Vincent Kartheiser: It's All In The Famaily
(BB, 3/97)
Although Alaska's Vinnie Kartheiser may be the first feature film star in his family, all of the Kartheisers are "artistes" in their own right.
Vinnie, a Minnesota native, hails form a large family with six children, many of whom are into music: Oldest sister Elise, 26, studied concert piano at the prestigious Juilliard School Of Music in New York City; sister Andrea, 23, enjoys playing the cello; and Vinnie's brother Nate, 19, is a guitar player.
Although 17-yar-old Vinnie, himself is not a musician, he loves listening to music. During a recent BB photoshoot, he brought along an extenisve collection of CDs to help get him in the mood, including Rage Against The Machine, Phish, Bob Marley and The Doors. And he proved that he's a dedicated fan -- he was able to sing along with the lyrics on most of the CDs!
But don't get too excited. Vinnie's not about to join a rock 'n' roll band any time soon. In fact, for his future film Smart Alec (now named Masterminds), the producers wanted to create a band around Vinnie's character, Ozzie. He didn't go for it.
Yes, Vinnie, like his 21-year-old sister, Collette, prefers acting. In fact, Collette is the person we have to thank for getting Vinnie into acting in the first place. "She was an extra for about three years on stage and then I started doing stuff, too." Vinnie tells BB. "Then I just got lucky at this cattle call. The "cattle call" was for 1995's Indian In The Cupboard. And the reat, as they say in the business, is history.
Now, you may be wondering why all the Kartheiser kids are so into the arts to begin with. Well, what fostered their love of art is actually more of a who: Vinnie's mom, Janet. Though a non-traditional artist perhaps, Janet derives great artist and spirtual fullfilment through gardening. "My mom is a gardener and she believes that she prays to God in her garden," Vinnie explains, "I think that's great and I really respect my mom for that."
Vinnie is such a big fan of his mom's garden that he told BB staffers at a photo session in August, "That's where I would like to get married some day." Provided the "well and if" of a wedding, of course!"