A Nation Conversation with Jimmy Wong
It’s been quite the year for actor and musician Jimmy Wong. He’s started hosting a new cooking show Feast of Fiction, announced plans for an upcoming musical series, and just celebrated the premiere of the third and final season of the web series in which he stars, Video Game High School. The series was created by Wong’s brother and YouTube legend, Freddie Wong, and has become one of the most popular web series on YouTube due to its high quality and celebration of gaming culture.
Jimmy Wong got his start on YouTube in 2005 and, over the years, has filled his channel with music videos, personal vlogs, and sketches. He is a large contributor to his brother’s network RocketJump and continues to pursue both traditional and digital media projects. In the midst of VGHS madness, Wong and I sat down to chat about his upcoming musical web series, working with his brother on set, and the thing he wishes he could tell his high school self.
Carly Lanning: What is your favorite video game of all time?
Jimmy Wong: I’d probably say The Legend of Zelda. It’s either Link’s Awakening, which was on the old Gameboy game, or a game which was on the super Nintendo.
CL: Which video game character would you pick to be on your team during a dual?
JW: I mean, Superman has been in video games right? [laughs] Lets see, superheroes aside, I would probably pick ... I’m trying to think of someone who is the most durable person, with the most lives, that never dies in the whole world. I would probably chose someone like Kronos from God of War cause he’s pretty undying. I feel like that guy never really dies and if he does, he just fights his way out of hell.
CL: If you could have one superpower, what would you chose?
JW: Well, I’ve always wanted to fly so I think that would be a really easy answer. I’ve longed after that for a long time.
CL: What would you say your favorite YouTube video of all time is?
JW: One of my favorite videos of all time is just called “Taste Tester,” but it is an ice cream taste tester and he’s explaining how to correctly taste test ice cream.
CL: I assume then you’re a big ice cream fan.
JW: I mean -- I am a big ice cream fan -- [but] I’m just more of a fan of this guy!
CL: Alright I’m cutting this interview short, I have to go find this guy and brighten my world.
JW: It’s hilarious. It’s just an old man, with a golden spoon, talking about how to correctly test ice cream.
CL: Man, that guy is living the life now with his golden spoon.
CL: How did you originally get started on YouTube?
JW: I got started originally because -- for one, my brother [Freddie Wong] was making a lot of fun stuff with videos and his other stuff -- so I got really interested in the whole process. I was acting in LA at the time and I wasn’t really doing too much acting wise and I had a lot of time. I decided to make a music video and started to pursue that avenue of what I liked to do on YouTube and that’s how it all started out.
CL: When did you know you wanted to get into acting? Was there something that inspired you when you were growing up?
JW: I think the thing that really helped me out was just a healthy interest in performing. I’ve always enjoyed putting on something for someone else or really diving into a “role” and so when I got to college, I started doing stuff with the theatre program and it all spiraled from there.
CL: What is the most memorable part you’ve ever played?
JW: That’s a tough one! They’ve all been very memorable. I think probably one of the more memorable roles for me personally, I did a movie called John Dies at the End and I got to play this midwestern crazy dude that gets caught up in all of the action. It was one of the first movies I ever did and the biggest role I’ve ever had as well at that point. That would be it!
CL: What do you do to get into the minds of your characters?
JW: To get into character I probably would ... I mean it’s sort of just being on set. Being with everyone around, with other characters in costume -- either on the set that have been dressed to get you into the mood -- sort of having all the elements helps me get into character. Obviously, knowing your lines really helps too, but I think the most helpful thing is just being able to sit in front of the camera, being in the moment, on the day, and being able to do it, is the most effective part of being in that last little moment before you start filming.
CL: Do you ever pull a Daniel Day Lewis and stay in character the entire time?
JW: I wish! If I did that I don’t think I could handle myself to be honest.
CL: I think your family and friends appreciate that.
JW: That’s definitely not how I interact with people on set. I probably couldn’t take myself seriously at that point.
CL: You’d just continue to be Abraham Lincoln for the rest of your days.
JW: I’d have the top hat and everything [laughs].
CL: What was your favorite moment from filming the final instalment of Video Game High School?
