Carolyn Topol Talk had the pleasure of chatting with Jonathon McClendon, who completed his role as Chase Jennings, on Days of Our Lives, last year.  Jonathon shared his excitement, as his most recent movie, Shot Caller, starring Jon Bernthal and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau premiered last week in L.A.  In addition, Jonathon has been working diligently on his music career.

Carolyn Topol Talk:  When did you first start acting?

Jonathon McClendon:  I started acting, I want to say, around eight or nine years old, in Texas. I was acting from there for a little while. I did some independent films and some commercials. I was in a Monopoly World Edition commercial. I think that was one of my first gigs.

CTT:  Have you always done screen or did you do stage too?

JM:  I did stage when I was very, very young. I’ve thought about doing it again. Some of my friends are doing stage. They want to be part of that group that has [the ability to achieve] all the main awards — the EGOT group. They got me hooked on that idea; working to achieve that. I’ve been talking to some Broadway producers fairly recently.

CTT: That would be very exciting! I would certainly be happy to go see you on stage.

JM: Thank you very much.

CTT: I know you’ve been quite busy since you left Days of Our Lives. You did an episode of Code Black that was very well-received and you recently attended the premiere of the movie your were in called Shot Caller.

JM: Yeah!

CTT: Would you tell us what Shot Caller is about?

JM: A ‘shot caller’ is somebody on the inside of the prison system who, pretty much, runs the entire gang inside and outside of the prison. He calls the shots; he runs the show. The film itself is about my movie dad, who is a hard-working man, and is basically just a regular Joe who ends up getting a DUI and then gets sent away. Through a turn of events he’s forced to do things he would not usually do, just to survive being in prison. Once he gets out, he’s too far in to be a part of me or my mom’s life again. There’s scenes that I have with him that are very intense, right after he comes out of prison. He tells us he can’t, and won’t, be around us. It’s a brutal film. If blood scares you, or you are faint of heart, it would be tough to watch. If you want to see an uncensored version of what the system can be like, then you should definitely check it out.

CTT: What genre would you categorize this in?

JM: It’s an action film, but it’s got thriller qualities. It’s terrifying, but in a different kind of way. It’s not like jump-scary; it’s not even really gory — there are just a couple of parts that might get a little bloody. It’s almost claustrophobic. You can feel the main character being trapped with this group of people who will not let him go.

CTT: It sounds like an extremely intense crime drama.

JM: Yes, I would say so. It was my first time seeing it, at the premier, and it had me on the edge of my seat. It was one of the best films I’ve seen.

CTT: So you hadn’t seen the other scenes being filmed prior to seeing it at the premiere? And had you seen your own scenes completely edited?

JM: No, I hadn’t. That was my first time seeing it. I saw some fight scenes on set. I may have this wrong but I think the entire movie was shot in under a month. They were shooting at two locations at a time. Sometimes I would go behind the directors chair and see other scenes being shot at the same time. This film will go to theaters for a little while and then to TV. It premiered at an independent film festival. I do believe that we’ll have a long life.

CTT: At this point will we be able to see it?

JM: Not yet, but in the coming months it’s supposed to make a small run on the big screens and some theaters, and then I’m pretty sure it will be hitting Netflix or other avenues as a TV movie. That’s what I’m hearing. That’s not confirmed, just what people seem to be telling me. Nothing is set in stone, but I will definitely get back to you when I know.

CTT: As you hear please let us know.

JM: Will do.

CTT: I understand you’re also working quite a bit on your music now.  You tease us a lot online.

JM: I do tease a lot, and I kind of want to apologize for it. I’m doing all the production myself. I’m trying to do it all independently — no producer, no record label, or anything like that. That was the plan but I have some things in the works that have made me put my solo EP off to the side. I just want everybody to know it’s going to be a little bit longer because I’ve been talking to a management team about possibly becoming a a part of a group instead of being a solo artist for right now.

CTT: That’s exciting!

JM: I wanted to keep everybody updated on that because it definitely put the EP on hold for a little while.

CTT: Now, if you become part of this group, will you still be doing your own music?

JM: I will. The contracts allow me to do my own solo stuff. The main reason it’s been sent to the side is so I can give my all, and focus specifically on the group, and not have a split focus between my music and the group.

CTT: Will the group be L.A. based?

JM: I believe so.

CTT: Would you be able to write for the group?

JM: Yes, I would be able to write for the group. It would be a very big learning opportunity for me because I didn’t grow up in the music industry, I grew up in the acting industry. I’ve always had a love for music so being part of the band, and having mentors, would really help my understanding of what I’m getting into.

CTT: So you have never been a part of a group before?

JM: No I have not.

