Heroes in Business - Jason Stuart Actor, Birth of a Nation, Entourage, Comedian, Author Shut Up I'm Talking

Episode Date: September 26, 2021

How Barbara Streisand changed my life. Actor, Comedian, Author Jason Stuart appeared in Entourage, Vegas Vacation, and wrote the book Shut Up I'm Talking is interviewed by David Cogan Founder of Eliances and Famous Host of the Eliances Heroes Show broadcast on am and fm network channels, syndicated online.  

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Eliance's Heroes. Eliance's is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Eliance's. That's right, and there's nobody else you should be listening to right now except me. And the reason being is because we unlock the secrets of our heroes, entertainers, business people, and so much more. Later on in the show, we've got Griffin Thal.

He is the co-founder of Pura Vida Bracelets. What happened? Well, he ended up selling it to Vera Bradley for $75 million. And later on, we're going to have Ferenc Toth, financing expert, also an Alliances member. So you're going to be able to reach and listen to him about some of the incredible secrets in regards to investing. But let's get started with our next hero. That's right. All right. First of all, you're going to go and you're going to see him on our website at alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. Because when you see a picture of him, you're going to go, I know that guy from somewhere. Well, of course you do, because he's been in a gazillion different movies, TVs, and so

much more. He's an actor, birth of a nation, and author. Are you ready for this? Shut up. I'm talking. And you can reach him at jasonstor.com. Jason, welcome to the show. First of all, I just saw recently, too, a clip online where you played opposite Keanu Reeves and other actors. Tell me about that.

And also, too, I saw you give him a big hug on stage. Wait, wait. Well, I'm also a comedian, so I tend to not know where the line is. But sometimes Keanu Reeves and I were on a show called Swedish Dick. I was a guest star and he had an arc on it. And he was so sweet and so kind. And he was actually nervous when we did the show. It stars Peter Stromar, and you've seen him in all the Coen Brothers films, and he's in John Wick and all. He's an incredibly prolific character actor, really prolific with a lot of incredible studio films.

And I was offered that after Birth of a Nation, playing this sort of mafia congressperson. And when we were rehearsing, I said to Keanu, I'm going to hug you here. And he says, great, let's go over here and work it out he was like a little nervous because he's used to working in movies that he's not really used to working in um on television where everything is really really fast and then he said i have no place to stay can i stay at your house he's been at my house for almost a year and a half it's really weird wow well you i mean i'm

kidding i'm kidding i was gonna what's so funny is every time I say that about Keanu, people believe me. You know what? They're going to start knocking on your door. They're going to say, where is he? What are you going to say? Well, he's yeah. I mean, who knows? That's awesome. He's got his motorcycles out front. Right. That's awesome. I mean, and you also, too. OK, so you talked about I mean, you're an actor, also to a comedian and stuff. Talk to us about the transition of being able to do both and

being so versatile in so many roles i mean the thing is is jason you've played how many different roles first of all how many different roles well according to imb db it's close to around 150 but it's really a little more probably 160 or 70 but you know what's interesting because there's a lot of things didn't get on there my early days but you know, because there's a lot of things that didn't get on there in my early days. But, you know, what's really interesting about all of that is that's the way I was trained as an actor. I was trained to be a character actor. My favorite actor is Dustin Hoffman. And, you know, when I was aureen Stapleton, J.W. Walsh, Paul Giamatti, Steve Ushimi.

That's why I love those guys. And when you grow up being a gay guy in the 80s and no one lets you work and no one lets you sort of come to be yourself as a person, I didn't have this voice. I didn't have this gravitas as a person. I was just trying to figure out who I was. So I always feel like I'm catching up and I'm still, you know, trying to get to the point where I can be offered those kinds of roles. I've been lucky with a couple, but you know, I hope there's still some more for me. Oh, I'm sure there's a ton. And after they listen to this interview, there's going to be even a ton more. You know that, right? Because you're listening,

you're listening to me, David Kogan, host of the Alliances Hero Show. Make sure you go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com. It is the only place where entrepreneurs align, and we have with us Jason Stewart. You can reach him at jasonstort.com, or of course we'll have it on our website, E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S.com or of course we'll have it on our website eliances.com so Jason just so people know it's called s-t-u-a-r-t stew art so people know not the other way right got it Jason stew art stew art that's right you know what here's the thing Jason shut up I'm talking coming out in Hollywood and making it to the middle.

Now, talk to us about that because you decided to write a memoir. Why? Well, a year ago, I had been on Facebook doing some social media for a movie that I was doing. And I'm sorry, it was around two years ago now. And Dan Duffy, who had been a producer on a show that I had done quite a bit when I was touring called The Stephen D.C. Show, hit me up and said, hey, you know, I wrote this new book called The Half-Life about him having cancer and how he survived it. And I immediately bought it, read it, was so touched. And then I actually called him and I said, this book touched me so much, the writing and just the way you told your story.

