I recently had the opportunity to exclusively interview Jon Gormley about five random facts about himself, what goal does he hope to achieve before the end of the year. Plus what inspired him to be an actor. Check out my interview with Jon Gormley below:
Loryn: What inspired you to become an actor?
Jon: Growing up, my brother Chris always wanted to be a filmmaker. He would borrow our father's Sony Camcorder Hi8 and start writing stories and filming them, and it was my job as the younger of the two, to be the actor and bring to life whatever he told me to do. My mother is also a huge theater buff, and would regularly take us to see local plays and musicals. Between the two I knew I wanted to get into the cinematic/dramatic arts in some capacity. When I got to high school, I started participating in the theater department and did a few shows here and there. Looking into colleges, I felt a film degree would probably be more sensible, and lucrative, but having a strong theater department was a must for me in my decision.
Loryn: What's a goal you hope to accomplish before the end of the year?
Jon: The industry has slowed substantially because of Covid, there's no doubt about it. This all started back in late February/early March, so about 7 or 8 months ago. I think a lot of people, including myself, found themselves with a lot of free time that we usually aren't allotted. I wanted to use that time to create some of my own content. I've done this in the past, before YouTube and the first wave of webseries' really took off, and with very little success (this was back in the early 2000's). So in March, I started making a short, quarantined-based series called "Lockdown" on my YouTube channel, which was a lot of fun and helped pass the time, but I wanted to make something more substantial that I could add to my body of legitimate work.
Loryn: Who is an actor/ actress you'd love to work with?
Jon: Harrison Ford. Hands down. I wanted to be Han Solo and Indiana Jones so bad growing up. Who wouldn't? If you actually look into Ford's journey as an actor, from where he started to where he is now; it really is the true testament of perseverance in Hollywood. I remember my mother Barb sending me an article a few years back where he was interviewed for some magazine. He was asked the question (and I paraphrase), "What does it take to be an actor?". His response (I paraphrase again), "Perseverance. Stick around and eventually you'll be the only one left and they HAVE to give you the role.". I think it's a tough pill for young/any actor to swallow: success doesn't happen over night. I mean, it can, and in this industry luck is everything, but take Harrison Ford for instance: he was damn near 40 before he got his big break, and he's our modern day Humphrey Bogart. If you can't believe in that, what can you believe in?
Loryn: What's something new you've learned about yourself during the pandemic?
Jon: I learned to slow down, and appreciate that down time. Los Angeles is such a rat race 24/7. We all need time to make ourselves a home-cooked meal. We need time to sit down and go through that stack of books we've been meaning to get to. To exercise, to reconnect with old friends, to "stop and smell the roses". The pandemic has been terrible, and it affects us all. And this isolation and abundance of time is maybe what we all need to appreciate the little things we tend to forget, because we never have time to catch our breaths.
Loryn: What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
Jon: I'm from Philly, and I'm the biggest Philadelphia sports fans you've ever met... but I secretly love the Dodgers. World Series Champs! Let's go!
Stay updated with Jon Gormley by checking out his acting credits:https://resumes.actorsaccess.com/jongormley .