Welcome! I’m running a series here on my blog Interviews With Professionals! where I’m specifically focusing on those in the acting industry! We have a great guest list lined up, so be sure to check back often for new interviews!
Today’s special guest is Joshua Grant, a very talented actor! So without further ado, let’s begin the interview!
Tell us your name and how long you’ve been acting!
Hey Andrea (and everyone)! I’m bestselling author and comic creator Joshua Grant. Before I became an author, I was an elementary teacher, but before THAT, I was a lead stage actor! I did stage tech and acted for five years, starting with comedy, then a lot of Shakespeare, before finishing with tragedies (so I like to say my career ended in tragedy)!
What’s your story? What inspired you to end up in the exciting career of acting?
I weirdly fell into acting. I was a bit of a shy personality growing up (and still am to some degree). In middle school, I was offered the choice between woodshop and drama class. Saws scared me, so I chose drama! Ironically, I’ve handled more saws working on stages than I ever would have if I did woodshop! Theatre was fun getting to play as someone else, and I was good at it, so I eventually found myself in lead roles, and even more surprisingly found myself getting out of my introverted shell.
Flash forward to professional world, I was surprised how difficult it was to even land a smaller part. That is where I learned some very valuable work skills and patience. I started as a stage tech working mainly on lights (but I also worked in stage and costume design). These things really helped in my modern comic writing career strangely enough! I learned that if I wanted to make it in the business, I needed to do the opposite of when I was in middle school. Back then, I needed to gain a bit of ego and put myself out there. In the professional world, I actually needed to humble myself a bit, swallow my ego, and work my way up from the bottom. I eventually did, landing my first big role in Lost In Yonkers. It was all lead roles after that, but I never forgot where I started, and still enjoyed being involved with all my stage tech friends!
Some years later, I found myself successful in a tough industry, but I also felt in my heart I needed something different, less me focused and more people focused. It was scary stepping away from success, but I stepped away from acting not really sure where I was going. I ended up becoming a teacher and eventually a writer and have loved where my journey has taken me and what acting has gifted me along the way!
As a voice actor in general, what types of roles do you portray the best and why?
Only recently have I dabbled in the world of voice acting, and have really enjoyed it! Tone was my greatest ally in creating a character back in my stage days. People can’t see you as well on the stage, so you had to do big gestures with your body, so tone was the only subtle tool you had to hit people in the heart. My favorite characters are the villains, but not the obvious ones. I like playing those characters that have something to hide. I have a good devious villain voice, I guess, haha! I like playing a regal voice, and I do announcer-type radio voices really well! I used to read this book to thousands of kids through my camp days and have been told that I make an excellent Yeti voice too!
We have other actors and voice actors who subscribe to this blog. What piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out in these careers?
For starters, don’t give up! The successful people are the ones who pick up the phone and make the call, even if they’re likely going to get rejected. If you love acting, then you will make it eventually! Honestly, if I could become a lead actor, literally anyone can! As I said above, some of the most valuable experience for me was starting over at the bottom. Don’t be afraid to step off your pedestal and do some of the ‘grunt’ work. All work is valuable as long as you’re willing to give it your best and gain something from it! As they say in theatre world, there are no small parts! And finally, remember that tone is the most important thing in bringing a character to life. It is the smallest thing, like a rudder on a ship, but the second you change it, you change the entire emotion of a scene, like the tiny rudder turning a massive ship. The same goes for life. You want to become a certain character or change the mood of things in your life, you must discover the tone that fits your vision. Everything else will follow from there!
The audience is interested in learning about the education path of various actors. Did you go to school for acting or did you study something else? If something else, what did you study and did you find it useful as an actor? Do you think it’s required for an actor to have a degree in this field in order to purse it as a career, or is it possible to self teach?
I didn’t get a degree in acting, instead getting on the job training and studying under directors. Acting is one of those strange worlds where either path is valuable. Studying acting can give you valuable time to hone your skills and make some connections. I think pursuing a degree is especially important in the world of musical theatre, since voice coaching is a lot trickier when you’re on your own. But I’m a firm believer that a formal education is far secondary to having a firm will. If you truly want to pursue acting in the professional realm, you have to have a true passion for it and an iron will to succeed. You have to give it your all, and if you truly love acting, you’ll be willing to put in the hard hard work to improve yourself and your skills.
Any special tips or “hacks” for getting into character?
You start of course with having fun with it! There’s no point to acting if you don’t have some fun with it! One of my favorite things to do when doing a new character was to be the most exaggerated version of that character. I’d start super exaggerated for the fun of it, and then slowly pull it back and make the acting more subtle. You also of course think about how you would be in that character’s situation, building some empathy, and react as you might (sometimes). And I know I said it before, but tone is everything. Find the right tone for that character in that scene and you’ll feel it! I’ve also yelled at a few plants, haha! Practice those lines and that role by yelling your lines at plants. It weirdly helps!
What would be your dream role?
Anything Star Wars! I don’t even need to be a big character. Like I could be the next weird rat thing sitting in Jabba’s lap or something!
What role are you the most proud of that you’ve done so far?
I am extremely proud and thankful for every role I’ve been cast in! But if I had to pick one, it would be one of the last plays I ever did, one of the tragedies All My Sons by Arthur Miller. There was so much work and love that went into that play (the stage crew literally had to water living grass that grew in the backyard of this house on the stage for an entire month!). I was this old man with so much subtle depth in him. That play still hits me in my heart to this day! I don’t want to talk about it too much since there are twists to that play and I refuse to spoil them, but it was such a complicated and beautiful production! It was also brutal though, since I had to get slapped by my wife in the play every night for like a month! It was a nice little four finger slap on the cheek that looks nice for the audience but doesn’t hurt if you hit your mark right. Unfortunately, my wife in the play would miss almost every night, actually slapping me! One night she boxed my ear, and I do this dramatic breathing thing gearing up for my big dramatic yelling monologue, so between that and the slap to the ear, I got super dizzy and almost fell into the audience, haha! I always thought that would’ve been a fun dramatic way to end the play that night, but sadly I managed to pull myself together and continue along as if nothing happened!
If you are currently cast in a role or have recently completed a role, tell us about it!
These days I don’t do so much acting as I used to. I still teach acting to middle and high schoolers at a camp during the summer and have a lot of fun with that! It’s not acting persay, but I host a light hearted talk show called Diabolic Shrimp where I interview famous and interesting people from around the world. Additionally, I will be working on a few to-be-announced voice projects soon! I’ve also written, directed, and did voice work with my brother for a cinematic trailer for my upcoming comic Another Zombie Apocalypse, which you can view on my Youtube channel below!
We have a Christian community subscribed to this blog as well who like to hear about inspiring stories involving walks of faith. If you have a story you’d like to share about this, either related to acting or not, please feel free to do so.
Remember that you are never trapped, and that God has something for you, either something for you to gain in that moment, or something you’ll come to see even years down the road. After working at it for years, I had a successful career in acting, but God weighed in on my heart. I felt that He had something else for me. It is really hard to step away from success, especially something you worked extremely hard to build, but I’ve found that every time I’ve been called to step away, life could be more and more amazing. Sometimes God calls for us to step away from what is comfortable and safe and into something new. Embrace the new, and be willing to say yes to the adventure!
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