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B movie actor waits for his big break

When he's not starring in low budget movies, 47-year-old Joel Wynkoop is a route salesman for a bottled water company.

By ARLEEN SPENCELEY, Times Staff Writer
Published November 30, 2007

CAROLWOOD 

In the office at Joel Wynkoop's Logan Gate home, you can barely tell the walls are white. They're hidden by shelves of DVDs, a life-sized cutout of Jason from Friday the 13th, and lots and lots of movie posters.

Most of the posters are for horror, sci-fi, martial arts and comedy flicks. And for most of those flicks, Wynkoop is the star.

It's been like that since he discovered the lights, cameras and low budget action that made his name big in the B movie world.

"When I was a kid, I thought I was Batman," said 47-year-old Wynkoop, whose childhood neighbor made him the cape that may have inspired him to pursue an acting career.

In the early 1970s, Wynkoop moved from Lake Elmo, Minn., to Lake Park, Fla., where his father found him interested in film.

"My dad, showing an interest in me showing an interest in something, bought me a little Super 8 movie camera," Wynkoop said.

At 15 years old, he used the camera to shoot films he called Robin and The 8-Million-Dollar Boy and the Invisible Transport Boy, starring his 8-year-old neighbor, Tim Ritter.

As much as he loved filming, he kept it on the back burner. But 10 years after little Ritter starred in some of Wynkoop's Super 8 movies, the two met again.

Ritter had grown up and had gone on to produce his own film, so Wynkoop took the chance meeting to make his hobby into something more.

Wynkoop started to star in and co-write B movies, or low budget ones, written and directed by Ritter. His first was in 1984, called Twisted Illusions, a collection of short stories on film. He played Mike Strauber, what Wynkoop would call a "hallucinating psychopath."

By 1992, Wynkoop had written, directed and starred in a martial arts film called Lost Faith. In that one, he kicked some major bad guy butt.

He has since produced, directed and written more of his own movies, and has had roles in nearly 40 films. And he's got a few upcoming, like Fall of an Actor and For Christ's Sake, a horror film.

"If you haven't seen a Joel Wynkoop film, you have to see one," said independent film director Jason Liquori, who has directed a couple of films Wynkoop starred in. "But do it with an open mind. If you go in expecting an overbloated hundred-million-dollar movie, you'll be disappointed."

If you look at the story and pay attention to the characters Wynkoop plays, you'll be entertained, Liquori said.

And despite the low pay from low budget filmmakers, Wynkoop plans to keep doing it.

"It's a B movie," he said. "They don't have a bunch of money."

But he knows, he said, that starring in low budget or little to no budget films is a good way for actors to get started.

"You're getting exposure out of it," he said. "This is your opportunity to get on film."

And at the beginning, Wynkoop acted for free many a time.

"No one's going to pay you until they see what you can do," he said. "If I didn't do those small projects, I would have nothing now because I would have been constantly waiting for someone to pay (me)."

These days, Wynkoop does get paid to act. But he doesn't get paid enough to quit his day job.

"It's frustrating sometimes, he said. "Lord, please, I just want to break in (to the Hollywood film industry). How much longer do I have to do this job?"

But his frustration is something he can laugh about. His job, he said, is better than waiting tables in Los Angeles or driving a cab in New York.

He's a route salesman for Crystal Water. He drives a truck for the bottled water company, and he's been doing it for 20 years.

He says he'd settle for "10 grand a picture, four pictures a year." That's enough to call it quits at Crystal.

While bottled water pays the bills, making movies is "almost like breathing for him," said Wynkoop's wife, Cathy, who has starred in 11 independent films and met him on a movie set.

Indeed, Wynkoop says that acting lets him be who he couldn't be anywhere except for on screen.

"I can beat the crap out of people, I can save damsels in distress and protect people," he said. "I can do it in the movies."

Fans include daughter Lisa Wynkoop, 24, who lives in Virginia Beach and is waiting for her father's big break.

"I think he's a really good actor," she said. "I hope he does become a big movie star one day; I know he's been patient long enough."

Wynkoop says he'll be patient even if he's still making independent films at 60.

"There's no crystal ball saying, 'March 25, 2010, you're going to be a star,'" he said. "If it happens, great. If it don't, just keep doing the best you can anyway."

Arleen Spenceley can be reached at (813) 269-5301 or aspenceley@sptimes.com.

FAST FACTS

Coming soon from Joel Wynkoop

Dec. 9: Guest appearance at Epic ComicCon in Kissimmee (www.epiccomiccon.com)

Dec 28-30: Guest appearances at Tri-County ComicCon in West Palm Beach (www.tricountycomiccon.com)

Meet Wynkoop

To book Wynkoop for a film, TV show or appearance, call Christine or Randi at Steve Benz Model and Talent Agency (813) 241-9739

[Last modified November 29, 2007, 08:04:36]