While we all can wear many hats, not many of us can transition those hats as with as much sincerity and conviction as John Hoogenakker- especially on stage and on camera.
With a mosaic of colorful accolades, John Hoogenakker has been blessed with being able to turn a plethora of film and commercial projects into gold with earnest character portrayals. Jumping from genre to genre with talented ease, Hoogenakker has achieved household notoriety as the whimsical King with the Budweiser commercial catch phrase “Dilly dilly “to more serious toned characters such as his famed role as black-ops CIA operator Matice in the hit Amazon series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”. Among his best performances are “A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas,” “Public Enemies” opposite Marion Cotillard and Christian Bale, USA’s “Colony,” STARZ’s “The Girlfriend Experience,” and Fox’s “Empire”. In the realm of commercials, there is depth and variety which made Hoogenakker a familiar face in the homes of the millions. His credits in this arena include work with Pepsi/NASCAR, Baskin-Robbins, Avocados of Mexico, Hyundai, voicing campaigns for McDonald’s, BMO Harris, Nintendo, Tyson and Sears, and a stint with Robert De Niro for Santander.
Dopesick”- a Hulu Limited series, Hoogenakker’s latest work, will showcase his tenacity and ability to dive into a complex character in a pivoted series which captures a serious public epidemic in America- the opioid crisis. Premiering in October 2021, Hoogenakker will star in “Dopesick” opposite Michael Keaton, Peter Sarsgaard, Kaitlyn Dever, and Rosario Dawson. The series is based on the New York Times bestselling book by Beth Macy, “Dopesick”. Viewers will be taken inside the struggle in the United States with opioid addiction from varies viewpoints including the executive C-Suites of Purdue Pharma, to a small, economically challenged Virginia mining community, and to the inside offices of the DEA. Hoogenakker excellently portrays his character of Randy Ramseyer, an assistant US Attorney prosecuting the infamous and ongoing Purdue Pharma case. “Hoogenakker is no stranger to strong roles within the Hulu family of series most recently he starred in the Hulu mystery series “Castle Rock” as Carl Wilkes, opposite Lizzy Caplan.
A native Charlottean, (born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina) Hoogenakker knew his calling to perform as a young man. His early introduction to public performance showcased his talents – he was a two-time state and district high school debate champion in Humorous Interpretation. Following his dreams, Hoogenakker earned a spot at The Theatre School at DePaul University, in Chicago. Stage performances grabbed his interest and he appeared in many of the city’s illustrious houses including The Goodman, Writers' Theatre, Court Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and the renowned Steppenwolf Garage. His multi-faceted approach to theater performances ranged from Chris Smith in Tracy Letts' Killer Joe to the role of Hamlet at The Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Moving into other areas of the country, he was applauded with phenomenal reviews for his performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York as the tragic alcohol-addled Willie Oban in the acclaimed remounting of “The Iceman Cometh,” alongside Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy. A memorable and treasured first on-camera credit was the 2006 feature “Flags of Our Fathers,” under the esteemed direction of Clint Eastwood. Hoogenakker truly embodies the tenacity and drive as he utilized all realms of his acting portfolio to step into the spotlight.
As a native Charlottean myself, I loved the opportunity to take a glimpse into what makes this gifted actor who he is onscreen as well as off.
• How did your high school debate experience with Humorous Interpretation shape your acting
aspirations?
A Humorous question!? Competing in Humorous Interpretation really began for me during the awkward period of trying to figure out who I was and what I had to offer the world. I had finished a period of time in NJROTC (Naval Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps), which was equally formative for different reasons, and I landed with coach Barbara Miller at South Mecklenburg High School. In the early rounds of a tournament there’d be about 6 kids in a room performing 10-minute cuttings of plays, TV shows and movies in front a stone-faced judge. As you progressed, though, there would be more spectators in the later rounds and you could begin to work the crowd, and at that point you’d really get to hone your craft. When you compete in that event it’s just you in your nicest clothes doing broad characters and working hard for the laughs. Some rounds were brutal, and others were a rush like nothing I’d ever experienced before. At the time, I hated the competitive aspects of the experience, but I know that the competition deepened my humility and sharpened my focus. And it’s where I learned that I loved an audience.
• Describe your transition from high school in Charlotte to an acting career around the world.
Wild fits and starts. Ups and downs. Mowing the greens at a golf course in Charlotte one week, learning Yoga and studying Shakespeare in Chicago the next. Dispatching truckers during the day, performing in a storefront theater later that night. The competition I’d experienced in high school debate only intensified at DePaul; when I was there, we had a cut system in place. Only half of the freshmen Acting students were invited back for a second year, and then only half of those were asked to remain for the third and fourth years. This toughened us, but I think it also unmoored us from ourselves, as our focus often became about pleasing the teachers and securing a spot. It took a bit of time after school to remember myself and tap into instincts that were truly my own and not my idea of what someone else might be looking for. I worked primarily in Theatre in Chicago and Milwaukee for years, and then gradually began to book jobs on commercials, and Film and TV that were being shot in town. My first major film was a small scene in Flags of our Fathers with fellow North Carolinian George Grizzard, directed by Clint Eastwood. Both men were every bit as kind and easy going as I could have hoped for them to be. I got to do lots of commercial work that took me various places, and played a Willie Oban in Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, with Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy, which transferred to BAM in New York. A couple years later I got to do Jack Ryan, for Amazon. I’ve been doing voice work since my mid-twenties, too. I’ve always been eager to do as much as I can for as long as I can, and I feel I’m continually challenged by the work that I get to do.
