We recently connected with Jw Stafford and have shared our conversation below.

JW, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think in order to be successful you first need one thing: your definition of what success is. I do caution anyone that is striving for happiness along with success to not measure their own vision of what being successful truly is by what you see on television or social media. Mark Twain once said that “comparison is the death of joy” and I couldn’t agree more.

My views on success were largely derived from growing up in a blue collar home. My parents worked long hours in physically demanding and sometimes dangerous environments. Their definition of success was making sure we maintained a roof over our heads, were clothed, and had food on the table. They grew up in simpler times and so did I, I’m Gen X. We didn’t have a lot of the digital noise that constantly bombards our senses. I didn’t even have cable tv growing up and the internet wasn’t yet a thing. Oof, I’m old hahahaha.

Once your vision of success is defined you need a healthy dose of determination. You need to be willing to do what most people won’t. Every artistic endeavor I have pursued, and there have been a few from commercial art, music, a very brief stint as an independent professional wrestler, all the way to acting, has required an immense amount of the most valuable resource which is time. That time spent honing the respective crafts doesn’t always make for steadfast employment and financial security. Despite their concerns about my financial stability as an artist, my parents always encouraged me to forge my own path and for that I’m incredibly grateful.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My introduction into acting came about early on but I do want to stress that I was definitely not a typical theater kid. Because of my size, I landed the role of Santa in our second grade production of ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas. The stress of the spotlight was too much so I declined to return to the role the following year. That’s what I like to tell people anyway.

Being the youngest of four, I grew up surrounded by and exposed to all kinds of incredible music while I was growing up thanks to my siblings. There was a lot of gospel, bluegrass, and country played upstairs by my parents but my siblings had all the good stuff tucked away in the basement. Black Sabbath quickly became my favorite band while in elementary school. I can attribute this to watching wrestling and seeing The Road Warriors enter the ring to the opening strains of Iron Man while absolutely pummeling the shit out of whomever they happened to be wrestling. Did I mention I’m a major wrestling nerd? It’s one of the highest forms of live theater that exists. The physicality, pageantry, improvisation…it’s all great story telling when done right.

Since my folks were always at work and my older siblings were living the more adventurous life of older siblings, I spent a lot of time watching cartoons, pro wrestling, imitating voices, and trying to learn how to play guitar. I then discovered the magic of comic books and that sparked a new obsession that carried me through high school where I studied commercial art in a vocational school.

My joint vocational school was like a county wide hub for kids that didn’t fit into the college track and that is where my passion for music really took off. My classmates had formed bands and were all silk screening their shirts in class between assignments. I found a way here to combine my love of visual arts and music.

This led me to being in bands and working in the entertainment industry. I did everything from clean toilets to manage the concert venues where I cleaned toilets and played shows. One performance of note found me struggling through a set at the tail end of having scarlet fever. We opened for a sold out theater of about 2,400 and were pelted with thrown objects by Insane Clown Posse fans. After attending to our wounded bassist, I had to resume my work as head of security after our performance that evening. At least I got to eject some of the idiots that threw things. Never throw anything at anyone on a stage!

After about a decade of this kind of taxing work I decided to get a “normal” job so I started college to pursue a degree in education. During college and just after I found myself working background and acting in a couple of independent shorts.

I ran into the casting director in the parking lot on my way into an open background casting call for The Oh in Ohio and that chance encounter got me the opportunity to read for a couple small roles. Despite not getting them I still worked background which felt like a major deal. No small roles, only small actors!

A bit later Spider-Man 3 was filming in Cleveland and I begged a professor to let me take an algebra exam early so I could go work background on that. The acting bug was slowly taking root.

