Jocelin Donahue Interview

With roles in the horror hit House of the Devil, the box office sensation He’s Just Not That Into You, and the recently released The Last Godfather, Jocelin Donahue proved that she has what it takes to stand out in Hollywood. Those roles were just the beginning, though. A star on the rise, she recently filmed a number of indie films with the likes of Jesse Eisenberg, Amanda Seyfried, and Michael Cera. Jocelin was kind enough to chat with TheCelebrityCafe.com’s Alec Campagna about her career.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: Unlike many other models and actresses, you went to and graduated from college, specifically NYU, summa cum laude. What made you want to receive your college degree?

Jocelin Donahue: When I was in high school, I just assumed that was the next thing to do. I was considering going pre-law and continuing on with school, or even going further and teaching, or doing something in academia (there’s a lot of teachers in my family). But then when I went to school in New York and got a taste for doing something creative ... I switched courses.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: You received the 2009 Screamfest award for Best Actress for you work in House of the Devil. Do you plan on continuing to act in horror films?

Jocelin Donahue: Sure, I mean I’ll take what jobs I can take. I always look for roles that have a lot of range, and a lot of times horror movies do have that because you’re portraying something that’s so outside of normal life that you get to do something that’s bigger than most movies. It’s not genre-specific, but I really love working in the horror genre because of all the things you get to do as an actor.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: August 9 marked the DVD release of the film The Last Godfather. What was it like working with Korean superstar Hyung-rae Shim?

Jocelin Donahue: It was so much fun. I kind of just switched what I just said about horror movies. It was so nice to have a break from working on a horror movie and to work on something lighthearted and so funny.

He was just so much fun to watch. He has this kind of throwback to retro comedy, like Jerry Lewis or Charlie Chaplin. Luckily, my character loved him and is amused by him and gets to laugh at him, because that’s all I wanted to do. I think American audiences will really get that comedy even though he doesn’t have a lot of dialogue—his comedy is very physical. I think it will really translate for American audiences.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: The Last Godfather is clearly a spoof on earlier mob movies. Are you a fan of films such as The Godfather and A Bronx Tale?

Jocelin Donahue: Oh definitely. I watched them as reference before I worked on this. And one of the best parts of working on the film was getting to shoot on the back lot of Paramount, with the fake New York streets. And they did shoot some of The Godfather there, and they shot some of Rear Window and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It was such a cool experience, and yes, I do love those mobster movies.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What can our readers expect from The Last Godfather?

Jocelin Donahue: I think it’s the kind of movie you don’t see anymore. Even when we were working on it, it felt like an old Hollywood production. And I think it has something for everyone in the family. And there’s a lot of laugh out loud moments in it, so I hope people will see it.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What actor would you most like to work with?

Jocelin Donahue: I love John C. Reilly, I think he’s super funny. I think Sam Rockwell is amazing. He would be great to work with. I love Rachel Weisz. Those are some of the actors I really look up to, so it would be great to work with them on anything in the future.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: You have been featured in the massively popular CSI as well as the box office hit He’s Just Not That Into You. How were those experiences?

Jocelin Donahue: On CSI, I had the good fortune to play a dead body, just in the beginning, of course, and then I was in some flashbacks. I played a character who was kind of a con artist, which was fun. [She] and her friend were running a scam, where they were pretending to be call girls. But that little bit of edge to a character was nice to have. And then on He’s Just Not That Into You, that was a cool experience. I just had a tiny, little scene but I got to work with Bradley Cooper and that was really cool to be in that film with so many great stars.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What is your favorite medium — modeling, TV, or movies?

Jocelin Donahue: I’d definitely say film. That’s kind of the end game here. I’d love to work in film as long as I can. I think the style of storytelling and the bigger, sweeping narrative is really fun — to have a character to work on, to develop, and to really be the element in such a classic way of storytelling. I love working in film.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What future projects will we be seeing you in?

Jocelin Donahue: I did a few indies in the past year that hopefully will be on the festival circuit next year. I worked on one called Free Samples with Jess Weixler, who’s the star, but it’s a great ensemble cast with Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Ritter, and I think that’s going to be really funny. And Jess plays this female role that you don’t often see. I think it's gonna be really funny. And then I did another one with Mark Webber called Man Without a Head, that’s with Michael Cera, Amanda Seyfried, and Shannyn Sossamon. And just recently, I finished one called Live at the Foxes Den with Jackson Rathbone, and that will be my singing debut in that movie, so I’m really excited about that.

TheCelebrityCafe.com: What has been your career highlight thus far?

Jocelin Donahue: Working on House of the Devil was really special because that was kind of my first lead role and then to get the response that we did from the fans and the critics was really meaningful and it felt really good to work on something so hard and for it to get noticed like that — for a small movie to be elevated to what it was. That was really special for me.