Interview by: Thushari Jayasekara of
www.rUaStrugglingArtist.com
December 2001
Thushari Jayasekara: What are you doing currently?and what struggles
are you facing with those projects?
Joey Cremona: Currently, I'm probably doing the same as most actors
in this town. I'm working a regular job to pay rent and eat while I wait
for the next interview, audition or acting job to come up. Less then 5% of
all union actors throughout the country, coast to coast, make a living at
acting. In other words, earning more than $15,000 a year, just enough for one
person to survive on. It is a fact that can be checked with SAG or AFTRA.
TJ: What struggles have you faced in the past, how have they helped you
JC: The struggles I have had to deal with? Well they are the most
common ones that most of us deal with. One struggle is that there are too
many actors in this town, which is your worst nightmare and you
just have to deal with it. Remember, only one person can get the job.
Your competition is thousands. Sometimes I go to auditions and there
are a couple of hundred guys there, and I look at them all and say to
myself, "MyGod, where did all these people come from? Every one
of these guys looks better than me for this part. What the hell am I
doing here? But I guess I have as good a chance as the rest of them of
getting the part or they would not have called me in." It's a 50/50 chance.
TJ:What advice do you have for people starting out in the business?
JC:I have plenty of very good advice. You better be prepared for the
most honest and direct and realistic positive statements you will ever hear
from anyone in this business. Ok here we go...
in your career and what have you learned from them?
Another struggle is handling the rejections that come more often than
the jobs. You must deal with those many times over and keep yourself
coming back for more. You can't let the biz beat you. You have to beat it
and beat rejection.
Then there is typecasting. Unless you have an have an "All American Mid-Western
Plain Look," and can go for a lot of characters, then you are gonna have a real
struggle. A lot of actors have a certain ethnic look and are associated with
a certain character as I am. I have such a New York Italian look that its hard
to get auditions for anything besides mostly mafia or a robber or other bad guy
types and so on. Just look at my picture. Do you think I am going to get any
kind of a leading man romantic part in anything? (laughter) You better think
twice.
I think that over the last couple of years things have gotten a little better.
I think more ethnics are getting more work as time goes on. But things are
still very limited to "the ethnics." Hollywood says there is equal opportunity
only because the law says they have to. But I happen to feel differently about
that. I wrote a poem back in 1984, two years and two agents after I was out
here, because I had finally had enough of the typecasting procedures. I was
annoyed, and I wanted to send this poem out to every casting person and
producer and director that I could find an address for. I asked my agent at
that time if it might be a good thing maybe the beginning of turning things
around a little bit for ethnics. It was a real heavy writing about casting
ethnics. But the response was that I might offend someone, so I did not send
it out.
Then, at that time, I started making up my mind that there is always
some "truth to legends" as we say, hence you have typecasting! What I mean is
this: We all know that every nationality has a mafia right? The Irish have,
the Mexicans have, the Germans have and so on. But when you here the word
"mafia", the thing that comes to most peoples minds are "Italians" and
"Italian New Yorkers." Do you know why that is? It is because the Italians
were the first people to come over to this country and what? ...and they
brought the mafia with them "We" are associated with the mafia. This is why
we are typecast into those type roles. I think you understand what I'm saying.
We are more or less typecast into a specific type character. I don't mind at
all if I could keep getting work out of it.
But the other problem is that there are too many damn New York Italian actors
out here. So that presents another problem. The best thing though for me to do
is to push the type that I resemble and try to get the most work I can out of
it.
Treat this business as fun, simply fun and extra income and nothing more.
Have an income from somewhere else coming in to depend on, not acting or you
are a fool. Never, and I repeat, never depend or expect anything from this
business. It is the most unpredictable business in the history of the world.
I have heard so many people in years past say, "I'm going to make it." Let me
tell you something. When you say something like that, yes you do make it, but
what you make is "a fool of yourself. That kind of a statement is negative.
It is more positive and realistic to say to yourself, "I will work as an actor
or actress. I may not be lucky enough to make a living at it of over $15,000,
but I will work sometimes acting." That is a positive statement, a realistic
one. Not, "I'm going to make it."
This business has no set procedures or rules to follow. There are talented
people out there who will never make a living off of it. It is not just talent.
It is basically "luck," being in the right place at the right time, who you
know, what connections you make, how strong those connections are, and a whole
mess of other facts.
Remember, I am an Italian New Yorker and if a "California Surfing" movie is
being made with blue-eyed blonds, male and female, it's not going to matter
even if the director is a friend and my next door neighbor. Unless there is a
part of a bartender somewhere in that movie, then, and only then, I might work
in it, if I know the director. Unless you have a head start and your last name
is some celebrities last name and relation, you are going to have a heck of a
time getting anywhere in this business. You have to do it all on your own and
on your own talent. You can count on that.
Ask yourself how many times you see actors on TV and you say to yourself "That
was a lousy performance. How did that person ever get that acting job?" Well
maybe, right place, right time, maybe they knew the casting person, producer
or director! Think about it. Possible? You bet!
Here's something else to think about. If you ever are lucky enough to "get
somewhere", you may become a little bit plastic yourself, even though you don't
want to be that way, you may have to, just like so many in Hollywood. Here's
what I mean. Have you ever seen an interview with any actor who said that they
hated a script, thought the writing stunk, did not like the characters or cast
or anything on the production? No, you have not. Do you know why? Show me an
actor who has said that, and I will show you an actor who will not work again
with that writer, producer or director.If you don't like something, keep it to yourself
or simply lie about it if you have to. Why? So you can work again! It does not
sound nice, I know! But, it's true isn't it? Never say you dislike a production
for any reason or you won't work with those people again. Most actor interviews
are as phony as can be.
Think about that! You can disagree with me if you like, but never the less, I
say this to you all reading this interview who are new to the business because
everybody else here in L.A. already knows this,"talent happens to be a secondary
factor...luck is the first." Your talent does not mean anything, if you are
not in the right place at the right time.
I have been acting since 1977 and have a sizeable resume of more than one page,
and I am a "nobody" here in Hollywood, yet all of you new people reading this
have just received a gift of knowledge from me. You have the most reliable and
honest up front information and truth anyone in this town will ever give you.
I know some of what I've said may sound discouraging to some, but it is realistic
and therefore positive and encouraging! I have a quote on my web site that says,
"Never listen to anyone who tells you that you will never get anywhere, unless
they have shown you a remarkable propensity for walking on water."
So, I say to you "go for it." I really do encourage you. "Just don't depend
or expect!"
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