Getting weird with Brett Dier
Brett Dier and I chat about quitting the validation chase, drawing aliens at 2 a.m., and making art that feels like him.
When I sat down to talk with Brett Dier, I expected to chat about acting, maybe a little bit about Jane the Virgin, and definitely not about bugs. But within minutes, we were spiraling into a conversation about insect biology, the probability of extraterrestrial life, and how aliens are the perfect artistic medium because “there are no rules.” That’s sort of how Brett operates: curious, sincere, and and always orbiting around the big existential questions, even when they’re dressed up as gooey cartoon characters with twelve eyes and oversized teeth.
The Realm next door by Brett Dier Art. Purchase here!
You probably know Brett as the charming, occasionally bewildered Michael Cordero on Jane the Virgin, or from more recent roles in About My Father and Schooled. But these days, he’s spending less time in front of the camera and more time in his home studio, drawing intergalactic skateboard creatures and spray-painting wooden slabs in the California sun. What started as a creative outlet during an industry lull has grown into a full-fledged second career:
Brett the actor is now Brett the artist, too!
His work is trippy, part alien comic book, part fever dream. It's the kind of art that makes you laugh before making you think, a little absurd and a little profound. And it’s deeply personal.
“Everything I make reflects something I’m going through,” he tells me. “I just lighten it by creating these goofy little guys.”
Over the course of our conversation, we talked about everything from childhood drama class to parasocial fame, the weird energy of open mic nights, and how a ten-day silent meditation retreat helped him stop chasing validation. Brett also opened up about feeling creatively boxed in during his Jane years, the terror of early internet feedback, and why aliens will always be more interesting than people. And yes — we did talk about the Justin Baldoni of it all.
Below, he breaks down his process — creatively, emotionally, cosmically — and how he’s learning to stop overthinking and just ride the weird little wave wherever it goes.
Olivia Tauber: It’s so wonderful to meet you — and shoutout to the very talented Ava Rikki for putting us in touch!
Brett Dier: I know, seriously. I'm excited.
O: Same. I love talking to artists — especially people who’ve made big creative pivots. So thank you for doing this. I promise I won’t steal too much of your day.
B: [Laughs] All good. I’m in.
O: So, let’s start with your art—what inspires the worlds and characters you create? Where do those ideas come from?
B: It’s mostly internal. I’ll get these images or characters in my head and think, "I wanna draw that guy." And then it just builds from there. I like starting a piece without knowing where it’s going. Once I’m in it, the ideas start to flow. It’s like entering a zone. My art usually reflects something I’m going through or a mood I’m in, but I lighten it by creating these goofy little characters—aliens and weird beings.
Aliens have always resonated with me because they represent limitless possibility. With humans, we kind of know the rules. We know what we look like. But aliens? You can make them anything. There are no boundaries, and I love that. I think about how many crazy bugs exist on Earth and then just imagine what’s out there in the universe. It’s endless. I always find it kind of funny when people say they don’t believe in aliens. To me, it makes more sense that they do exist than that they don’t.
It won’t happen don’t worry by Brett Dier Art. Purchase here!
O: Do you feel like your art connects to your inner child? Were you always this imaginative as a kid?
B: Yeah totally. I was definitely into performing. That was the only thing I really enjoyed, to be honest. I never liked other school subjects—the only ones I connected with were drama, music, gym, and English, mostly because I could write scripts. I started doing plays around third grade and just stuck with it. That was the one thing that really lit me up.
I did doodle a lot, too. Mostly on tests, in the margins, just little sketches. But I didn’t take it seriously until about two years ago, when it became something I got totally obsessed with. It brought me so much joy, and that’s when I really leaned into it. But acting has been part of my life since I was a kid.
O: What’s your creative process like—are you someone who works in silence, with music, or something else?
B: I have a little studio in my house, and that’s where I do most of my art. I spray paint outside—because I don’t want to die from fumes.
