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to talk to someone on such a high playing
level…. I mean, he really is truly
the master and truly just the director and
just…. He’s a teacher. He knows
everything I think there is to know about
acting. It was amazing just to ask him questions
off set and talk about what was it like
to work with David Mamet; what was it like
to be in some of the first productions with
the biggest playwrights; hear the cast of
actors that he’s worked opposite of;
to see the road he took; to see how he did
Wings for so long and then he was able to
come back and do tons of films in between
and now he’s the main name on his
own show and it’s doing so well. It’s
amazing just to kind of hear what it’s
like and the path. He’s raising a
family as well.
I’m sure
the job keeps him really busy and he makes
a lot of sacrifices. A lot of people don’t
see that. A lot of people not from L.A.
see an actor and you see the big TV shows
and you think, oh must be so nice to just
be rich and do whatever you want, but you
know when you meet them you see the kind
of work that goes into it. When I was on
set Tony Shalhoub never had one really free
second. Every time he was there his assistant
was giving him contracts or some kind of
paperwork to sign. I think they were cutting
together his award reel for the shows and
so many people were asking him questions,
because he’s the executive producer
and he has a lot of responsibility on set
as well.
So
is that what you aspire to? The kind of
success he has?
Wow,
if I had Tony Shalhoub’s career ever
in my life.... yes, please, please know
that I will be the happiest man in the world.
I remember I went to his house and you kind
of walk in and (I’m not sure that
I can say this so don’t post it if,
I don’t know, if Tony says, "no")
but you walk into his home and it’s
beautiful and he has lots of culture in
there and in the far corner on like a Dinner
TV stand in the corner of the house is just
three Emmys and two SAG Actor awards. I
mean I hope one day to even be nominated
for any category of any award let alone
really bring them home and it’s neat
to see just how nonchalant it is for Tony.
I mean, I’m sure he’s appreciative.
I mean your mom and dad and friends all
tell you how great and funny you are and
you know your teachers all support you,
but there’s nothing better than having
an entire acting community, who do what
you do for a living, be able to step up
and say, "You are good. You know what,
Tony Shalhoub, you are great at what you
do. That is the best character on television."
That’s quite the accomplishment to
get that. A pool of your peers get together
and say, "Yes, you are the best,"
apparently for him time and time and time
again. So if I could ever have that, I would
definitely love that.
So
do you think he’ll win the Emmy again
this year?
Do
I think he’ll win again this year?
I can tell you I’ll be voting again
for him this year. Everybody I know at SAG
is going to be voting for him again this
year or they’re going to have to answer
straight to me.
I do
wonder how all the actors make that decision,
because I just wonder how somebody could
not vote for Tony.
Right,
right, right I agree. I think you know politics
have a huge part in it. I’m not even
sure who else is up, but I’m sure
whoever else is up against him, I’m
sure whoever’s on their show, their
crew, their friends, their neighbors will
vote for them. It’s very much who
do you know. Who do you work with, but Tony’s
worked with Sarah Silverman, Deidrich Bader...
you know, he’s worked with giant actors
out here who have a lot of pull and I’m
sure if Sarah Silverman says vote for Tony
Shalhoub a lot of people will just say,
okay.
“Whatever
you say, Sarah,” right?
“Whatever
you say, Sarah. You’re so funny.”
I think
you might have already answered my next
question, but you might have something else
to add. Did you learn anything new from
working on Monk?
You
always learn something new no matter how
minimal the experience is. With Tony, my
gosh, with Tony Shalhoub you just go in
and really learn the respect and the responsibility
that comes with it. I mean a lot of young
talent in this industry, including myself....
You see Lindsay Lohan out there is acting
so.... just stupid and just puting a bad
name and a bad mark on everybody. You see
Paris Hilton and you just see Britney Spears
and all the people see that and think that’s
what acting in Hollywood is like. You sit
down with Tony Shalhoub and you understand
that it’s not like that. Which would
you rather be? Driving the big hot cars
going to the biggest parties in Hollywood
and making an, excuse me, ass of yourself?
Or would you rather really be focusing on
your craft, honing your talent. To win those
awards, well, they don’t just hand
those out to just anybody.
