| Home
| Updates | Vincent's Profile | Pictures | News | Articles | Angel | Me | Contact | Links |
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws




The Story of Vincent Kartheiser

Teenage actor, Vincent Kartheiser holds no illusions about moviemaking. After a decade of film acting, this 18-year-old star of Columbia Pictures' Masterminds observes that today's audiences are keenly tuned into the entertainment industry.

"People walking by our movie set in Vancouver weren't interested in the stars," he explains. "They asked about our director of cinematography!"

Juggling home-schooling with multiple film projects, Kartheiser laughs at the sheer lunacy of the filmmaking lifestyle: " When you see a close-up on an actor's face, it never shows the lights around him and the fat guys eating doughnuts on the set."

The actor pauses to preview his latest film: In Masterminds, he reverts to earlier adolescence to play Ozzie Paxton, a 14-year-old whose rebellious behavior had him expelled from the upscale suburban Shady Glen School. When Oz sneaks into the basement to set up one final prank, he discovers the school's security consultant Raif Bentley (Patrick Stewart) has taken the entire student body hostage. This deviant genius plans to extort millions in ransom from his ex-boss, a successful entrepreneur whose daughter is also a Shady Glen student. Armed with his wits, a talent for pranks and a two-way radio, Oz engages in a frenetic battle that rages from basement to rooftop to swimming pool as he tries to outwit Bentley and his thugs.

This comedic adventure has been dubbed by industry insiders as "The Breakfast Club meets Die Hard." For Kartheiser, playing this teenage whiz kid was the opportunity to star in a movie that is smart enough for kids and exciting enough for parents.

His favorite parts of making Masterminds were "hanging from the gutters, skateboarding and driving all-terrain vehicles through tunnels in a number of 'action acting' sequences" as well as meeting Patrick Stewart, a Shakespearean virtuoso and former Star Ship captain. "I'm a total Trekkie," Kartheiser proudly admits.

"There's a little bit of Ozzie in me," the actor explains. "Every teen is a bit of a rebel. Ozzie is a little more daring and courageous than I am in real life. I usually run away from confrontation."

Ozzie is a hacker who runs a thriving pirated video game business and cracks the school's computer access systems. But Kartheiser finds computers far from user-friendly. "I have a computer and hate it," he says. "Every time I touch the thing, it breaks."

Kartheiser's past few roles have involved increased physical demands. For Alaska, he learned to canoe and kayak; and for Masterminds he worked out with a physical trainer. The Minnesota native, who moved to L.A. with his manager at age 15, is featured in Little Big League and The Indian in the Cupboard and enjoys billiards, fencing, basketball, mountain climbing, crossword puzzles and musical groups such as Phish and Alice in Chains.

The actor admits he has a mild case of "senioritis" as he completes his high school home-schooling: "I'm supposed to be finished in fall 1998. I teach myself: The school mails me homework, and I send it back. It was fun at first, but I always get behind while traveling. I haven't had a week off from school since my film career began, and I even do some of my homework on the set."

The collaborative acting process is Kartheiser's closest equivalent to a "group project." Nevertheless he has his sights set on college and plans to continue to act during his years of higher education.

"The business part is the most difficult," he says. "At age 16, it was tough to learn the art of hiring and firing and closing deals. There are ups and downs, and you pay your price. But acting is beautiful. It's hard work, but you have to love it."

Kartheiser fondly remembers seeing the first dailies of Masterminds: "It's a great scene that takes place on the roof. Seeing the footage raised my spirits. Sometimes during 6-day weeks and 16-hour days, you don't know it's working." But the final product, he says, is "fast, fun and furious."

Currently putting the finishing touches on his next project about an all-girl high school that goes co-ed as well as "negotiating my dream role," Kartheiser is poised to put his keen cinematic mastermind to use in a healthy career.



Articles

Top
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1