Interview by Hasan Hamze
Words by Hasan Hamze
Photography by Christine Tang

The justalilhype! Crew got to sit down with Jared Joseph, an actor from Vancouver. He is a down-to-earth person who is very passionate about the many things he is involved in, and respects every chance he gets while being determined to work at his full potential. Jarod tells us about his relationships with his family and his workings in the industry.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

My name is Jarod Joseph. I am an actor in Vancouver. I moved here about two years ago to get away from the winter in Alberta, essentially, but then I started to dabble in the various realms in the acting world. Piece by piece, I got into it and I guess I’ve earned the title of professional actor at this point. I was born in Calgary and lived there till about 3rd grade and then moved to Ontario. I came back and finished my last year of High School in Calgary in 2002, though. My mom and I moved a lot and I’ve lived in about 13 cities total, never for longer than two years. I really have no place to claim as my hometown in that sense.

What are your passions?

Its crazy man, I’ve always dabbled in things, like I draw. I’ve drawn since I was a kid and I love art but never really “owned” anything. It wasn’t till I found acting that I could really say, “This is what I love and I would be totally lost without it.” I just love what I do.

What have you been working on lately?

It’s interesting because in the last year and a half, I finished school and became a full time actor – right now, it’s like if I don’t act and don’t get gigs, then I am not eating kind of thing. I’m fortunate to say that in the last four months, everything in my fridge and all the clothing I have is because of acting. Notably, I worked on “Human Target” during the olympics, I got a guest star gig on a TV show called “Tower Prep” which will be on the Cartoon Network soon. I also did a feature that I’m really proud of about a month ago and hopefully we’re gonna push that and go to some festivals and have some fun with it. I’ve been working, man, and it’s really, really cool.

Where did you go to school for acting?

I went to New Image College, which is a fantastic school in downtown. Before I did the year program there, I did a couple of workshop type classes. I figured that if I am off not gonna work right off the bat without formal training I thought I should be engulfed in it every day, so those 12 months were a good experience for my mentally and maintaining a precise state of mind.

What or who is your inspiration?

In life, my mom and my grandmother are my biggest inspirations. For my mom, she has always instilled positivity and strength in me. She’s my best friend. My grandmother is wicked because she’s so lively and youthful and supportive. Nothing I love more than calling her and telling her about whats new in my world. She really gets a kick out of it all. I’m fortunate enough to have family and friends who supported me when I made my decision to become an actor for a living. I know a lot of people that have broke the “news” to their family or friends and it was viewed as skeptical but my team has always had my back and supports me. For acting, its always changing, but I love Spike Lee films, Leonardo Dicaprio and Sam Rockwell, guys that you don’t see too often but when you do its always interesting – the choices they make for their characters. I keep my eye on a lot of younger actors as well, like Shia Labeouf, Logan Lerman (who I had a chance to meet filming “Percy Jackson”), these guys are fantastic under 25 actors and they really set the bar for myself. Its crazy, for me, because as a black actor, there aren’t a lot in that age bracket so for myself, I think there’s a vacant spot for a guy like me. I’d like to be at that calibre where I can kinda give color blind performances. I just want to be a good actor and a black actor second.

What are your goals when it comes to acting? Where do you see yourself in a couple years?

Its really hard man. It’s hard to tell and that’s the thing about this industry. I am one phone call away from something new and it’s crazy like that. I just want to be relevant in five years and I wanna do good work, but that’s not up for me to say. All I can do is put it out there. I just want to keep doing what I am doing and hopefully it translates and all the people I respect and have the know-how will appreciate what I am doing as well. I think relevance creates longevity and I wanna stick around for a bit.

Are you planning to stay in Vancouver in the future?

You know Vancouver has been very good to me and I am not in the position to say, “okay I am good, I am going to go try out something else now, I’ve done Vancouver,” because it’s not true, I haven’t even done half what I want to do in Vancouver. I don’t see the harm in taking like a month or two in one of the other cities to shake some new hands, meet cool people and maybe audition for shows that aren’t in Vancouver and do that there. I think an actor living comfortably has the luxury of claiming a home base whether it’s Vancouver, LA, or Toronto, but being at all places when it calls for it. I’m still just getting started. I’d love doing the LA thing, the general consensus is to get to the next level would require being mainly LA based, but right now I’m good and just going with the flow, I’m doing my work here and trying to open doors.

What do you see as difficulties in the acting industry?

