Vermont actor lands his biggest role yet in Ethan Hawke/Ewan McGregor film 'Raymond & Ray'

In 2006, Chris Grabher packed his Honda Civic sedan with clothes and juggling balls and drove from the East Coast to the West Coast, where the Waitsfield native planned to pursue his Hollywood dreams.

Almost immediately, the alumnus of the Vermont-based performance troupe Circus Smirkus landed an agent and a high-profile commercial in a major campaign for McDonald’s, portraying a mime.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, this is going to be easy,’” Grabher said. “Of course it wasn’t.”

Sixteen years later, Grabher has what might be his highest-profile role yet. He was cast in the film “Raymond & Ray” that stars Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor and hits theaters Oct. 14. The movie moves to streaming Oct. 21 on Apple TV+.

“It’s been a very adventurous road with a ton of highs and lows, sort of standard to what a lot of new actors would say. Every month it’s ups and downs,” Grabher told the Burlington Free Press in a phone conversation from southern California. “I wanted it so badly, this career or lifestyle. It was something that I always wanted fully forever. Even the real low points just seemed part of the deal. I kind of even enjoyed that, too.”

From Vermont to New York to Hollywood

Grabher attended Waitsfield Elementary School and is a 1999 alumnus of Harwood Union High School. Waitsfield produced a significant roster of artistic talent in that era and shortly thereafter, including rock musician Grace Potter and burgeoning Broadway talent Shaina Taub.

“It certainly turned out some creative minds that stuck with the arts,” Grabher said of Waitsfield.

Grabher was active in Northeast Kingdom-based Circus Smirkus through the 1990s, and that’s where he honed his acrobatic talents. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and stayed in the city for a few years. He got jobs in commercials, independent films and children’s theater, but had to find other work – including street performances in Central Park and driving a truck through Manhattan delivering coffee – to pay the bills.

Hollywood beckoned. “Movies was always the thing I thought I wanted to do,” Grabher said.

That McDonald’s commercial raised Grabher’s expectations. He quickly discovered the pace of his career would include being cast in a film or TV show, which was amazing, but then his work would dry up for a while. He aimed not for being an overnight success or becoming famous but for a long, steady career where he could work in the film and TV business with great creators.

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Being cast in ‘Raymond & Ray’

Grabher’s versatility has served him well. He has appeared in TV shows and movies including “The Greatest Showman,” “All Rise” and “NCIS” and has performed stunt work in shows and films such as “Tenet” and “Bones.” He had built up enough confidence from that work to make his own luck, which led to being cast in “Raymond & Ray.”

He said he learned from a producer that a casting director was searching for twin acrobatic actors “that could do some fun tricks.” He thought of a fellow actor on the circus circuit in Los Angeles, Chris Silcox, who he said is often mistaken for Grabher. The two got matching suits and devised a scene in which they portrayed twin brothers that they sent to the casting department.

The video was forwarded to “Raymond & Ray” director Rodrigo Garcia. Following multiple auditions in virtual video-conferencing rooms filled with actual identical twin brothers, the two Chrises got the job in a movie named for two Rays.

“Next thing I know,” Grabher said, “we’re eating lunch with Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke.”

They went to Virginia to film the movie, which according to Apple TV+ “follows half-brothers Raymond and Ray who have lived in the shadow of a terrible father. Somehow, they still each have a sense of humor, and his funeral is a chance for them to reinvent themselves.”

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Grabher said there’s some secrecy about the roles he and Silcox play, as they’re integral to a plot twist. “My character is surprising element in the journey of Ethan and Ewan's character(s) Raymond and Ray,” he wrote in an email following the phone conversation. “My character adds in a little ‘fun’ and surprise to a very serious setting and circumstance.”

The role is “probably the highlight of my career in some regards,” Grabher said, noting that he spent a few weeks in Virginia “hanging out with those two legends” and watching McGregor and Hawke ply their trade.

“It was like going to acting church,” Grabher said, adding that “great actors get to drive this story, and you get to have a lot of fun with that.”

Upcoming roles for Chris Grabher

Grabher’s upcoming roles include stunt work in the Brad Pitt film “Babylon” that’s due out in January and singing, dancing and performing tricks during a live performance of the musical “Beauty and the Beast” to be aired Dec. 15 on ABC.

The father of two young children hopes “Raymond & Ray” keeps that energy going for his career.

“Work gets you more work. That’s always how it’s been for me,” Grabher said. “It’s another addition to my journey. It is a highlight of my journey, and I know there’s more to come in varying levels.”

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Ethan Hawke, Ewan McGregor film 'Raymond & Ray' features Vermont actor