Meet John Karyus | Actor

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

Hi John, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
As an actor, everything I have done from day one is some sort of risk. The idea to pursue it in the first place was definitely a risk.

I am really putting myself out there, in auditions as well as in the final filmed piece. Everything is held to public scrutiny, as to my interpretation of a role being what the director or producer wants, as well as up to par with what the public expects. Also, for each project, there is a risk in that it will come out as expected in ways beyond your control, as it is very much a collaborative effort with other artists and technicians.

It is just the way it works. You have to have faith in yourself and your ideas. You have to have faith in your own work ethic to pull it off. You have to have faith that when the chips are down, eat day is a new day and you have to just keep truckin’.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a character actor in a wide variety of mostly lower budget productions. It has not been easy, as most know it is a lifelong grind, but it is a blast and has been one long strange trip that’s for sure!

As a lifelong fan of movies and the moving image, I originally wanted to be a filmmaker. I went to college for it at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and while there, fell into acting. I think a big thing that helped me there is I had a real keen sense of bringing funky and weird characters to life, as well as a very strong willingness to collaborate. The collaboration was very key to me, and a big reason why acting resonated with me. I ended up in countless student shorts during my time there.

When I got out into the “real world”, I began as a Production Assistant as many aspiring filmmakers do, and also dabbled in some other below the line on set jobs such as lighting and grip work, and various art department positions. But I always returned to acting. And seemed to have a knack for getting cameos or even larger roles for projects I was crewing on, as well as expanding into getting roles posted on Actors Access, Backstage, and other acting related we pages.

This expanded and I have accumulated to over 80 credits as an actor. While there is a lot to be proud of in this body of work, I would say is that what I am most proud of is a lot of my work, particularly the stuff from when I was first starting out, has become “hidden gems”, strange sort of hidden movies that have built an audience more and more as the years go by.

I hear a lot more about a few of them such a s POULTRYGEIST now than I did when they were new. I was recently featured in a documentary about a one of the very first directors I worked for, (Chris Seaver) entitled LOW BUDGET HEROES: THE LEGEND OF CHRIS SEAVER AND LOW BUDGET PICTURES. The V/H/S series, of which I am in Part 2, continues to remain popular and is currently at 6 entires.

I have had many challenges and learned many lessons along the way. Many of the challenges have been monetary, and probably the biggest lesson learned is how to budget yourself. I have gotten into a rhythm with it that seems to work, but there are still curveballs and hiccups along the way. The more you can keep pace with that, the better.

I would say a big thing is for any artist is to try and make things interesting. Judging what’s good and bad, I don’t always think that’s in your hands, but if you find it interesting…that’s a really good start.

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.
Many of my favorite places are along that strip in Burbank that has so many stores filled with collectables and movie memoribilia. DARK DELICACIES and BLAST FROM THE PAST come to mind in that strip, but there are quite a few others. And while I was in that area I would take them to PORTOS!

I would also take them to the truly wonderful theaters LA has to offer, THE NEW BEVERLY, THE EGYPTIAN, THE AERO…there are so many! Depends what is playing on what day as to which we hit, but between them a great few nights can be had.

I would definitely spend at least one day seeing the beach, probably in Santa Monica. Most of my friends from out of the area are from Buffalo, New York where I’m from…and we had no such thing there.

And last but not least, I would take them to my new favorite spot in LA: WHAMMY! ANALOG MEDIA. It is a combo retro VHS store and micro-cinema. They play the strangest and coolest things, with a genuine underground feel. And the people who run it are great. Such a great place to have!

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?
A huge shoutout goes out to my fellow actors and technicians in the projects I have worked on. I feel very lucky to have worked with such a great group of talented individuals over the years. If it wasn’t for them, none of this would even exist.

Many of my collaborators have remained lifelong friends, people to turn to for advice, people to cheer on when you see their other projects as well as have a blast when the opportunity arises to collaborate again!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnkaryus/

Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004030

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