It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
No, not Christmas. Fan Expo! A time where numerous interests collide into a big, geeked-out convention of happiness and excitement. This year, The Magazine got to sit down with J.P. Manoux of THE EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL, PHIL OF THE FUTURE and more as he chats with us about his experiences as an actor and his upcoming projects.
The Mag: So how did you get started and decide that this was the career for you?
J.P. Manoux:I was always interested in making people laugh, even as a little kid. I entertained my family by doing impressions and impersonations of other famous people. I ended up doing some children’s theatre and when I was in high school, I did funny assembly announcements in front of the whole school. One of my teachers recommended that I go to Northwestern University, which had a really good undergraduate theatre program. That was when I became fascinated with improv and sketch comedy.
I ended up working on commercials, small guest star roles on sitcoms, smaller parts in big movies, bigger parts in small movies and bit by bit, it added up to the resumé I have now.
The Mag: If you had to pick between films, TV shows, commercials and all of that, what would you consider as your favourite project to work on?
J.P. Manoux:I really like multi-camera sitcoms. That’s like… WIZARDS OF WAVERLY PLACE, or HANNAH MONTANA, or THE SUITE LIFE OF ZACK AND CODY. There’s an audience laughing and watching it- it’s like improv but with TV cameras. That’s my favourite because I love it when there’s an audience and I like to hear it when people laugh.
The Mag:Who would you consider your role model or inspiration?
J.P. Manoux:These days, I’m trying to do more dramatic and scary stuff so I hope to do more projects like Christoph Waltz. Christoph Waltz is the bad guy in a bunch of movies these days and I love the way he plays his characters. They’re funny but also genuinely scary, and I’d love to be able to do more stuff like that. But right now, I’m doing a comedy on CTV called SPUN OUT. I’m very lucky because I get to work with one of my idols, Dave Foley.
The Mag: And other than SPUN OUT, what are some new projects that you’re working on?
J.P. Manoux:Other than SPUN OUT, I recently filmed an episode on Nickelodeon’s THE THUNDERMANS so watch out for that! Also, there’s a new show that’s going to be on Amazon but it’ll only be seen online- that show is called TABLE 58. It’s a show about kids in high school…
The Mag: I’m getting PHIL OF THE FUTURE throwbacks from that one sentence already! By any chance, are you going to be playing a principal?
J.P. Manoux:I am a vice-principal again, yes. But it’s very different from PHIL OF THE FUTURE and it’s got a very different premise. I think the readers of The Mag would love to watch this one.
The Mag:Now let’s talk a bit about another type of acting that you do. On THE EMPEROR’S NEW SCHOOL, you do voice-overs for Kuzco. How do you like voice acting, and what’s the difference between traditional on-screen acting?
J.P. Manoux:What’s strange about voice acting is that usually most voice actors go in and perform alone. You go in and do all of your lines for the episode and that’s it. You never get to meet the other cast members that you’re doing scenes with. In editing, they put all of that together and then they animate it. It’s fun to do all different takes of my lines and see which ones they use, but I never get to meet my co-stars. But what makes up for it is when I finally see the finished episode. It’s a total surprise for me because I had no idea what other people are doing or how it’s drawn. I’m usually delighted to see the finished product, too!
The Mag:What’s the weirdest, most memorable experience you have while working on set?
J.P. Manoux:Very recently on SPUN OUT, The Kids in the Hall, which is Dave Foley’s old sketch group, had a reunion on our show. We had all of them as a guest star on the show. And because I’m a very huge fan of The Kids in the Hall, that was very memorable to me.
The Mag:Do you have any advice for aspiring actors or people who want to get into the entertainment industry in general?
J.P. Manoux:Take it very seriously. Do your homework and see it as a real, valid career choice. Don’t be attracted to the idea of being famous because there’s two different parts to it. There’s the art of acting and performing and there’s the business portion as well. So do your homework!
Thanks a lot for your wise words, J.P.! Don’t forget to catch him in THE THUNDERMANS and TABLE 58!