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Behind the Badge: How Johnathon Schaech Prepared for Blue Ridge: The Series

INSP’s staff writer Jay Coffin sat down with Blue Ridge: The Series star Johnathon Schaech for this interview.

Johnathon Schaech blew his first chance to work on the set of a movie. His father Joe helped Johnathon land the gig, then he was so frightened that he failed to show up for his call time. Joe was not happy. But it all worked out well for young Johnathon, thanks to a Tom Cruise look-alike contest that he won at his local mall.

Since those early days, the Maryland native has starred in numerous memorable roles alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood. In this interview, the 54-year-old who stars as Sheriff Justin Wise in INSP’s Blue Ridge: The Series, discusses his early inspiration, how he selects his roles, his friendship with Tom Hanks, and takes us behind the scenes on what it’s like to watch his father land a cameo alongside him.

Were there any early signs that acting would eventually be your profession?

My father, he was a Baltimore City police officer, and he was on the set of a movie and that movie had a bunch of 1950s dances. He went to the producers and said my son can do all these dances he’d love to do this. He got me the job. A John Waters film. I chickened out. I didn’t show up that day. I was really upset about it. My father was upset with me because he went out of his way to make sure I had it. That was the first real recognition that there’s movies being made and acting. [Schaech was 16 at the time.]

Then there was a Tom Cruise look-alike contest in the mall, and I went up for it and I won. There are the two inklings that made me think there was something there. Then I went to college, I took one acting class, and said I stand a better chance at being a movie star than reading these text books on statistics and economics.

Take me through your trajectory after college?

I left college, I went to California. The first day I was there at the Fiddler Café, a makeup artist came up, he was so sweet to me. He said, ‘I know this modeling agency that would love your look, are you a model?” I said … ‘sure.’ He took me to Wilhelmina modeling agency, literally got me a list of acting teachers. I met my acting teacher, Roy London. He took me under his wing and really put all the foundation of the artist in me. I was creative, a painter and a drawer, but it was the creative part of me that he was intrigued by and said you could be a big star.

What do you consider to be your earliest big break?

How to Make an American Quilt. That was the one. [Steven] Spielberg produced it, an eclectic film, great cast. I was on the map.

You’ve played so many different roles, is there something that you enjoy doing more than anything else?

I always felt that roles found me. Something where I say, ‘I need to play that role.’ When That Thing You Do! came to me, it was the first time I was ever challenged to be an artist. I didn’t see myself as a songwriter or a musician, but I could correlate the two because Jimmy [Mattingly], he may be the bad guy to a lot of people, but really he was the creator, he loved his music. That’s what I brought to the audition and that’s why I got the part. All the roles that came to me were really me trying to work through my life.

Have to ask you what it’s like working with Tom Hanks. (Hanks wrote, directed and starred in That Thing You Do!)

What a blessing. My acting teacher died in ’93 and after that happened, I was always searching for teachers, then Tom Hanks came into my life. You couldn’t ask for a better mentor or a human being. He literally taught me through the course of making that movie, all the foundational things that I have today, that I brought to the set of Blue Ridge: The Series. Show up on time and know your lines, that’s one thing Tom always would say to me. All the things about how to create a scene, I really learned from Tom.

How often do you remain in touch with Tom today?

He’s one of my best friends. He comes to Nashville all the time with his wife [Rita Wilson].

Aside from acting, you also write and produce. Is there one thing that you enjoy more than the other?

It’s about the storytelling. I’m dyslexic and didn’t know that for a long time. I’d have trouble with the material, but I was always good at forming the material given to me. My process, I knew it really well. I can’t memorize my lines. When I made Hush with Jessica Lange, she said to me that I need to know the story better. There’s things in the story—you’re good at being Johnathon and that’s important but I think you should learn the literal side of it. Take some writing classes, start to write. And I did. I started becoming a writer then started writing stories. Then my old friend, he’s a publisher and leader of horror and sci-fi in the world. He asked me what I was doing and then we started to write stories together. He worked with Stephen King, so we met him and we started adapting Stephen King novels. So I really got involved in writing.