• How has being from Charlotte shaped your performance experience and frame of reference for
character portrayals?
Conversations around issues of Race and Race relations have been a central theme for most of my life. I feel we were lucky in Charlotte to have been integrated by bussing. Generally speaking, I believe it’s easy for us to be judgmental of each other when we we’re not face to face. Without digressing too much, I’ll say that the way those experiences have informed my life and my work is by ingraining in me the desire to scrap the extraneous commentary about the people I encounter; to ignore, to the best of my ability, the boxes society tries to put us in, the better to see myself in others and others in myself.
• How do you channel impressions and depth when switching from different genres of characters and what techniques if any do you use to embody the soul of a character?
I love language, and a well written script is such an invaluable gift. When I read a novel or a script it plays in my head like an audiobook. I’m rarely in a hurry when I’m reading, and will occasionally read passages multiple times before moving on. For me, it’s about finding the headspace, or the solitude, to be able to hear the interplay in my mind as I’m reading it. Then I turn my mouth on and try and tune it to sound like what I’ve heard in my mind. The more I work with the words, the more I learn from them. I’ll also play a scene multiple ways while I’m working with it to open it up and keep it fresh. I like to look at it from different angles to see what I might find. And then, in my downtime, I walk around with this other person in my body and mutter their words until the last time I’m called on to say them, either on set or on stage. My kids are going to keep their psychologists very busy.
• What inspired you most (an instructor, a workshop experience, etc.) at The Theatre School at
DePaul University to embrace theatrical performance?
DePaul used to reach out to well-known actors when they were in town to see if they would come by and address the students. At one point, in our sophomore year, F. Murray Abraham was in town and came by to do a scene study workshop with us. One pair of actors from each acting class, freshman all the way up through master’s students, were selected to work their scene with him. He flew through each pair, only giving them a single note and then dismissing them, and my scene partner and I were not among those initially selected to work with him. He got through almost everybody before the break, so my buddy (David Dastmalchian) and I ran to our dorms to get our props, and were standing by at the ready when he asked for volunteers after getting through all the students who had been pre-selected. Dave and I leapt up onto the stage, and ripped into our cutting from Glengarry Glen Ross. Mr. Abraham stopped us to give us some feedback, and we knew it was after giving us a note that he was most likely to dismiss us and ask for the next two actors. But when he stopped to take a breath, Dave and I looked at each other, and I said ‘Great, we’ll take it from a few lines back…’, and jumped right back into our scene so we could work the note he had given us. When we made it through that section, he roared his approval and our classmates applauded us. That was one of the all-time high points of my entire four years there. Mr. Abraham said, ‘Now, that’s preparation!’ I still smile when I think about it.
• Was there an “aha” moment where you knew you had to follow your heart to perform?
I did a couple plays at the Children’s Theater in Charlotte, as a kid. The first one was The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and I had a few lines in it, which was fun, but the second one was Oliver Twist. In that one, I played one of the street urchins and didn’t really have any lines, but they fed us sausage on stage for every performance. It was the free sausage that did it. I was hooked! You gotta love the perks.
• Acting can be exciting as well as difficult to break into and achieve success, what kept you going when you encountered challenging situations
Often times when a play is good, or even when a scene you’re working on got to set is just right, you will feel the effect that it has on the other people sharing space with you. It’s a kind of communion, and it’s also like casting a spell. It’s intoxicating, and when I first felt it, I had to keep going back for more. I’ve paid a lot of dues in the chase to keep feeling that feeling, but the elation of it is what has kept me coming back for more. That, and sheer stubbornness. Also, there’s nothing else I want to do.
• What advice would you give to aspiring younger acting students?
Avoid the temptation to trash your body, be it in celebration or in sadness. Try to find gratitude for both the ups and the downs, and don’t associate your worth with your success, or lack thereof. Don’t hesitate to make bold choices for fear you might stand out too much. Seek to understand every human, regardless of how society has painted them. Caricatures do not make for interesting portrayals; our challenge is to find the humanity in each role, even when the person we’re portraying is what we might otherwise term ‘despicable’. Simple, rote depictions condescend to audiences, and are uninteresting to watch.
• How did you find your path to the “Dopesick” role?
This project was of great interest to me from the second I learned of its existence. My home state, North Carolina, is among the states that has suffered the most from the opioid epidemic, and I was eager to be involved in telling this story. Danny Strong, the show’s creator and show runner, saw me for a couple different roles before offering me the role of Randy. I love my state dearly, and I wanted to push back against the narrative that the addiction many have suffered in this part of the country is a symptom of weakness, or of personal failing, as opposed to being more a result of regulatory failures and greed. Getting to portray Randy Ramseyer, one of the actual Assistant US Attorneys in Abingdon, Virginia, who brought suit against Purdue, was a wonderful fit for me.
• Do you feel “Dopesick” will impact social awareness to the brevity of the opioid crisis in the
United States and overall social awareness of drug dependency?
It is my devout wish that it does precisely that. I think opioid addiction is a dirty little secret for more American families than we are openly talking about. And what I think Dopesick does is to demonstrate how a regulatory body that we depend upon to protect us failed us and did precisely the opposite. The show also goes a long way to humanize this dealing with addiction.
• When not onstage or in front of the camera, what is your favorite way to unwind and relax?
Hanging out with my family and our dog, seeking out waterfalls, and walking the trails and streams of Western North Carolina.
