Written By: Michael D. McClellan | Joseph Poliquin didn’t so much kick open the door to an acting career as he maneuvered his way through it, as if a willing participant dropped into one of those escape rooms, the kind that rewards instinct and improvisation rather than sheer force of will. It helps that the Louisiana native has a creative streak a mile wide and plenty of guts, not to mention the kind of work ethic that it takes to stand out in a crowd. How else do you explain Poliquin’s role alongside Tom Hanks in Greyhound, the thrilling WWII film based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd, by C. S. Forester. Poliquin, whose character helms the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Keeling, code-named Greyhound, was chosen over hundreds of other actors in large part due to a military-like preparedness in knowing his lines. Where other auditionees stumbled, Poliquin nailed his reading and soon found himself on a big-budget set with one of the greatest actors of our generation. It’s an all-in dedication to his craft that has Poliquin’s fledgling career on an upward trajectory, with upcoming roles in Project Power, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jamie Foxx, and All My Life, starring Harry Shum Jr. (Crazy Rich Asians), on his resumé. Not bad for a guy with virtually no formal acting experience and no real connections in show business when he made the leap.
“Money should never be a barrier,” Poliquin says of learning to act. “There are so many options available today. Some of it you have to pay for, like MasterClass, but there are so many other resources online that don’t cost anything…YouTube videos and other free content. You really don’t have an excuse. If you’re passionate about acting and you’re committed to becoming an actor, then the only limitation is what you place on yourself.”
Greyhound, directed by Aaron Schneider, is available for streaming on Apple TV+.
If Poliquin were starstruck in the presence of Hanks, who possesses two Academy Awards for Best Actor, it certainly didn’t show. Instead, he treated the experience as if he’d been transported into his very own MasterClass, absorbing every nuance of a legend still at the top of his game.
“It was something that ranks as the best experience of my life so far,” he says. “Playing opposite of Tom Hanks was a dream come true. Just being around him, and getting to see how someone like that approaches his profession, it really helped reinforce the importance of being prepared. In three months, Tom Hanks taught me more than I learned in any acting class I ever went to.”
Appearing in Greyhound is the start of a busy 2020 for Poliquin, who, despite the challenges brought on by COVID-19, will appear in two more films. He plays the role of Indo, a comical pothead, in the sci-fi thriller Project Power, which is slated for an August 14 release on Netflix. Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the action film is based on a drug that imbues the taker with a superhuman ability for five minutes. When the pill escalates crime within the city too dangerous levels, a local cop (Gordon-Levitt) teams with a teenage dealer (Dominique Fishback) and a former soldier fueled by a secret vendetta (Jamie Foxx), fighting power with power by taking the pill in order to track down and stop the group responsible for creating it.
“It was so awesome to a part of this film,” Poliquin says. “The same casting director from Greyhound also chose me to play in Project Power. It’s intense and action-packed, but it also has some lighter moments. I have some really funny lines in it.”
Poliquin also portrays Brian in the romantic drama All My Life, which will be released later year on Universal. The movie stars Harry Schum Jr. and Jessica Rothe, and is based on the true story of Solomon Chau and Jennifer Carter, who were planning to be married on August 21, 2015. Instead, that ended up being the day of Chau’s funeral.
“Without giving away anything, I think people will find that the movie has a Notebook vibe to it. The movie is based on a true story about Jenn Carter’s life. It’s directed by Marc Meyers, who also directed My Friend Dahmer. Jenn Carter told me that my character is one of her favorite characters in the film, and that means a lot coming from her.”
Poliquin, from Baton Rouge, got his creative start in front of a piano, something that he often used as a tool to diffuse tension between his mother and stepfather. The sessions also triggered a passion to perform, as Poliquin dreamed of playing in a band from an early age. Making it as a musician dominated his childhood, building to a crescendo when he begged for – and received – his first guitar as a sixteenth birthday present. Like moth to flame, Poliquin plunged headlong into learning how to play, eventually forming the rock group Henry the Fifth and hitting the road.
“Music is still important to me,” he says, “and it’s something I’ll always do. Music also led me to acting, which is my primary focus right now. The really cool thing is that performing live music is a lot like theatre, because you have one take and it’s over. Playing live music also helped me get over stage fright, which television and film actors can struggle with, especially when it comes to auditions.”
Poliquin’s first big break was working as a featured background player on the TV series American Horror Story, where he was encouraged to pursue acting by a pair of highly-regarded actors, Evan Peters and Kathy Bates.
“They were both really cool, very down-to-earth,” he says. “I was on American Horror Story for seven months, and I had a lot of good face time that got cut. The important thing is that I learned a lot. Evan became a friend of mine through our time on the set. He encouraged me to keep going after it, and said that he started out the same way that I did. Kathy Bates is an absolute legend. She was also very positive and supportive.”
Poliquin made his feature starring debut in #FollowFriday, where he played a college nerd that develops a website for amateur local detectives, becoming one himself on the track of a serial killer. He has also written, produced, and directed two independent feature films. But scoring the role of Forbrick, the Lee helmsman in Greyhound, is his biggest opportunity so far.
“It’s definitely helped open doors,” Poliquin says. “My music is getting more attention thanks to the trailer, and now I’m finding more opportunities as an actor. I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”
To learn more about actor Joseph Poliquin, check out his IMDb page, and follow him on Instagram.