After graduating with honors and landing a teaching job out of Ohio, my time in the classroom got cut short due to a family medical emergency and that spurred me to yet again pursue something more intrinsically rewarding. I was reminded of just how short life is so I packed my car and headed to Los Angeles to become an actor. I now am fortunate enough to put my degree in teaching and my experience as an actor to use coaching those who are starting out on their voice-acting paths.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My time in LA has not been easy by any means. After leaving teaching and losing my step father, my mother’s health started to decline. Her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s and worsening dementia became a strain on my siblings who lived nearby. I was often chastised for leaving and not pitching in despite having walking away from a teaching job to help through the loss of my stepfather.

Combining all that with the struggle of trying to survive in LA was daunting to say the least. Then just as I finished filming the Lifetime movie Secrets In The Snow, Covid hit. My series of part time entertainment industry survival jobs and on other camera opportunities immediately halted.

Despite facing financial ruin, I was at the ready to drop everything to help my mom out again and then another tragedy hit. My oldest brother was diagnosed with Cancer that was spreading rapidly. My sister had shifted to caring for mom to caring for him during the end of his life and it took a toll on her. She desperately needed help caring for our mom.

I couldn’t let her endure it alone so I returned again in July 2022 to visit with the intention of soon moving back to help out. During this trip I noticed my mom was not doing well. We rushed her in to the hospital only to find that she was now in the throws of stage 4 large cell Cancer and that with her frail condition that she would likely not survive treatment.

Immediately I packed a suitcase and returned to Ohio to stay and care for her throughout her hospice in home and it broke me. Trying to juggle 24 hour care, remote coaching with students in different parts of the world, and still attempting to audition through it all was too much.

Prior to leaving LA I had landed a voice over job and they just so happened to need me for another session. I told them the situation I was in. Due to delays they were readying to replace me. The studio was kind enough to find a satellite studio in Cleveland for me to record. As much as this was a much needed gift of reprieve, it was tough to find care coverage and my mom was in her last days.

A cousin that was helping out came over to stay with mom while I was going to record. As I was putting on my shoes to head out to record, my cousin came out to tell me that my mom had passed. I was devastated. I’d just lost the one person that always believed in me no matter the odds and had to cancel the session. To add to all of this I contracted Covid the day before the funeral and had to grieve in isolation away from everyone. Just awful.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The fact that I’m still standing through all of that is a testament to my resilience. I shared this story because so many experience losing someone close. It seems more and more lives are shattered due to the horror of Alzheimer’s and Cancer. I want anyone going through it to know that they are not alone and that as devastating as it can be that you can continue on and heal in time. Reach out, talk to someone. Therapy helps and there are options out there if you do not have coverage, you just need to be patient and persistent. Without it I don’t know if I’d have maintained my abstinence from alcohol throughout all this. Thirteen years, one day at a time.

I’ll also remind everyone that manifesting and magick happens with being a decent human first. The greatest role I’ll ever have held was that of being my mother’s son and being there when she needed me most. The rest are just credits on a resume. I’ll leave you with a recent credit, and some light at the end of all that darkness.

In an early VO class with the great Sara Cravens I stated I wanted to play Batman. This was nearly a decade ago now. I recently landed a dream role of voicing Batman in the new animated shorts series DC Metal Force. This came about a year and a half after losing everything. Somehow things came together to pull me back onto my path. I also got to play Gorilla Grodd, a role I’m absolutely bananas about. See, I’m not all gloom and doom, I got jokes too :)

I’m incredibly grateful for peers, colleagues, and friends that have stood by me throughout all of this madness on my journey. Doubly so for those who kept my name alive in rooms I wasn’t in while I was going through it so that I could one day work again. Jake Goldman, I owe you a beverage of choice.

I’d very much like to thank my wonderful agents at Dean Panaro Talent and all of my teachers and acting coaches especially the VO Doctor, Bill Holmes for being such a great mentor.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jwstafford.com
• Instagram: @jw_stafford.demigod
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jwstaffordvoiceover/
• Twitter: no, we left that dumpster fire
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8607547/

Image Credits

Headshot by Dana Patrick
with Alan Arkin by Lisa Dempsey
with Harmony Korine by Clayton Gorman
black and white portrait by Larry May
3/4 body by Gregory Wallace Photography