Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordy Tulleners.
Jordy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story takes us back to a small town in Belgium named Maasmechelen. I grew up in a very supportive and creative environment and from a young age, I was able to enroll in a theater program near my home where I had the opportunity to carelessly play around on stage and dress up. From time to time, the program would force us up on a big stage and we’d perform monologues, poetry, and/or ensemble pieces that we’d written ourselves. The other children and I became familiar with the theater and the magnificent ability to become anything and everything you could possibly imagine. I wasn’t able to understand the depths of true storytelling just yet, but I felt home and that was enough for me.
Over the next coming years, I grew to understand the art of storytelling and felt the beast within myself crave the need to learn more. I educated myself, attended different schools and different programs/workshops, and continued to act in every opportunity that presented itself to me, no matter how small the role or budget.
I remember watching Titanic and being mesmerized with the grandness of it all. At the time, I didn’t understand that it was all carefully put together by set dressers, cinematographers, lighting & editing people and the directing of course. So you can imagine how blown away I was as a little kid. That’s when I wanted to go to Hollywood and be part of the movie magic. Once I graduated high school, I worked for a year, saving money and made the big move to Los Angeles. I will forever be grateful to the people who crossed my path and encouraged me in that decision. Moving across the globe isn’t easy, but it is possible. People often joke that to ‘make it in Hollywood’ you have to sell your soul. Well, in some way I did. I left my family and friends behind, missed birthdays, weddings, and funerals. I couldn’t be with friends and family when they needed me most, and that will forever be the price I paid.
Once in Los Angeles, I started to become familiar with the business side of things: headshots resumes, casting profiles, auditions, agents, managers, SAG, AGVA, and so on. I worked on my accent (and I’m still working on it), made some friends, auditioned and got rejected a lot, but that’s part of the game, and that’s something you have to be ready for. I had to learn that it wasn’t about me, but that it’s typecasting, nepotism, money, productions that got canceled, and so on. You cannot take rejection at heart, but at the same time, give yourself room to grow, to accept criticism, direction and advice.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been able to work alongside music stars Katy Perry and James Arthur; did commercials for Motorola, Nintendo Switch, and Corsair. Got the opportunity to be in some short films such as ‘In Our Time’ which premiered at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and landed a role in the Lifetime feature film ‘American Psychos’. My favorite story, however, is the one where I booked a role in the feature film ‘Monsters of Man’ that was shot in Cambodia. On that set, I made some of my best friends, learned more than I ever could have in any class, and got the experience of a lifetime.
‘Monsters of Man’ is set to come out this December 8, 2020. It’s a story about a group of doctors who get lost in the Cambodian jungle. At that exact same time, the U.S. government drops a secret team of robots in the jungle. Do you get where I’m going with this? Haha. The doctors run for their lives and go through a rollercoaster of insane scenarios. I play the role of Dez, the one doctor who immediately regrets having come to Cambodia as soon as shit hits the fan. Playing Dez was great, he’s a great guy, but also the one you want to just die already through the entire movie… was that a spoiler?
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been a smooth road. I don’t think anyone in the entertainment field has had a smooth road. Nepotism definitely gives you a step ahead in the game, but even then, it’s not easy. You just have to bring some snacks and drinks and be ready. It’s going to be a bumpy road, you will run out of gas, you might even get a flat tire, a speeding ticket, or be pulled over, but at the end of the day it’s about the journey and not about where you’re going. Because frankly, no one knows where they’re going. It’s the sing-alongs and heartfelt conversations that make the trip worthwhile.
My main struggle has been what’s next? It’s the insecurity of not knowing where you might be the following week, but there’s also excitement in that. You don’t know where you’ll be next week, so why not dream big? I’m not even close to where I want to be, but I’m on the right track.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I don’t like to label myself as an actor or model, even though I work as both. I like to see myself as a storyteller. Not a day goes by without me having written, told or acted out a story. Whether it’s my own, a Greek myth or something I saw in a movie or play. I love fashion and the way it changes me into something else, something I wasn’t or perhaps something I have always been, but just didn’t know I was. I love acting because it gives me the unapologetic excuse to do whatever the hell I feel like. Whether it’s something absolutely crazy or something simple and beautiful such as showing your feelings and embracing our humanity. That last one is sadly something we’ve learned to hide so well, even from ourselves. The one thing I’m most proud of is the world inside my head. Throughout the years, I’ve been able to keep that world safe from the outside world – it’s my fountain of youth: the land of endless possibilities that comforts me, yet at the same time keeps me up at night. The wheels are always turning up there.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
One of my mentors once said: “The roles you play as an actor come at the right time in your life. They find you.” I hold on to that saying. There are so many roles I would love to inhabit and play with, but all in good time. It’s the crazy and scary roles, the villains, and strangely derailed characters that I would love to play because they are simply the most fun and exciting ones out there. That being said, being your typical ‘boy next door’ is also fun, but it’s a safer ‘someone’ to be. Someone predictable and often liked. I now want to step away from that.
I played the role of Gregorio in the stage production ‘My Big Gay Italian Wedding’ last year (2019) in Los Angeles and that was one of those ‘evil’ roles. Every rehearsal and performance, I felt that character grow within me. Even when there was nothing for him to do, and he just ‘stood’ on stage, I felt myself looking for all the possible ways I could interfere with the wedding of the main characters and cause a fight. That was fun!
Playing Dez in the feature film ‘Monsters of Man’ (Dec 8, 2020) was also a challenge, more in the physical sense.
I was able to do my own stunts and got a lot of special effects makeup applied to my face and body. In one of the scenes, Dez lays on the ground covered in blood. Keep in mind that the blood is made out of a sugar substance, now add to that a bunch of bugs that live in that jungle, mixed with some of my arachnophobia, haha! But I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jordytulleners.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatbelgiumkid/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordy.tulleners
Image Credit:
Katy Perry, Eva Maria, Mark Toia, Joseph Adivary
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