Exclusive Interview with Actor John Marshall Jones
He’s done it all: movies, TV series, guest appearances, voice acting…Is there anything John Marshall Jones can’t do?! He loves working with children, but he’s also worked with distinguished Academy Award Winners (and is an accomplished theater actor in his own right, with prestigious awards of his own). Never one to slow down, John talked with us about his various current and future roles.
You’ve certainly had a prolific career—my scrolling finger got tired while reading all of your roles on IMDB! What would you say is your favorite role to date?
“‘Crazy’ Terrance was by far my favorite role. He was the paranoid schizophrenic genius of The Guest at Central Park West. He was tortured and brilliant, victimized and unapologetically violent. Finding the humanity inside a character like that is always a challenge. Coming face to face with what’s in you that’s just like him is a frightening experience, but it prepared me for the role of Pickle in the upcoming SUNDANCE series, Rectify. One thing leads to another, right?”
Tell us about your role on “Bosch.” How did you prepare for the role?
“Special Agent Jay Griffin is the head of the joint FBI/Homeland Security task force that is investigating possible terrorist infiltration of our borders. He is doggedly determined to personally protect his family and to serve the country as a whole. He is deeply committed to this mission. He and Harry Bosch butt heads when Bosch’s murder investigation crosses over into the FBI investigation. Both are strong willed, and neither will give an inch. Both have chosen the moral high ground, and that choice allows them to do some questionable, possibly immoral things. It’s a fascinating study in masculine morality and how, unwittingly, we can place those around us in harm’s way.”
You also are in two other shows, “Rectify” and “In the Cut.” When do you find time to sleep?
“Between takes.” [Laughs]
When you’re not acting (rare as those times may be), what activities do you enjoy?
“I like to stay physically active, so I spend a lot of time in the gym, followed by bar-be-quing in my backyard, followed by a nap. Wash rinse repeat.”
If you could bring back one of your former shows or films and reprise that role, what film or show would you like to see returned to the screen and why?
“I like to see a reprise of The Smart Guy to see how the kids grew up. I think Marcus and Moe would be captains of industry (T-shirts), Yvette an internet billionaire, TJ working at 7-11 with 3 baby mamas. Fun times!”
With your role as Admiral Raines in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, you’re sure to be a hit with the nerd/geek community; do you plan on attending the con circuit to promote the game?
“Actually I do. Just waiting for the game to drop. “
How does voice-over acting differ from acting with a cast that you can interact with? Would you say you have a preference for one over the other?
“I definitely prefer traditional acting. Voice over often times has you at a microphone by yourself. One of the things I love most is interacting with actors on stage and seeing what we can come up with together.”
Aside from “Bosch,” “Rectify,” “In the Cut,” and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, where can we look for you to appear in the near future?
“I just finished principle photography on my latest film, The Last Revolutionary, by multiple award-winning writer Levy Lee Simon and directed by Emmy award-winning cinematographer Michael Brewer. It’s an amazing story about, Jack Armstrong, a traditional conservative suburbanite whose world is upended when his radical revolutionary past is revealed by Mac Perkins, a lifelong friend who’s bunkered down in the same apartment from the 1970’s, still waiting for the revolution to jump off! (TheLastRevolutionaryMovie.com).”