Interview with Joseph

When did you first decide you wanted to act?

Well, I was forced to act in elementary school when my second grade teacher cast me as the lead in the school Christmas play because I refused to listen to her. She thought since the other kids weren’t listening to me that I just liked hearing myself talk.

Looking back, it was a very challenging role because she cast me as Santa Claus who was actually the father of the central family in the play. At a critical moment in the play my beard had to come off for “the big reveal”. So you can see right there that it was a very intense role!

After that it didn’t cross my mind until my final year in university when my course advisor recommended that I shouldn’t take any business classes in my final year. I got annoyed and randomly walked by the theatre building and saw a big banner that said “Auditions being held for Amadeus”. The rest is history.

What would you be doing now if not acting?

Hopefully directing, but if I couldn’t choose the film industry I always thought I would make a good venture capitalist. Of course you need a lot of money for that. Which makes me think that because I built houses for six months after college before I moved to Hollywood that I probably would’ve ended up in that line of work. Very unhappily I might add.

You obviously love both, but if you had to choose between acting and directing which would it be?

You’re not going to make me do that are you? Fine! If I could get the roles of the top 1% of actors, then acting hands down. But realistically the odds of grabbing roles like Day Lewis or Penn etc. are fairly slim. Which brings every film actor to the harsh reality that all the other parts in all these other films that aren’t “The Films” don’t fulfil you as an artist. Especially considering the pacing of shooting a film. A lot of waiting and not a lot of acting. At least in theatre, the curtain rises and your ass is on the line. That’s exciting! So the answer is directing. It’s your baby and you see it all the way through it’s life until it dies on the shelf of a video store somewhere in the UK. That’s fulfilling!

Who is your favourite actor of all time?

Don’t do favourites, but here’s a start...Daniel Day Lewis, Sean Penn, Julianne Moore (I’m kind of in love with her), Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Ed Harris, Toni Collette, Brando, Jack Lemon, Bruno Ganz. Ask me if I forgot anyone later.

Okay. Ignoring the fact that you don‘t do favourites…and your favourite director?

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Sydney Lumet, Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson

…and still ignoring the fact…What are your all time favourite films?

Amelie, No Country For Old Men, Royal Tenenbaums, Magnolia…I mean c’mon. I watch 250 movies a year, I can’t answer that.

Which person past or present, would you most like to play?

Tom Cruise in “The Real Tom Cruise Story”. There’s something going on there that only time will reveal.

Which character has been your favourite to portray so far and why?

Wendell Hamilton…Why?....Hmmmm I might get arrested if I answered that.

How do you prepare for a role?

Depends on the role really. The best work I do is when I show up on set as the character and never break - when I read the script more than the cast, writer, director and everyone else involved put together. It’s always a good sign when it takes time to forget you’re not the character well after the film has wrapped.

Paying it forward now, what advice would you give to young people wanting to make it in the film/theatre business?

Be honest with yourself. Are you special? I mean, do you walk in the room and all energy turns to you? The answer will be no which is a good thing, because that means you still have a chance at a normal life after you start working. The other question you have to ask yourself is…Are you a hard worker with thick skin? It really just comes down to the survival of the persistent. The people that I know who work have been doing it longer than the people I know who don’t work. It’s that simple…but it’s not.

Aside from the industry, are you creative in any other areas?

I doodle cartoon faces. I plant an herb garden every spring. I write. I give good massages (which can be creative), Ohhhh cooking. I’m a pretty damn good cook. Especially meat and anything that goes in a pot.

What do you do when you're not working?

I go out with friends, watch a lot of movies, read political books, but for the most part I just work. I write scripts. I produce films, music videos. I act and direct. And then I try and go raise money for projects that I believe in. All that takes an immense amount of time, and when all that starts paying me more then I’ll mostly travel.

Describe Joseph the person in three words...

Oh boy… remind me to answer that question down the road. I’m not feeling that introspective right now.

Okay we’ll come back to that one at a later date!

Describe Joseph the actor in three words...

Committed. Generous. Competitive.

Interview given March 4th 2008

© www.JosephMcKelheer.com 2008