Josh Plasse is a young actor best known for his roles on iCarly, Grey’s Anatomy, and most currently, The Baxters. In an exclusive interview with our affiliates Kinda Nerdy Girls, Plasse opens up about his role on The Baxters, his work in helping military veterans, and more! Below is a transcribed version of an audio-only interview, with the full interview down below.
KJ: Hello, Josh Plasse. Hey, how’s it going? It’s a Friday. I’m excited to talk with you. First, let’s start off by talking about The Baxters. It is a show that has really captured a lot of people’s hearts. There’s a lot of emotion in the show and sort of real messy, but wonderful life happenings. How has this show been impactful for you?
JOSH: Yeah, yeah, well said. I would say just that as well. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I think it’s doing so well because of exactly what you just said. It’s allowing itself to be messy. So much faith-based content in the past has just been pretty bows and rainbows and everything’s great. And this one’s not. So it personally impacted me in the sense that obviously it’s helped me in my career and in my life tangibly. But on an emotional and psychological level, I really identify with my character. And he goes through tragedy in life. I’ve seen some things in my life. And when you make content that ignores those, it’s never going to resonate with anyone because it’s just not authentic, not real. You know what I mean? So I think that for me, it resonates with me personally, as well as psychologically. So the show’s just been a really beautiful experience to be a part of.
KJ: When you are doing a role like this, Josh, at the end of the day, is it a little more emotionally exhausting for you?
JOSH: Yeah. Yeah. Every role is different. They all come with their own exhaustion. You know when you’re doing multi-camera comedy you’re gonna be huge all day long and you’re just big and exasperated and you know frankly ridiculous you know when you’re doing action, you’re doing stunt work all day that’s very rigorous physically, but dramas specifically, deep psychological dramas – yeah they take something different out of you, something emotional and that also affects your your sort of brain capacity on the day. So yeah, you really do. You leave set and you’re just like, why am I so tired right now?
KJ: Let’s touch on your personal journey. Your dad was a Navy SEAL. And I know there was a point where maybe you considered that the military would be your path as well. How did you end up in this acting world?
JOSH: Yeah, yeah, for sure. My dad was, and his father before him was a three-letter agency guy too, so I was definitely going to follow in their footsteps. I was studying Homeland Security and Criminal Justice over at Virginia Commonwealth University when I was a younger guy, doing a lot of sports, a lot of running and shooting, etc. And yeah, I had a mentor who became my first acting coach, who told me the quote that, Washington is power, but Hollywood is influence. And I thought about that, the Washington being power, he was using that metaphor for, you know, military life and doing that, and Hollywood being very influential on, you know, just the American everyday life. kind of a change of heart there. I was like, you know, my goal is to create a platform from which I can spark positive change from and talk about issues and things that matter and more importantly, hopefully impact those issues. So it wasn’t that I felt like I could necessarily do more there versus the life in the military. It’s just that it was different and I felt really, really called to it. I was so serious in my life for so long, training and getting ready for BUDS and other things that I just kind of lost who I actually was as a person. And once I ended up really getting in the arts, it kind of forces you to find out who you are, to know your why, to know what you’re about, and to be able to pull from, you know, whether that be childhood experiences or past emotionalities of life. It really forces you to reconcile who you are.
KJ: And how did your family receive this?
JOSH: How was that received? Yeah, you know, ironically, they were extremely supportive. I had not really not maybe paid my dues in the right way, but, you know, I was ready. So they knew it was an authentic change of heart, and they were incredibly supportive. And like I said, in my opinion, there’s really nothing more honorable or amazing than joining the service and defending your country. So that’s not to say that I’ve made the right decision or wrong in any way. It just wasn’t where my heart was at the time. And yeah, my dad was extremely supportive. And in fact, as I’ve kind of said in the past, I’ve been able to take a lot of what I learned from that world and implement it into the psychology of this one and kind of understanding that grim reality and harshness of what that life entails and the compartmentalization of certain issues. I think that’s really helped me grow as an artist and as an actor.
KJ: And you mentioned that quote that changed your life. Washington is power. Hollywood is influence. And you’re living that. Would you share a little bit about your passion and what you’re doing helping veterans and, in particular, your work to end military suicide?
JOSH: Yeah, yeah, of course. I’m only just getting started and where I am, but I did do something called operation 22. Um, if anyone wants to go look that up and welcome you on my social media page, Josh Plasse. We did a really one campaign. We ran 22 miles a day for 22 days straight with a 22-pound rucksack, obviously all very metaphorical and symbolic of the 22 veterans who die by suicide per day. That’s a pretty conservative statistic from the DOD most reports suggest. So that’s just, I mean, crazy when you really think about that number per day in the country. That’s who we did the campaign for, and I’m really proud of it.
If you would like to watch the full interview, which includes KJ and Josh gushing about dogs and whiskey, be sure to check out the full interview below:
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