Veteran actor Kevin Scott Allen (Prison Break, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) resonates with starring role in pandemic-inspired, award-winning film Anno 2020

“It’s just another thing the (Covid-19) pandemic took from us — deep, fulfilling, nourishing relationships on the job.”

So wrote veteran American actor, writer, producer Kevin Scott Allen in a guest article published in the Los Angeles Times early in 2021. The article, titled “Wish you were here. With love, your work friend”, was a poignant commentary on the impact the pandemic-enforced lockdowns and social isolation had on himself and on his fellow actors.

Explaining to readers how the isolation impacted upon him personally, Allen, who is best known for his roles in Alias (2001), Prison Break (2005) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), said there was a hole in his life the size of the universe.

The emotion behind those words is there for all to see in the soon-to-be released global movie Anno 2020 in which Allen plays the central character of Elijah, a self-styled philosopher who mentors a variety of colorful individuals similarly affected by the lockdowns elsewhere in America and around the world.

Billed as a global kaleidoscope of interconnected characters seeking redemption, forgiveness, and answers amidst the chaos of 2020, the Australian-produced mystery-drama Anno 2020 was shot in 17 cities on four continents during the lockdowns on a micro budget of US$6,000.

The film was produced by Sydney-based Gil Ben-Moshe, of MoneyShot Productions, and helmed by New Zealand born director James Morcan. They both act in it as well with Ben-Moshe playing a major role.

The Anno 2020 screenplay, which Morcan adapted from his published novel of the same name, immediately resonated with Allen. Speaking from his Los Angeles home this week, the respected actor says it mirrored what was going on in the world at the time.

“I was absolutely intrigued by the way it was to be filmed, and by the fact it was a truly global production,” he says. “Not to mention the filmmakers’ boldness and enthusiasm. I was so impressed, I jumped at the opportunity to be part of it.”

Allen describes Morcan, for whom Anno 2020 represents his directorial debut, as an actor’s dream for a director.

“James gave me total freedom to find the character’s voice, and he encouraged me to find my way of conveying the story, giving me full reign to improvise and create my own dialogue. I felt this character sinking further down into my bones with each scene we filmed.”

As for filming during the lockdown while separated from the director, crew, and fellow actors, he said it was as weird as hell not having folks running around on set.

“Being simultaneously on set, so to speak, with other actors on other continents via a mobile phone connection will be a lasting memory for me as will the rapport I quickly established with my terrific onscreen brother Greg Poppleton (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader).

“Filming a desert sequence at magical Whitewater, near Palm Springs, it was only me, the cameraman and his assistant physically on site with the director and producer on mobile phone in Australia. That was a real highlight. It was strangely liberating in that it was more real and I didn’t have to ‘ignore’ dozens of crewmembers during the takes.”

Allen’s decision to join the Anno 2020 cast proved a good one. The film has enjoyed recent success in film festivals – most notably winning the Titan International Film Festival’s ‘Best Experimental Film’ award, in Sydney, Australia, Quarter-Finalist status in the Best Film category at the International British Film Festival 2023, in London, as well as an official selection in the Symbiotic Film Festival in Ukraine.

Allen is currently filming what he describes as a wonderful Matt McClung-helmed, suspense-horror film called Menagerie in which he plays a ghost who haunts a hotel after having died early last century.

In addition to having acquired countless credits acting in film, television and theatre over 30 years, Allen is an author whose books include his non-fiction work Conquering the Film and Television Audition, and the well-reviewed mystery novel Murder Can Be Fatal, recently published by Film Arts Press. He is currently working on two more novels.

Allen’s biography on Amazon advises readers that he is also a sought-after, on-camera, acting teacher and audition coach. His students’ successful auditions have won them starring roles in films as well as co-star, guest star, and series regular roles on television.

A married man, his “Trivia” page on the international film site IMDb advises, among other surprising revelations, that he went to the same prep school as Ethan Hawke; was schooled in Switzerland; once spoke French better than English; was the very last actor hired/cast in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; won Best Actor Award at the 2011 Edgemar Short Film Festival for Switchboard; and filmed his first television show was when he was only seven.

Born in Washington, D.C., he grew up in California, Virginia, North Carolina, and New Jersey. He was educated at the Hun School of Princeton and at Collège Champittet, in Switzerland, where he learnt to speak French fluently, and he then studied theatre and dramatic arts at California’s University of Redlands.

In 1979, at the Globe Theatre on Broadway, Los Angeles, Allen played Buckingham in Henry VI, Part 2 and Clifford in Henry VI, Part 3. An early television appearance came in the Otherworld episode “The Zone Troopers Build Men” (1985).

Sydney producer Gil Ben-Moshe says working with Allen was one of the highlights for him on the Anno 2020 production.

“Kevin’s resume extends further than the Great Wall of China as this actor has done it all, and when you see firsthand this exquisite talent at work you cannot be anything but in awe of his status as a first-class actor,” says Ben-Moshe.

“Even more impressive than his enviable talent was his attitude on set. He trusted first time director James Morcan from day one. Kevin’s respectful and humble approach was a lesson to every actor regardless of their experience.”

This wasn’t lost on Morcan who describes Allen as the type of artist filmmakers love to collaborate with.

“Kevin’s able to walk the tightrope of being the sort of actor who completely submerges himself into any character he plays, juxtaposed with having the ability to listen to the perspective of a director and adjust accordingly,” says Morcan.

“Given his career goes all the way back to 1970’s Hollywood and working with such titans of the performing arts as Andy Kaufman, I found it inspiring to observe how Kevin masterfully approaches characterisation, storytelling and the filmmaking process in general.”

Morcan considers Anno 2020 a vignette film.

“It’s a rare type of movie where there are various plots instead of just one. These are told separately, but they all intersect at the end to ultimately become part of one larger story.”

Anno 2020 boasts an award-winning ensemble of international actors. Other cast members include leading Australian Erin Connor (Occupation: Rainfall, Dino King 3D), American veterans Sheila Ball (American Trash and A Prince and Pauper Christmas) and Chinese American Crystal J. Huang (Dark Feathers), as well as up-and-coming Californian Jessica Castello (Oildale), and Australian child actress Audrey Nitschke (Wolf Like Me).

Asked whether he would work with Anno 2020’s filmmakers again, Kevin Scott Allen said he would. “In a heartbeat!”

He adds, “I felt I had a true partner in James (Morcan), not merely a taskmaster. Every scene had a true feeling of creativity, not simply storytelling. It was the same with Gil (Ben-Moshe). Every moment he was on screen I was riveted by his true exploration of the scene and how it affected his character.”

Anno 2020 will celebrate its world premiere at a red-carpet event in Sydney on April 7. Beyond that, interstate cinematic screenings Australia-wide are planned, followed by screenings in New Zealand and possibly the U.S. as well. The longer-term target includes online distribution on major streaming platforms.

The Anno 2020 trailer can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/@ANNO2020TheMovie