Check Out Joey Beni’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joey Beni.

Hi Joey, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I moved to LA in 2008 and just hit my 17 year mark. I always wanted to be an actor/performer as a kid. I just wanted to make people laugh. I had a few months in 2006 where I felt lost and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I remember thinking of what I really wanted to do with my life that I would be happy to pursue and It was to be an actor. My brain said “Well you have to live in California for that.” And then it clicked, the light bulb when off in my head and i said “then why don’t I move to California!?” the next two years a worked so hard and saved up all my money and then in 2008 I drove across the country from Virginia Beach, VA. I had no friends, no family, and no job in LA. i was able to lock in an apartment over the phone so all i had was an address, my life savings, and a dream. I was this young guy who was so excited and driven but also really scared. My first few years in LA were rough. I was very lonely and filled with self doubt. I started from nothing and each day had to build a life for myself brick by brick. I eventually made friends and got into the union and found my footing. After Covid, I booked one of the leads on a show titled Sugar Highs and did two seasons of that and it was a lot of fun. All the doors that were shut in my face 11 years prior where now starting to open. I can’t wait to see what the next chapter brings.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There have been peaks and valleys on my LA actor journey. I would say that the most challenging would be just trying to figure everything out in the beginning. It was very loneIy at first trying to figure everything out with no friends or family to be a support system to come home to. You can only do it over the phone. Also, watching those around you succeed with ease. At one point, I felt as if i was inside of a seed in a garden and everyone around me was a big tall flower. I was the only one not sprouting and growing and felt like i was banging on the inside walls of the seed yelling “WHY WON’T MINE WORK?!” Luckily i don’t feel like that anymore. It was all part of the growing process. I really wish that I had a mentor back then to offer guidance and encouragement. Now when iI meet young actors who are just moving here, I try to be for them what I wish I had when I first started out.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an actor. The main job of an actor is to audition. Audition, audition, audition. Thats all we do and then every so often we book a job and we get to go play and get paid for it. I would say that I am most known for playing Tab on the show Sugar Highs. I am very proud of Sugar Highs. That opportunity led to me being on the cover of a magazine in Quebec. The entire magazine was in french, so I wasn’t able to read it, but it was still a really cool acomplishment. I’m also very pround of a short film i wrote with one of my good friends called Killer Date. I had never written anything, but we decided to create our own opportunity and we wrote, starred, produced and raised all the money to make Killer Date. It went on to film festivals and got nominated and won some awards. I won best actor at two festivals in our catorgory and im very proud of that.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I have for sure gotten lucky a few times. I remember one time, one of my friends reached out to me asking if i could fill a spot in this indipendent film titled Bully High. one of the acvtors had to drop out due to booking a big modeling job. I said yes, and was able to film it. I told one of my funny friends about how I got the part and without missing a beat, he said “so what you’re saying is you weren’t their first choice.” I also got lucky with my friends wheo are my LA family. they are good people who i can count on and they are also the funniest people I have ever met and we laugh alot. I don’t really believe in bad luck. I think when things dont worj out they way you planned, it just wasnt ment to be and its the universes way of redirecting you to something that is ment for you. it all about mindset. I am very optimistic. Or happily delusional. Either way, i’m very positive.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrgnarlyjoe/

Image Credits
Parker Burr, Gabe Torres, The Social, Lawrence Hall, Erik Anthony Johnson, Christian Cimoroni.