Long before he was a familiar face in the Vancouver film and television scene, actor Josh Blacker was a little boy growing up in South Africa.
Although his parents staunchly opposed the injustices that were par for the course in their adopted country, Blacker was nonetheless disturbed by the disparities he observed around him.
He witnessed a particularly violent incident when he was only 12-years-old.
“There was a group of 20 or 30 men beating on this kid with sticks, and then they got a car tire, filled it with gasoline, put it around his neck, and lit it on fire,” shares Blacker during a recent interview in Kitsilano.
“It burned with fire into my memory.”
It was a pivotal moment for the young boy. “I thought, ‘if I ever see somebody in distress or need, no matter what happens, I’m jumping in,’” he says. “I don’t even think about it.”
These days, Blacker is a busy actor with a long list of credits, including SGU Stargate Universe, Supernatural, Fringe, Human Target, Transporter: The Series, and Elysium, where he played a South African mercenary.
He’s also the star, co-writer, and producer of FOCUS, an indie comedy about a focus group (not to be confused with the other movie of the same name starring that mega-famous 1990s sitcom star).
But the impact of those early experiences continues to echo through Blacker’s life and craft.
“As an actor, [growing up in South Africa] informed me as to the significant evil in the world, and people who will just do anything for power, and a lot of the characters I play, that’s their M.O.” says Blacker. “They’re power-hungry, they’re violent, they’re oppressive, and I saw it firsthand as a kid.”
Blacker and his family relocated to Canada when he was 16-years-old. A natural born performer, he’d studied drama in South Africa and continued on this course after his move to Alberta.
He was well on his way to earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre at the University of Calgary when doubt derailed his plans.
“Everybody said, ‘Josh, you’re so smart, you can go do anything that you want, you can be a lawyer, a doctor, and you can’t make a living as an actor,’” says Blacker. “I thought, ‘You’re right, I’m going to go and get a real job.’”
That real job ended up being in law. Upon graduation from law school, Blacker practiced at three different firms, tackling everything from medical malpractice to corporate litigation.
“I just didn’t enjoy any of it, and I hated getting up in the morning and going to work,” recalls Blacker. “You have to bill every six minutes of your day, so you see your life going by six minutes at a time, and it was the most dismal experience ever. So I woke up one morning and I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”
Cut to Blacker cramming his belongings into a U-Haul and driving towards the mountains. Destination: Vancouver, where he’d finally turn his acting aspirations into reality.
His role in Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium was a career highlight. Blacker moved from the hype and energy of Elysium into FOCUS, which was filmed over 10 days at the height of the 2013 film industry drought and #SaveBCFilm campaign.
“We drew on all of our experiences working in offices, because it’s one thing most people have done in their lives, and everybody’s got a story,” says Blacker, who co-wrote the screenplay for FOCUS with actor-director Christopher Young.
In FOCUS, Blacker is Troy Elston, a developer who shepherds products from inception to market. Troy’s last product was a disaster, and he’s got one day to make sure his new creation tests well with a focus group, or his career will be over.
“The character I was playing [in FOCUS] was a former version of me, a more stressed-out version of me,” says Blacker.
FOCUS also stars Rebecca Davis, Ryan Beil, and Toby Hargrave, and includes a scene-stealing cameo from William B. Davis, the prolific actor of stage and screen best known as the Cigarette-Smoking Man from The X-Files.
“[Bill Davis] worked for less than scale, and for an actor of his stature, you’d never think that he would, but he’s such a big supporter of young filmmakers,” says Blacker.
The office comedy has scooped up several awards on the festival circuit, including awards for Best Comedy and Best Actor at the Oregon Independent Film Festival. FOCUS will finally screen in Vancouver later this spring.
• Catch Blacker in WWE’s Marine 4: The Moving Target, available on DVD and Blu-ray on April 21.