I can’t really say because I never want to be the guy that blames my management, and the state of the industry because people will say it’s slow but I’ll talk to someone else and they’re working consistently. I want to take responsibility for my own. I talk to myself a lot so if something is not working I check myself and I say “how can I make myself better?” and I try to keep growing, so I try not to place circumstantial blame. It’s such a singular thing, you are your own business entity basically, so if your business is failing, then what are you doing wrong? I’m not naive to think that all it takes but, the adversaries I’ve personally had to overcome have been completely personal and from within. But, everyone has the chance to do something. Excuses suck.

What kind of advice would you give to people who want to pursue a career in the acting industry?

Do your work! Acting is one of the easiest things to claim as a profession without really anything to show for it. It’s fun to put the actor hat do the strut but without doing the job you’re kind of acting like an actor. I try to always make sure that I’m doing what I can, so I would say to everyone, if you’re going to do it then really do it, don’t be a pretender, there are a lot of pretenders. Take the place of the pretenders and really do it, it’s almost like anything else; basketball players work on their jump shots, actors should work on staying on point. Wearing basketball shoes doesn’t make you a ball player. If I go to thirty auditions and haven’t done the work on any of them and I’m just going there so I can tell someone I just went an audition today and sound like an actor, then I’m selling myself short. So for every opportunity be ready for it and respect it and do the work.

What do you think about the Vancouver nightlife?

I frequent. I think the nightlife is cool. Vancouver is a city that almost isn’t a city, man. It’s such a fantastic place to live; you got clubs and stuff of course. But I feel like in certain cities I’ve been to, if you’re in that city’s club then you’re in that city’s club you know what I mean? In Vancouver I find the nightlife to be a little identity-less sometimes. The great thing about Vancouver is that we’re an influence of every major city; it’s like Boston, California. We take positive elements from every city but I think for us to have the nightlife that a lot of people think we should have and want, we got to find our own vibe. Borrowing bits and pieces from things we’ve seen and not doing it right is bound to fail most times. The nightlife is not bad at all though, but when I go to a Toronto club for example, I leave and I remember what my Toronto nightlife experience was like. With Vancouver you could go to many spots but a lot of the memories can be forgettable. I have a great time when I go out though don’t get me wrong!

What do you think of the acting industry in Vancouver right now?

Like I mentioned, I’d hate to blame the industry, but it’s very slow. People that have been in the industry for thirty to forty years say that they’ve never seen it this bad in all four of the major acting cities. It could definitely be better. Talking to people that have been here for a really long time, they’d say ten years ago it would be triple the amount of work we got right now. Am not going to lie, it has a rough time right now as far as the overall state, I would love to see it be better.

What’s your week like?

It’s always changing man, I wouldn’t say I’m a recluse or anything. I just love what I do, like I’ll get a call one day for an audition and just work on that. The luxury that I’ve had lately is that I can be home waiting for the next audition. Working on myself. I’m fortunate enough to say that I don’t work anywhere else currently. I wouldn’t say I’m bored a lot but it could appear that I’m bored because I don’t do a lot, I just chill. I of course do get into the social things that everyone does like hanging out with friends.

What are must-see places/events that a Vancouver tourist must see?

I would tell them to check out each block and see something different. I think Vancouver has that luxury because it’s visually so different everywhere. Our Downtown to Gaston to Yaletown are all different. I would say go eat on commercial, definitely check out Granville and enjoy the night time events. I think this city is the kind of place where you can really roam and have a very spontaneous day.

What are your plans for the summer?

I am probably going to go to Toronto for a bit. Hopefully soak up some sun and play ball when I come back. Am just going to keep doing what I’m doing and just enjoy what comes to me.

What do you look for in a girl?

This is a hard question to answer because if I say sexy, or if I say smart, that’s really in the eyes of the beholder, and it’s different for everyone. Smart to me could be that she can hold a conversation, engage in witty banter and you’re okay with watching “Back to the Future” on a Saturday night kind of thing. I just know when I meet a girl that I like, like I’ve met a girl a once that within five minutes of meeting her I couldn’t get her out of my head for three months. It’s an organic thing and I will say that I like cool girls, and if they don’t know how cool they are, then that’s a plus too.

What is HYPE?

HYPE can be a dangerous word. It could be a buzz surrounding something with the expectation that it could fail. HYPE is good when you can follow through; if you got HYPE then you’re doing something good but if you can’t follow through on the attention then I guess stopped at being HYPE.