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Joseph Vassallo is not yet a star in Hollywood, but few Maltese actors have gone as far as he has. Vassallo has guest starred in highly acclaimed Television shows, such as the prominent sitcom on ABC, ‘My Wife and Kids’ opposite Damon Wayans, ‘Diagnoses Murder’ with Dick Van Dyke, ‘Alias’ opposite Jennifer Gardner and the highly acclaimed drama ‘The West Wing’ with Martin Sheen. He has also co-starred in some very good movies opposite some very talented people like Brittany Murphy, Ashton Kutcher, Rodney Dangerfield, Damon Wayans and Jason Alexander to mention a few. Vassallo lives in LA but keeps Malta close to his heart. Julian Manduca caught up with him last week.
What inspired you to act, any family inspiration?
My bug for acting came way back, when I was just a young kid maybe twelve in age. I was visiting the set of the ‘Midnight Express’ where my father was making some extra money for the family. I remember seeing ‘Brad Davis’ getting beat on his feet with a wooden stick and the screams were haunting. But when the director yelled “Cut,” everything stopped and went to normal as if nothing had happened. They would even laugh after some takes. I thought that was off the chain and cool. I said to myself, “I want to do this too.” So a week later I decided to go join the Manuel Theatre in Valletta with the motive to learn how to act.
Could you tell us something about the early years of your career?
I lived in five different countries and travelled around the world eleven times while working on the luxury cruse liner the QE2. In the mid 80’s I moved to New York to pursue acting. I didn’t know a soul when I arrived… In my studio apartment in Manhattan I had no refrigerator during the first winter but I didn’t bother much. I would hang my meats and frozen items outside that little window in a plastic bag and believe me everything froze like stones. Summer was a problem so I had to buy the box. I would wait on tables at night and go to acting school in the morning. When I did plays I would reverse my shifts so I could rehearse and play at night. I was in a circle of good friends, struggling actors. We didn’t have much but we didn’t complain… It has been a tough road but I am grateful for everything. Those early days during my travel and in New York gave me the skills to persevere in the harshest of times and to cherish each blessing.
Which have been your most important roles in theatre?
I have done a lot of theatre and I loved every play I did, some of course more than others. For instance while in New York I was cast to play Rodolfo in the Play, ‘A View from the Bridge,’ written by one of my favourite writers Arthur Miller. It was a story about an Italian immigrant Rodolfo who was living in New York, hiding illegally. A great love story! I was the real thing. Back then I thought no one could play Rodolfo better then me because I was living in his shoes at the time. So it became personal and I made it personal.
Are there actors you admire?
Last week I was sad to hear that one of my mentors in my craft had died. Marlon Brando was and still is one of my mentors because he was an original. He was unconventional as a man, as an actor and artist and was not afraid to be different. He defined what a great actor is and I believe he changed American cinema as we know it for ever. I admire others like James Dean; he was spontaneous, raw and unpredictable, just like Marlon. I love Robert De Niro for his commitment and creativity in his work and for how much he is willing to stretch himself in a role for instance the weight he gained for Jake La Motta in Raging Bull. Pacino, Hoffman, Hopkins, O’Tool, these are all great actors and their work continue to inspire me to walk in their shadows as an artist.
What is acting adding to your life? Could you imagine doing something else?
Acting has taught me a great tool and that is to listen. One thing we as people don’t know how to do sometimes. See, I believe that we have a problem with living in the present or as we call in our craft, in the moment. Our brain is either living in the past or in the future...there are many monsters that live silently inside of me and acting allows me to bring them out every now and then or pay them a visit and take a walk with them. The stage allows me to express myself and just be and it is all legal at the end of the day no one is going to arrest me for no one is getting hurt.
Could I imagine me doing something else….? Teach! I would love to teach.
Do you prefer TV/FILM work to Theatre?
Look, theatre is the real thing. I believe every actor should do at least one play in their career. The experience is different from any TV or film work you’ll ever do. You are starting something from scene one and you go all the way to the finish in front of a live audience. Once that curtain goes up, there is no turning back. It is scary medium but comes with a great rush..
I like sit-coms because like theatre many times there is a live audience. But most of all I love film. Film gives the actor the leisure time he needs to rehearse, develop, improvise, etc. If you make a mistake or not happy with a take you can always do it again. It all depends on the budget, schedule of the film and the director. It is usually fun.
Did you ever have to prepare for a role in ways that affected your physical appearance or mental state? Can you tell us something about these experiences?
How can I forget ‘A Hatful of Rain,’ a great play I did in Los Angeles, which was written by Michael J Gazzo. He is the one that played Franky in the Godfather.
In this play I played a heroin addict ‘Johnny’ a war hero and prisoner of war. I did this play, oh….I think around 1991. The thing was I never did drugs in my life so how in the heck was I gonna play a character with such luggage. I did extensive research on the drug and visited and was able to film some addicts with their permission. One of the things I noticed that they had lost a lot of weight and were mostly skinny. I was about two hundred and thirteen pounds and six foot four inches tall at the time I went down to a hundred and seventy two pounds. I was skin and bones. Then I had another problem…. I didn’t know what a rush felt like. I heard someone on TV say that it was like downing eight tequilas in one shot and jumping into a cold swimming pool and float. That was exactly what I did. It worked! This was personal to me because I am anti-drugs and I had to show the bad consequences of it which are interpreted through the character.
Does your work have a political aim? Alternatively is your aim be to present something artistic or to entertain? Is it a matter of mortals trying to achieve the immortal?
When it comes to politics I am neutral. I don’t have a political aim, no. Ultimately my aim is to take the audience through my journey and give them a great experience. I hope with my work I am able to inspire, teach and entertain with laughter and tears of joy or sadness. After all that is what we try to achieve and that is to move somebody’s heart and arouse emotional feelings. I strive to take the audience through the journey with me. The immortal thing, I don’t really care about that, it’s not my thing. I just hope that while I lie asleep six feet under somewhere years from now, my grand children will watch my work and say with a big smile, “That was my grandpa.”
What are your future plans?
I am looking forward to raise my four year old girl, Tiana. She holds my heart in her hands. I look forward to show her and teach her the things I learned in life. I would like to do more travel with my wife Ronni and our child. I thought of taking up painting for fun or learn how to play the piano.
Professionally speaking, I enjoy writing. I have written about a half a dozen screenplays and a pilot for TV and recently I was hired to write an epic film and a book that I am still working on. After playing Mr Rococco on ‘My Wife and Kids’ there has been some keen interest in me having my own sitcom on TV by some executives. So I am anxious to see what happens with that. Presently I am working very hard on bringing a film production here to Malta. This romantic drama which I wrote is about our culture, our people and our soil. This project has been seven years in the making so far. The location of Malta won’t be a stand-in for France, Greece or Rome, but it will highlight our beautiful land which I love so much!
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