We recently caught up with actor and comedian Mark Gagliardi who can be seen playing Father Charles Donnelly (“Father Chuck”) in the Paramount+ series Blood & Treasure. The second season of the action adventure series dropped in July. Mark’s voice may also be familiar to many as the narrator of Comedy Central’s Emmy-winning series Drunk History

We asked Mark about being a storyteller, his character in Blood & Treasure, the popularity of Drunk History and how he got into acting. Check out our conversation below.

When did you decide that storytelling and acting was something you wanted to do?

Mark Gagliardi (MG): I first knew I wanted to be an actor when I watched a show as a kid on Nickelodeon called “Standby…Lights! Camera! Action!” It was hosted by Leonard Nimoy and he would show how movies were made. He took me to the set of a Bond villain’s lair, he showed me how Jabba the Hutt worked, and he made me turn to my mom and say, “I wanna be an actor.” She signed me up at the community theatre to do my first play: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I played an angel in the choir who wore a pair of boxing gloves and when I walked on stage for the first time I got a laugh. I have not questioned my calling since. I was five years old.

What advice would you give to people pursuing acting?

MG: My advice to anyone new to acting would be to start by improvising. It’s a great foundation for listening, responding, playing, and using your whole body. My advice to anyone who’s trained and starting out would be to play with people who are better than you are and raise your game. Find your tribe and love them fiercely. Seek humanity in every choice and know that there are sacrifices to living an artist’s life but there are also many rewards.

What can you tell us about Blood & Treasure?

MG: Blood & Treasure is an action/adventure show in its second season. The story follows Danny, a blood antiquities expert, and Lexi, an elite thief. As the first season began, they had just broken up but had to team up to to save an ancient treasure from a supervillain by finding it first with the help of a motley crew of allies. This season they’re happily in love and have amassed more allies and enemies as they once again seek an ancient treasure. In the first season we traveled to Rome, Egypt, and Morocco in search of the tombs of Antony and Cleopatra. This season we travel to Russia, Vietnam, and Mongolia in search of the Spirit Banner of Genghis Khan. I play Danny’s best friend Father Chuck, a priest at the Vatican who helps in the hunt. Since this season’s treasure hunt has Vatican involvement, Father Chuck spends a little more time this season on his own side adventures.

Blood & Treasure cast. Photo by Paramount+

In your opinon, why do you think Drunk History is so popular?

MG: I think Drunk History is so successful and so popular because it’s so simple. It’s a complicated show with a lot of moving parts but the game of the show is the classic simplebut-impossible task. This time that task is “tell the story that you’ve clearly studied and know quite a lot about” and the obstacle that makes it impossible is a whole lot of booze. I think that’s what gives the show its funny bone. What gives the show its heart, though, is the tendency of drunk people to get overly emotional and passionate. I guess I can’t speak for everyone. I know I for sure found myself crying while recounting a story after about half a bottle of Bulleit. Also it doesn’t hurt to have A-list talent that all want to come play historical figures. It’s a testament to Derek [Waters] that he made a really fun treehouse that everyone wants to play in.

What do you enjoy the most about acting?

MG: There are two things I love most about acting. The first is internal. I love mining a script for moments and then experiencing those moments with an audience that recognizes those moments as human. And if that human moment is surprising, novel, or recognizable, it might pull a reaction out of them. The second thing I love most about acting is external. I’m talking acting as a calling, a collection of extroverts and empaths tumbling around stages on gym mats, a world of friendships forged in the fires of improv theatres and ensembles born at bars after shows, and a city of a million jobs but one common goal of coming together to tell stories.

What is the best thing about being a storyteller?

MG: The best thing about being a storyteller is taking the journey with the audience. One of my favorite images is a photo from the early 20th century of a group of children that made up the front row of a puppet show. The looks on the faces of kids watching a puppet show, fully invested and on the edges of their seats, are what keep me wanting to tell stories. I know what it feels like to be on both sides of that look. I want to keep feeling it and I want to keep giving it to others.

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