Joshua Rush is a face you undoubtedly recognize thanks to his numerous television commercials and big screen appearances in films like “Parental Guidance” and “Saving Lincoln” and now, “Break Point” You may also know him from his voice work in films like “Mr. Peabody & Sherman”, “Escape From Planet Earth” (where he voiced the younger character to William Shatner’s adult character) and tv shows like “Heroes” or the animated “Family Guy”. Newest to Joshua’s resume are voicings for “The Adventures of Puss in Boots”, “Clarence” and the upcoming “The Lion Guard”. Joshua is everywhere, and deservedly so. He is talent and personality personified. But perhaps more important is that the 13-year old still has all the youthful exuberance and playfulness of a non-acting/non-working kid, especially when you talk about carnivals and rides as we did during our recent sit down interview.
Talking with Joshua is a rare treat. Well mannered, polite and well spoken, he is also a young man on the move with very definite goals for his life and career. His boundless energy and enthusiasm is infectious and genuine while with the mere mention of bringing a smile to this critic’s face on watching “Break Point”, he himself lit up as he animatedly talked about the film at hand. “I’m really glad that I can make you smile. It was a really fun movie to shoot. . . This kid marches to the beat of a different drum and it was a lot of fun playing this really, really different kid. I got to tap into this part of myself that I think we all really have, but that we kind of keep checked in to ourselves. Barry was a lot of fun because I just kind of got to LET LOOSE and have a lot of fun on the set.” But as Joshua reflected, it was clear that the character of Barry is a character close to Joshua’s heart. “There’s a lot of Josh in Barry. I think I don’t keep this very Barry part of myself in check very well, but I didn’t really have to think about that on the set. I got to really let this Barry part of me HOWL! I got to be this flamboyant, different kind of a little crazy character and it was So MUCH FUN because it was really different from what I’ve had to portray in the past.”
So just how does a young actor with a diversity of talents find signature roles like Barry? As with most actors, it starts with the script and audition inquiries coming his way. “It will usually go to my agent or my manager and if they want to submit me for it, then it goes back to the casting director and the casting director will say ‘Great, we want to see this kid.’ From there it goes back to the agent and then over to my dad. Then my parents will look it over and they’ll be like either ‘Um, we don’t want Josh playing this’ or ‘Yes, we want Josh playing this.’ Then it will come to me and by then everybody’s weeded out all the bad [scripts], so I get these really great scripts. And I’m like, ‘Awesome! Let’s do it! Let’s go out there and I’m gonna give it my all and hopefully I’ll get this part.’ If I do, sometimes I get to play a really sad kid or a really mean, scary kid or sometimes a kind of crazy, kind of fun kid like Barry. . .But, by the time it gets to me, 99% of the time it will be a good movie or show or whatever it is.”
Surprising is the depth of Joshua’s knowledge and involvement in not only the casting process, but in his understanding of the business and the industry in general. “I’ve done a lot of indie movies and I really like indie movies. But I go out on these studio movies as well.” And then there’s television. “I think if I had to pick two [mediums] that were the most similar, it would be tv and film. In tv there’s so many varieties. You go from sitcom tv to mini-series tv which is almost like movies.” But when Joshua turns to talking voice acting, you can see the thought process shift with a palpable tacit relishing of the challenges voicing presents. “It’s very different because you have to use your voice to portray this character. In voice acting it’s really interesting because I don’t actually end up seeing myself. I only hear myself. But I do get to see myself in the way that these animators at these big big companies, Dreamworks, Disney, Cartoon Network, whatever, these really talented people take my voice and turn it into this character and that’s what people see. They don’t think about that kid who spent 4 hours in a recording studio with headphones on and had to massage his ears afterwards. They don’t think about that. They think about what’s in front of them and that’s really cool to me about voice acting.” Surprising even himself, Joshua chuckles, noting, “That’s one thing that’s always really amazed me because I do that, too! I’ll sit there for a little while and I’ll get in to one of my shows and then I’m like, ‘Wait a minute! That’s me! Whoa! What’s happening right now?’!”
One thing that Joshua has in common with “Break Point’s” Barry is fashion and comfort. The most casually well-dressed and comfortable among his “Break Point” co-stars Jeremy Sisto and David Walton at the film’s recent press day, Joshua describes himself as being “very fashion forward. I like wearing my nice La Miniatura. Their clothes are amazing. And I love wearing them because their clothes are really soft. Even now, when I’m dressed up I feel like I’m wearing pajamas, to be honest with you. . .Everything’s so soft and thin and light.” And Joshua feels for some of his fellow actors when it comes to clothes. “I know a lot of actors who wear these really starchy and itchy clothes. I’ve known actors who always are scratching themselves because even though they look great, they don’t feel great. I look great and I feel great!” And he does!
Delving deeper into the gift or meaning of acting for the 13-year old, as he spoke, it was impossible not to think of his parents who have clearly instilled a great sense of gratitude, humility and pragmatism in this young man. “Acting is this incredibly stressful job. It is hard. It’s really hard. For every thousand no’s you get, you might get one, maybe two, yeses. But those one or even two yeses are the most incredible feelings in the world. It makes my day. It makes my week so much better. It is the most incredible experience to be able to get this one yes and every no that I get makes that next yes a hundred times more powerful and exciting.”
Although Joshua has already fielded a few no’s in his career thus far, the one “no” he hopes to never hear involves his dream role. Bond. James Bond. “I wanna play James Bond! I want to be the next James Bond! I fan girl over every James Bond movie ever because it seems like it would be such a cool part to play. He’s this suave ladies man who wears great clothes and drives a cool car and is a secret agent. . .James Bond is like the ultimate, cool guy.”
For my money, the ultimate cool guy is Rush. Joshua Rush.