Again,
if I never would have worked with Tony I
never would have met Jamie Donnelly, the
acting coach who is absolutely amazing who
really helped me bring my best foot forward
on the role I’m playing now on this
Hunting
and Fishing film. I’ve booked
my next movie. I leave for Spain the end
of this month. I’ll be in Spain and
Greece for two months with Tom Hanks for
My
Life in Ruins. It’s like working
with Tony really gives you that confidence
of, hey, here I am opposite this huge, huge
actor who’s won every award out there
and if he’s telling me that I can
do this and that I have something special
then it must be true. Then if I can act
opposite Tony Shalhoub, I can act opposite
anyone else out there. You know there really
are no more nerves. He’s really calmed
the nerves that were inside of me as far
as.... and then again acting opposite Tony
you just think, oh gosh, he’ll know
if I can’t do this. I was scared like
what if I say, “hi” wrong? What
if in this scene I say, “Oh, hey,
Mr. Monk” and it’s not believable?
He’ll know and he’ll yell cut
and he’ll stop and talk to me. I don’t
want that to happen.
That
didn’t happen, did it?
No,
no. But working with Tony it really just
brings that whole just wow, I did it. You
know after working with Tony Shalhoub anything
I book now I don’t think I’ll
have that big fear of "Am I good enough?
Can I do this acting opposite an A-list
star? Will this person be comfortable working
with me? I hope I can bring my acting up
to their level so I can keep the scenes
running smooth and everything." You
know, before Tony I wasn’t sure of
that. After Tony, again, he really made
me feel confident that I can do it.
Terrific.
Had you seen the show before you got the
role?
Oh
yeah! Absolutely. I’ve watched Monk
for a while now. I’m a big fan of
the show and it’s exciting to book
a show that you watch. You know it’s
tough when you go out for the auditions
for shows and you're like, "What’s
that?" And they're like "It’s
been on for eight seasons." And you’re
like "Oh wow, really?" If you’ve
never heard of it it’s kind of difficult.
My
mom is a big fan of the show. My grandma’s
a big fan of the show. All my family back
in Florida watch and love Monk. You noticed
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody: it’s
hard to call your parents and say, "Hey
watch me on Disney’s Suite Life of
Zack and Cody."
They’re all tuning in to watch a couple
episodes of me acting with five year olds,
playing with like kids. Kids love the show,
but the parents aren’t too hooked
into it. When I was able to call and say
Monk that was something that people
said, "Oh wow, yeah I love that show
I watch it all the time. You’re going
to be on one of those?" Yeah, I finally
took the next step forward and got a great
show and got a great part in it I hope.
So
your family will all be gathered around
on Friday watching?
Oh,
yeah. Oh, yeah. My mom is going to have
a little get together at her house. My Grandma’s
going to have something as well and I have
a lot of friends set up to TiVo it. I’ve
been trying to do as much PR as I can for
it. I’ve been going on the internet
and sending emails to everybody saying,
"Watch monk on Friday. Watch Monk on
Friday."
The
movie I’m working on now is with Deidrich
Bader, so it was cool to be able to talk
to him and see what his take was you know
on playing the naked guy on the nudist episode.
What
did he tell you about that? Was he actually
naked?
Um,
you know, I didn’t ask that. He said
a lot of it was just dance belt, like a
thong if you will, but I think he did shoot
some stuff from behind.
That’s
what it looked like.
Yeah,
so I’m pretty sure that he did a lot
of that.
Is
he fun to work with?
Oh
yeah, Deidrich is great. I mean you watch
so many movies and you don’t realize
it, but you sit there at the end and you’re
like, "Deidrich Bader. Deidrich Bader
was in that" and "Deidrich Bader
was in that." And you’re like,
"Oh, wow, really?" You sit back
and they're like the best movies of our
era almost: Office Space and Napoleon
Dynamite. You know he played great characters
in all that stuff. Go back to Beverly Hillbillies
where he played the perfect Jethro, dead
on for that character. I can’t wait
to see Balls of Fury when it comes out with
him in it. It was awesome to have such....
being new in this industry I love working.
I love being a part of it, but everything
I’m able to book I really hope that
I can learn something new and I really hope
I can work with an actor that can take me
to the next level. I can feel like, oh,
okay, so this is how Tony Shalhoub does
it and these are the things that he does
and this is what Deidrich Bader does that
I’m not doing right. You know I try
to sit back and listen and watch and take
as much as I can from it.
What
other jobs did you have before you got into
acting?