And it was like you were speaking. And that's what I want my book to like. I wish I could get somebody like you to help me write my book. And then he'd say to me, I'd love to. And I thought, oh, my God, well, I guess I have to write it. And so we started working together. He lived in St. Louis and I live here in Los Angeles. And we did it over Skype.

And I would tell my stories. He would write them down. Then he'd send them to me, then I'd rewrite it, then we'd rewrite them together. And it took around a year. And then I got, and then I just called everybody I knew. And I said, I have a book, you know, how do I get it published? And I called everybody I knew, my friend Richard Weiss, who's a comedian, turned me on to this publisher called CCB Publishing in Canada. And they said, Oh, yeah, we've been fans of yours since we saw you at the Montreal Comedy Festival. And we were a big fan of the movie, one of the movies.

I can't remember which movie it was that he liked so much. And I said, great. I said, I'll send you some stuff, and I sent him a couple chapters. And he said, I'd love to do this book. And then it came out in June, and I've been doing PR for it since and a couple we will be for the next year and the title came from I was going to be called I'm not Barbra Streisand but then the publisher said you know she's gonna have a book coming out next year she could sue you I said great great great

PR great PR he said no no that's not what you want. And I called my mom. I said, Mom, let me use that title. And I have this whole forward about how I want to see Funny Girl as a kid and how she changed my life. It's so positive. And she goes, hey, she said, well, this is what I think. I said, Mom, I'm so sad. I said, well, this is what. She said, shut up.

I'm talking. Wow. Oh, man. And that's how I got the name of the book. Jason, what kind of advice do you have for children that are out there that want to get into the acting? I mean, everybody looks at Hollywood as being the most glitz and glamorous. And I mean, the ones that, you know, trying to break into it and stuff like that. And, you know, a lot of kids, right, watching all this TV and stuff.

They're like, oh, yeah, this is definitely what I want to do. What's some of the secrets, though, to be able to break into it? I will meet kids all the time. They'll say, you know, they'll say, this is my life i must do this it's for me god waved a wand over my head and said that i should be an actor you know and i said what have you acted in they said oh school plays and qdc i said well okay you know i said there's a couple things first if you really want to be an actor you have to learn your craft and you have to go to class, and you have to find out whether you really want to do this. And a lot of – there's two things.

There's a lot of people that see what's in front, and they just want to be in show business. They love the entertainment business, but they only can see the actors in the film or the TV show or the stage play that they're watching. And they don't see all the hundreds of other people. I remember Nate Parker said to me on Birth of a Nation, there's 400 people that made this movie. And, you know, so there's lighting design people and stunt people and writers and makeup and art direction and casting and writing and directing and producing and a grip. So there's a million jobs you can do

in the business and still be a part of. You may not have the talent or the wherewithal to do it. And I will quote my gal, Barbara Streisand, in an article I read, and I'm paraphrasing it. A good friend of Barbara's said, hey, I have this niece who wants to be an actress. Will you speak with her? And Barbara said, yes, of course. They meet, and the girl says to Barbara, do you think I should be an actress? And Barbara says, no. And she says, why? She says, well, because if you have to ask.

I believe it has to be something that you have in your soul that you have to do. For me, it's like this lover that never stops calling. I mean, there's a part of me that just so many years wanted to quit. It was just so hard. What it does to you emotionally as a human being, the way people, you know, treat you because you're not pushing a product. The product is you. Right, right.

And for a little gay Jewish boy who grew up in the Hollywood area, you know, it was just sort of, there was no place for me. And people would tell me to my face that I needed to do something else. Wow. And they did for years. And even as I get older now, they decide that you're too old to do this, you're too this to do that, or you're TOO. There's always a TOO somewhere. And I just kept showing up. My dad always used to say my dad was a Holocaust survivor and he wasn't in the dead camps, but he

was in the internment camps and he was locked in ghettos for years. And he said to me, when you go to the interview, what you should do is you should wear a tie. Let them know you mean business. And what I took that to mean was be your best self no matter what and keep showing up. That's awesome. That's what I try to do in his memory. He passed away seven and a half years ago.

Well, Jason, definitely be yourself and you're definitely being yourself and being your best because you entertain and give the voice to those who want to talk. That's a hero. Jason Stewart. Make sure you go to Jason Stewart dot com.

That's Jason S.T.U.A.R.T. dot com. This is David Kogan with the alliances. And when we return, we're going to be interviewing Gryffindor. He's got over two million followers on Facebook. David Kogan with alliances.