LA BREA’S JACK MARTIN ON PLAYING JOSH, ACTING, AND RISING TO THE OCCASION
BY IRVIN RIVERA
Jack Martin may have fallen deep underground to a giant sinkhole in NBC’s LA BREA, but in real life, he’s always rising to the occasion. Rising star Jack Martin’s inspiring story from pursuing acting, to social media fame, and booking a major role on a major sci-fi TV series is something worth reading. It may sound like a familiar tale, but it’s all on Jack’s unique journey and perseverance to get to where he is right now.
Jack’s performance on TV provides a lot of promise to a star on the rise. While his social media content gives you a glimpse of his comedic, fun side, his LA BREA character Josh, shows range. The charming actor is definitely someone worth watching out as Hollywood’s emerging actor.
In this exclusive interview Jack Martin tells us about his acting journey, booking LA BREA the challenges and the highs on filming the show, social media, dream projects, movies, and more.
FASHION STYLING: JORDAN SHILEE, GROOMING: JENI CHUA @EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS, PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT: MARK ASUMA, STYLING ASSISTANT: JADE HURTADO
How have you been since you booked La Brea?
I feel like I've aged about 30 years in the past. It’s just a really, really crazy ride for me. This has all happened so fast. Literally, my entire acting career and anything connected to it happened during COVID. I graduated college December 2019, I was class 2020. I graduated early. And then all of a sudden, my TikTok account blew up, and then I moved to LA and then I got signed by an agent. I booked La Brea in February of this year, and six months later, all of a sudden, now it's the number one new show on TV. I mean, it's just like, I can't believe things can happen this fast, you know? Yes, it's really just insane. It was so many things at once for me because obviously, it was my first big acting role but also it was a confirmation that I'm actually going to be able to do this for a living. It was also my first real job. I mean, I've had internships and I had jobs at coffee shops and stuff like that. But, like living on my own and going to new country, it was just like a million different things for me at once.
That's amazing. Congratulations.
Thanks man, thank you.
All of this happened to you really fast. And to be able to say that your passion is your profession, that's really great.
I'm so, so lucky. It's the most like cliché actor thing ever but I'm so grateful for so many people- this just would have been completely impossible without them.
Now, going back to the show, how is it to play Josh, and what's the best part about playing his character?
I love playing Josh. Josh's storyline is great. He's placed in a situation which kind of requires that exact ability you need when you have to really grow up fast. He has to grow up in this stripped away environment. I mean, he's in the wild and there's animals running around, and there's all kinds of new threats where he's forced to really find out who he is.
You guys filmed in Australia and the landscape there is beautiful. Now let's talk about the challenges that you faced during filming, and how were you able to rise above these challenges?
It was an opportunity of an absolute lifetime to be able to do that and to film in Australia. And you're right, the landscape is incredible and it was just the most amazing thing ever but you make a good point, there were challenges too. I think the toughest thing for me was just being separate from my family and friends too. I'm just really close with my family. And that was the longest I've ever gone without seeing them.
How long were you gone?
I was there for six months and I hadn't seen my parents for nine months, because they weren't able to see me in LA because the vaccines weren't out yet and so they weren't able to travel. So that was a pretty big gap for me, they weren't able to visit because of the restrictions in Australia and it's an 18-hour time difference. And the joke that I would make is that it was always 3am for somebody because that was really how it felt. I feel like somehow it was just always the middle of the night. You’re not only separated, it's also hard to even keep in touch with people.
The only thing I was doing at all was the show. I would film, we'd be on set all day and then I'd get home and everyone's asleep when I would be texting or calling. So, I'll just go on walks and read my lines and read the script. I've never been so focused on one thing so much in my entire life. I mean, for six months straight, it was literally just Josh and La Brea all the time. Which I think is good, right? I hope that it made my performance better. I think it's good to be focused, but I've definitely never experienced anything like that.
You did a great performance.
Thank you.
You fell on this huge sinkhole on the ground, went to a new world, a new dimension and then you got sick... that was crazy. You did a good job.