JW: I don’t want to spoil too much but there is a moment where a lot of the school gets to get together, be in scenes together, interact with each other in ways that you haven’t really seen before in the past. It was really fun to have it all come together at the end of the whole three seasons and be in scenes with characters that I’d never really acted with before. Getting to combine all the worlds together, it was really fun and relaxing to know that everyone is here for the same thing and everyone is committed to the same goal. We also get to do it as characters, as well as actors, [which] was really nice and really heartening to be around everyone.
CL: Is there anything you can tease about the third season?
JW: We did spoil that a major character does die so that does happen. You can expect to see that in the later half of the season and I’d say, be ready for a lot of stuff that you’ve come to expect in the show and a lot of stuff that may not be what you expect. There is a lot of really crazy stuff that happens this season. [There are] a few big twists and turns that will surprise a lot of people.
CL: What’s something that you’ve learned from being part of an ongoing series and playing a character that’s evolving through three seasons?
JW: It’s a lot easier the third season than the first season to get into character. That’s one of the most obvious things to me. I really appreciate having three years to work on something because it really feels like you get to have that second chance to go back and, not redo something, but get the second chance to further develop all the work you’ve already put into something. Being able to do that with my character on the show was super helpful and I’ve been really fortunate about being able to do that as well.
CL: If you could go back and change anything in high school, would you and what would it be?
JW: I don’t know, I’d probably tell myself to stop worrying so much but today, I see myself as a combination of all the good and the bad things that happened in high school up until now so I can’t really complain too much. There are always hard times, there are always a lot of easy times too, so I think I’d probably just tell myself to stay the course and not worry so much about what other people thought.
CL: What advice do you have for someone on surviving high school?
JW: It would probably be along those same lines. I don’t think high school -- I mean for one thing, high school is not the end-all-be-all of your life. It’s four years and as human beings, we’re living an average lifetime of 70, 80 years, so you have to realize that those four years, even though they may feel like the most important years in the world, they have very little impact over the course of your life. So don’t let it affect you too much and fall victim to some of the stereotypical things that happen to people in high school, the popularity games and all that.
CL: As someone who works in both traditional and digital media, what are the pros and cons of interacting in both worlds?
JW: I think both sides have a lot of good ups and downs to them. Clearly traditional media is around because it works for a certain reason. New media also works for a certain reason and being able to not be held by restrictions or job titles. I think there is a lot to be gleaned from both sides of the equation. I think ultimately they’re headed towards the same direction, which is a collaborative effort with some other people to make something grand and the sum of each individual parts. I think as long as you have that in mind and you’re working on something together then you’ll sort of bypass the downside and upside to both and get to the heart of what you’re doing to create something.
CL: What are the best parts of working with your brother [Freddie Wong] on this? Does it ever get personal?
JW: Well we’re definitely able to communicate with each other a lot more quickly and cut all the BS you might have to go through when you’re talking to someone you don’t really know that well. Like we don’t have to put on an air of niceness [laughs], we can just be brutally honest with each other -- not in a mean way -- but in a more efficient way which I think is really valuable between two people on set. The more efficient you can be, the faster you can communicate and the more quickly you can get something done. For the case of me and Freddie on set, that really helps out a lot. We don’t have to worry about a lot of things that a regular conversation between an actor and director might have. We can sort of skip a lot of the steps and really get the message across a lot more quickly.
CL: What are things you’re working on now?
JW: Well right now you’ll notice by the time the season launches, I’m starting a fundraising campaign for my next big project which I sort of see it as a followup to Video Game High School. [It’s] a musical comedy web series that takes a lot of inspiration from Flight of the Conchords and Tenacious D and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. You can definitely find out more if you follow me on Twitter, I’ll be posting all the links to stuff like that. We’re giving away some incredible stuff for people donating so you could potentially walk away with a car, I’ll just say that much if you donate to this campaign.
CL: Will you be producing, directing, and starring in this?
JW: I’m definitely going to be starring and acting in it. I won’t be taking lead director duties but I will be doing some of the directing and I will be behind the producing as well. Ideally this campaign will let me hire the people I need to hire so I can focus on the more important part which is acting for myself.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jimmy
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jfwong
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therealjimmy/
Carly Lanning is a YouTube Nation curator who has successfully tried 30 out of 52 pumpkin items at her neighborhood Trader Joes.