CTT: Is there anything else you’re working on now, since Shot Caller is out?

JM: I’m busy auditioning for quite a few projects. I’m starting to submit for voiceover work as well. That industry is getting really big so I’m focusing on that too. Other than that, I’m waiting for the next Shot Caller and Code Black.

CTT: What areas of voiceover are you looking at?

JM: I’m not sure. I have this obsession with Andy Serkis [Andrew Clement Serkis] who does the motion capture for The Lord of the Rings and The Planet of the Apes. He does all the motion capture for those. I’m an actor definitely at my core. The idea that I could play a being that’s not human is the next level of acting. I would definitely be interested in trying that; playing something that’s not human.

CTT: If you could get whatever next project you wanted, without any roadblocks, what would you want it to be?

JM: That’s a really hard question. I feel like I’m still in this young position right now so getting some sort of TV drama series as a regular or principal seems a little far-fetched until I grow up a few more years. I feel like the next thing I really want to work on would be some sort of video game series or cartoon.

I love staying busy — that’s my favorite thing. [Laughs] I love to hop from artsy thing to artsy thing.

CTT: How did you actually get started? Did your parents get you started in this field?

JM: My parents were the ones to get me started, but the idea really came from my older sister. She went to school for acting, set design, and stage makeup. She moved out to L.A. to pursue being an actress. Before that, she had told my parents they need to get me into acting. Then one day, I told my parents that I need to get into acting, and that’s when they decided they were going to. I got an agent within my first month, and booked my first commercial by my fourth month. Within a year, my current manager in L.A. contacted my agent in Texas. They talked about me, and the manager said if this is something I actually wanted to do, I needed to move to California, so we did.

My whole family is now back in Texas, but my sister still lives out here. In fact she only lives a block away from me. My parents stayed in L.A. with me until I was 18 but returned to Texas after that [for personal reasons].

CTT: You’ve done the action / thriller genre, and on Days you played the heavy, and you talked about doing voiceover, possibly for cartoons. What would be your dream genre to work in?

JM: A while ago I auditioned for a show called Rake, starring Greg Kinnear — it was a reboot of a show in Australia that did really well there — and I know I came close to getting the part. I really would like something along those lines. It was a lot of deep work for a young actor, with intense storylines — things that young people don’t frequently get the opportunity to do. For example the story line I auditioned for was playing a 16 or 17-year-old who gets an older woman pregnant. That level of crazy stuff happening in a story and how I deal with it. I prefer that kind of drama.

CTT:  So you enjoyed the challenge of playing where Days took Chase, and making that the best it could be?

JM: I definitely enjoyed the tough places they decided to put Chase in.

CTT: In the roles you’ve played, you take on very difficult performances and hold your own in them.

JM: Thank you.

CTT: Some of your most impressive scenes on Days, near the end of your run, during the hospital / prison scenes where outstanding.

JM: I give a lot of the credit to my TV show dad [Daniel Cosgrove] who was fantastic to work with. We’re very similar in how we approached scenes. When we ran scenes together, he asked if we could do them in a monotone, which I preferred too, so actually, in most of the scenes you saw, that was the first time we put any emotion behind it, and let it happen — all the anger, crying, and intense emotions were completely spur of the moment. We didn’t know what was going to happen when we started our scenes.

CTT: We know you like to do things like change your hair and share the photos with your fans. Have you ever thought of doing any modeling?

JM: Well, I was actually a model for quite a bit of my early career. I was a model with the Ford agency for a couple of years. They dropped their kids division at Ford modeling, and then I went on to LA Models and stayed with them for a while. I really don’t remember the exact timeframe for everything. I ended up leaving there mainly because modeling and acting auditions are very, very different. When I was younger, the modeling auditions really didn’t work with my schedule. But recently I have thought a little bit about getting back into it — maybe talking to Ford again, as I’m not as much of a kid anymore.

CTT: How old are you now?

JM: I’m 20. I’m still a kid but not as much of a kid anymore.

CTT: You do really carry yourself maturely in the parts you play. You have a really broad range.

JM: Thank you I really appreciate that.

CTT: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

JM: Just that I’m getting older, and trying to focus on my craft. I’m doing a wider range of acting, my music, voiceovers, and hopefully modeling as well. I hope to book a lot more work in the  next couple of years.

CTT: We wish you lots and lots of luck, and look forward to seeing you in more projects, and hope you get into the music group.

JM: Thank you so much.

*****

Thank you so much to Jonathon McClendon for sharing his time and his plans with Carolyn Topol Talk.  It was to speak with this up and coming, multi-talented, young actor!

(Photo Credits: Brad Everett Young; Jonathon McClendon)