It's insane. Thank you. What's funny is I think the biggest thing that prepared me for it was the fact that I got a kidney stone when I was in Australia. I had it on the first week I was there, which was wild. I literally just moved there and I was in an Airbnb. I didn't even have a place yet and I went to the ER, it’s the worst pain that I’ve ever felt in my life. It was like method acting- because on my first episode, I get bit by a wolf and on the first two episodes, I'm just spending all my time on the ground writhing in pain. And I've never been mauled by a wolf but I have to imagine it's a pretty similar feeling. Because it was right there in my side around the abs, there's just brutal pain and literally that's what I was thinking of in all those scenes.
Wow, that's crazy.
Yes, right?
What is the most memorable moment for you throughout this whole process?
The most memorable thing is probably getting the call to know that I booked the show. If that wasn't the happiest moment of my life, it was top three. I never really cry about anything and I was absolutely tearing up when that happened. That was the culmination of so many things for me. When I decided I wanted to be an actor, I was too embarrassed to even tell my friends about it because I didn't know what they were going to say. I mean, all my friends in college went on to really classic corporate jobs. They worked on Wall Street and stuff like that and just had a really kind of curriculum approach to life. It made me feel like I couldn't even have this conversation with them, I couldn't look these people in the eyes and be like Hey, I know you're going to work here on this huge job in Manhattan but I'm going to see what happens and try to be an actor. I had been living with this deep uncertainty for so long where I was just questioning myself, is this ever going to happen? Was this stupid? Was this crazy? Am I just going to be couch surfing throughout my life? Is this ever going to work out? And getting that call was like, oh my god, it's really happening. Just in one single moment like that.
Obviously the whole thing has been crazy since. another thing crazy is seeing myself on a billboard- that is pretty insane. But the call, knowing that it was going to happen in the first place. I don't know if I'm ever going to have a moment like that again. It was so wild.
What do you think is that pivotal moment for you? Aside from that call, of course, that made you really say that, Okay, I'm going to really pursue acting fulltime?
It's tough because I don't know if there was any one moment. One thing that I do look back on that is pretty wild to me is, I remember talking to my mom and one of my friends, and we were sitting there talking about what I wanted to do as I actually didn't know what I wanted to do with my life back then. This is like halfway through college. And they're like, well, you seem to really like acting, I think you should try to be an actor. Don't you want to do that? And without hesitating, not even a thought given to it. I was like, of course. It just came from the gut.
It wasn't even something that I had to think about. But I was like, but I can't, it's impossible. The odds of being able to pull that off and have a real career- they wouldn't even show up on a percentage scale like 0.0001% or something, it's not even worth trying. And that is something I literally think about every day. I was that confident that this is what I wanted to do with my life that when asked if this was a it, I didn't even have to think twice but I still wasn't going to do it because I didn't think I could. Which is just the most depressing thought ever, I think. I try to remind myself of that day that I'll never do that again.
But here you are, you here right now doing it.
Yes.
What is your dream project?
This was definitely in some ways a dream project for me. I've always been a fan of action and Sci-Fi and stuff. I loved Walking Dead, I watched that whole show. I read the comics and stuff. I really liked Lost, I loved Stranger Things. I liked Heroes and it was on NBC. Just a big fan of this genre and a lot of the heroes that I have, I really like Tom Cruise. I think there's something to be said about the artistic value in making hits. I like some more specific things, like Succession is probably one of my favorite shows on TV but I think there's something to be appreciated about things that are made to appeal to everybody and are meant to be these big smash hits. And that's what La Brea is, I think. I think it's meant to be something that, it's not trying too hard to send a message or to be about some really specific topic for a certain demographic, it's meant to be something that everybody can enjoy together and just have this classic event television with action and fun and I think it does a really good job at that. So being able to do that is really cool. I would love to keep doing that genre of big action, sci-fi kind of projects. But I think down the road I'd really be open to anything. I think it's really fun as an actor to dive into a role and really immerse yourself in it and there's a lot of things that I would love to do. I mean something like Succession that's like high finance kind of drama. I'd love to do comedy, I just think it'd be really fun to be on set for that and I love comedy.
