We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jean-Pierre Giagnoli. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jean-Pierre below.
Jean-Pierre, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
It seems very hard for people, whether they are in or out of the entertainment industry, to understand how I can do so many things and be able to focus or be good at all of them. I am an rapper, actor, comedian, impressionist, DJ, MC, host, and Parapsychologist/ paranormal investigator. I have done all of these things and have even made money with all of them.
Jean-Pierre, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
At a very young age I fell in love with music, comedy and entertainment. I would always just imitate performers I saw from Groucho Marks to Michael Jackson. Family and friends always said I was very good and entertaining. Although, being picked on and bullied in school made me into an introvert who did not share my talent with many people. It was not until I joined choir in Jr high school that I found a place I felt comfortable performing and that was on a stage, I just felt like it was my home. I stopped being shy and just would be myself on stage. In high school I did solos and other kinds of performances. This was still to small crowds and most of my peers had no idea. That was until I performed at my senior talent show. Not many students signed up and because I had signed up to do a few performances my choir and drama teacher approached me to do even more performances. My best friend and I ended doing most of the talent show. I felt great on stage and got tons of laughs with my comedy and cheers for my music. Once off stage I was given extra time to change and go to class. As soon as I walked in to class the teacher and students cheered for me. Still being shy I turned red and stayed quite. The entire senior class spoke to me and said they all should have voted me most likely to be famous because of how shy I was they had no idea I had so much talent. I also knew I had talent but now I knew I could captivate an audience. I wanted to go to college and study comedy, acting and music. I also investigated the paranormal and wanted to get my PhD in Parapsychology in real life like I saw in one of my favorite movies, Ghostbusters. Sadly, I grew up in a very abusive household. I suffered severe physical, verbal and emotional abuse. This created a lack of confidence in what I wanted to pursue and my abuser said to give up this unrealistic dream, get a job and live a normal, respectable life. I always went after my dreams just not as confidently as I am now. I went to school to do my required classes to make my family happy but in between still studied acting, comedy and music. I really got into rap music, I started producing, writing, freestyle battling, and performing. I also started doing stand up comedy while I was DJ at the college radio station and got an agent and started acting as well. Through all of this I was still being controlled by my abuser and it was hard to feel like I could really achieve greatness with so much pressure and guilt from my abuser. Years later around 2018 I started to finally realize I was abused because before that it was normal to me and all I knew. I finally stepped away from my family and gave myself room to heal. I quit a job I hated after 10 years and started to take acting seriously and booked a big movie right as I was quitting my job and I knew this is where I should be. I have not turned back since. I am currently represented y MPM models and talent and revamping my website while preparing to release my second rap album this fall. I also use my PhD in Parapsychology to investigate the paranormal and help people dealing with the strange and unknown. In late 2020 after a year of staying away from my abusive family I got a call that my entire family was in the hospital with Covid. I was asked if I would be willing to come back and help them and after a year of healing I knew I wanted break the cycle of abuse and help them. In early 2021 My mother passed while on a ventilator and 2 months later my grandmother/ abuser passed away. My mother was an angel and is still the hardest thing I ever had to go through. To compound things further, a month later, it was discovered I had a tumor on my left kidney that caused all of my health problems and it was very hard to find because I had zero symptoms. I say all of this to hopefully be an inspiration to people who go through horrible and difficult things. I want to show you can still do anything despite the odds.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The last few years of my life has been the hardest test for me. I lost all my family, mostly to Covid and discovered I had a cancerous tumor on my left kidney. In 2018 I quit a job I hated after 10 years to go after my dreams. I was lucky enough to book a big movie and keep getting consistent acting work to survive on. I cut off my abusive family and disconnected completely from them to heal all the years of trauma. It worked and I started to love myself completely and be free in all my creativity. A little after a year I got a call from a family friend who asked if I was a willing to come back and help because everyone was in the hospital with Covid. I immediately knew I wanted to break the cycle of abuse and come back. I am glad I did because my mother passed away shortly after on a ventilator and a few months later my abusive grandmother passed. I learned a very powerful lesson from their deaths and that was because I saw the regret in their eyes when they passed for things they did and did not do. Seeing that made me stronger in resolve to go after my dreams. A month later after years of confusion from doctors it was discovered I had a tumor on my left kidney that was cancer and it was so hard to find because I had no symptoms to lead them to it. In August of 2022 I went into surgery and happy to say my kidney was saved, I am cancer free and I am alive. Going into this I thought to myself if I did not make it through would I have any regrets? And was proud to respond I had done all I could for myself and others. I am still going strong and getting and creating opportunities.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
There are a few goals and missions I have that drive my creative journey. The main one is to inspire people to go after their dreams and passions with themselves completely to be able to live the life they want. I learned the hard way when you live for others it only makes you unhappy. Besides my main goal I would love to have a platform to be a voice for the voiceless and an ally to anyone that needs it. We all deserve dignity and respect. On a personal level I do not want money or fame. I seek to find fulfillment. I prefer to use that term instead of success because it is personal and no one can take that from you. Through how I live and exist I hope to impart this on others and create a better world even if only for one person.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mcpierre.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talenteded/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmceePierre
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jean-pierre-giagnoli-b1596649/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Talenteded
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCazomDN_F24_9qCXrTfgfAw
- Other: www.paranormaldetectives.org
Image Credits
German Sanchez