Johnathan feels privileged to have lived for many years in New York and his work there includes appearing Off-Broadway in the original cast of The Last Sunday In June at The Century Center, as well as at Lincoln Center Theatre and with the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab. Around the country he has been seen on stage at the American Conservatory Theatre, Florida Stage, Paper Mill Playhouse, and the National Jewish Theatre as well as in the LA Weekly Award nominated world premiere of Cold/Tender. Johnathan has also performed his critically acclaimed one-man show, Like It Is, in Chicago and New York. On film he appeared briefly in the Academy Award nominated Far From Heaven, and on television it seems he has a penchant for working with blonde starlets, having had series regular roles on UPN’s The Bad Girl’s Guide starring Jenny McCarthy and Jessica Simpson’s sitcom pilot for ABC. Guest starring roles include CSI: Miami, Law & Order: SVU, and Happy Family with John Larroquette and Christine Baranski. For an amusing time Johnathan was also the host of Sponk!, a kid’s improv comedy show on Nickelodeon and Noggin. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

Interviewed by Joanna Parson

You had a big guest starring role on “CSI: Miami” in the January ninth episode, “The Score.” Can you tell us a little bit about the casting process, and how you got that audition?
- I actually first met Nan Dutton, the casting director for CSI: Miami about two years ago. I went in to read for an episode at that time and was pretty sure she hated my work. I hadn’t been back in to see her until a few months ago, and when I saw her again she was really glad to see me and went on a bit about how long it had been since I had read for her. Who knew?

It should also be noted that when you read for CSI: Miami, you either pr-read for just Nan if she doesn’t know you, or you go straight to tape. Having met her before, I was able to go straight to tape. They consider this a producer’s session. Generally a producer’s session means being in the room with the producers of the show, but in the case of CSI: Miami it means going on a tape the producers will review. I think this is because Ann Donahue’s office is somewhere north of LA and casting and shooting for the show happens in Manhattan Beach, which is like 45 miles away.

In any case, I didn’t book the episode they brought me in to tape for, but it went very well and Nan seemed pretty pleased that I got the idea they were looking for in the scene with the 1st take. About a month after that, I went on tape again for a recurring role as one of the many “Lab Techs” that show up every now and again. That would’ve been great because even though those aren’t necessarily “meaty” roles, they do work on a recurring basis, which means a semi-regular paycheck. I didn’t get that one either. This is where making a good impression on a casting director pays off, because Nan called me in once again on a Tuesday for a really nice guest star on a episode called “The Score.” I have no idea if I really nailed it or if the producers were just tired of seeing me show up on tape, but it worked out and by Friday I got the offer.

How do you get ready for a big audition like that? Were you prepared to hit all the emotional marks you would eventually hit on the show, or were they more interested in a characterization?
- I’d love to tell you that the preparation for the audition was a really ornate process involving lots of character exploration and emotional investment, but the truth is that as frequently happens, I got the appointment at like 7:00 the night before and had the sides emailed to me along with sides for two other auditions the same day so I really didn’t have a ton of time to think about it.

Y’know, the thing with guest starring roles on shows like CSI or Law & Order, when I still lived in New York, is that for the most part (there is the occasional exception) you’re getting hired to support the series regulars and fill a very specific need. What I try to do is just make the work as honest and natural as I can, have an opinion about everything I’m saying and is being said to me, and go back to Acting 101 stuff – what does the character want and need in the scene?

The other thing is (as I described before) when you’ve been in for a casting director a few times, you know what to expect and how the room is going to be, so it’s easier to feel comfortable and do the most important thing in auditioning which is to just be totally fearless and go strong and hard with the work. On this particular job however, a funny thing is that I decided to dress the character as best I could. He was a guy who was taking a class to learn how to pick up women and the idea is that he maybe tried a little too hard, so I wore this red velvet jacket I own with a totally tacky, non-matching shirt. I guess it worked because not only did I get the job but they had me bring the coat in to my fitting so wardrobe could match it. It’s the one I wore in the episode. I took my coat out to dinner to thank it for getting me a gig.

