Rising Star Jason Schmidt On The Five Things You Need To Shine In The Entertainment Industry

An Interview With Elana Cohen

Learn how to judge for yourself: In the healthiest way. There are so many opinions tossed around in this field. Some by bosses you need to listen to, some by the drunk guy you just sat next to at the bar. Learning how to judge for yourself what is true/what is helpful, is so important. Maybe that guy at the bar has something worthwhile to hear. Maybe you need to adjust the wording of a note your boss gave you to make it workable. You know what you need. Don’t be afraid to make that space for yourself.

As a part of our series about pop culture’s rising stars, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Jason Schmidt.

In 2023 actor and singer-songwriter Jason Schmidt can be seen starring as Buddy in Paramount+’s highly anticipated Grease: Rise Of The Pink Ladies. Slated to premiere on April 6, the series is a prequel to the beloved movie musical, Grease. The prequel musical series follows the four founders of the legendary “pink ladies” who dare to have fun on their own terms, sparking a moral panic that will change Rydell High forever. Buddy (Jason) is the golden boy of Rydell High, the quarterback of the football team, the reigning student body president, and the social king. Due to Buddy’s privilege, he sees life through a rose-colored lens and doesn’t notice how the current hierarchy of the school negatively affects his friends and peers. Throughout the series, Buddy will face certain truths and will be left at a crossroads.

In addition to Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Jason can currently be seen starring in the world premiere musical adaptation of The Outsiders portraying the role of Sodapop Curtis. The Outsiders officially opened on March 5, 2023, and is currently being showcased at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. The Outsiders is based on the coming-of-age novel by S.E. Hinton and Francis Ford Coppola’s Motion Picture. Taking place in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1967, the play portrays the hardened hearts and aching souls of Ponyboy Curtis, Johnny Cade, and their chosen family of ‘outsiders’ in a fight for survival and a quest for purpose in a world that may never accept them. Depicting a story of the bonds of brotherhood and the hopes we all hold on to, this gripping new musical reinvigorates the timeless tale of ‘haves and havenots, of protecting what’s yours and fighting for what could be.

A natural-born performer, Jason got his start in acting at just nine years old when he joined the cast of The Hobbit The Musical at his community theatre in Chicago. He instantly fell in love with being on stage and continued to act within his community theatre whilst also prioritizing his studies. Upon high school graduation, Jason began to audition for college programs and was accepted into the worldrenowned theatre program at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. His formal training taught him how to be a resourceful actor but more importantly how to look at the world as an artist. It was there, inspired by those around him, that he began to write music and dance, which has now become equally as important to him as acting, making him a multi-hyphenate and triple-threat talent.

When Jason is not on set, he can be found in the studio, honing his craft as an independent artist. He is a singer-songwriter and is consistently releasing music across all music platforms, and is currently working on an album. In addition to promoting his various music and acting projects across his social media, Jason is also passionate about using his platform to advocate for mental health.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

Oh boy, where do I begin? I grew up in Arlington Heights, the suburb of Chicago where they might move the Bears Stadium. I have a big family, two lovely parents and three older sisters. I grew up a happy kid. Lots of close family and friends. I was immersed in different disciplines from a young age. My parents both loved sports so I played pretty much everything. My grandma taught piano so I learned. My Aunt put on plays in her basement so I was a part of those. I was grateful for the wealth of experiences. Eventually, they whittled down to a few interests in high school and even less now. But, the lessons I learned from the interests I didn’t continue, live in me today. I still look at work ethic like the kid who played basketball for ten years. I still study a piece of music like the kid who learned how to sing in choir class. It all fits into who I am as an actor or writer in an irreplaceable way.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

When I was nine I decided to audition for our local community theater’s most recent show- The Hobbit the Musical. Written by the theater. Set to be three hours long. I auditioned not because of a fiery passion for the arts but because my eldest sister, who had just finished You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, raved about the friends she had made. Flashforward to my freshman year of high school. After spending a few years actively participating in the theater, I decided I was going to quit acting. I was immersed in various athletic teams and thought acting was not my true passion. Then, it was announced, the next show up was Les Miserable. An iconic musical and one of my mom’s favorites. She insisted I do it. Despite my rebellion I lost the battle on the simple unarguable platform “I am your mother and you love it.” I can’t thank my mom enough. In the course of those three months I did a 180. “I want to be an actor now,” I told her. It was the community of future artists around me. I met a director who became my mentor, audition coach, and one of my best friends. I saw how impactful a story could be even if told by a group of high schoolers.

It has been said that mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Let me take you back to the first day of filming for Grease. We were meant to run down the stairs into the locker room and start the scene. I was a ball of nerves. I had made it up in my mind that the pressure was on. The very first take of the very first day I ran down the stairs and I slipped. I went belly up before landing on the floor at the bottom. Thankfully, I was okay, but still a silly, embarrassing moment.

