Saturday, September 4, 2010

Things I Learned from Joey Lawrence, Part I

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Last week I posted two entries about a Q&A with Melissa Joan Hart. This week I was part of a Q&A with the her counterpart on the show Melissa & Joey, Joey Lawrence. Again, I decided to go with two posts: this first one covers his personal life, other projects, and past shows. Tomorrow's entry will address Melissa & Joey-specific thoughts & ideas.

- he went to the same private school in PA (K-12) the entire time... he'd fly back every 3 weeks as a teenager and whatnot... he never did the homeschool thing.

- he believes that 16-year-olds are "baked," as in, you are who you are going to be. "It's just a matter of final toppings on the sundae." If I was the same me from 10 years ago, I'd be completely different. I would be a pharmacist for crying out loud, LoL!

- he turned down some movie roles when he was doing Blossom because he didn't want to get burned out as a teenager, and possibly get over-exposed and never have work again. One, maybe two of those films turned out to be big hits. ...You know, I personally have never seen Blossom, but it must have been amazing... Joey said he was probably the most successful 16-year-old in the world at the time.

- he's always tried to work hard, and follows his grandfather's advice, "try to make as many of the right decisions as you possibly can."

- I was delighted when Joey said that he thinks "every good dad and husband is part nanny." Excellent forward-thinking! Similarly, it was refreshing to hear him say, in referring to managing the series and his family, "I'm not any different than any guy who's an upstart lawyer or an investment banker or a construction worker or a teacher or anything like that." Sidenote, he also tries to keep his private life private, which seems to be hard to do when you see the crazy tabloids and paparazzi these days!

- he likes to cook. He mentioned his "baked salmon with a little bit of mushroom couscous stuff and roasted cranberries on top," lasagna, spaghetti, grilled chicken. He likes to experiment, as there are three or four things the he makes "awesome," but he's constantly looking for new things to try.

- after doing Billy Flynn for four months in Chicago, he now has "mad props" for stage actors. He knows how draining it is to do eight shows a week, and "it kicked (his) butt."

- one of the several upcoming films for Joey is Havana Heat, which is similar to The Expendables in that it's an action film. He plays a cop. Wesley Snipes is also in it. Another film (which he wrote) is called Mr. Everything, and he describes it kinda as Doc Hollywood meets Sweet Home Alabama (which means it'll be a big hit in my house!). But, as a whole, he doesn't have all of the patience needed for writing.
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