Like many actors, Joseph Looper had a childhood dream of getting into show business. For years, the call went unanswered and remained in the back of his mind. Eventually, Looper decided to stop thinking about his goal and start achieving it, and his life changed.
Today, Looper has used Casting Networks to land his Taft-Hartleys and join SAG-AFTRA, working on top film productions featuring the likes of Jessica Chastain. The actor shared his journey and successes, including how he landed a role in Unstoppable — the upcoming wrestling film produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon — starring Jennifer Lopez, Bobby Cannavale, Don Cheadle, Michael Peña and Jharrel Jerome.
How did you decide to become an actor?
It was something I wanted to do since grade school and I didn’t pursue it, except for a play or two.
I was working as a delivery driver to pay off my student loans and I was pretty much done with the job because I gained a bunch of weight from all the junk food I was eating. I was like, “All right, I’m done with this, getting rid of this car. I’m going to get a temp job somewhere else and just try and pursue this full time.”
I was working on a different gig when I found out about Casting Networks.
You mentioned you were able to get your first union voucher from the Ben Affleck/Matt Damon production Unstoppable through Casting Networks as a wrestler. How did you come across it and what was the audition process like?
While I was in Idaho for a wedding, I saw a listing for a wrestler [for a film called] “Eric’s Way.” The movie [was actually] Unstoppable, produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity and JLo’s Nuyorican Productions. Eric’s Way was likely a code name. I wrestled in high school. I was like, “I still got it, sure,” and I applied for that.
When I applied, I was interested in getting Taft-Hartleys at the time, because I wanted to become union-eligible, and I thought that would help for resumes. In the submission notes, I put, “By the way, can I get a Taft-Hartley?” I lucked out because I asked before on other projects and I never got one, but for this one I did.
As for the audition, there wasn’t one. When I applied for the listing, they asked for a close-up photo, a full-body photo and experience. My experience was four years of high school wrestling. I just sent them photos of me in gym shorts and a tank top.
Editor’s Note: Unstoppable premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and released on September 6 in the UK. The US release is scheduled for holiday season.
One of the selfies that landed Joseph Looper a role in Unstoppable. Photo courtesy of Joseph Looper.What happened when you got on-set?
The first part was a wrestling scene and my partner had never wrestled before, and he was taller than me. If you’ve ever wrestled, I think of it as doing push-ups. If you’re wrestling someone taller than you, think of it as a push-up competition where they’re doing it the regular way, but you’re stuck doing it at an angle.
They’re doing the same moves, they just have to do it like a regular person. But you, since you’re shorter, you have to do it at an incline, which makes it challenging [especially when the other person has never done it before].
You can also think of it like two guys running on two treadmills as a race, but the shorter guy has to run at an incline. We were given five choreographed moves to perform. I got five, he got to do only three because I had the most experience and it looked like I knew what I was doing.
What other successes and high-profile jobs have you booked from Casting Networks?
My second voucher was for Dreams in San Francisco. That was an interim agreement production during the strike [under the production name Dos Lados]. That’s how I got my second voucher.
I was [on-set] with Jessica Chastain and [the production crew] was like, “Who here knows how to drive a car?” I was like, “Doesn’t everyone?” They ended up picking me. I just [had to] pull a car forward. [Jessica Chastain and Marshall Bell] step out of the car and then I reset the SUV.
Photo courtesy of Joseph Looper.What would you say helps somebody succeed on Casting Networks?
Good headshots. Yes, you’ll probably have to pay at least $150, but it’s a business. At the end of the day, it’s show business, so you have to invest in yourself and hopefully you’ll get a return on that investment.
You’re probably not supposed to do this, but if you get put into a special wardrobe on a project, sneak away into the bathroom and take a picture of yourself. Don’t post it [on social media]. If you’re wearing a soldier’s unit officer or whatever uniform and you think, “I look good in this and I already have my makeup done,” just take a photo. Don’t share it, but you can use that photo for other gigs—which does work.
Just don’t take photos that give away the plot. I was on the Michael [Jackson] movie set and some moron snuck their phone in and was trying to livestream it like it was like an actual concert. They had to set up a metal detector because of this.
They handed out cameras with the flash on and one guy got a film reel, stuck it into the camera and loaded it so that it would take actual photos. That makes it harder for everyone else. Also, you have to turn the props in.
What’s the best way to approach an audition, and do you have any audition tips and advice for your peers?
It’s OK if you want to rush setting up all the stuff you need to set up, but take your time when you’re actually shooting. There’s WeAudition, where you can pay someone to be your scene partner over a video. Try to relax, and if you can be off book, be off.
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