Local “Halloween Ends” Actor Marteen Discusses Budding Film Career And New Music

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Marteen Estevez, professionally known as Marteen, is a Berkeley born singer, songwriter, and actor.

Since a young age, Marteen has been an enthusiastic and creative musician and performer. He is well known for his popular releases of “Sriracha” and “Left To Right”.

Recently, Marteen kicked off a career in acting, with his debut performance being in the recently released “Halloween Ends” film.

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We had the amazing chance to chat with Marteen all about his experiences of acting and working on music!

Hi Marteen, it's great to meet you! We'd love to know, what interested you about playing Billy in the new “Halloween Ends” movie?

I loved that he was nothing like me. I actually hate bullies, but I liked the challenge of taking on a character that I didn’t have much in common with; and trying to figure out why he is the way he is.

And so what was your process for acting?

I like creating a backstory for the character I'm going to play. In this case, I made up that Billy doesn’t have his dad in his life, his mom is on drugs, and he got kicked out of his mom’s boyfriend’s house. I decided that his friend Terry let him stay at his place, which is one of the reasons why he’s so loyal to him. If you’ve seen the film, you know that Terry’s dad is abusive, so I felt like Billy and Terry probably have bonded over their pain without knowing it.

They obviously project a lot of their anger and trauma onto other people, so I used that to think about how Billy would act. It made me feel bad for him honestly, but it was a great experience and it made me look at the character with more empathy.

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As you begin your acting career, are there any other movie franchises that you would like to be a part of?

Just off the top of my head, Hunger Games would be fire. Not sure if they’ll make more after the one that’s about to drop, but that franchise was always one of my favorites. It would also be dope to be in a comic book franchise. I’m sure there’s more that isn't coming to mind right now.

What are the inspirations behind your new song handle with care?

It kind of has a double meaning. The deeper meaning/inspiration came from the feeling that people don’t work on loving themselves enough before jumping from one relationship to the next; which causes them to carry their baggage with them along the way.

The song uses the metaphor of packages being mailed. The ‘package’ being the person I’m vibing with, while "handling with care" meant the way that person treats themself.

At one point I say, “can’t feel the damage when it gets to me,” which means that, because this person took time to take care of themself, we can now grow from a healthy place. There’s some sexy stuff in there too (laughs), but self love was the real message.

Are there any experiences from acting that you have taken and can translate to music?

Honestly, it’s probably the other way around. I’ve been singing/performing for like 8 years, so that’s helped me be a lot more comfortable and confident. When I started singing I was hella shy, so I really had to push myself to fight through that. With acting, confidence is really key to selling a performance; so I feel like I could have never been an actor, if I had not learned from my experiences in music.

The big difference is that as a musician, your whole brand is self identity and what makes you, you. With acting it’s the opposite, cause you have to be comfortable sometimes being nothing like yourself.

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It’s funny cause I can be in a wardrobe fitting for a film, and as an artist, I’m thinking, “I wouldn’t wear this,” but I have to remind myself, “it’s ok that you wouldn’t wear this, your character would.” It’s a new feeling for me to get used to, but as an actor, you are a model in a sense. You wear and say what the role requires you to. Both worlds require different skills, but they both teach you something that you can apply to the other.

What else can we look forward to down the line?

Well I’m actually about to start filming a new movie in the Bay Area that’s being directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, the same directors that did Captain Marvel. I can’t say much about it at the moment, but it’s gonna be a fun one, so be on the lookout!

I also have several songs dropping over the next few months, so I’m excited about that too. Planning some tours, and manifesting a TV show for the near future, fingers crossed!

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Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough answers Marteen, and we can't wait to see you continue to succeed and inspire!

You can watch “Halloween Ends” on Peacock TV. You can also listen to Marteen's previous releases here.

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This interview has been edited and condensed.

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