Conversations with Jason Konopisos-Alvarez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Konopisos-Alvarez.

Hi Jason, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

I grew up in Sugarland, Texas, after being adopted by my maternal grandparents. I was born in Virginia Beach, VA, where my grandfather worked for the government for 29 years before retiring to Texas to be closer to family.

From a young age, I loved film and telling stories, and I grew up in a very loud, gregarious, and funny Greek family. Despite my love for film, the idea of ever being an actor never crossed my mind; it was always something reserved for “people out there”—people somewhere outside of my world.

The Early Lessons in Performance

The first time I ever tried out for anything was a musical in elementary school. I remember being paralyzed by fear while auditioning and was shocked when I got the lead. I was so proud. Then, somehow—I must have been in a fog (I was in 1st or 2nd grade)—I simply forgot I had a play until dinnertime. We were at Pizza Inn, which was a big deal for my family. We were about to order when I remembered I was supposed to be in a play. We rushed over, and my teacher said I had been replaced. I watched from the back in tears.

I didn’t audition for another thing until my freshman year of college, which, again, was not a good experience. Growing up, I was painfully insecure and filled with self-loathing, yet there was always this longing to perform. After another bad experience, I internalized it as “fate” or just my inadequacy to chase such a dream. The college audition for a student play was essentially “playing house”—the students didn’t know how to get the most out of the actors, and I didn’t know that my lack of preparation was part of my imminent failure. I showed up and sat in the audience, as instructed, and everyone auditioned in front of everyone else. When I got to the stage, I was absolutely melting. They said “go,” and I was like, “Go what?” They asked if I had the sides, and realizing I didn’t, they gave them to me. Cold reading right there, without prep or context, was painful. To my young mind, I thought, “that was just the way it was.” It seemed too painful, too daunting, and too unattainable to pursue.

The Philosophical Pivot

Fast forward: I finished my studies at university in Existential Phenomenology (yes, really!), which I had no idea would so perfectly set me up with skills for a career in writing and acting. Furthermore, my professor, Dr. Scott Churchill, introduced me to a world of indie and arthouse movies that truly lit a fire inside of me for a dream of film.

Despite this, I had no plan or even a thought of going to New York or Los Angeles. It seems that things just appeared. The first step was a friend convincing me to try stand-up comedy, and I instantly loved the part where I made people laugh. I didn’t love the world of comics, the politics, or the hustle required. The scene at the club where I started was not collaborative, inviting, or fun—it was very sad, depressing, and a mean clique. When you are young, you get these ideas: “this is how it is” and “this is how it will be.” I didn’t really have a mentor, and while there are a million acting schools, finding the right one that helps you blossom is very much a glass-slipper kind of situation.

Breaking Illusions and Finding the Craft

My first actual job in a film came out of sheer luck, and it helped show me that a lot of my conceptions were false. MTV had begun doing a series of movies of the week, largely shot in Houston. I was told about an audition for a movie about MC Hammer’s life story. I went in, and the director didn’t have me read or do anything; he just said, “Yeah, he will do.” I only had one line, but I realized that what was truly holding me back was not that I wasn’t a good actor, but that I was a terrible “auditioner.”

The next sort of milestone was in 2002 when I was asked to take a small role in Scarface’s music video, “My Block.” I was a huge Geto Boys fan as a kid, and the experience was impactful because Brad (Scarface) was very kind and sort of destroyed this illusion that stars/performers were some “other” entity rather than just people. With those two realizations, I started working on my craft, doing short films, filming myself, and watching every movie I possibly could.

All the while, my grandparents were getting very old, and I refused to think of pursuing LA or NY, as I felt they needed me more than I needed to pursue my dreams.

In 2007, I got my first real taste of Hollywood when I was cast in a small role by Mike Judge in the movie “Idiocracy.”Poetically, this first booking would also teach me a lesson about Hollywood, as the film that meant so much to me was shelved, which was devastating, only to go on to be a huge cult classic success. Around that same time, I also got roles in “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” and several indies, and I produced my own feature starring Charles Durning. It wasn’t a great film, but for the little money we did it for, I am still proud of it—it was my own film school. Funny story: around the same time, I got two different auditions for indies which I will forever regret passing on: “Paranormal Activity” and “Primer.” A huge mistake! Not that I would have gotten them, but who knows? Then again, maybe I wouldn’t be as grateful or happy for the life I have now.

The Long Grind and the Breakthrough

My first venture to LA was prompted by Mike Judge offering me a role on “King of the Hill,” which was a dream come true. Shortly after, in 2009, I moved to LA full-time and proceeded to not work for like 10 years. I exaggerate, but I hardly worked, and I didn’t really audition that much either. A lot of fear, doubt, and despair crept in. I had a long-time agent who told me that no one wanted to see me, that I was too old, and every other cliché you could imagine. I honestly was close to giving up.

The first real blessing came when my dear friend Roger Cross introduced me to Peter and Sandie at AVO Talent, who in many ways (if not all the ways) saved my career—for that, I will be forever grateful to them. COVID was very rough for most in the industry, and again I found myself questioning if I should make a late-life change.

Then, 2023 changed everything. We were heading into yet another strike, maybe a week out. When I say I was low, I was really, really down. Despite that, everything changed in an instant. My agent called and informed me that I had been cast as ‘Shockwave’ in “Transformers One.” Immediately, things really opened up with other bookings for James Gunn in “Creature Commandos” and as ‘Ferro’ in “Eyes of Wakanda.”

