We caught up with the brilliant and insightful John Kaler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, John thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I really enjoyed working on the feature film, The Unexpecteds because it’s a story that’s relevant to a phenomenon going on right now with Scam artists, influencers and internet fame. The Unexpecteds is a story about Gary (Matt Walsh) and his best friends seek revenge against a social media influencer who has scammed them of their life savings. I play the “influencer” scammer, Metal Mike. This role was a interesting because I got to give my own spin on the character with some of my own interpretation and knowledge on the subject. I’ve never been scammed myself, but just in the last few years I’ve really noticed the creativity and absurd ways people are scamming others online. It’s a major problem, so telling the story even as the villain will help create more conversation on the issue. One in ten adults will be ripped off by an internet scammer and just in 2018 the rise in internet scams rose 34%. I think a lot of people will relate to the subject and with the comedy and action, the Unexpexteds gives you an interesting story.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I grew up studying film, theater and television. I stopped pursing acting in high school, but came back about six years ago. A family friend was shooting a feature film in Austin, and I had the opportunity to play as a background actor. After a few days on set, I quickly got the bug with acting and saw several amazing actors deliver solid work. From here, I started reading books about acting and on camera work, then started diving into coarse and classes around the country to gain experience and feedback from working actors and teachers. I quickly saw the time it took for the craft and also the marketing and business sense it would take. in August of 2019, I had an accident where I broke both my heals and required surgery to remove heal and walk again. This experience lasted until January 2020, where I spent those months really honing in on my craft with books and working with James Dumont, my coach and a mentor now to me. Right before Covid happened, I acted and produced a film called Perps, directed and written by Alejandro Montoya-Marin. We had a suprise cameo in the film by Lou Ferrigno and Perps won a ton of valued awards and gained a lot of exposure online when it was released. From there, I started creating and producing my own content. People I hired and worked with would then be me up hiring me for their projects and the snow ball began. I then wrote the Wrong Guy with Alejandro and it starred Me and Kirk Fox. This film gained a lot of attention and traction with Film Festivals like Dances With Films, Soho Int. film Featival, Santa Fe Film Festival and others. The Wrong Guy gave me even more room to showcase my comedy and craft. From here, I started getting more established management and agents around USA. Then, this role, helped give me the shot to be a supporting cast member to The Unexpecteds feature film, which we just shot in February 2023. What I’ve learned in film, is it’s like every other job or passion; You go for it. You have to grow, adapt and never take yourself too serious to be vulnerable enough to take a chance on a role or film. I learned where to spend time on, and where not to spend time on. I think that knowledge and wisdom only comes from failing and keep trying without giving up. You also have to find other people in the industry that will grow to respect your work because this dream, this goal of actual working, can only happen with dedication to working on the craft and others people believing in you. A lot of my success came from others believing me and not stopping the grind. That’s the best I can explain it.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
About five years ago, I was cast as the Lascivious Man in Wonderwoman 1984. I accepted the role as a “local hire” in Virginia, knowing how big the opportunity was. I spent several weeks on set or rather off set, waiting for my specific scene and my supporting scenes. When my actual “moment” came, the decided factors, pretty much pushed me back, cut the majority of my acting and I saw the scene being shot with me on the sideline. I was devastated. I was so proud to be part of the film and it really hurt to see my opportunity completely disappear on one of the last shoot days. With all that being said, I took a step back and realized that even if I didn’t make the cut of the film, I got to work on a MCU film for several weeks and gain my invitation into SAG-aftra, which would completely push me into bigger markets and rooms the harder and longer I worked on myself and the craft. Sometimes, things don’t go your way, but it’s up to us as artists to see the good and positive that we can gain from every no or bad turnout. Getting hit hard and getting back up is the grit you need as an actor or any artist.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Working and reading on your craft daily, weekly is very important. You can’t just sit around doing nothing, expecting some big opportunity is going to happen without any preparation or progress. Taking online and in person classes regularly is necessary. Sometimes bigger opportunities happen when your not ready and you will regret not being ready. One book I can recommend is – Tim Phillips ‘Audition for your career, not the job”. It’s a great read which has helped many current working actors. 
Contact Info:
- Website: www.JohnKaler.com
- Instagram: @itsjohnkaler