Johnathon Schaech Lives With Openness

All Photos: Alan Mercer    Lighting:  Eric V.

Johnathon Schaech is one of my favorite actors!  I have seen almost every film performance he has ever made and have always felt he not only has screen charisma, but loads of talent brewing just under his intense stare.  He is more than an amazing actor, he is gaining quite a reputation as an accomplished screenwriter with several projects under his belt including the just scripted 'Caught Stealing' for Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Production Company.

Johnathon Schaech grew up in Edgewood, Maryland. His father was a beat cop in Baltimore City. When Johnathon was 19 he left the University of Maryland and moved to Los Angeles, driven by a need for a defining purpose in life. He started by studying with acting legend Roy London for four years until he landed the lead role in Franco Zefferelli's film 'Storia Di Una Capinera(Sparrow)'. He also trained in voice, dialect and posture with  the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and studied with the Actor's Studio in New York.

In 1994 after almost a year filming in Europe, Johnathon landed plum roles in Jocelyn Moorehouse's 'How To Make An American Quilt' opposite Wynona Ryder and Greg Araki's cult classic 'The Doom Generation.'
 
Tom Hanks cast him, in perhaps his most well known role, as the lead rocker in another cult classic 'That Thing You Do' starring along side Liv Tyler and Steve Zahn.  He then took the lead role opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Lange in the thriller 'Hush.'

After these studio films, Vanity Fair announced he was a leading man to watch out for, but Johnathon chose to back away from the limelight, instead taking roles in Independent films such as Greg Araki's 'Splendor' and Stephan Elliott's 'Welcome To Woop Woop.'

 

He then chose roles that allowed him to work with other great actors such as Kenneth Branagh in 'How To Kill Your Neighbor's Dog', Harvey Keitel in 'Finding Graceland' and Ray Winstone and Guy Pearce in 'Woundings(Brand New World)'. Shortly after, Johnathon went on to play the title roles to great acclaim in Pen Densham's 'Houdini' and Tom Fontana's 'Judas.'

Johnathon recently appeared opposite Heather Locklear in Nora Robert's 'Angels Fall', where he not only sizzled and smoldered on the screen, but won the hearts of around 5 million viewers.   

Johnathon can currently be seen in Renny Harlin's action drama '5 Days Of War' and just finished filming the drama 'Hidden Moon' opposite Wes Bentley and 'Dark Circles' directed by Broken Lizard’s Paul Soter.

Always in pursuit of meaning, Johnathon partnered up with long time friend Richard Chizmar and the pair formed their film production company Chesapeake Films, in which they have found success adapting novels into screenplays for the likes of Stephen King, Akiva Goldsman, SONY and MGM. In 2007 they also wrote the screenplay for the now classic 'The Washingtonians' which is a fan favorite of Showtime's Masters of Horror Series - Season 2.

His recent credits include number one box office hits 'Takers', 'Quarantine', and 'Prom Night' in the latter he received an MTV nomination for Best Villain.

Johnathon is also a brilliant painter!  I have posted two of his paintings so you all can see for yourself.  It's no surprise that he is one of the busiest people in Hollywood. 

AM:  There is a lot going on with you.  You are one of the most working Actors in Hollywood!

JS:  (Laughing) I don't know about that!

AM:  I think so.  It's harder for actors now isn't it?

JS:  It's much more difficult. 

AM:  Does this surprise you?  Did you expect something like this when you got in the business?

JS:  I didn't know what to expect when I first got in the business.  I was just so grateful to start working. 

AM:  Did you want to be an actor when you were growing up?

JS:  No I didn't want to be an actor until my first year in college.  I literally took one acting class.  What happened was my Father got me an audition for 'Hairspray' because I loved to dance.  My Grandfather taught me all these old school dances and I used to dance with my Mom.  My Father was a police officer and he was working on 'Hairspray.'  That show has the big 1950's dance sequence.  He told them all about me and they said they would love to have me audition.  He showed them my pictures and they told me to come and try out.  Well the day came and I chickened out and didn't show up!  I didn't go.

AM:  You really just got scared?

JS:  I was literally petrified to go.  It reflected on my Father really poorly because he was talking to the producers.  He was really kind of hurt.  I think it resonated really strongly in me in that if I really wanted to do something I couldn't let fear hold me back.  Anytime I've ever been scared of something now, I've always pursued it really, really hard.  I figure that's the thing I have to go after.  My favorite comic strip as I was growing up was Daredevil and he was the man with no fear.  He is a devil with angelic qualities. 

AM:  What did you want to do before being an actor then?

JS:  I was going to be a lawyer.  I was getting an economics degree to work in business law.

AM:  Do you still have an interest in things like that?

JS:  When they put me up for roles as lawyers I get it.  I really haven't played that many lawyers. 

AM:  I think the first part you had that put you in all our minds is 'How To Make An American Quilt.' 

JS:  When I came out of that pool something happened. 

AM:  Yes that is magic and not very many actors get that opportunity.  You've made quite a few movies that we all know.  That has to feel good!

JS:  Yes it does and I'd like to keep making more.  I have a lot of Cult films.

AM:  Yes you do.

JS:  A lot of films I've made resonate very strongly with a certain group of people.  I can tell you a lot about the person if they like that movie!  (we are all laughing)  'Welcome To Whoop Whoop' has a certain audience. 

AM:  That's a cute movie.

JS:  'Doom Generation' is another one. 

AM:  You made that with Greg Araki didn't you?  You made a couple of films with him didn't you?

JS:  Yes, 'Splendor' and 'Doom Generation.'

AM:  Those are very different kinds of films. 

