By JOSHUA THOMAS

C-S-E Editor

Chad Michael Collins has been gaining a lot of attention lately with high-profile roles in television and film. While it wasn't always Collins' goal to become a full time actor, his on-screen charisma is undeniable, and it's his belief — as well as those around him, including the supportive Mohawk Valley community — that 2013 is going to be a monumental year for the Canajoharie native.

In press materials, Collins jokes that he's an "accidental actor", his newfound career  budding from a job at a Los Angeles PR firm that put him in close proximity to industry professionals. But, while Collins said that acting was not always a goal, a high profile role in the 2011 film "Sniper: Reloaded" changed his priorities and set him on his current path.

After graduating from Canajoharie High School in 1997, Collins attended Ithaca College, where, during his last semester of Bachelor's degree studies, he accepted an internship at a public relations firm in Los Angeles. When the internship was complete in May, he returned to New York, "did the graduation walk" and two weeks later moved back to LA when the internship blossomed into a full-time job.

"I never came out here to act," said Collins, explaining that his college major was focused on public relations, with studies in sports, television, radio and journalism.

Four or five years down the line, working in the entertainment PR field, Collins had a breakfast meeting with a successful talent manager who shared a client with Collins' company. "She liked my personality, and my all-American look", said Collins, who said she inquired about whether he'd be interested in acting. 

At the time, Collins was at a crossroads in his life — he was starting to feel premature burnout at his job, working 40-60 hours a week depending on the client workload, locked indoors away from the sunny LA weather. Dissonance and boredom crept in. "It started to eat away at me," Collins stated, noting that the suggestion that he try acting "came at the right time," and he figured the least he could do was, "try a class on for size and see if it sticks."

After having a few classes under his belt, taking them when he had the extra money and time, Collins scored a role in the low-budget horror film "Legion of the Dead." At the time, Collins still didn't understand the audition process, and he "was completely green, as they say," but he saw the job as a learning opportunity. On set, he absorbed all the information he could about movie production, including things he hadn't learned in class, from lighting to makeup, to general film terminology. "Legion of the Dead", shot in 12 days, with Collins paid $20 a day, proved an invaluable experience in that sense. 

He explained, "For me, as an actor, I learned so much on that set."

Collins continued doing non-union work following that film, making the conscious decision to focus simply on learning the craft and obtaining demo reel footage before applying to the Screen Actors Guild, which requires three days of approved extra work, three vouchers, and a fee of $2,000. Collins did eventually join SAG, after doing a guest spot on a short-lived Discovery Channel show, and another independent film, scoring a Hallmark movie as his first project while part of the organization, earning more in just two days than what he'd earned in everything combined prior to that.

Even though things started falling into place for Collins, he said that for a while, he "struggled with the idea of being an actor." The constant auditioning, while putting in long hours at work, also while taking classes and improving his craft, put him in a hard place. Acting full time, he said "was still a flighty notion," and he would disappear from the audition world for six months at a time until he felt ready to face that challenge again.

It was around 2010 that everything changed for Collins. When he booked a high profile role in the franchise film "Sniper: Reloaded", which sent him to South Africa to shoot with famous, career actors, he finally began to wonder "what would happen if I committed 110 percent?" Striking "while the iron was hot", Collins attacked the idea of being a full time actor with newfound excitement, devoting himself completely, consistently scoring impressive roles in world-famous television shows and films.

While Collins still works with the public relations company that brought him to LA in the first place, a position he decided to keep since he meets numerous contacts and forges many professional relationships, and is lucky enough to have a manager and publicist as an employer — who is understanding, allowing him to take temporary absences for film and television shoots — his ultimate goal now is "to live the actor's life". 

Collins said he's wired as a "work hard, play hard" kind of guy, and he's always been "really hungry to learn," which he's been given the opportunity to do more of lately. Collins said he learns a lot just from watching other actors, including Vinnie Jones in the recent film "Company of Heroes", along with Billy Zane, who Collins said has provided invaluable technical advice.

"You can learn a lot by watching and just observing," said Collins, noting that while they shall remain nameless, even watching actors that are nightmares on set can provide lessons on how not to behave. 

"I'm just a sponge. I soak it up," he said.

One perk of being in this business, Collins commented, aside from the chance to learn and develop constantly, is the opportunity to travel. Growing up, Collins didn't travel a lot, and now he gets to frequently on somebody' else's dime, to locations such as Vancouver, where he recently filmed a featured guest spot on "Once Upon A Time", and to Hawaii to shoot "Last Resort". In June of this year, Collins' profession will take him to Columbia, where he'll shoot the sequel to "Sniper: Reloaded", with Billy Zane directing.

On top of the fact that Collins has upcoming shoots scheduled, and films coming out that he's already shot, right now is a busy and critical time in LA, as it's pilot season, where studios order one episode of promising shows, with the best receiving full orders and becoming fall series. "Everybody's auditioning, not sleeping, trying to get attached to new shows," said Collins, who recently auditioned for a part in the television version of "Beverly Hills Cop", that could, if the show is developed, turn into a repeat role.

While Los Angeles has treated Collins well so far, he explained that the response back home has been overwhelmingly positive. Collins said of those in the area where he grew up, "Everybody's been so supportive." People he hasn't seen or talked to in years have sent emails and messages of encouragement, or have written just to say 'hello', which Collins said he loves. While other parts of the world can be more critical, Collins said that those in western Montgomery County are endlessly positive. 

They have his back 100 percent. 

Re-opening lines of communication between himself and the people of the Mohawk Valley, Collins noted, has been one of the best parts of this whole process of becoming an actor, and he said that even if his career really takes off in the future, he wants to keep those lines of communication open. He's even hoping to return to speak to local kids, to let them know "anybody can have this success if they put it out there."

While big things will undoubtedly happen for the talented actor in the near future, and his career will continue to take him around the world, Collins said that Canajoharie is still a big part of who he is, and the values instilled here will remain with him in his travels, as he concluded, "You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy."

To keep updated on Collins' career, visit his IMDB page, or his website at www.chadmichaelcollins.com. Collins is also on Facebook.