BIOgraphy
Well, I was born in a small town
And I live in a small town.
Probably die in a small town.
Oh, those small communities.
Yeah, Justin L. Wilson is that Hall & Oates dude... And that was a quote from John Cougar Mellencamp!
In all seriousness, Justin hails from a tiny country town called Clarksville, nestled between DC and Baltimore. His family lived on a quasi farmette, raising a few chickens and a pet bull named Bosco. That's right, a pet bull, not a pit bull. Be sure to see bull riding skills in his special skills section! Summers were spent swimming and visiting his grandparents in his mothers home town of Charleston, South Carolina. A Southern gentleman at heart, he always opens a door and will leave the porch light on for ya!
Justin began acting at the age of 8, after being cast as a last minute replacement for another child in a national PSA for seatbelt safety. Once those cameras lit up, his whole world changed. He began traveling to New York every other week and working with the prestigious children's agency, Gilchrist. Pat Glichrist was the mother of the infamous Mikey from Life Cereals' iconic campaigns and opened the agency after learning the business through her sons career. Justin's first audition was for a new snack food called Teddy Grahams. After 3 rounds of auditions, 3000 kids, 30 finalist, Justin was asked to hold as the alternate lucky #7.... in the event any of the 6 kids got sick. To this day, he's still waiting for their addresses! Through out his youth, Justin continued to audition, shot a few films, performed in every school play and studied further at the local community college.
Justin was accepted into the Experimental Theatre program at NYU's Tisch School for the Arts along with Soleil Moon Frye (aka Punky Brewster) and 6 other students from across the globe. Due to the hefty tuition, he opted to spend his first two years of school studying Theatre and Advertising at Towson University. Towson is alum to notable actors Charles Dutton, John Glover, Dwight Schultz, Howard Rollins, Stacy Keibler, Drew Van Acker and everyones favorite train wreck, Amy Schumer! Justin flourished in the Baltimore theatre scene. Most notably performing as Bobby in the first regional release of Terrance McNally's "Love! Valour! Compassion!"
Two years turned into four and Justin graduated from Towson with honors. Immediately following graduation, he was double cast in the Warner Brothers cult classic film "The Replacements" starring Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman. For nearly six months, Justin performed as one of the Washington Sentinels Cheerleaders, as well as their beloved mascot... with a little help from a body double.
Shortly after The Replacements, Justin fell into a career touring with the #1 recording duo in music history, Hall & Oates. What he thought would be a fun job for a year, turned into a decade of trotting the globe. Talk about you make my dreams come true! This incredible career afforded him the opportunity to live part time in London, the Bahamas, Los Angeles, Japan and see virtually every corner of the world. Managing TV appearances for Will & Grace, Dancing with the Stars, Ed, American Idol, Ellen, Conan O’Brian, The Late Show, and The American Music Awards to name a few. Justin also helped to develop the TV series Live From Daryl's House, and served as a Talent Coordinator and Associate Producer. Along the way facilitating collaborations with Rob Thomas, Sharon Jones, Chromeo, Billy Ocean, KT Tunstall, Smokey Robinson, The Doors & The Bacon Brothers.
After his time with Hall & Oates came to an end, Justin worked on some personal projects and restoring a home he had purchased in Washington, DC. In 2012, he met up with an old childhood friend for lunch to talk about working in casting. With her guidance and mentoring, Justin began working as an Associate Casting Director with the one and only Brette Goldstein.
While he loved working with actors, directors, brands and being part of the creative process in developing so many stellar campaigns and films, seeing all of his peers living out their dreams forced Justin to reflect on his own personal path.
In July of 2014, a random phone call from casting for the then Untitled Rock & Roll Project by Martin Scorsese offered Justin the chance to perform once again. A wild week on set with Bobby Cannavale and Olivia Wilde opened up that can of worms! And there was no stopping it. Justin can be seen this fall in the premiere episode of HBO's Vinyl as one of the 70's style bearded drag queens! He swears that his own mother won't even recognize him!
A week after filming, Justin took a leap of faith, and quit his full time career at an events and marketing firm. He returned to auditioning full time after a 14 year hiatus. It's been an awesome 6 years full of challenges, building relationships and exciting bookings. From a Guest Star on Madam Secretary and Pose, working with Aaron Paul & Leven Rambin on The Path, to performing opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Sheen in a recurring role on Prodigal Son, sharing the screen with Soprano’s alum Louis Lombardi & William DeMeo in Gravesend, an incredible month with Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, Vera Farmiga, Bill Camp and Mike Colter in the EPIC feature Skin, carrying the comedic series Utilities Not Included into winning IFP’s Episodic Forward Labs, coming to the rescue as Jesus and the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Shark on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, multiple episodes of Saturday Night Live and national commercials for Charmin, McDonald's, Tabasco and Western Union, he's building that resume back with a vengeance!
In his spare time, Justin can be found enjoying all the beauty of the Hudson Valley along with his best friend, a lovable rescue American Bulldog Boxer mix named Sir Humphrey Bogart. In between outdoor adventures, Justin continues writing screenplays and working on a novel about his time in the music industry, mindfully meditates, and seeks out the best Carolina pulled pork in the North. Together with ‘Bogie,’ they do go chasing waterfalls and lakes and rivers. Those two have even had the pleasure of working together on several TV & film projects. Here's hoping you enjoy taking a glimpse inside his journey.
Sit back and relax, enjoy the show!