Around the same time, I was cast by Alejandro Montoya Marin in “The Unexpecteds” with Matt Walsh, Alejandro de Hoyos, John Kaler, Francisco Ramos, Chelsea Rendon, and Gerry Bednob. Not only am I so proud of my role and the film, but moreover, the family I created through these wonderful filmmakers and actors. I think that is what it sort of comes down to for me: when I was a kid, I always wanted to go to summer camp. Films are like summer camp, and I just couldn’t love the process more. I feel every film I do; I find myself making more and more really beloved friends. I have really embraced this as fuel to help get rid of the low times in the business.

Recent Joys and Future Projects

Recently, I was really blessed with the opportunity to work on a pilot titled “Maria Goretti” for a new, very powerful series called “Rewritten,” created and produced by Ira DeWitt. The pilot was directed by Billy Barnes, a documentarian acclaimed for his series “Origins,” who is so talented and moving into narrative storytelling. The experience of the shoot was really beautiful and inspiring. It was a challenging role, and I made a lot of personal, deep connections while telling a story that I think will be impactful and really help people. I wasn’t originally supposed to play the role, but things just work out the way that they are meant to.

Finally, my most recent joy has been working with Jammal Lemy, an amazingly talented filmmaker, on his film “Elvis is Dead,” which was a dream come true to play Elvis Presley and the most challenging role I have ever played. From the low of the lows to the highs, the journey—the struggle, the pain—you sort of learn that it is part of it all, and you learn to not let it hurt you but be a reminder to focus on the good.

Alright, 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?

No, I would say it has not been a smooth road. There have been times that were very smooth, but sometimes I feel like it’s extra hard in this industry because when the smooth times come, they are unbelievable, and it sometimes makes the harder times even harder to deal with.

When you don’t really have an in to the industry, it’s a hard industry to break into. When you hear people who say that nepotism didn’t get them anywhere, I don’t think they realize how hard it is even just to get simple meetings when you first come to LA.

I remember hustling ahead of time and getting a meeting with a big agency. I drove all the way to LA for this meeting and was sitting in the lobby when I could see the receptionist calling me. She was checking if I was there because they had to reschedule. I was like, “Yeah, I’m right here! I’m like 20 feet away from you.” She rescheduled for the next week. I stayed in town and spent a bunch of money. Again, I got to the office, and they rescheduled. At that point, I knew that they were just blowing me off. With a wicked sense of humor, part of me just kept coming to see how many times they would do it. They did it like three more times until they finally just stopped returning my phone calls. I always thought: why even schedule me in the first place?

You have to deal with egos, perceptions, and everyone’s own motivations, and that can be tough. Also, no matter how good you are, it doesn’t mean you’re going to get the role. To really break out in the industry, you have to be lucky enough to get that one role that shows your talent to its full degree, unless you make it for yourself, which is a whole other difficult thing.

So, in general, it hasn’t been easy, but what you learn is that the struggle is very much part of it. And, not to be cliché, but the artist’s pain and suffering is necessary to a degree to truly appreciate, I think. I will say that surrounding yourself with like-minded, loving creatives will make all the difference on so many levels. I am so blessed to make friends that help me survive, and most of all, my wife Tara, who is my collaborator, an amazing artist and person—the best person I know without four legs and fur.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

Wow, that’s such a complex question. If you want to generalize, I’m a storyteller. If you want to hyphenate, I would say I’m a comedian, actor, voice actor, writer, director, producer… I just love connecting, telling stories, maybe making people feel, evoking emotion, sometimes educating.

That sounds pretentious, but I feel like what people don’t often talk about is emotional intelligence, and I feel like, in a lot of ways, movies and TV educate—or at least they should educate—us as a society on emotional intelligence. As far as what I like to do in film, it’s comedy, drama, and everything in between. I just love stories, and I love telling them, especially with people that are like-minded.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?

Wow, another great question. I would say do a lot of self-introspection and find out what you’re doing this for, because it’s not an easy thing. I mean, for some people it might be easy—maybe you’re like Brad Pitt or related to Steven Spielberg, or maybe you’re amazingly beautiful. But even for the most talented people, I mean, right now there are probably amazing actors who are just sitting in their apartment wishing they could get auditions.

So, just because you’re the most talented doesn’t mean anything, and you should remember that. If you’re not getting the auditions, it doesn’t mean you’re not talented. It’s just an industry that’s, you know, like what they say about diamonds in the rough. You don’t see diamonds that often just lying on the surface; people have to dig for them.

In this industry, you have to dig down and find your most profound talent, and then somehow, you need to get in front of people and hope that they have the taste to appreciate that talent. How many artists were not appreciated until after they were long gone because people just didn’t have the taste or the palate for it yet, or they didn’t get in front of the right person to get them out there?

If you love doing this, if you really, really love acting, just do it. Do theater, do student films, do anything. Don’t get complacent. Don’t just sit there waiting for somebody to discover you in a drugstore, because it just doesn’t happen like that. You really have to be out there creating work that gets work.

Don’t get focused on the money, because it’s not about money. Very, very few actors will ever be big moneymakers. Focus on what makes you happy, and if that’s connecting with people and telling great stories, then you’re on the right track.

Pricing:

• The Unexpecteds film by Alejandro Montoya Marin out on VOD now!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1539884/?ref_=tt_ov_dr
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason_konopisos/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/konopisos
• Twitter: https://x.com/jasonkonopisos
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thelupodcast

Image Credits
Cover Shot – @mdanielsphoto