahoma. Weird.
He's pretty much bald.

Excellent question! The majority of my friends call me either Big Sean or Thor. I would say I'm rarely just called Sean, there always seems to be some sort of nickname or prefix attached.

What’s your favorite kind of cheese 🧀?

Parmigiano Reggiano by far! That paired with a balsamic reduction is phenomenal. I've actually made my own but Whole Foods makes it far easier for timeliness.

When you leaned out of the picture, was the other you in the background green-screen or an actual photo?

It was actually my twin lol. No they took separate takes and then spliced them together. So I really was leaning out, as well as sitting still in the background, just in separate instances.

What is your perfect type of sandwich?

Do you rinse and repeat? How many repeats?

Does pizza count as a sandwich? Any sandwich that has a pretzel bun!

Wash twice a week, rinse repeat 3x. Unorthodox but valiant in its own right

Pizza can count as sandwich! I respect that choice.

You have excellent hair.

haha Thank you so much! And definitely pizza of all kinds. Shoutout to Imo's St. Louis style but also into Chicago and NY style. Obsessive about pizza really

Imo’s? A shout out to the Lou? Are you from the St Louis area?

Yes I am! Born and raised in West County and spent a few post college years in the CWE

Shout out to Zia's on The Hill, too!

I haven't been there, but will give it a shot next time. I'm also a fan of Charlie Gitto's

Ew, no Imo's cracker and wax 'cheese' pizza is terrible.

Even Pizza Hut is better...

https://media.giphy.com/media/PBasF0EtZOJzO/giphy.gif

How did you get acting jobs? I'd love to be an actress but it's hard where I'm from.

I have an agent that receives and submits to castings that fit my profile. If I am asked to audition then I go to their studio to audition. From there you have callbacks and sometimes second callbacks and after that hope you get selected. It can be difficult to find work in a small market, however you can always be practicing your craft and readying yourself until you are ready to move to a larger market.

Thank you. There are no agencies where I live... Maybe I try taping myself.

Absolutely! And yes, do anything you can to always be improving your skillset.

Maybe too personal, but I've always wondered; do actors in commercials or like background extras make enough money to live off of? Like can you have a career just acting in limited capacity, or is it just extra money, or is it in hopes of getting discovered and cast in bigger things?

Thanks for your time.

You’re welcome, and thanks for the question! It’s a career that is always a work in progress. One commercial is not enough to live off of but at the same time most actors who are realistic with goals and timelines understand that. Most have “survival jobs” (bartending, waiting tables, barista, etc.) to help financially.

On the other side of that are career working actors who you’ve never heard of but continually book tv shows, commercials and film who are able to sustain themselves solely on acting. As well as acting several of my friends and colleagues are also writers, directors, and producers. It enables a person to have more than one stream of opportunity both artistically and financially.

It’s an industry that takes constant work as I’m sure you’ve read about and seen as far as being able to sustain it by itself as well as those who lose all success overnight for various reasons.

Hope that answers your question!

Thanks for the answer and yes, it sufficiently answered my original question.

Well good luck in your endeavors, hope you find the success in the acting field that you are looking for.

Actually one last question, it's kind of a loaded question tho: how hard is it to break into the acting field, like getting a role in a commercial even, do you just have an agent that is looking for all possible gigs? Or do you have like a portfolio that's out there like a resume? Or just show up for an audition type situation?

Put simply, yes. I have a resume, pics, reels that my agent uses to send to casting directors that fits roles that I could potentially play. From there you audition for that commercial/show/film and brought back selected depending on what they are looking for.

In the commercial you look massive and delicious .. how tall are you? Are you in fact massive .. and delicious?

I am massive! 6'5, and 270 currently, I'll leave the delicious part up to those wild imaginations out there...fwiw I officially started my career as a romance cover model

EDIT: Pic Added https://imgur.com/hFC5NDb

This is everything I wanted a more !!!!

Haha glad you enjoy that, there’s about 150 of those if you search online hard enough

lol why are you so hot?!

lol I was blessed by the Nordic Gods I suppose

Do u think geico is annoying?

Not at all. I absolutely love comedy in all forms...satirical, dark humor, dry, etc. So to me most commercials or shows people perceive to be dumb, goofy or ridiculous I find to be hilarious. And extremely clever writing on a lot of commercials as well.

What's your favorite commercial?

The Old Spice man your man should be commercial. I used to do this monologue for fun because I thought the commercial was so random and hilarious. Anything highly comedic is my thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE

Favourite kind of chocolate?

Id have to go with the Trader Joe's dark chocolate covered almonds with the sea salt and crazy magic sugar stuff. That or those dark chocolate covered açaí berries

If you and Flo got married, how would that impact the insurance industry? Would there be a collapse? Would my rates go up?

It would definitely shake things up, but collapse? I think not, only add to the power behind the insurance industry thus reducing your rates even more lol

Where is the best place to eat in StL?

Wow that’s a tough one, and I’m slightly removed from the food scene but have a few favorites every time I go back. Imo’s for pizza and toasted ravs, Bar Louie just because its near my old stomping grounds, Three-Sixty bc of the view and atmosphere and then Rigazzi’s on The Hill before a Blues game!

Thanks for answering my question!

Imo's does he the best T-ravs. I'll have to give Rigazzi's a try.

Do you have a favorite bar?

Yes, my Two favorites are Molly’s in Soulard and Wheelhouse Downtown. A new favorite last time I was back was Start Bar. A cool eclectic place with great music and arcade games

Ahh fine choices indeed! Glad to see a St. Louisian doing so well! Keep up the good work and best of luck! I hope to see you more!

Thank you so much!

Why do you look like a completely different person in your picture and in the video?

More than likely lighting, longer beard now and I weigh about 20 pounds less than I did in the vid

What’s your natural hair color? I’m assuming it’s dark and you don’t dye your beard?

(you’re super hot, thanks for doing this)

Haha thank you! I have been on reddit for years as an anon and always enjoyed AMAs so I thought it’d be fun.
My natural hair color is actually blonde, however my beard and eyebrows are dark. I dont dye any of it and I still have virgin hair. In the summer sun it gets really light. My heritage is of norwegian and northern german descent, and I believe that’s where genetically the two tone comes from.

How do you maintain that fabulous mane of hair?

Very little in fact. A few washes a week, let it air dry and flow. All about low maintenance!

What you washing that hair with man? Will it make me attractive?

Garnier Avocado infused is the way to go, and YES, it will absolutely make you attractive!

serious question, if you were out at a fancy Hollywood club with the Geico Gecko, which one of you do you think would get more phone numbers?

He would easily! Have you seen how Suave he is!?