Now speaking of shows, because you mentioned Succession, which is a great show. What are your top three movies ever that you always go back to?
I've always been a bit of TV fan than movies, although I love both. And I think my favorite shows are Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad; I love Succession. Those are kind of the dramas that are the tops for me. There's a lot of comedies I really like, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Nathan for You, South Park, lot of really good classics. With movies there's a pretty good range, I tend to lean drama with that. I love Good Will Hunting, it's one of my all-time favorites. I love Top Gun and Gladiator and I know those aren't the most academic film school answers, but I love those big action films.
They're fun. Gladiator was fun. I watched it when I was younger and it was great. I enjoyed that movie.
Right? What's not to love?
Now, let's talk a little bit about social media.
So how was it when you first started on TikTok and now that your account is blowing up and you have a lot of comedic stuff in there? One of my favorites is when you were imitating the shark tank people, that one was really funny.
Thank you. Yes, that was a crazy ride. I was never ever, ever, ever expecting that. Like I said, I was already trying to do this before TikTok and I was sort of an elitist about it. I was like, I'm never downloading TikTok. That's for kids to do shirtless dances, I'm never getting that app. And I just kind of reached the point where I was like all right, whatever, I'll get it. And I had this moment that I remember so well, where I suddenly realized I was like, oh my God, this is just a platform where I can make anything. I don't have to be dancing in slow motion, I can do anything I want. And then I just -- there's a lot of jokes that I already make with my friends, like the Shark Tank stuff, that's a joke I would make with my friends. And being able to film that and do it and put it out there and people can actually see it was so exciting. I mean, what I love about TikTok is, it's really just about the quality of the content. I mean, you can have a million followers and a video can do really poorly, you can have zero followers, and the video can go viral if it's really good. It's actually about making stuff that you believe in, stuff that you care about, that people want to see. Which is just the rarest thing ever, I think. When I first started it was definitely a little tough to put myself out there. It's not really something you realize, because I've always considered myself a confident guy and I think other people would too. But when you're actually filming yourself, trying to be funny and posting it on the internet, where all your friends can see it, it's kind of a different ballgame and I think it would make a lot of people uncomfortable. It made me uncomfortable.
How did you get past that feeling?
I just had to keep going and kind of put my head down and not think about it. There was one video I made, this was so funny to me, you can see the analytics on your videos, right?. And this was when I was first starting. It had 15 likes, and 60 shares. And I was like, oh, so all my friends from college and high school are sharing this video with each other and making fun of it. That was pretty funny, but I just had to kind of keep going. I love doing it too much that while that thought crossed my mind, at the same time, it wasn't strong enough to overcome my love for doing it.
Final question for you Jack, if you were a book, what book would you be and why?
That's a great question. I have to feel like it would be a Sci-Fi fantasy book, right? I think one thing that I've really come around on is, I used to look at life as like all stats and data. Like what are the odds of this happening? How likely is this or I shouldn't do this because the chances of it are too low, always looking at it through that lens. And that was why I wasn't doing this, this is why I wasn't following my dreams. It's just because I was literally looking at it like a numbers game. And I was like, Oh, well that can't happen. And I had to fully shift the way I look at everything, to start thinking of it as well. There are some people who make it, why not me? And to stop thinking about the numbers and odds and just thinking about whether I want to do this or not. Do I love this? Do I believe in myself? If the answer is yes, then the chances are a 100% and that kind of mindset I feel like is a Sci-Fi fantasy story. That's like The Lightning Thief that I would read when I was young.
It's a universal story that can inspire a lot of people you know, it's inspiring. It sounds very Sci-Fi and kind of out there but stories like those are what creates heroes in real life.
I love that. If it can inspire even one person, that would mean the world to me. It's pretty amazing.