You’d done TV before, but this was one of the best-rated shows on the air. What, if anything, did you learn from your co-stars?
- Yeah, doing this show was definitely a little different for me. In addition to the fact that it carries like a 20 share so a gazillion people see it, I typically do sitcoms, so the change to doing a single camera drama was really refreshing. I didn’t actually have a scene with David Caruso but he was the first actor I met when I arrived on set and he was terrifically welcoming and kind. He, like everyone, made a special point of commenting on the jacket… I had two interrogation scenes – one with Rex Linn and one with Emily Procter and Jonathan Togo. Rex was great. We had lunch together and he told me about how he had given up a business career in Texas in his early thirties to move to LA and really study acting, which had been his dream. Because of the way he came to the business, he really appreciates and values what he’s doing and was totally supportive and encouraging when we did a take.

Emily Procter is a waking dream. When I got the script the first thing I did was see if I had a scene with her as I have been an enormous fan of hers since The West Wing, and told her so when I met her. I also happened to be auditioning for a new Aaron Sorkin pilot at the time and she was really excited by that. She’s extraordinarily gracious and we talked a little about the difference between working on a show like The West Wing where it was sort of legendary that the pages would come in last minute and the whole thing was shot very much like a movie with lots of tracking shots and such, and CSI: Miami which is thoroughly scripted ahead of time and production runs so efficiently that it’s about get the shot, check the gate and move on.

The other thing about CSI: Miami is that so much of the essence of the show lies in the editing that even if I didn’t necessarily feel like I had done my most dynamic work in every moment, the director and writer/producer seemed happy knowing that for the finished episode they had captured the moments they needed to tell the visual story. I guess what I learned most from Emily and watching David (and it’s cliché, but true) is how little you have to do for the work to come across on screen. I didn’t see the episode when it aired but my dad for example, commented on how surprised he was by the number of close ups of me there were. Coming from the world of stage and sitcom (which is often shot in front of an audience), subtly conveying the truth a moment for the screen is something I imagine I’ll always be finessing.

You were the host of a “Who’s Line Is It Anyway”-like show for young teens on Nickelodeon, “Sponk!” How does a guy go from serious off-Broadway plays like “Spinning Into Butter” at Lincoln Center, to television hosting?
- This is a really simple answer. I needed to buy groceries and it paid me. More specifically, I wasn’t sure I was going to do it until I met the kids. They were so amazing that I just wanted to be around them and soak up their brilliance. I mean the kids included Vanessa Lengeis, who went on to be in the TV series “American Dreams,” Scott Irby-Ranier who was the original Simba in The Lion King on Broadway and now is the lead singer of Steel Train, and Miles Thompson who just this year was in an amazing indie film called Me, And You, And Everyone We Know. I’m saying. These kids were no joke. So I have nothing but love for that experience and besides I became a very big hit with the babysitter set for a brief while.

When did you make the decision to go to Los Angeles for pilot season, and why?
- The decision to go to LA sort of found me. In spring of 2003 I was doing a play Off-Broadway called The Last Sunday In June so I was just auditioning for pilots on tape as they would come up. One Thursday afternoon I got off the subway and there were like 8 messages from my agents and manager asking me to call back right away. When I did I found out that one of the shows I had read for like the week previous wanted to fly me out to LA to test on Monday morning. So over the weekend, they put my test deal together and I left for LA on Monday with a red eye back Tuesday night so I could be back for performances on Wednesday.

That was my first test and it was bananas. Usually the studio and network tests are over two days, but I think because I had to be back in New York they did it all in one day. So I had a work session with the creator/producers, studio, studio notes, network, and then got in a waiting car to take me to LAX. In the car on the way to the airport, I got a call that I booked the job. In fact I got calls from my agent, manager, and the head of casting at the network in New York, who had originally put me on tape. It was pretty great. Then, literally as I was about to board the plane, I got another call from my agent that there was some discussion at the network as to whether or not I looked “too young.” That’s not the first time I’ve heard “too young” but it is the only time I had a job I had already earned taken away because of it.

Anyway, they didn’t wind up giving me the job and so several months later when the play closed, I flew myself to LA to see if I could…I don’t know…get retribution? Whatever. The upshot is that the series had gotten picked up and the really cool producers who wanted me in the first place gave me a guest spot on the show and while I was in LA, I switched to my current agents and sort of accidentally wound up moving to Los Angeles on a more or less permanent basis.

