Conversations with John Alan H.

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Alan H.

Hi John Alan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The first role I ever played was a monstrous science teacher in a school play in 7th grade called Homework Eats Dog And Other Woeful Tales. I credit this core memory for the life that I have cultivated for myself as it was one of the first times I’ve ever faced my fears. The idea of performing was something that I always wanted to pursue, but I felt horrified to fully lean into these pursuits out of a great deal of fear I held for failure. But because my theatre teacher, Mr. Delach (who also happened to be a science teacher), was willing enough to look beyond my fears and cast an anxious kid like me in my first play, it inspired me to invest my life in the performing arts. Theatre, film, television, commercials, immersive experiences, no matter what role I earned in whatever medium, these are the things I’ve steered my curiosity and fear towards as they’ve always taught me the greatest lessons in acting.

Always be prepared. Be there 10 minutes early or even earlier. Make the boldest choices and show up with many ideas. And if you’re scared, then you can do it scared.

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?
My college acting professor, Jackie Apodaca at Southern Oregon University, once taught me that pursuing an acting career is a lot like hiking a path through a deep and dark forest at night. Everybody’s path is different depending on how the moonlight shines through the trees. While a clear path lights up for one person, the path may remain dark for another, but then eventually lights up in another direction for the other person, a direction that’s not always meant for the person prior. No actor’s career path is exactly the same. While you might audition for a role in a room with actors that look exactly like you do, the light’s only going to shine for one of you, and then shine elsewhere for who knows next. The actor’s journey can be a bit depressing at times, especially when the path is dark, but how beautiful is it to work towards finding the light? I try to remember that when I feel I’ve been in the dark for awhile, eventually the stars will align with a path that’s meant for us.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve played a lot of creatures, monsters, demons, zombies, and other oddities for film, television, theatre, and immersive experiences. From prosthetics, to suit performance, silicone masks, body paint, fake blood and all sorts of SFX makeup, playing these roles is my specialty. Sometimes I get to play regular roles, but I feel the most fulfilled with monsters.

There’s a story told of Haruo Nakajima when he played Godzilla for the first time in 1954. Many folks involved with the production were nervous for how the film would turn out and be perceived. Instead of facing the screen at the premiere, Nakajima faced the audience. He thought the children in the audience all looked bored to tears when the human characters were talking, but as soon as Godzilla emerged from the ocean and stomped his way into Japan, their eyes lit up.

I’ve been lucky in my career to see eyes light up in the roles I’ve played. From children I’ve worked with on set or during live immersive experiences, to audience members reacting to my roles onstage or onscreen, watching people’s eyes light up to your work is the most rewarding part of the job.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
There’s a family who runs Dave’s LA Kettle Corn that I’ve known for 5 years that I met when I first started working as a scare actor for the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride back in 2019, their daughter (we’ll call her Herscha) is a huge fan of my crab walking clown character, Herschel. She was about 3 years old when I first met her. My job at events like this is to scare forward, I’m supposed to move on to the next guest after each scare. However, when I scared Herscha, she started crying. I didn’t want to leave the interaction with tears, so I decided to stay and try to make her feel better. I got her to laugh the tears away, and then she followed me around for the rest of the night calling me her new best friend. She comes back to Hayride every year to see her friend Herschel. In 2024, she came back to Hayride dressed up as Herschel a few times. Herscha is my favorite fan of mine as it has always been a joy to see her eyes light up to Herschel.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.johnalanhulbert.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellojohnalan
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@johnalanh.mp4
• Other: https://linktr.ee/panophobium1

Image Credits
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride