Today we’d like to introduce you to James Jovanovich.
James, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
About eight years ago on a miserably hot and humid summer day in the middle of North Texas, I was waiting for a certain letter to arrive in the mail to decide my fate for the near future. Yes, it gets more dramatic. We are in line, remember, bare with me. This particular fate deciding letter was one that was coming from the University of Texas in Austin. THE COLLEGE. If you know anything about Texas, then you know UT is the place to be. This particular letter could be one of two things – 1. A beautiful hype up announcement that I was allowed to enter the realms of Austin, or, – 2. A diabolical deterrence pushing me back into the blistering heat of the abyss (In other words, REJECTION).
Even though this letter was figuratively going to decide my fate, there is no way I was going to let it literally decide it. I told my self – If I get rejected, I am moving to So Cal. I do not know how I came to this bazaar plan B, but I did. One of my good friends still to this day was standing right next to me when this particular letter made its arrival. We shall call him P. I pry open my Fate and read the first five words. “We appreciate your interest in…………..” BLAH. I closed the letter and looked at P and said: “I’m moving to California”.
Now strap in those buckles because we are fast-forwarding a few roller links into the future. Mainly because the logistics of actually getting to California are not the most exciting. KABOOOOM! I set sail and landed in San Diego with the best possible situation in my entire life. I had no idea what I was doing in life or what I wanted to do. This actually allowed me to try new things and forced me to get out of my comfort zone and experiment. I was attending a local Community College known as Grossmont. I was just a kid with no plan but so happy just to be living in San Diego.
During my time at Grossmont I took some basic classes mixed in with whatever I thought was funky and weird! I stumbled upon two things while walking around Campus – 1. An audition Flyer for Three Musketeers, and 2. A Flyer to join the Speech and Debate Team. And since I was in the phase of – come at me I am trying it, I of course jumped off the high-dive heading face-first into both of these opportunities.
“For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my Brother”, this phrase stems from the Iconic Henry V but they also stem from my Iconic first audition ever for Three Musketeers. Can you believe the looks on the theatre teachers faces when this wild boy who has never acted in his life just starts spewing some Shakespeare with pure passion. I clearly had no idea what I was doing but by golly they gave me a chance and let me in on the Three Musketeers. I was beyond thrilled to just have made the cast but even more enthralled when those lights shined above me and the crowd’s eyes narrowed in on my beautiful Blonde Wig. But I wasn’t done here. I still had the Speech and Debate team to try out for.
Some may speak of an Exorcist when the soul becomes taken from a human being or possessed being. But Speech and Debate ripped my soul from under me and only returned it to me when I was ready for the next jump in my career. Pretty gruesome, I’m not going to lie. When one hears of Speech and Debate they only hear the word DEBATE. I may have made the same faulty assumption as well. But the Speech in Debate world is incredibly bazaar and more than half of the population doesn’t even know what it is. Besides Debate, Speech and Debate which is known as Forensics has way more events than just Debate. There is a particular event called Oral Interpretation. Gosh, just trying to describe what forensics is, IS giving me a headache. I am just going to sum it up for you in the easiest terms an LA reader may understand. Oral interpretation is competitive storytelling or better yet, Competitive Acting. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!. At this moment, I was hooked like that Cuhjillion pound fish that Michael Jordan’s fishing team caught. You’re telling me I get to go compete against other schools on a weekly basis by performing dramatic monologues. Easy Peezee! Count me in!
For two years, I poured my heart into all my performances and trained like an Olympic Athlete to perfect my craft. Before my forensics year came to a close, I was already thinking ahead on what was next. Do I take my talents to a four year anniversary and continue to compete, or do I take the leap up to LA and pursue an Acting Career? As you can tell from my past decision making and the mix of living like a free spirit in San Diego, you know darn well what my decision was. As soon as my last year of Forensics came to and end I hopped off to the nearest exit of the Roller Coaster and hopped my self right back in line. Los Angeles. Here. We. Go!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
If you are familiar with LA, you know that smooth roads are non-existent. I believe that the ultimate struggle for me revolves around mental peace. Money, life and career goes swirling around your noggin on a consistent basis. I need to make enough money from my side job so I can pay rent and feed myself. I want to dabble in normal people’s life but then realize that I am here for an ultimate goal. Oh. And let’s not forget about the career swirls that come through and give you a little baby CA earthquake. I just want more this and more that…. blah blah blah. For me, reading and writing help me so much to achieve my own sense of mental peace.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Well like all-LA peeps claim nowadays… “I am an Artist”. Besides the acting world, a new thing that I have set my strides on are Spoken Word creations. Lately, I have been writing and creating my own Spoken Word videos. You always hear in this day and age, “Make your own stuff”! And that is exactly what I am doing now.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
What kind of question is this!!! You are telling me out of the millions of memories I need to have a favorite?? Okay, give me and eternity to dip into the realms of my dusty memories. I got it. It is actually quite simple. My favorite memory of childhood is literally just being outside. When I was a kid, I remember spending all my free time outside hanging out with friends and taking on the town.
Contact Info:
- Website: lonestarjames.com
- Instagram: jovanovichj
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