You had a great first pilot season, landing a series lead in the Jessica Simpson pilot that never quite made it on the air. Talk about the roller coaster ride of getting what might be a huge break, and watching the networks take a pass on the show. How did you make sure to maximize the momentum you had from that first pilot?
- Well first off, I was rehearsing a play in LA when I tested for the Jessica pilot and got the call that the offer had been made while on a break. I was totally gun shy after the previous year’s experience and told my new agent I didn’t want any celebrating until the letter confirming the deal arrived from ABC’s business affairs department the next day.

I mean, it really did seem like a huge break, and in retrospect, it was. There’s no getting around the fact that it was a big deal at the time. “Newlyweds” was a big deal then and it very much being thrown into the deep end of the celebrity pool right away. Jessica’s spotlight kind of spilled onto everything near her. I came at that pilot like fighter preparing for a title shot, and on tape night I was really pleased. My agent told me that everyone in the agent room watching the taping was asking about me and where I had come from. Jessica’s agents even chatted me up a lot. It was an awesome night, and whatever else didn’t happen, it will always have been an awesome night.

Waiting to find out if a pilot has been picked up can be a major drag. A couple of my cast-mates who had been through the process before were really cool about it, but I was totally sweating. Y’know I never really thought the show wouldn’t go. I was more concerned with stuff like wondering how my character was testing and if I didn’t test well, was I going to be fired when the show got picked up? FYI, that stuff will drive you actually crazy.

Tension mounted with the whole thing when right in the middle of it all, there was a total regime change at the network head level. At that point it really felt like all bets were off. And they were. The bummer of it is that most of the time if you do a pilot that doesn’t make it, that’s it. It’s over and you move on to the next thing. In the case of Jessica, it kind of went on for a minute because of the hype. There was actually an article in the New York Times talking about how there was all this hoopla and then it died. The article quoted network execs saying stuff like Jessica was amazing but the show didn’t work and she was the only worthwhile thing about it, etc. I felt really bad for everybody who had put so much work in, because anyone who cares about this kind of thing just kind of assumed the show got scrapped because it was lousy. That may or may not be the case depending on you ask, but the truth is it was more complicated than that and I’ll probably never know what really happened.

To be totally honest, I got really, really sick after the whole thing was over, probably due in large part to the tension I put myself under. That to say that I don’t know that I capitalized on the momentum as well as I might have because life got in the way and I came back to New York for the summer. I’m glad I did though because otherwise I’d probably be dead and not have a chance to talk about it.

You then were cast as a series regular on “Bad Girls Guide,” the Jenny McCarthy sitcom on UPN. Tell us about that experience.
- Well the Jenny McCarthy experience was different from the Jessica Simpson experience in a couple of ways except that they’re both kind of blonde starlets. “Bad Girls Guide” already had an episode order when they auditioned for it so it was definitely on the air, which was wicked cool. Something, though, that was different for me specifically was that on the Jessica pilot I was the 1st person cast besides Jessica and had a lead. On BGG I came aboard really late and was the 5th person on a 5 person call sheet. I mean I was a guy on a show about girls. Bad ones. So my relationship to the show itself was a lot different. Everybody involved with the show though – especially my cast-mates - awesome. Love ‘em.

I mean it’s a show that we did a few episodes of that not many people watched, the critics hated, and then we didn’t get renewed. I’m being a little cavalier I suppose. I was really disappointed at the time that it didn’t go over better. I had come from New York theatre, where not only had I been fortunate enough to have been involved in projects that were very well received, but also a lot of the elements were in my control. At the very worst, if a performance was bad it would eventually be over and done. With TV not only do millions of people see it, but it’s caught on film. If people are hating it, there’s not much you can do.

That said, I’m proud to have done it, I loved the amazingly talented people I worked with, and I loved going to work every day. We shot on what was once the “Happy Days” stage on the Paramount lot and when you come out of the stage door, the 1st thing you see is the Hollywood sign. I tried to make sure to take that in and feel gratitude every single time I walked out the door.

