Jared A. Wignall – A Leading man is ready to blast off

Ever since I was young, I wanted to be an actor. I don’t believe there was a time I didn’t want to act honestly. Something I did growing up was mimic voices and accents from the various films and shows I watched, and I have been doing that ever since. One of my big influences in wanting to become an actor was seeing the original Star Wars trilogy on VHS at a very young age. Those three films and the subsequent prequels that came out as I grew up fueled my drive to want to act. Of course, many other films and seeing various actors on the big and small screen also fueled my desire to act.

As I got older, I started writing stories and at some point, began turning some of these story ideas I had into scripts and have written various scripts ever since as well as a book that came out on Amazon last year. As I got better at writing, one thing I realized is if I wrote a script, I could write a part for myself to play in the film, which would help out when it came to getting roles, especially considering some of the biggest actors got their big breaks in films they wrote, such as Sylvester Stallone with Rocky and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck with Good Will Hunting. These couple examples have led me to continue pursuing not only acting, but writing as well, particularly writing a film where I will be featured in it as an actor by playing one of the key roles in said film.

In addition to acting and writing, I got more and more interested in producing and directing films as some of the things I was writing, I realized I had a very specific vision in mind when I was not only writing the scripts, but also re-reading it and looking at it as someone who would eventually play one of the parts and a realization hit me that I would likely have to direct at least a few of these scripts as it’s quite likely another director may not either get my vision I have for the script or may get and understand my vision, but would want the material to go in a direction that doesn’t exactly fit the story and narrative that is in the script.

Now, it is important to note that I was born, raised and still live in Des Moines, IA. The popular thing, and even normal thing, one would do in my situation would be to move to California or perhaps even New York so I could pursue my dreams of being an actor and filmmaker, but certain things have prevented me from doing so. One is money. That is a factor I think everyone can understand to some degree. One wouldn’t want to just up and move when they don’t have a lot of funds or even contacts out in another state that one is not familiar with. Fortunately, I have been able to do some freelance writing and other things of the sort as a way to get money, but not enough to completely save up and be able to make my own films as bills and other things always come into place.

I have also been able to act in local films and projects, particularly with a local film company I have worked with since 2014, so I’m not exactly desperate and needing to go out and move to a completely different state just so I can act in projects. I like the independent nature that Iowa has and would like to do my best to continue to make the independent film community in Iowa grow as much as possible. While it’s difficult to get projects funded when one does not have a big presence on the internet, the work I have done is quite enjoyable and very good for experience for my own projects. One script I have worked on is a film about an alcoholic and drug addict who is doing his best to get clean for good after years of being on and off drugs, especially when he is going out with a new woman who makes him appreciate things more and gives him more confidence that he can kick his addiction once and for all. Of course, this won’t be easy for him, but that’s the gist of the story. I wrote the film specifically to be a small film as well as written the leading male for myself to play. This will also be a film I will produce and direct as that seems to be the best way, I can get the film done the way I see it meant to be made.