Meet John Alan Hulbert | Performer & Creature Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with John Alan Hulbert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi John Alan, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Growing up, I wanted to be so many different things. My career aspirations were always changing every single day. Playing pretend was the closest I felt I could get to being anything I wanted and dreamed of being. So, when I discovered acting at a young age, it just clicked. As an actor, I get to play, tell stories and pretend to be all of the things I wanted to grow up to be.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When I first started acting, I felt like I didn’t know what my “thing™” was. That was until I started taking Mask, Mime, & Movement classes with my acting cohort at Southern Oregon University my Sophomore year. The first day we got to play with masks, I became enamored with them. Making them, buying them, however I could get my hands on them, I would. I put on those masks and felt the same excitement I felt when I would play pretend as a little kid and run around the yard chasing my sister screaming, “I’m a monster! RAHHHH!” I loved performing in masks. My movement instructor told me that I reminded him of a real life cartoon character and that he forgot that it was me under those masks. It was a huge compliment and such a pivotal moment for me as a performer and part of why I work a lot with masks and movement today.

I love playing monsters and friendly creatures because of the messages that they hold. These stories show that monsters can be beaten, changed, or loved as they are. When going out for auditions, I have found myself landing more Creature Acting roles than Regular Person Acting roles because of my experience in mask work and being long and lanky enough to play Doug Jones’s creature child. While some folks might want their face to be seen when performing, I truly don’t mind hiding mine for the sake of bringing a monster or friendly creature to life for a story. I genuinely love sitting in makeup or masks or suits for hours and hanging out like some spooky pet on set. It’s fun.
Granted, it’s not all easy. It’s hard to prove to folks I audition for that I can play these monsters when I come off as a sunshine boy with golden retriever energy in real life. Some folks that have ended up casting me in creature work have even told me that they weren’t sure about casting me at first for their monster based off my smiling headshot alone. However, once I show them what I’m capable of, then they see it, and are somewhat startled when I snap back to who I actually am. When casting directors have the same reaction my movement professor did back in college, I throw a mini-celebration in my head whether I book the gig or not.

I credit a lot of my creature work to my beginnings as a Scare Actor at the 2019 LA Haunted Hayride. I love my Haunt family at the LA Haunted Hayride and what they’ve done for my career and for me as a person. When I moved to LA, after a few months in, I was starting to feel really defeated artistically. I began thinking that I wasn’t cut out for LA and was about to pack my stuff up again and move back home to Oregon. However, that defeat washed away the moment LA Haunted Hayride cast me as Herschel the Ice Cream Clown, a silent and mischievous mime-like character that enjoys stirring up trouble with guests in Midnight Falls. When I got into that mask and costume, I was immediately hooked. I went all out every single night I got the opportunity to entertain and scare guests. One Herschel’s favorite things to do was chase people while crab-walking. Whoever started running, Herschel was right behind them. Part way through the scare season, the internet got to see Herschel’s classic crab-walk when Sarati’s TikTok of me interrupting her dancing went viral. It was such a fun and rewarding time that really grounded my career with monsters and friendly creatures. I love that Crab-Walking Ice Cream Clown.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would definitely have a picnic at the Old LA Zoo in Griffith Park. I think the history of that area is so fascinating and the hiking is fun and kind of eerie. I’d also take them out to all the bars, restaurants, and food trucks in my area of North Hollywood. There’s a movie theater I love nearby my apartment called the Laemmle NoHo 7 that we’d have to see a few movies at. I’d also want to take them to the Paramount Drive-In. Also, any Immersive Theatre experiences here would be super fun.

Honestly, the trip would probably end up just being a ton of random exploring since I’m still learning more and more about LA every day. Like, I just learned a few weeks ago that “The Office” was filmed nearby where I live. What?! I thought they actually filmed the show in Scranton, PA, but a dear friend of mine told me they filmed it here. I thought he was lying to me, but we did a little exploring and sure enough, there it was, Dunder Mifflin. I screamed.

I’ve found that it’s hard to be bored in a city where cool stuff is happening literally all the time. There’s always opportunity to discover something new, just gotta stay curious!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It sounds a little cheesy (I tend to be), but with every project I work on, when I reminisce on the experience, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t the role, or the lines, or the show, but it’s always the moments with the brilliant storytellers I get to work with and the kind story-goers I get to meet. There are so many folks to shoutout and thank for my journey thus far.

Shoutout to my wonderful family, my phenomenal and talented partner, Quinci Freeman-Lytle, my creative friends, Meghan Nealon, Krista Unverferth, Kelli Murphy, Samantha Miller, AJ Danna, Jared Brown, Nolan Sanchez, Jake Raiter, Thomas Arce, and many others, my college, Southern Oregon University and the wonderful professors and staff that equipped me for this career, the Queer Resource Center at SOU, the LA Haunted Hayride, the Juvenilia Collective, Non de Gen, the Craterian Theater, the Canyon Theater Guild, Cascades Theatrical Company, JT Ballroom Dance Studio, and so many other folks and organizations I’ve had the pleasure of serving through story.

Thank you for always supporting me on my journey in the arts!

Website: www.johnalanhulbert.com

Instagram: @hellojohnalan

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-alan-hulbert-216732194/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJwKvyOsUDqM0MSradiYW8g

Other: TikTok: @friendlycreatureactor

Image Credits
John Laverman, Pavel Wine, LA Haunted Hayride