Meet Joseph Mancuso | Actor-Writer-Editor-Producer

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

Hi Joseph, what makes you happy? Why?
The two things I practice in my life that make me feel most like myself, and thus make me happiest, are movement (physical fitness) and creativity (acting and writing).

This started in childhood where I played soccer, baseball, and basketball while being and avid reader and drawer.

My best days start with physical fitness. Either heavy lifting or conditioning work. Creative work is usually in the form of developing and/or writing script and working on my own doing some dorky acting exercises. But it isn’t limited to just that. There are all sorts of ways I find to be creative. Simply immersing myself in story, for me, is a creative act. Reading Lit-Fic, watching good films, having creative conversations with friends, listening to the same song 500 times. It might not seem like a fully productive thing but I think immersion is key. When you give in to an art form and let it consume you, it fuels your own sense of creativity.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m an actor first, but over the years I’ve found myself wearing a lot of different hats—writing, producing, editing, and working to bring projects to life from the ground up. None of it was part of some master plan. It mostly came from a desire to keep creating and telling stories, even when the traditional doors weren’t opening as quickly as I hoped.

I’m not sure I believe that anything sets me apart from others because this artform is collaborative. Simply being is what sets us all apart. We are all unique beings. I think if someone is trying to set themselves apart from others for the sake of standing out, I can usually see through that. I’m always searching for like-hearted creatives to work with. That mindset is what eventually led me to make my first feature film, Smile… The Worst Is Yet to Come, which I’m incredibly proud of. It was built with a small team, limited resources, and a lot of people believing in each other. Seeing it connect with audiences has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.

It definitely hasn’t been easy. Like most artists, I’ve dealt with rejection, self-doubt, projects falling apart, and long stretches where progress felt invisible. The biggest challenge has probably been learning not to measure success solely by external validation. Early on, I thought success would feel like reaching a certain milestone. What I’ve learned is that the milestones keep moving. The work itself has to be the reward.

The lesson I come back to most often is simple: keep going. Careers are built much more by persistence than by big breakthrough moments. Most of the opportunities I’ve had came from showing up consistently, continuing to learn, and staying open to unexpected paths.

What I hope people know about me is that I’m interested in stories that help us see one another more clearly. The projects that stay with me aren’t the ones that say, “Look at me.” They’re the ones that say, “See me.” Whether I’m acting, writing, or producing, that’s what I’m always chasing—a little more honesty, a little more connection, and work that reminds us of our shared humanity.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’ve been in Los Angeles for nine years and I still feel like I don’t really know this city. I spent just about twenty in NYC and that’s the place I still call home, even though I’ve been gone for nearly a decade.

So I think the thing I’d look forward to most, if a friend came in town, is being tourists together.

I love the beach so that would certainly be on deck. But this would give me a really good excuse to just go full NY and walk around a bunch of neighborhoods I’ve never really explored. We’d most certainly eat some tacos and hopefully find some live music.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I owe a lot of teachers credit for molding me into the artist I’ve become but David Gideon is at the top of the list. David was Lee Strasberg’s protege and was Director of the Strasberg Institute for years.

A lot of my early training was with wonderful teachers in NYC. Many of these teachers had the great skill of pushing and pulling you into a performance. Guiding you in ways that eventually got you where you needed to go for a scene.

What David did was teach a craft that enabled you to get there on your own. I know where to start, how to prepare my body and voice, how to interpret script, and make bold choices that serve the story because of my work with David.

If anybody is interested in what Method acting truly is, and not the narrative of what people think it is (staying in character has nothing to do with Method acting), David Gideon is your guy.

Website: https://www.josephmancusoactor.com

Instagram: @mancusojoseph

Other: Tiktok: @decodethefilm

Substack: The Most Human of Things