One thing my dyslexia is good at is taking 600 pages of a novel and breaking it down into 120 pages of a screenplay. The writing helped me be a better storyteller, therefore as an actor, I was better at telling the story.

You play Sheriff Justin Wise in Blue Ridge: The Series. Was there anything specific that intrigued you about him? You said the role always seems to find you.

I left Hollywood and moved to Nashville, contacted a bunch of my friends, said ‘I’m no longer represented in Hollywood, I need to find some work, I’m going to try a new way.’ A friend of mine contacted [Blue Ridge: The Series showrunner] Gary Wheeler. Gary called me and said, ‘I’m making this movie called Blue Ridge about a guy who leaves California and moves to a small town to be with his family and becomes sheriff in this small town who has to deal with this problem that occurs.’ It was what it was going through.

Then going back to the values in which my father taught me also, was what I saw in Justin. He’s very much like my father.

Did you enjoy the whole process?

I love playing Justin. It’s me. It’s everything that I’ve grown up to be.

Do you ever wish you could’ve been a bad guy too?

I do. I look at my career—why didn’t I ever get to be part of the Star Wars universe? Why am I not up for Disney stuff. I played Jonah Hex in the DC universe [Legends of Tomorrow], but what about Marvel, why haven’t they hired me? I could play those roles. I could play Batman. But that was just never my path.

With Blue Ridge: The Series, were there any scenes that were more difficult to shoot than the others?

In the beginning it was. Justin was the leader, he was in charge. There were some situations where I needed to take the lead and I was uncertain how to do that and I relied on the cast to show me a better way. I’ve always been told in a play when you get on stage and you don’t know your lines you rely on your co-stars to deliver their lines, then you listen and you respond. I had the luxury of doing that with a fresh cast that would come to me with their lines and I would realize why I was there. My two deputies, we had this incredible relationship from the beginning of the season that changed by the end. It was us responding to one another, by the end they were helping me solve all these riddles and come up with all these answers.

Any behind the scenes moments that you can share?

When I read the finale, there’s a part that I thought my father (Joe Schaech) could play. I was playing my dad, he’s been part of this, he’s been coming to sets for 30 years, I bet he could play the role. It’s one line. It’d be great to have my dad be part of this. I called Gary, told him what I thought and sent him photos of my father. He said that’s a great idea. I called my dad, he said, ‘yeah, I’ll do that.’ From that moment, when I knew my father would play that part to when he was on the set and he was nervous—he wrote his lines on his hand—they took his glasses away so he couldn’t see them. But he listened and then he responded. And he was great. Watching him go through it, watching my mom watch him, and knowing that I’m literally becoming my father through this great opportunity in life … then my father gets to be part of it. That was a very special moment.

Were you nervous, or excited watching him?

I was enthralled by the whole thing. I was grateful that it was happening. When I started making movies they’d always tell me this is something that’ll last forever and that people will watch this long after you’re gone, and it had that connection. It was really magical. I always wanted to create magical moments in film. Having my father be part of that was full circle.

There’s another great story with one of my co-stars Sarah Lancaster (who plays Elli Wise). The same thing with Sarah. It’s usually me going after things, action-oriented stuff. Then Sarah comes in and everything is still, with these emotional, sentimental, heart-felt moments, to me they transcended because I was usually moving all the time. We would just make these magical moments. I felt like we were recreating what I used to want every time I acted in a scene. We were creating magic time.

Any final thoughts you can share with us about the whole experience?

Working with Gary Wheeler, and with INSP, they create an environment that reminded me of That Thing You Do! with Tom Hanks. It was a set where we felt like we could do no wrong. We could try stuff, but we could do no wrong. We weren’t frightened to be creative. That’s exactly what I feel like we created with Blue Ridge. People are incredibly sufficient and good at what they do. And they did it where everyone is in flow. We’re like a band where we all move together through the process. That’s not always the case. It’s a collaborative art form. It’s very difficult to gel. Blue Ridge: The Series, they moved from the hierarchy, Gary Wheeler was similar to Tom Hanks, and they moved through goodness and kindness to make it all happen.

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