- Nickname
- Jon Jon
- Height5′ 10½″ (1.79 m)
- John trained at the American Conservatory Theater and received dance training at "Dance Mission" in San Francisco, California.
His feature credits include Repatriation, and the Focus Features picture "Boogie", directed by Eddie Huang, creator of "Fresh off the Boat" for ABC in his directorial debut. From there, John landed a role in Christopher Nolan's action epic "Tenet". In television, his credits include appearances on Peacock's "Bust Down", and CBS series' "S.W.A.T." and "Hawaii Five-O". John can next be seen guest starring on "The Rookie FEDS" for ABC airing September 2022.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Rep
- John trained at "The American Conservatory Theater" in San Francisco, California.
- John received dance training at "Dance Mission" in San Francisco, California.
- John auditioned for his high school play during his Junior and senior year. He was cast both years but turned down the school play to participate in school athletics.
- John was a promising baseball player before he gave up sports to pursue acting. When he was in eighth grade he pitched a two hitter. He was scouted at that game by Galileo high School [San Francisco, California]. He ended up attending Gateway High School [San Francisco, California] as he needed a small school with a bigger academic focus. During his four years at Gateway High School John appeared in two championships and earned an award for pitching. He was recognized as "First Team - All City BCL West Division ll" In his last game of his senior year he was scouted by City College of San Francisco for pitching. He later attended CCSF for two years where he studied Fire Science Technology and Engineering Technology. John did not participate in sports during his two years at CCSF and later left college to work and support his mother.
- "Repatriation" (2013 ) was John's first speaking role in a film.
- [on auditioning] "When I fist started auditioning I would always get really nervous. I would sweat, my stomach would hurt, I would forget my lines. All of that was because I expected or really desired a specific outcome. Anytime I had an audition, I would spend too much mental energy thinking about whether or not I was going to get the part and or if the casting team was even going to like my interpretation of the character. I soon realized that was a destructive way of thinking. Bryan Cranston said it best "I'm not here to get a job, I'm here to do a job.". That mindset has helped me become more focused on my craft and more confident in my auditions."
- [on starting out as a background actor] "Everyone has to start somewhere. I always used background work as an opportunity to observe sets to see how they work and ask as many questions as I could. Most background actors [extras] sit in an empty room and read a book or play on social media. I made sure I was always sitting by the door attentive and ready to go. When the person in charge of background came in to take a few people to set, they would pick me because I always one of the first faces they saw."
- [on why be began acting] "I was 13. My sister [Amber Rose Orantes] and I used to recite movie lines to each other. That was our thing. One day she came up to me and asked me if I had seen "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl". I was lost, didn't know what she was talking about. She asked me if I knew who Johnny Depp was. I had no idea who he was at the time. She insisted that I watch the film because Johnny Depp's performance was amazing. I watched the film and I loved it. I looked up the cast on imdb and figured out Johnny Depp was Jack Sparrow. I ended up watching an interview where Johnny Depp was promoting the film. In that moment when I came to find that he was American and that his accent in the film was just his character's accent, that drew me in. I was blown away. That was when his performance in the film really sunk in for me. I couldn't believe that someone could immerse themselves into a character on that level. I was 13 so of course I'd seen my fair share of movies and tv shows. However, I never researched actors outside of the platform I watch them on. Knowing that someone could completely alter their state of being was intriguing. From that day on I wanted to do just that. I wanted to be able to alter who I was and tell stories through other people. It seemed like a cool concept."
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