Talk about the lifestyle difference between being a series regular, and doing guest-starring roles. How do you keep your life balanced when your job security comes and goes? Are there things you do when you’re working a lot that help you prepare for the leaner times?
- Being a series regular on a TV show is fantastic. It just is. I think that being an actor is the best job in the world and if you’re lucky enough to make money at it then you can’t ask for much more. I could say a lot of things about being a series regular that are totally true, but the bottom line is that you get paid a really insane sum of money to do something that I used to do for free, just ‘cause it’s fun.

There’s nothing better than that. Having your own dressing room or trailer is awesome. Having a parking spot and your name your door is awesome. All that stuff is awesome, but the truly awesome thing is just being there. Getting to walk on a set (and this is gonna sound kind of woo-woo, but…) is magic. It’s the same feeling I used to have walking on an empty stage before the audience showed up. I guess the main difference between being on a show and being a guest on a show is the same difference in feeling between sleeping in your own bed and sleeping in a bed at your friend’s house. Even if it’s a really nice and comfy bed, you’re a guest there and it not quite yours. But you’re still really grateful for being asked to sleep over.

The only thing I’ve been able to do to prepare for the leaner times is try not to go car shopping everyday. I mean seriously, because you get paid in huge chunks, the temptation to really revel in the wealth is pretty substantial. I’m not above treating myself a little bit, but I went about 6 months in between jobs this last time and I’ve had to start simply putting myself on a budget. I’m not great with money and I’m trying to learn to change my relationship to it. It’s tough. One thing I can say is that when you are working and have money, if you don’t make a contribution to “The Actor’s Fund,” then for real son, shame on you.

Back to the beginning-- when did you know you wanted to be an actor? And how did you get started?
- Oh Jesus, I don’t know, I guess I was a hammy kid with a need to be loved by everyone and the best way to do that seemed to be to perform. I started out like a lot of people I suppose, doing community theatre. I took a drama class in middle school and then in high school and went to a summer “Governor’s School” for the performing arts. I just remember when I was little and we would do school plays, if another kid was scared, I would immediately offer to say their lines too. In middle school I was so pissed that I didn’t get cast as Charlie Brown in You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (just because I can’t sing) that I almost refused to do the show at all. So that’s it really. I just have a desperate need for validation and adoration.

Why did you decide to write your one-man show, “Like It Is”? Was your goal to become a monologist or performance artist, or did you always see it as a way to be seen as an actor and advance your career?
- I guess the last answer applies to this answer a little too. I mean I could talk about the art and needing to have my voice heard…but the truth is that I love playing extreme characters, but I was never going to get the chance to play parts written for…y’know…Al Pacino and Don Cheadle so I wrote something that would allow me to showcase those facets of my performing abilities. I never really wanted to be a solo performer, I just wanted to be a lead guitarist and since I don’t play the guitar, writing the show seemed to be the best way to rock and roll a little. Also, I truly did think at the time that the theatre I was seeing was a little candy ass and I wanted to make a statement. I just wanted to shove my opinions about the world in people’s faces and see what happened. I don’t know if I would have the same audacity now. I like to think I’m still punk rock, but the truth is as I’ve gotten older I need to focus a little on making my car payments and re-doing my kitchen. Getting old is weird.

You first performed “Like It Is” in Chicago and then brought it to New York. What were the differences between producing the show in Chicago and New York? If you had it to do over again, would you do anything differently?
- Wow. Yeah, I mean the differences primarily arose from the way it was done. In Chicago I was just writing a play to be done in a restaurant basement/performing space. My roommate directed it and we rehearsed in our apartment. We figured our friends would see it and maybe some people in the theatre community. Then we got this massive and ebullient review and suddenly we were a minor hit with actual strangers coming to see it. It was really organic and accidental. So when I did the show in New York, the expectations were a lot higher and I think I was pretty naïve about how to make it succeed.

Again, it was critically successful, but I mean, it opened in February and it was cold and snowy and y’know, there’s just a lot of good theatre in New York to see. I don’t think I would do anything differently though. I certainly enjoyed the Chicago run more, but I learned far more in New York. Plus the point of doing anything should be to do it well, the rest is just gravy; sometimes necessary gravy, but gravy nonetheless.

