‘Lick’ Exclusive Interview: Travis Burns On Stepping Into The Shoes Of A Rockstar

Adapting a book for the big screen can be a massive task for the writers and directors who decide to take on the project. There’s not just an author you have to please but also avid readers out there who want to see the characters they love come to life as they imagined. That being said, it’s a much more daunting process for the actors who step into the role of a beloved character. We chatted with Travis Burns, who plays David Ferris in the new Passionflix adaptation Lick, to get his thoughts on bringing the character to life.

“In the book, it’s described that he’s got very long hair… When they were casting for it (Lick), there was another guy that had long hair that was a bit of a better fit visually, but unfortunately, he had another role that he had to commit to. And that put me on the role. And I was a bit nervous to hear back from the fans of the book and Kylie Scott and everyone about my appearance compared to the book but, it’s been received well which I’m very glad about.”

I have not read Kylie Scott’s book yet, but Burns did a great job of bringing the character to life. While talking to Burns, he also gave us some insight into the musical aspects of the film and how he and his “bandmates” created the illusion of putting on a show.

“Joe (Joseph McNabb), who plays Mal he was on the drums, just came in, we started, he started playing we’re just like turning around looking at him like ‘where did you learn this?’ he never played the drums. None of us have played an instrument… and he’s just going into this like rockstar moment and it was actually really brilliant.”

If Joe had never played the drums before, I couldn’t tell because he really did give the illusion he knew what he was doing. Travis had a different experience because he had to make it look like he knew what he was doing while playing the guitar. And with him being the lead male, that meant the camera would be on him a lot when he took the stage. We wanted to know what he did to prepare with such a short time to learn.

“I was just taught the basics. We had an amazing music producer there and he sent me a bunch… he would like record himself doing the main things. Nothing too hard. When I had time, he would drop off guitars, and I’d sit in a hotel room and just try and get the basics down, and that way, you just, I guess, use your body and everything and move around so you can’t precisely see.”

It sounds like Travis had a good team to help him bring the rockstar David Ferris to life. We think he did a good job considering he only had about 2 ½ – 3 weeks to learn. If you want to find out if he was successful in fooling even one of his friends who plays the guitar, you can check out our full interview below.

Lick is available to stream now on Passionflix.