Vinnie The Long, Long Road

Big Bopper

This overnight success talks about what it takes to be an overnight
success.
Vinnie Kartheiser isn't the luckiest actor in the world. Oh sure, maybe
he seems like he is. I mean think about it: this unknown kid from
Minnesota gets a minor role in The Indian in the Cupboard last year, and
suddenly here he is starring with Now and Then's Thora Birch and cinema
legend Charlton Heston in Alaska. But like so many instant celebrities,
Vinnie spent many long evenings working toward his "overnight" success.
The 17-year-old actually started his journey on the long road to fame
and fortune when he was seven. He co-starred as Tiny Tim at a local
community theatre and soon appeared in several more plays. Two years
later, Vinnie's mom, Agie Jane, [this is the first time I've ever heard that his mom's name is anything other than Janet!~Jean] accompanied her son to his first movie
audition, which was being held in his home state.
"I almost made the film Men Don't Leave," Vinnie remembers. "That's how
I got into the industry. I went into a cattle call, and the director
flew me to Chicago." Cattle calls, of course, are auditions in which so
many acting hopefuls show up that the sight of so many people roaming
around can resemble a herd of cattle.
So instead of spending that year filming Men Don't Leave (which marked
the debut of then 19-year-old Chris O'Donnell) and basking in the glory
of seeing himself on the screen, Vinnie had to be content to take
another gig touring across the country with a Minneapolis theatre
company. It gave him a lot of acting experience, but it also cost him:
He failed ninth grade. "It was kind of hard to juggle both of them," the
now -4.0 student says.
After his experience in children's theatre, Vinnie began having some
success in movies, with emphasis on some. As you'll see in this recent
discussion between Vinnie and BB's Cathee, who was running down a list
of movies we knew he's had something to do with:
CATHEE: Whatever happened to Heaven Sent? Did that ever come out?
VINNIE: It never came out. It was a low-budget movie. I don't know (what
happened to it). I really don't
CATHEE: Oh. Well, you were in Little Big League, right?
VINNIE: I had six lines in it. It was nothing.
CATHEE: Who did you play?
VINNIE: I Played a kid in a gray shirt.
CATHEE: And who were you in Iron Will?
VINNIE: I was cut out.
CATHEE: You were cut out?
VINNIE: I had one line, and that was cut out.
CATHEE: So you weren't in it at all?
VINNIE: No
CATHEE: What was your role in Untamed Heart?
VINNIE: I have one line. I was 10 years old.
CATHEE: What did you say in the movie?
VINNIE: I yell, "Sister, sister, Adam's not breathing!" It was still
while all the credits were [going] up. I poked a kid with a stake.
It was no big deal.
His mini-co-staring roles in Untamed Heart (1993), Little Big League
and Iron Will (both 1994) may have not made Vinnie Kartheiser a
household name, but at least last year's The Indian in the Cupboard got
him noticed. And with the release of Alaska, he could find himself
quickly caught into superstar status. "I still have a long way to go,"
Vinnie insists, unconvinced he's anything close to a star. He also
points out that (as of presstime) he doesn't even have another movie
lined up yet. "I still have directors telling me I don't have it. And
you have to respect them, because most of these directors have made good
films and have chosen good actors. But directors make mistakes."
He confidence may be what kept him going throughout the Little Big League
and Heaven Sent years. "I've been around for 10 years, and I've been
auditioning for about eight of those," Vinnie muses of his long walk
down the road of success. "I have been shot sown by every type of
person. I've been told that I can't act, I've been told that I shouldn't
act, I've been told that I'm ugly. I've been told everything."
So why continue acting? Why act when your parts might be snipped out of
a film, directors criticize you, and your self-respect and dignity is so
often on the line? Why, Vinnie?
His answer is simple:
"Because I love it."

Thank you again Jen!