Creator / Bobby Calloway

"Be the hero of your own story, slay your own dragons..."

— Frequently used quote

Bobby Calloway is an Anglo-Irish actor, writer and YouTuber.

He began his career as a pro wrestler in his native Ireland, portraying "The People's Choice" - a Genki Guy of an American cruiserweight. He wrestled for four years, leaving the industry in 2015 amid a nasty ACL injury and creative burnout. After two years "as an absolute recluse", he transitioned into acting and never looked back. After starring in a number of short films, he made his feature film debut in Spears.

Outside of acting, he's an accomplished screenwriter (and often writes roles for himself), occasional podcaster with the Actors' Life Podcast and has a YouTube channel Better With Bob, primarily discussing Charmed (1998).

He's also proudly autistic, and the subject of the documentary Slay Your Own Dragons.

Tropes:

• Acting for Two: He voices both Mark Zuckerberg and Evan Spiegel in Silicon Docks.
• Actor-Inspired Element: For Spears, he recommended Rebecca Rose Flynn, Kaireht Yovera, Thomas Sharkey and James Mackenzie for their respective parts.
• Author Appeal: His work tends to feature a lot of Family of Choice, Deadpan Snarkers, unconventional women (usually some Adorkable ones too), lots of affectionate male friendships and a strong sense of diversity.
• Author Avatar: Several characters are directly based off his own experiences.
  • Scott Olsen of High and Tight is an eternal screw-up who doesn't realise his own worth as The Heart of his family and embarks on a career his brother disapproves of and is actually quite good at it. This reflects Bobby discovering acting (although the family disapproval was over-dramatised and he says his own parents were pretty supportive once they realised he was serious) and becoming The Mentor to others.
  • Jesse Young of the upcoming novel Young Blood was the first time he ever wrote himself as an autistic character (the book was first a screenplay) - also with a fighting background, a short height and being Older Than They Look.
• Awesome, Dear Boy:
  • He wrote himself into Scrios just so he could wear a suit of armour.
  • He played Marty in The Gumdrops just so he could say the "nay I say" line.
  • He lobbied very hard to play Alex in Here They Come because he wanted to be in a zombie film. He later called it one of his favourite roles.
• Cast the Runner-Up:
  • For Here They Come, he was not in the original round of auditions and only heard about the project helping friends tape for it. When the lead actor dropped out, he asked for an audition and ended up winning the part of Alex.
  • He turned down the role of Mark the counsellor in The Hitmen but then was cast in another role as Peter in the support group, in fact preferring his three lines to the original part he was offered.
• The Cast Show Off: A practising yogi since 2012, he demonstrates a few poses in Spears. He can also fit his legs behind his head, which he does for a cutaway gag.
• Celebrity Resemblance: Recalls an incident where a drunk man told him he was "so shit" in The Amazing Spider-Man, and others have compared him to Andrew Garfield before.
• Creator Backlash: He's a little ashamed of his performance in Victories, feeling "lightning just didn't strike". He thinks the film itself is great however, enjoyed making it, and called co-star Andrew McNeill his favourite actor he's ever worked with.
• Creator Breakdown:
  • His time in pro wrestling was accompanied by a myriad of mental health problems. He chillingly recalls coming close to committing suicide only a couple of weeks after what people called his best match.
  • His short High and Tight was written while he was struggling with the realisation that he wasn't a teenager anymore and was wasting his life. The making of it led to several bouts of depression.
  • He's often turned down roles as abusive boyfriends or ones that are called on for him to just be "creepy", because they bring back uncomfortable memories of his own abuse in the past or being bullied over how his autism made him seem 'alien' to his peers.
• Creator-Chosen Casting: Adam Smith wrote the part of Danny in his web series New Nations specifically with him in mind.
• Creator Recovery:
  • Fallen (2021) made him rediscover his passion for filmmaking, and he's called it the most rewarding directorial experience of his career.
  • The novel Young Blood was written partly as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • He also wrote a children's book The Shallow Ocean as a coping mechanism for his repeated suicidal ideation throughout life.
  • He'd considered himself retired from directing until he had to fill in for Mad Cows From Planet Moo, and calls that the film that restored his love for it.
• Deleted Role: He had a small role and was advertised as starring in A Road to Redemption, which he helped co-write, but the character was cut before he filmed his part. The film was later shelved and never released.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: While he's more often cast as neurotypical characters, he played an autistic man in the short No One Is Perfect.
• Directed by Cast Member: He directed himself in Aaron, High and Tight, Fallen (2021), The Gumdrops and Mad Cows From Planet Moo.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Claims he "ate very little" in the lead up to Fallen to play a starving World War I soldier.
  • For Here They Come, he dieted and worked out religiously even in between takes. He wasn't required to, but he felt it fit Alex's characterization.
• Face: Was often a face in pro wrestling due to his small frame and fondness for lucha libre. He found it quite surprising when he transitioned to acting and often got cast as the villain.
• Fake American: Half of his roles are Americans. He jokes he's been told it sounds more natural than his real voice. His wrestling character was a New Yorker.
• Fake Brit: An odd case. His family is entirely Irish, but he was born over in England and didn't lose the accent. So whenever he plays an English character, he's technically this.
• Fake Irish: Well he is Irish, but speaks with an English accent, and therefore has had to fake an Irish accent for a few roles. He prefers not to, feeling his Irish accent isn't good, and will only do it if it's absolutely necessary.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Despite coming from a privileged middle-class upbringing, he often found himself cast as Lower Class Louts. Also, he's a teetotaller in real life but often plays drunk characters.
• Male Frontal Nudity: He appears nude in the upcoming The Casting Man. He was also nude in My Name Is Emily along with a hundred others, but could only be seen from behind.
• The Mentor:
  • His mentors are Ross Grant and Liana K.
  • Lorcan Wood of The Wood Brothers says Bobby was a real mentor to them when they first started training, always encouraging them and helping them.
• Stage Names: His given name is Rory Leonard. Bobby was a nickname he picked for himself long before he was a performer, and Calloway was "random last name number five" picked right before his pro wrestling debut.
• Throw It In!: In between takes recording his lines in Silicon Docks, he chatted to director Graham Jones about the "Winter Wrap Up" song from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The director then told him to say exactly what he'd just said as Mark, and sing part of the song.
• Typecasting:
  • In comedies, he's often a quirky Cloud Cuckoo Lander.
  • He's frequently cast as soldiers.
  • In his first two years of acting, he was often cast as psychos or Lower Class Louts.
  "I think five different times in 2017 I was playing someone who was drinking in the middle of the day."
• What the Hell Is That Accent?: As he was raised in the UK but lived in Ireland from the age of eight onward, his accent is a weird blend that occasionally sounds American or Australian. He says he's also been mistaken for South African, New Zealand, Welsh and even Spanish.

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