JS:  He's an incredibly versatile filmmaker.  He did 'Mysterious Skin' and won all kinds of awards.  I'd like to work with him again.  I haven't seen him in a long time.

AM:  I bet you will work with Greg again.  You are still building a career and many more opportunities are ahead.  You have kept a momentum in your career.  You have played a couple real life people before like Houdini and Judas.  What's that like?

JS:  Well you have to do justice and get the performance as close to the truth as you can. 

AM:  Do you research?

JS:  Yes I research so much.  Houdini was fantastic because I not only had a real person who had a lot of information about so I could mimic his voice.  I interviewed people about him.  My Grandmother actually saw Houdini perform so I talked to her about what she saw.  I tried to present that from a place inside myself.  I also studied all the tricks in Vegas with all the Masters.  We did have a big screening somewhere in Vegas and an older man came up to me and told me, "When you first started talking I thought I was Harry." 

AM:  That is a nice compliment!

JS:  That was all the hard work I put into it was justified there. 

AM:  You got good reviews for that performance.

JS:  Sometimes...most reviewers just put "the hunky Johnathon Schaech."

AM:  Does that bother you?

JS:  Yes that's the biggest challenge.

AM:  It's not that you mind your good looks being acknowledged but you would like to get past it?

JS:  Yes, it's like Brad Pitt.  He fought so hard to be recognized for his work. 

AM:  That's an interesting challenge.

JS:  It's opened many doors too. 

AM:  Right!  Now how did you research Judas? 

JS:  There's very little on Judas.  Tom Fontana wrote the screenplay.  He wrote the series 'Oz' and much more.  He's a dear friend and we always have lunch.  He's my writing guru.  He wrote a screenplay for me to follow but really I was making decisions about a real person but I had to expand on what we know of him which is very little.  When I went to the Bible belt to do my promotion they told me Judas wasn't any of those things.  He is the betrayer of Christ and that is it. 

AM:  Was that difficult?

JS:  No not at all.  I would always say that Christianity is all about forgiveness.  Jesus was all about forgiveness.  The hardest man in the world to forgive is the one who betrayed you. 

AM:  Certainly Jesus did.  You are writing a lot now aren't you?

JS:  I just finished a screenplay for Adam Sandler.  It's the first comedy I ever wrote.  We just handed it in and I'm waiting for them to get back to us.  Everything is good so far! 

AM:  Did you plan on being a writer?  It seems like this comes out of left field.

JS:  I was always creative.  I paint.  There's one of my paintings hanging on the wall over there.  Writing became a creative outlet and it's all because I wanted to be a better actor. 

AM:  What's it like to work with Jessica Lange?

JS:  Unbelievable and she was really giving!  It was me and Gwyneth Paltrow and Gwyneth hadn't won the Academy Award yet, even though she was a very accomplished actor at the time.  She grew up in that world.

AM:  Did you enjoy working with Gwyneth?

JS:  I learned a lot from Gwyneth also but Jessica really took me under her wing for a while.  She told me, "The literal side of acting is something you need to work on because the literal interpretation that you bring as well as the emotion is so important.  You are really a great actor.  You need to interpret and articulate better."

AM:  Did you take these words to heart?

JS:  Yes, I started to really focus on the writing aspect of it.  I learned about it and then started writing because of that.  I really got into writing and creating and I got pretty good at it.  I partnered with an old school mate who is a publisher and he published Stephen King novels so we pursued King to get one of his novels and we did.  We adapted one of his novels that we love.  We're still trying to get it made into a film and one day I'm sure we will. 

AM:  That will definitely get made.

JS:  We've had so many close calls.  We've had Toby Hooper and George Romero attached to direct before.  Both of those genius horror guys got so close but then things fell apart. 

AM:  Aren't you developing a film about the baseball player Rick Dempsey?

JS:  That's the screenplay with Adam Sandler for Happy Madison Productions. 

AM:  Oh that's the comedy?  I heard he was known for his humor.

JS:   He is funny and he has a lot to do with the story but what happened is in 1963 his little league team in Canoga Park was the first west coast team to make it to the east coast Pony League World Series.  They went to thirteen different cities in order to qualify for that final competition.  The banks were being robbed in these thirteen cities.  It was the coach robbing the banks in each city they went to!  That's a true story.  The short stop's father was the lead detective for the LAPD.  He won the case and had no idea that his friend was the robber.  We made it into a comedy, basically the 'Bad News Bears' meets 'Catch Me If You Can.'  It's a perfect comedy.  We wanted a PG13 Adam Sandler type of movie. 

AM:  Would you star in it?

JS:  No Adam Sandler would. 

AM:  Will you be in it?

JS:  I would hope so.  It would be great.  We'll see if they let me.  It's all up to them.  I am a producer but I think my voice is going to be very tiny compared to the rest of them. 

AM:  You come across as a deep guy with strong family roots and a solid faith.  Is this correct?

JS:  Absolutely.

AM:  How has this helped you in your life?

JS:  There's nothing like having a source to constantly pull from when you have so much rejection and so much failure.  If you view those things as such, it's hard to move on but when you have a great faith and something is bigger than you, you constantly move forward and you constantly pursue.

AM:  Is this so the pain of rejection isn't so deep?

JS:  It's still deep but it's important to feel those things but to move on and not see it as a failure but as a potential success  in the future.  I think that all things come from something greater, at least in my faith.     

AM:  And you wear your faith proudly...

JS:  I do.

AM:  It's obvious to me by the way you react to your fans that you are just a good person in Hollywood.

JS:  That's cool. 

AM:  You aren't so hard like a lot of people here.

JS:  No, I do protect when I need to but I live with openness.  Laugh, love, pray.   

To learn more about Johnathon Schaech visit his web site http://www.johnathonschaech.net/