San Antonio-based actor Jonathan Joss
Jonathan, who also played John Redcorn on the long running animated series “King of the Hill,” discussed rumors that parts of “Jonah Hex” had been reshot and gave us a rundown of his upcoming work, including his part in the Coen Brothers’ upcoming remake of the John Wayne classic “True Grit.” He also told us about a couple of local convention appearances he’s lined up.
MU: So, have you seen “Jonah Hex” yet, or like the rest of us, are you just watching the trailers and waiting to see what it’s going to look like?
JJ: Right now, I’ve just seen the trailers. It’s the hardest period for any actor, the waiting. You don’t want to find out that you ended up on the cutting room floor. Especially when you’ve heard that they ended up cutting some scenes and brought in another director to do some reshooting. I was just in a few little scenes, so they all matter. I’m pretty nervous. It’s just a waiting game right now, and it’s driving me fucking nuts.
MU: Is the movie going to do well? Is Jonah Hex the next comic book character to become a big-screen franchise?
JJ: I hope it’s the beginning of a franchise. I hear good things about it, but it’s also Hollywood, so who knows? I’m really excited, though. I‘ve never had my name attached to something that could make $100 million. Most of the stuff I’ve done has been TV or smaller films. So, to have it end up being a hit would be pretty fucking cool. In this environment, nobody’s going to put their money behind something if they didn’t intend on making it a franchise. But I’ve talked to some people who said they haven’t heard about the movie yet or that they thought the trailer looks cheesy or whatever. Who knows how it’s going to go?
MU: Refresh our memory, what kind of role do you play?
JJ: I play an Apache shaman that Jonah Hex encounters. Jonah’s doing his bounty hunting and tracking thing and he literally finds the shaman taking a leak in the woods. I take Jonah down into this cave, then start chanting and dancing and doing this stereotypical Native American stuff and bats fly out at him, setting off this sort of mystical thing. There are a few other scenes where I just kind of float around. The director would say, “Hey, he’d be good in this scene.” Like, there was one where I got to stand up on this sand dune and just look kind of cheesy. At this point, I don’t know how much of that’s going to end up in the film. I’m just waiting to see.
MU: Are you doing in any appearances around town to promote your work?
JJ: I was just at A-Kon up in Dallas. I’m doing the TEXAS COMIC CON June 18-20 in San Antonio, and I’ll be doing SAN JAPAN again July 9-11. I’ve been picking up a lot of these little cons, and it’s been fun. A lot of kids really identify with “King of the Hill.” What I hear a lot is, “Yeah, I watch that show with my parents, or me and my granddad watch that show together.” I guess they kind of grew up on it the way I grew up on The Simpsons. John Redcorn is an appreciated character, so that’s kinda touching to me. It’s real different from Hollywood, where nobody gives a shit unless you’ve just been in a huge blockbuster. In San Antonio, people will actually stop you in the grocery store and go, “Hey, John Redcorn!”
MU: Do you have other movie appearances coming up?
JJ: Yeah, I’m in the Coen Brothers’ “TRUE GRIT” remake, and I’m also in “RED DEAD REDEMPTION.”
MU: What’s “Red Dead Redemption?”
JJ: The videogame. It’s pretty popular right now.
MU: Oh, yeah, right. What are you in that?
JJ: I play a Native American townsman the players can run into. Some kids up at A-Kon were all excited about that game and they asked me where I was in it, and I didn’t even know. They didn’t tell me, and I wouldn’t really know how to play the game to find out. But I think it’s a decent-sized part; it was 2 hours worth of voice work.
MU: So, when is “True Grit” supposed to be out?
JJ: That’s supposed to release around Christmas of this year. I have three words in it. I’m one of three guys that get hung at the very beginning of the movie. I guess to show the injustice going on (in the place where the movie is set), the other two guys get to give these long speeches before they get hung, but I only get to say three words when it’s my turn. I do get to sing an old Mohawk song, which is cool. To even get to work on a Coen Brothers film in a small role is a real honor. Plus, the Coens call back people they work with, sometimes ten years later. I was talking to one actor who was in the “Big Lebowski,” and he had to wait all this time but he finally got cast in another Coen Brothers movie. It’s something that looks good on your resume, to say that you were in the cast of a Coen Brothers movie: Jonathan Joss—Well-Hung Indian.
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Great information. I cannot wait to see Jonah Hex on the screen.
I’m with you, Scott. I was never that fond of the DC universe, but I always had a soft spot for Jonah Hex. When I was a kid, that comic — along with Narvel’s Ghost Rider and Son of Satan — always made me feel like I was reading something I shouldn’t be. Naughty, naughty.
I’d be tempted to put that on my business card too: Jonathan Joss—Well-Hung Indian!
Just saw where Jonathan also played in the “Weird Western Tales” episode of the “Justice League” animated series, as one of my most favorite offensive characters, “Pow Wow Smith.” One more DC comics western and he gets a jelly glass.
[...] have a hand in producing, where had I seen that before? Oh, ChimaeraCon. I had a pleasant chat with Jonathan Joss, who despite hearing how the Jonah Hex movie turned out to be complete crap, was still in high [...]