Sage Buchanan: From the Football Field to the Movie Screen

​By Julienne Graebner │ August 27, 2020

Sage Buchanan

I got the chance to interview Sage Buchanan​, the multi-talented Missouri actor who plays Montgomery South in “Lost Treasure of Jesse James” and Bruno Moretti in the upcoming film, “Shakespeare’s Mummy”.

“When I was in first grade, I played Abe Lincoln in the school play. My teacher told me it was because I was so handsome and that I held myself like a president should. My mother later told me it was because I was a head taller than everyone else,” Buchanan reminisces, “Either way, I remember that play and I remember prompting others with lines while I was on stage.”

The acting bug bit Sage at a young age, and it bit him hard. He took every opportunity to perform, “Instead of doing oral reports,” he says, “my friends and I would borrow a video camera when we could find one and do our reports by acting them out.”

As a teenager, Buchanan’s time on stage began to wane and he became interested in sports. At the time, he also worked full time at a fireworks store, where he was tasked with doing radio interviews and advertisements, “This started me off at a young age doing voice over work for commercials and even being asked to be the voice of another high school football team in the area — but of course I couldn't do that, as I, too, was playing.”

In college, Sage found any way he could to be creative; singing in the choir, acting, local radio work, commercials, you name it. 

“Just found any way I could to perform,” he says.

Buchanan in "Lost Treasure of Jesse James"

After college, life got in the way of Buchanan’s love of acting. 

“I started work at the world’s oldest tech company and was really busy, but I missed acting. I hadn't done any voice work or acting for several years, and only a handful of commercials. I missed it. I knew I couldn't memorize an entire play with my hectic schedule, so I started looking for any auditions for local independent films.”

He eventually was cast as the villain Montgomery South in Adam Boster’s “Lost Treasure of Jesse James”. Sage was pleased as punch, “I had no clue that the production quality, professionalism, script, crew or director would be as amazing as it was . . . I'm hooked!”

Buchanan also appears in the upcoming film, “Shakespeare’s Mummy” which features many of the same major players as “Lost Treasure of Jesse James”. He speaks highly of his experience working on both movies:
“I have made some amazing lifelong friends on the sets of these movies. I call them my movie family and I really do mean it. When you spend that much time with people, it's easy to become annoyed but most in the group that I worked with on both films really did become amazing friends. We talk regularly, we visit each other when we can, and we have become family.”
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“The best times were because of some of the hardest. Freezing in caves on “Lost Treasure” made us bond a LOT. The adults became very protective of the kids,” Sage says, referring to Jaidyn Franz, Qailen Chambers, Riley Sullivan, Noah Billington, and Megan Sims, “they could call any single one of us if they ever needed anything. The adults found ways to joke and laugh things off even though we couldn't feel our toes!”

Buchanan in "Moon Face"

It hasn’t been all sunshine and daisies, though. In addition to filming for “Shakespeare’s Mummy”, Buchanan was working a full time job. He would work until late in the day, take a quick nap, and film overnight. This went on every day, and on the final night of production, Sage left set and went straight to the airport to board a 36 hour flight to India.

However, for Sage, it’s all worth it. 

“I love performing,” he reiterates, “I love the art of it. I love the atmosphere, the camaraderie, being able to assume the role of someone and actually become them. . . I really do just love being able to perform and hopefully, it's a good enough performance that it draws people in, makes them believe they are watching a story unfold — that I'm the person that I'm portraying, not just an actor.”
 A staunch supporter of the arts, Sage urges the state government to do the same, saying, “The lack of tax credits in Missouri is causing the film industry to suffer, as well as costing Missourians a lot of money in tax revenue and hospitality losses.”

Watch Sage Buchanan's demo reel

He goes on to say that this isn’t the only issue facing independent films today, “A huge issue is unique content, which we are finally starting to see again thanks to Netflix and other streaming services opening up and revolutionizing the industry. Hollywood became all about money and less about art, and thanks to indie breakout platforms like greenlitgo.com we are finally starting to see some great stories again.”

When asked who would be interested in watching “Shakespeare’s Mummy” and “Lost Treasure of Jesse James”, Buchanan couldn’t control his excitement, “Who wouldn't love seeing these movies?! They’re 80s style, family friendly, action-adventure movies so it appeals to kids, and parents of that era will enjoy it too.”