[Laughs]
But when I’m drawing, I actually like silence. Some people need music, but I like hearing the marker on the page. It gets me in the zone. Sometimes I’ll put on a podcast, but usually I’m just in the quiet.
And then there are those nights where I get an idea at 2 a.m. and I’m up until 6 drawing. When I’m in the flow, I can’t stop. If I have plans at 6 p.m. and I’m mid-flow, it’s really hard to walk away. I feel like I’m being pulled out of something.
O: How long does one piece usually take you? Is it a quick process or something that takes days?
B: It depends. My marker pieces can take around twelve hours each. The skateboards take longer—maybe three days, because of drying time and layering. That’s why I’ve started working on multiple pieces at once. Like, if I’m spray-painting a board, I’ll spray something else alongside it so they can dry together. It helps me get more done without feeling like I’m waiting around.
O: Do you create more for yourself or do you take commissions?
B: I do both. People can commission me through my website, and I’ll take the ones that I connect with. But a lot of the time, I’m just making stuff and seeing what resonates. If someone requests something and I can’t see it, I usually won’t take it on. I don’t want the artwork to feel forced. But some commissions bring ideas I never would have thought of, and those are amazing.
Like, once there was this Pride-themed piece I did that I never would’ve created on my own. It turned out really loving and alive, and I was so grateful for that one. Another person wanted something Broncos-themed, which I don’t usually do—I’m not really a sports guy. But I ended up drawing this whole locker room scene where the players unzip their human costumes and reveal they’re aliens underneath. It was fun.
I’ve also done some pet portraits where I make the animals look kind of alien-y. I’m not great at realistic animals, but I can make them weird and fun.
O: When did you know this wasn’t just a hobby—that you actually wanted to pursue art more seriously?
B: It was when I started posting my pieces on Instagram and people asked if they were for sale. The response was so positive. And then there was this one piece I made that really solidified my style. I still have it framed. That was the moment I was like, "Okay, this is real. I want to keep doing this.
O: Was it scary putting your art out there at first? Especially as someone already known as an actor?
Brett: Oh, 100%. I had this voice in my head like, "Who does Brett think he is, trying to be an artist now?" But then I got to a place where I was like, who cares? We’re here once. Do what makes you happy. If someone wants to shit on it, fine. I’m still gonna make stuff. Art helped me let go of that need for external validation—something I didn’t even realize I was carrying from acting.
O: Let’s talk about acting—Jane the Virgin was a huge moment. What was that experience like?
B: That was a wild ride. We filmed at a studio in Manhattan Beach—a lot of people thought we were in Miami, but nope, it was all a studio. We spent about eight months a year there. Then we’d walk out and suddenly people were recognizing us. It was surreal.
For me, the fame part got overwhelming. I got followed a couple times—once back to where I was staying, and thankfully there was a gate and a security guard. But it really messed with me for a while. I got paranoid and started second-guessing people’s intentions. I had to rebuild trust.
I was 24 when the show started airing, and about 25 or 26 when it really took off. I’m 35 now. And at that age, I didn’t have the tools I have now. It was a weird adjustment.
Credit: Entertainment Tonight
O: Did you feel creatively boxed in?
B: Yeah. I wanted to do comedy, but my character wasn’t written to be the funny one. He was more of a straight shooter. I loved the show and the opportunity, but I was craving weird characters, silliness, comedy. So I started making these dumb little videos on Instagram as an outlet. That was my way of showing people I could be funny, too. After the show, I made a point to focus on comedy projects.
O: When you put your work out there—whether acting or art—do you still ever feel self-doubt?
B: Totally. With art, the feedback has been great, but my mind still goes to, "What are they really thinking?" Or "What are the people who aren’t commenting saying behind my back?" With acting, especially early on in Jane the Virgin, there was a 50/50 split. People either loved my character or really didn’t. And people weren’t shy about it on Twitter. But all of it helped me realize you can’t control what people think. As long as you create from the heart, that’s what matters.
