I suppose before you embark on reading anymore of my rants and opinions, you should know a bit about me. I was raised in a loving middle class family in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. My parents didn't have college degrees, but both worked multiple jobs to provide for our family. My mother is half Chinese and my father was raised in southern Louisiana. Needless to say, I've had my fair share of experiencing different cultures since a very young age. In school I was nothing special. I failed many classes like math and science, but excelled in the arts. I loved sports, but was pretty much your run of the mill average athlete in everything I did. I was a very sweet and happy go lucky kid, but I was a day dreamer. It was also more important for me to be the "Class Clown" in school than it was to actually do well. Everyday to me was another day to try and entertain the masses. This is because I always found school so challenging and hard to follow. I didn't even read my first book until 7th grade. I had been very good at faking and pretending my way through it all.
As I later found out in my adult years, I have Adult ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). It went undiagnosed as a child because I wasn't hyperactive and my parents didn't and still don't believe in such a disorder. Although both would disagree with you if you asked them, I believe my sister and my father also have ADHD. I would like to state that I don't feel it is a disorder as much as it is a gift. Although it can be challenging in careers, finances, relationships, health, and many other things, I wouldn't change it for the world. I believe that my creativity, humor, intuition, response in crisis, and out of the box thinking all are attributed to my mind working differently. As a matter of fact, I have four close friends who are also ADHD and also in the entertainment industry. There are also some other friends who definitely show symptoms of ADD, but it is not my place to run around trying to diagnose others haha.
Oops, looks like I got a bit off topic (Damn ADD haha). So how did I end up here is probably what you need to know about me most. Well.....ever since I was young, the thing that brought me the most pleasure in life was entertaining others and making them smile. When I was sixteen, I was forced to take a Drama class in high school as part of the graduation requirements. Thank god I did because it brought out the best of me. At the time, I went by John Flynn, just your average hormone heavy, goofy sixteen year old kid. I always fantasized about becoming an actor as a youngster, but always felt too shy and unconfident to do so. My drama teacher was a working actress in Michigan named Lane Sabourin. I'm not sure what she saw in me, but she took me under her wing from day one. At the end of drama class, I had received three awards for best in the class. One was for best actor, one was for best comedic actor, and the last one was for best written scene. I had never felt that I was really good at anything until that day. That was a day I'll never forget!
Let's fast forward my story as I could go on forever about my transition. Needless to say I didn't pursue acting after high school (Although I desperately wanted to). I let others decide my path and ended up studying communications at Eastern Michigan University. I took a couple theater classes there, but nothing was quite satisfying enough for me. My lifelong friend Brian (who I've known from school and in an advanced acting class in high school) was my partner in crime. At the age of 18, we both auditioned for a couple indy films, didn't get roles, and our enthusiasm wore out quickly. In our early 20s, we spontaneously went to an open call to be extras in a movie with Ewan Mcgregor called "The Island." That lit a fire under both of us once again, but we soon lost enthusiasm once again. Brian and I were the dynamic duo of wanting to become actors in Michigan. The problem was, there was nothing being done in Michigan at the time. Sure we could've picked up and gone to hollywood, but at the time we lived in the "Real World."
Due to my college experience (and my undiagnosed ADD haha) I had job hopped at rapid rates, racked up high amounts of credit card debt, and partied way too hard. My friend Pawel got me a job working with him at a debt collection company with mutual friends of ours and many of us stayed for a good amount of time. After all, it's very hard to leave a job if they are compensating you very well for your job duties. Sad to say, but I had jumped many jobs from 2000-2010 and most were again debt collecting or negative pressure sales jobs. In mid 2010, I was terminated from a job I had taken with a "For Profit" university for not being able to scam enough low income people into signing up for an overpriced and lower quality education. This is the blessing in disguise! As it turned out, Michigan now had a film incentive and the films were coming in like rapid fire!
So there I was in the beginning of the summer with unlimited career paths, no job, and a lot of free time. I did a lot of soul searching and over and over again my soul would keep bringing acting back into my heart. In January of 2010, I had gotten back into the Acting scene by taking classes, learning improvisation, and performing shows. I still couldn't picture my dream coming true because I was too focused on my 9-5 job. A nice paycheck and a false sense of importance is an evil little trap. Luckily, I had done a couple days of work as a background extra on a movie called "Real Steel" with Hugh Jackman previous to getting terminated by the university. I remembered that they were stil looking for background extras for multiple days for the summer. With nothing to lose I picked up the phone to see if I could get on it. As it turns out, I got more than I bargained for. I worked on "Real Steel" for 28 days over the summer. I also worked on Detroit 187, LOL, and a few other projects being filmed in Detroit. By working on these film sets, directing my first film, and taking acting classes again in 2010, I had found my true calling in life.
So that brings us to where I am today. In february I'm going back to school for Film so I can direct/produce my own projects. This time there won't be any C's, D's, and F's on my report card, i'm aiming for a 4.0! ADD is a superpower in the world of entertainment :). I signed with three talent agencies and just shot my first paid commercial for the 2011 Ford Explorer. I have a wonderful girlfriend of four years who I love with all my heart and who supports me and my dreams. I have so many new friends from the acting business that have become some of my closest and best friends in a very short amount of time. I'm finally living my dreams! All this is possible because I was forced outside of the "Real World" box by getting fired. I could always see outside the box of the "Real World," but was never brave enough to step out of it. Thank you "Un-named for-profit University" haha.
Although I am currently living my dreams, there are other dreams I have for myself. This is my journey and my experimentation on this puzzle we call life. Please join me won't you? I know I've rambled on for a long time and if you made it all the way through, I hope you enjoyed what you read. My future blogs will be short and sweet. That my friends is a promise! If you believe in miracles, positive thinking, the law of attraction, the power of your mind, the power of god, destiny, or the spirit inside you, this blog is for you. Until then......
"Live Your Dreams Today"- Johnny
P.S. Video Blog coming tonight:
topics:
The 4-hour body (How I let myself go physically and how I'm changing that rapidly)
Making and Saving money online (If I can do it, you can too!)
The power of "not listening" (Why it's a must to live your dreams)
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