Soon after you arrived in New York, you started working with your manager, Dale Davis. A lot of actors are confused about what exactly a manager should or will do for an actor. Can you tell us how you met Dale, and what your relationship is or was like?
- I can’t say enough good things about Dale Davis. At the time I began working with Dale she basically was my agent, as I didn’t have theatrical representation. She and her partner, Harris Spylios, saw me doing some solo performing at a cabaret type thing and somehow I conned her into helping me get some auditions.

At the end of the day, a manager’s job is to help coordinate an actor’s career. If you don’t have an agent, that can mean helping you get one or just being an agent to you themselves. If you have an agent, the manager’s job becomes making sure the agent is doing their job. I’m with a pretty big agency at the moment and although I have a point person there who is totally awesome and incredibly hard working, he has to deal with a lot of clients and make sure everybody who’s signed there is getting the attention they need.

A manager may only have a handful of clients, so they are better able to oversee the actor’s day to day needs. I should probably note that since Dale is only in New York and I’m now full time in LA we have stopped working together because the markets are so different and it’s quite difficult with the time difference, etc., but I wouldn’t be at my agency without Dale as she arranged that first meeting and I wouldn’t have enjoyed any of my good fortune without her.

You’re mostly self-taught. What do you think about training and its importance for an actor’s career? Did you make a conscious decision to stay away from acting schools?
- Yeah. I did make a conscious decision to avoid acting schools, but that’s mostly because I’m a terrible student and don’t do very well in the teacher student relationship. It’s ironic because I’m now coaching auditions myself. I guess I would say that I think training is of invaluable importance for an actor’s career, but I don’t think the classroom or studio is the only place to get training.

I think all the community theatre I did as a kid trained me some. I feel like seeing really good theatre and performance is training. And I feel like if you’re fortunate enough to get work with people who are better than you, that that’s the best training you can have. I would never discourage someone from studying in a formal setting, but like anything, I’d encourage anyone to be clear about their reasons for doing it and make sure the person or people with whom you’re studying know what the hell they’re doing.

It’s a living art, so I don’t think you can have everybody playing by the same set of rules. The way I approach work is totally an amalgamation of things I’ve learned that work for me, so when I’m coaching someone, I try to forget how I would do it and focus on capitalizing on their unique strengths and individuality. If I’m being honest, I do think there are people in the world who's natural gifts should be left unfettered. If I’m working with an untrained genius, as long as they can hit their mark or know the difference between up and downstage, I don’t care how they make the character appear.

You’re all about the healthy living. What’s your physical routine? Is it different in California than it was in New York?
- My physical routine in LA is that I simply spend hours at the gym because A) If I’m not working, I don’t have much else to do short of buying accessories for my Mac and B) I’m in my car constantly so where else am I gonna get my exercise? The more important thing for me is staying mentally healthy. Unlike NYC, the industry is all consuming in LA so it really is about finding other outlets for my energies and the gym also plays a big role in that. I will say however if I had known I was going to be living in Silverlake I would’ve joined a gym closer than West Hollywood. (If you’re not in LA…just…it’s a drive I hate taking. It’s like living in The East Village and traveling to work out in Chelsea or some such distance.)

At this point, you’ve lived in three of the best cities in America for young actors-- Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. If you had it to do over again, would you have moved straight to Los Angeles? How do you advise young actors who are trying to decide where to begin their careers?
- I, personally never would have moved to LA first in a million years. I’m way too immature now, much less twelve or so years ago. LA would’ve eaten me alive. I’m lucky. I think the reason I’ve done okay in LA is that I still look really young but I’ve actually been around a while and learned a few things. So when I audition with guys who really are as young as I look, I maybe have a little more seasoning or something? I don’t know, that sounds totally pretentious, but I think it might be at least partially true.

Starting in Chicago was great for me because it’s a real city, but the industry isn’t as overwhelming as it is in NYC or LA. I talked about training earlier and Chicago was like my training ground. I don’t know if I’m in a position to give anyone advice on where or how to begin a career, but I’d just say don’t forget the reason you got into it in the first place. Hold onto the work. The work is the truth. Do a play in your living room and invite your family if you have to. Just never stop working. When you start getting preoccupied with what the work can get you rather than the work itself…well, that’s some bad juju…

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