O: Are there parts of you that come out in art that you couldn’t express through acting—or vice versa?
B: Yeah. That’s what I love about comedy—it gives me the same flow-state feeling I get with art. Drama doesn’t always allow for that because you have to stay in the emotional moment. But comedy lets you go anywhere. I wish I had more comedy opportunities right now. I just wrapped a film in November, and now I’m itching to do another one.
O: Would you ever do stand-up?
Brett: Funny you ask— I actually played a stand-up comedian in my last film, In Spite of Ourselves. To prepare I did nine open mics. And honestly? I did not enjoy it.
[Laughs]
It was intense. I performed at places like Flappers in Burbank, Comedy Chateau, and a few others around L.A. Some people were supportive, but most were just doing their own thing. It didn’t feel collaborative, and the energy was tough. You’re up there trying to make strangers laugh, and you have no idea what their sense of humor is. It was humbling, though. I respect comedians so much more now. It’s brave work.
O: Tell me more about this project!
B: It was actually a really interesting filming experience. My girlfriend plays my love interest in it, and it’s basically about two people getting out of their own way to find love. I play a comedian, she plays a baker. It’s got both dark and light moments. It was beautiful to work on together, but intense—we’d be filming these hard relationship scenes and then go home and just want to decompress and be ourselves again.
O: What grounds you, especially through the highs and lows of being an artist?
Therapy and daily meditation. I haven’t missed a day in I don’t even know how long.
My therapist is also a huge part of that—she’s done, like, forty silent retreats. She’s the real deal. When fear comes up now, I don’t let it take over. I ask it what it’s trying to teach me. It usually traces back to childhood stuff. But the key is not identifying with it. Just observing it.
O: What advice would you give someone starting their own creative journey?
B: Spend time with yourself. Really look at yourself. I’ve been on a deep healing journey—therapy, meditation, all of it. I did a ten-day silent retreat where I learned Vipassana meditation, and it changed my life. It taught me to observe emotions like fear instead of letting them run the show.
When you start acting young, you unknowingly tie your worth to validation. That’s a hard habit to break, but it’s necessary. When the work slows down, you can start to feel desperate. And that feeling doesn’t serve you. It’s painful. So my advice is: do the inner work. Look at what’s holding you back.
Q: Do you still keep in touch with your Jane the Virgin castmates?
Brett: Yeah, a good amount of them. Some people have moved far away—like Ivonne, who played the grandma, lives in Mexico—so I don’t talk to her much. But I keep in touch with most of the cast.
O: I’d be remiss not to ask: do people ask you about the Justin Baldoni situation?
B: Yeah, I get that a lot. It’s a really intense situation. I probably shouldn’t say much, but I’ll say this: I always loved Justin. He’s always been an amazing friend to me. I’m just hoping everything resolves in time.
O: What’s something you still want to try—whether in art, acting, or life?
B: I just want to keep getting better at art and acting. I’m actually trying to get a film made right now with Christopher Mintz-Plasse—it’s a crazy, weird comedy that explores toxic masculinity in a really offbeat way. It’s tough to get a film made these days, especially with how the industry’s changed since COVID and the strike. But I’m hopeful.
I also want to travel. My girlfriend and I are hoping to go to Italy this summer. And yeah, Machu Picchu would be awesome. I’d love to do that someday.
Q: Any movies you’ve seen lately that stuck with you?
B: Perfect Days. It’s a Japanese film that absolutely wrecked me. So simple, so beautiful. I cried. And growing up, I was obsessed with Jim Carrey—Ace Ventura, The Truman Show, Cable Guy. Those were my go-tos.
Q: Any final thoughts?
B: Just that it’s a really hard time in the world right now. And it’s hard being human. So I hope people can just be kind to each other. There’s a lot of suffering, but there’s also a lot of beauty. Let’s try to see more of that.