Everything
from mowing lawns to washing dishes. I didn’t
really grow up in the richest environment.
Right before acting, I was in Orlando and
I worked as security outside of a night
club and I was leasing apartments during
the day at an apartment complex. I took
that job because I knew the apartment complex
I worked at owned the most apartments in
the world, so they had lots of locations
in Los Angeles. I stayed with them and then
one day I said, “Okay, I want to transfer"
when I saw an opening in Woodland Hills.
So I took a job in Woodland Hills and transferred
and that way when I came to L.A. I had a
job lined up. I used to wear a name tag
and lease two bedroom/two bath apartments,
three bedroom/two bath apartments and one
bedroom/one bath apartments.
And
they’re a lot more expensive in Los
Angeles, aren’t they?
Oh,
yes. I went from a two bedroom/two bath
apartment in Orlando paying $600 a month
on the first floor, facing the pool, screened
in porch, all the appliances and everything
to $2400 a month for the exact same apartment.
So I was like okay and of course everyone
is like, oh man you paid so much more and
it’s true. Then in Florida the job
I had I made eight dollars an hour and $35
dollars for every apartment I leased and
in L.A. I made $14 dollars an hour, but
when the rent jumps that high what’s
a couple extra bucks an hour? State tax
and gas everything’s just… it
takes a lot to get used to it.
And
of course I followed all the other actor
steps. I was background. I went out and
signed up with Extras casting, did a couple
extra jobs, and had an Extras manager who
would call me and go, "Jareb, I got
a great deal for you. You can go and stand
in on this football movie. You can be a
football player." And I am like, "Oh,
that’s great." You know, trying
to convince actors that I’m an actor
as well is always fun. But you know you
got to start somewhere and at least being
an extra just gave you the experience of
what it’s like to be on set and hear
a lot of the terminology that they use.
Even if you’re not really working
with Adam Sandler, he’s there, so
it’s not so weird when you see a star
later.
I
did some stand in work for a little tiny
bit. Actually, when I booked my role on
Drillbit Taylor, the Owen Wilson/Judd Apatow
film, I booked the role and got a phone
call from Extras Management asking me to
stand in for myself. So that was a fun phone
call. They’re like, "Hey, are
you free tomorrow because we got a guy that
you could be a dead on match for. You know,
six foot, 225, short brown hair, green eyes….
oh, my gosh. this is you.” And I’m
like “yeah. “And he’s
likes “Well I guess you don’t
need it. Congratulations, man” and
I haven’t heard from him since.
What
do you enjoy must about acting?
The
work, the experience, the long days on set.
I mean I love doing it. I love being a part
of it. I love painting a picture and bringing
characters to life. I love to bring entertainment
to people. I love just seeing a set that
looks like a house that everyone’s
worked so hard on bringing it together.
I love working with actors who are way better
than me, actors that I just learn so much
from. As opposed to like just working some
burger flipping job or washing dishes somewhere
and you’re just there at a dead end
job and every day’s the same. As an
actor you have a new job every project,
every show, every episode in Tony’s
case. You know, one week you’re doing
one episode and you’re working with
one set of actors and directors and the
next week is completely different almost.
It is just so neat how you get to work with
a lot of the same people and how every one
just knows each other. You know it’s
just such a hard industry to become a part
of and it’s just so great when you
get in and you can get in that cipher of
a working actor and get the next gig and
the next job, working with one guy who’s
worked with someone before it’s….
Ah, man I love the work. I love memorizing
lines. I love being in costume and really
becoming a part. I love working opposite
these giant actors and people who I learn
from, take from and just make me better.
It’s amazing. You know the people
you meet and being on set it’s truly
a gift from god to be able to do anything
like this
Anything
you don’t like about acting?
I
guess I hate not working. I hate the time
in between when you’re hoping for
a job. I guess if I had to choose what I
hate about acting I hate that sometimes
it’s not always the most talented
person that gets it. I hate when it’s
the producer’s daughter or the executive
producer’s friend or like when people
just get carried into something on film.
It happens all the time. Sometimes, the
waiting. I’m not a big fan of sitting
around 11 hours and not being used or sitting
around for 12 hours and then not getting
to you. I come to set and I’m just
so amped and ready to go. You know, get
there, get in hair, get in make-up, get
in wardrobe and I’m just so fired
up for the day and then you end up sitting
in a five by five trailer for 11 hours.