This mistake in itself isn’t a terrible one but it taught me a valuable lesson. It’s just acting. As special and influential as it can be. I want to be fully committed to what I do. Let’s take a step back and remind ourselves that it’s supposed to be fun. It’s art, it’s entertainment. If you enjoy yourself you give your audience permission to do the same.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I just got done closing The Outsiders at the La Jolla playhouse. It was the world premier of the show with a bright future. It was so special to be a part of a project based on a book my dad read to me as a kid. That personal connection goes a long way. I’m also working on more music. I’m hoping to release an album within the next year or so. It will be my first full length album. It’ll be the culmination of my first years as a writer. I can’t wait for people to hear a piece of me through it.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of Failure?

Learning to embrace failure is one of the most important parts of becoming great at any discipline. When asked what my greatest fear was I always said failure. I’ve now realized that being afraid of it keeps you from risking it. And when you are bold enough to risk failing you might also find yourself bold enough to risk vulnerability or risk trusting yourself. Both things require the option of failure but are necessary for creating something special.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it's important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

Diversity in the entertainment industry has culture progressing potential.

1. It gives children of different backgrounds an opportunity to see themselves on screen. See themselves as heroes, teachers, parents. It also gives kids who aren’t from those places or cultures a chance to learn about somebody different from themselves.
2. Diversity of people also means diversity of story, style, and perspective. As an industry we get to experience and learn from the creations of so many. It only betters all of us when we bring more perspectives into the space.
3. Finally, I think art should represent reality. For instance, in Rise of the Pink Ladies we have such diverse plot lines. This came from the research of Annabel(our showrunner) and her team. They interviewed many who went to high school in the 50s and found a wealth of storylines. The distilled versions you now see in our show. Each character and plot represents reality in some way.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

This is repetition, but the first lesson is…

1. Learn how to risk failure: As an actor it can be hard not to fall into the temptation of wanting to plan how you will play each line. However, that tends to leave me stale and frozen. I instead prepare: know my lines and my motivations. Then, risk doing something stupid, boring, cringey- in an attempt at creating something realistic. Most of the time I do make a fool of myself once or twice but when I finally get it, it’s always worth it.
2. Learn how to enjoy yourself: If you’re enjoying yourself it allows the audience to relax and do the same. I recently finished The Outsiders at La Jolla Playhouse. In such a long run of a show(over 60 shows) you find so many ways to get into it. The one theme that every good show shared was- I enjoyed myself.
3. Being 100% you is the most interesting person you can be: That one sounds cliche but it’s deeply true. It can be so hard not to compare yourself to others but the journey of self is the most important one an artist can embark on. Learn to own what you’ve got because it’s what everyone else doesn’t.
4. Have outside interests: Keep yourself full of other hobbies and passions. Be it friends, cooking, a sport, etc… Those are the things that will keep you going when working long hours. On the tight schedule of filming or a stage show sometimes you have only an hour for yourself. How do you maximize that to feel like you’re more than the project you are currently working on.
5. Learn how to judge for yourself: In the healthiest way. There are so many opinions tossed around in this field. Some by bosses you need to listen to, some by the drunk guy you just sat next to at the bar. Learning how to judge for yourself what is true/what is helpful, is so important. Maybe that guy at the bar has something worthwhile to hear. Maybe you need to adjust the wording of a note your boss gave you to make it workable. You know what you need. Don’t be afraid to make that space for yourself.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Build a sustainable network of community and invest in it. Maxwell, who plays Wally on Grease, taught me a lot about self-care while we filmed the first season. We filmed in Vancouver, so, away from both of our homes. Even so, he had this wonderful network of friends and family that he invested in through frequent facetimes and messages. They filled his cup and helped him remember who he was and wanted to be. I realized I had the beginnings of that network with friends and family from home or school. All I needed to do was invest in it. As I have, throughout the past few months, I have found myself much more capable of doing my best job.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Free therapy for all. We all need it. It would help our own lives. It would help the lives of everyone around us.

Real talk though, mental health is a tough one these days. There are so many negatives that weigh on our mental health- social media or the pandemic. If we all took care of our own mind palace. We could take better care of each other.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are truly so many- my parents, sisters, teachers. Today I’m thinking of one teacher in particular, though. Matt Silar is the director I mentioned from Les Mis(fun fact: he was also Charlie Brown in that first show I saw my oldest sister in). His passion for the impact of storytelling is what began my journey as an artist. He later coached my auditions for college programs and his current role in my life is- brother.

Can you please give us your favorite "Life Lesson Quote"? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I have a list of life lessons i’ve learned on my phone(with dates!!) so I’m gonna pick one from there…

“July 28th 2022 kindness and forgiveness are always stronger. No matter what the world says”

-Jason’s phone

Over the past year or so I felt a lot of push to “toughen up.” I’ve always been easy going. It never hurt me very much how others treated me. Recently, there’s been more voices in my life, and in the world, trying to convince me to fight back and hold people accountable. These can be important things but I also think it’s just as important to learn when to use kindness and forgive.

Is there a person in the world, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?

Billy Joel. My icon. My hero. I would bring a keyboard to breakfast. He’d be confused but curious… He’d come out of retirement to write with me. Probably also a chocolate chip pancake guy. So, win win.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow me on instagram at ~jason.s.schmidt~. I also have music on all platforms under Jason Schmidt.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!