Jon Donahue on acting, laughing and making ‘Inferno’ [Interview]

Jon Donahue talked with TheCelebrityCafe.com about his role in Inferno, working with Tom Hanks and the importance of laughing.

 

On October 28 Sony Pictures Entertainment will release a film adaptation of Dan Brown’s Inferno. Following after The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, this movie continues the story of Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks. Among the actors lending their talents to Inferno is Jon Donahue, who plays Richard Savage. Donahue’s character is the assistant to Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey, head of the World Health Organization. Both are among many players attempting to track down Langdon throughout the movie.

Donahue is a long-time fan of the cinema, with a special place in his heart for Indiana Jones. In 1993 he went to Universal Studios Orlando on vacation and immediately fell in love with their shows. Subsequently, Donahue landed a role as Skipper in the “Jaws” attraction. Soon after, he began working at Nickelodeon Studios as the Gakmeister. Donahue did return home to Binghamton, NY -- eventually. He would not be there long however, before relocating to jump-start his career in film and TV.

Donahue took some time to talk with TheCelebrityCafe.com’s Erin Huestis about his journey through Hollywood thus far.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What inspired the move to LA and what kind of training did you receive when you got there?

Jon Donahue: I became a news entertainment reporter for a CBS affiliate WBNG-TV in NY, upstate, Binghamton. And I was a news reporter and then kind of really wanted to continue with acting. So what I did in 1999 is I moved to Los Angeles. And I started training at Playhouse West, which was founded by Robert Carnegie and Jeff Goldblum… and then sought out Dee Wallace. She was the mom in ET, she was in The Howling – Wonderful actress. Dee is still to this day one of my dearest friends, she was my acting coach…

I had some friends working on a Robin Williams movie and I would go to set and was introduced to Robin. This was about 10 years ago. And Robin and I would just do impressions all day… He took me to Upright Citizens Brigade with him, because he would host once in a while to keep sharp. And he brought me down on stage with him and I did a little improv. So he was one of my mentors too – just a wonderful human being.

TCC: We heard that he encouraged you to enroll in the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center.

JD: Well, after Robin passed away – was it two years ago I believe. You know it’s been ten years – I hadn’t actually talked to him in ten years. But I said ‘You know what, I’m going to keep my promise, even though it’s ten years later. I’m going to keep my promise to Robin.’ And I went to the Upright Citizens Brigade and I did that.

TCC: Will we be seeing any improv comedy from you, will that come back around into your career? 

JD: I’ve always done voices and I’ve always loved improv because I love spontaneity, I love coming up with something at the last minute… It’s not about making jokes, it’s about being in the moment. Just like acting, just like listening and coming up with something and coming up with characters. And I’ve always loved that. So improv comedy, be it Upright Citizens Brigade or Groundlings or whatever it is, I love improv. Just sharpen those tools with whatever class or school you decide to take. So any time I go to an audition or I’m on set and there’s a chance to improve, I love doing it. And it really has helped me as an actor.

TCC: We have to ask, what has it been like working with Tom Hanks in so many movies now?

JD: He is a gentleman, he is a funny guy. He is one of the sharpest people I know and I love riffing with him. Speaking of improv. I love that if something comes up in conversation, you can say something silly, he’ll roll with it.

TCC: It’s always nice when the positive rumors are true.

JD: Oh, they’re true... Recently on Inferno though, there was a scene where there was four or five of us in a shot. It was between setups of the camera setups and such – And Tom leaned over and he knows I love Star Trek and he loves Star Trek. And we always riff off of each other, as I mentioned… And he says’ ‘You know, if this was Star Trek, you’d be wearing a red shirt and you’d go off and you’d be dead.’ And I was like [laughing] ‘Ok, thank you.’

So the next day I go to my trailer and there’s a package in there and there’s a note. And I open up the package and it’s a red Star Trek crew shirt from the original series, you know? And I open up the card from Tom and it said ‘You are not expendable.’ And I thought that was the coolest thing… I wore that red shirt that night as a joke and sent him a video of me walking through the hotel lobby… and at the end of the video I get killed. So, he enjoyed that. And you just have fun like that. That’s one of the great things we share is comedy.

TCC: So as you started working on Inferno, were you a fan of Dan Brown’s books?

JD: I had read Da Vinci Code years before there was even a movie announced, because there was so much hullabaloo. Is that a word? Hullabaloo? Hubbub? What’s a word I can use? A lot of Who-Ha, Hubbub, hullabaloo about the book. And so I picked it and I was – it literally is a page-turner… And it is a mixture of Indiana Jones and James Bond. And you know, just the smartest guy on the plant who can just remember everything – Robert Langdon. And I loved this adventure and it’s a book that makes you think… and Dan Brown in person is a cool cool dude as well.

TCC: Ron Howard has mentioned that one of the things he thinks differentiates Inferno from the rest of the trilogy – thus far – is that is has a dash of psychological thriller in there. Do you agree?

JD: I’ll agree with anything Ron says, because he’s just right. I’m telling you. Seriously though, that man is amazing. Just to watch him come into work every day and just be excited and get the shots. He knows exactly what to do when he comes in and it’s infectious. And yes it does have that, what did he use, psychological thriller? Yeah, absolutely.

TCC: It sounds a lot like this is going to me a movie in which good and evil both live in the grey area.

JD: That’s true. This movie asks a question of you the audience, as well as the characters – ‘What would you do? Would you pull the switch and annihilate half the population?’ Because this movie is about overpopulation. I mean, if anybody has ever gone to Disney World and waited in line for three hours for something, you know that we’re overpopulated. But seriously though, I mean traffic and all this stuff. You think about population and wherever you might live – be it India, or be it England or be it in the States, there’s a ton of people. And what would you do? Would you annihilate half the population in order to save the planet? Because we’re going to run out of food. We’re going to run out of resources. So this asks the question. And like you said, it kind of blurs good and evil.

TCC: Did you have a favorite place to shoot?

JD: Anywhere in Italy is a great place to shoot. I loved shooting in Florence, I loved shooting in Venice.

TCC: It’s funny you mention Venice, because it immediately makes us think of the scene from Indiana Jones.

JD: Oh! ‘Don’t go between em!’… I love that film. Harrison Ford is the man.

TCC: So if you could pick any role to play in a movie, would it be Indiana Jones?

JD: Not Indiana Jones. Nobody can play Indiana Jones except Harrison Ford… Just like the sidekick. That would be a dream roll. Or a guy who just walks up to Indiana Jones and said ‘Would you like a coffee?’ or ‘I have a map for you.’ Or – I’ll do anything. I’ll hand him a pencil, I don’t care.

TCC: Do you have any other acting projects lined-up after Inferno right now?

JD: I don’t like to jinx it by saying I’m going to do this or that. But things are brewing, things are cooking… And hopefully handing Indiana Jones a pencil or a coffee in the next Indiana Jones film, that’s what’s going on next.

See Jon Donahue in ‘Inferno,’ opening in the US on October 28. Check him out on Twitter @JonDonhue and Facebook @JonDonahueActor