That’ll put a cramp on you.
Isn’t
it easier these days to keep yourself occupied
with iPods and stuff like that?
Right,
yeah. It’s definitely easy. One day
on this film out here, I watched three movies.
That’s almost how you keep track of
time I don’t really look at a watch
or keep track of actual time; it doesn’t
matter, I’m on their watch. But after
the third film you’re like wait a
minute I just watched three movies I need
to go for a walk or something ‘cause
this is really not good.
So
professionally is there one thing you’d
like to do that you haven’t had the
chance to do yet?
Professionally
as far as acting I guess, as far as anything,
one thing I’d love to do that I haven’t
got a chance to do, I really want to play
that action hero so bad. It’s just
never going to happen for me. I’m
compared to Jack Black and Chris Farley
like every single day and that’s fine.
I play all the comedic roles and that’s
great, but sometimes I sit there and I look
at Will Smith and I’m like, man! All
those roles he plays like Bad Boys and Enemy
of the State. Just all those films when
he gets to have a gun and he can still make
the fun little jokes here and there, but
he gets to play the big action, jumping
over things, the fighting and gets the girl
and has the epic songs swelling behind him
while things blow up and he gets to do the
slow motion shot in the camera. I would
love to do that some day.
Never,
say never. It could happen.
Aww,
yeah I know. I would love to play a character
like that sometime. So if you know anybody
you can reach me at 818….
And
the film you’re working on now is
that a big budget sort of thing or an independent
film?
It’s
a big budget studio pic. Fox is involved
on it and it is amazing and it’s great.
It’s a huge comedy by the guys who
brought you Epic Movie and Date Movie and
the Scary Movies kind of like those spoof
genre type films. It’s their newest
installment.
What’s
you role in it?
I
play… oh, gosh, how can I say this
without saying it? I actually have a huge
role and it’s my first big, big movie
part. I’m number two on the call sheet
which is quite the jump up from one day
roles on films. I play a warrior and there’s
a huge battle sequence and I’m the
only one that lives and I’m the narrator
of the film. So we’re very excited
about that. When this wraps I’m off
to Spain and Greece to work with Nia Vardalos
on her new film My
Life in Ruins That’s going to
be like a romantic comedy. So I’m
excited about that as well and I’ll
be back to California finally, after leaving
July 25th, November 1st.
So
have you been to Europe before?
I’ve
never been out of the country, no.
So
very exciting for you then?
Oh,
absolutely amazing. Again, not a bad year.
Acting opposite Tony Shalhoub.... Tom Hanks
should be there [for My Life in Ruins] as
he’s the executive producer on the
film. To be in the same room with these
guys which is something that as one of the
writers on Monk, he was asking me, "How
do you like it? What’s it like?"
I was like "I want to be here so bad
and I wonder how good I am." Sometimes
because there’s no real rating, you
just never get the self justification I
think you need as an actor. I was just kind
of talking to him, you know, "I wonder
how good I am? I wonder if one day I’ll
have a career like Tony’s?" He
goes, "Well, you know what, you’re
in the same project with him now. You’re
in the same scene’s with him now.
You’re sitting in the same room. Now
to be in the same room, it’s not a
bad place to be." I’m like, "You
know what, that’s right."
I
did have one other question. Where did you
get the name Jareb?
Jareb
was my mother’s choice. It comes from
the old testament in the bible, so it’s
Hebrew and my mom is from West Virginia,
so there’s no real connection there.
She just liked the sound of Jared and people
were you know really expressive about that
and my mom said you know I just want to
mix it up and she made it a B as opposed
to a D. My dad’s side of the family
was Catholic. Mom went into labor with me
on March 17th so they were trying to get
me named after St. Patrick or St. Michael
or St. Peter, you know, all of the saints.
My mom says that she was in labor with me
for 36 hours and she says that she held
me in so I would not be born on the 17th
so she could name me something else.
And
your last name I’m guessing is a French
surname.
Yes,
the last name is French, Dauplaise. I know
it’s a weird combination Jareb Dauplaise
and a couple people have asked me if I have
any interest in changing the name or going
with a screen name, but it looks pretty
cool on paper and it has a good ring to
it, so I think I’m going to stick
with it. What do you think?
I think
you should. It stands out.
Well,
in that case, we will do it like that.
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