LYNNWOOD, Wash., December 13, 2022—Lynnwood-based actor Jon Meggison hit the ground running when he began his acting career in January 2020, working through the challenges of the pandemic, self-promoting, and quickly landing roles in films alongside big names like Eric Roberts and Stephen Sorrentino. Within his first year, he acted in 10 films and four commercials, winning the Best Lead Actor award for his performance in the indie film It Takes Talent, which also won Best Drama at the Paris Film Festival.
While Meggison’s projects have experienced their individual successes on streaming platforms, and even DVD releases, he has yet to appear on the big screen – until now. Next year in October of 2023, Meggison will be making his theatrical debut as Alton in The Legend of Johnny Jones, a slasher-horror film starring Danny Trejo, Jake Busey, Clifton Powell, Kevin Sorbo, Tom Sizemore among many others.
Meggison owes his casting in Johnny Jones to his good friend Ikeem Boseman who recommended him to writer Matt Clark, best known for his work on films such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Crow, and Ironman 3. Following Boseman’s recommendation Meggison submitted his casting reel and was officially offered the part shortly after. Meggison was originally cast as the role of Carlos but, after some discussion with director David Winning, was recast as Alton – a part with more screen time. Hector David Jr. was then cast to fulfill the role of Carlos.
The Legend of Johnny Jones is about a young African American man (played by Robert Crayton), living in the housing projects of New Jersey, who suffers a mental breakdown that leads to an uncontrollable killing spree. The film begins shooting on April 23, 2023, in New Jersey and will be releasing in movie theaters across the country sometime that October.
From acting in A Haunting in Ravenwood, The Conjuring: Beyond, a Friday the 13th fan film, and now the Legend of Johnny Jones, Meggison is quickly establishing himself as an actor specialized in the horror genre. His preferred genre, however, is drama. To steer his career back to this he will also be acting in the dramas Shattered Dreams: The Leslie Vass Story, the Amazon Prime television series Autumn Never Dies and The Red Chronicles, all beginning production next year.
Meggison owes his creative process, when developing a role, to his three sons. Despite working constantly on one project after another, Meggison informed the Lynnwood Times his work load never affects the development of any of his characters, focusing, and perfecting, on one at a time.
“Kids’ imaginations are so big and I learn a lot from them, which helps transition to my work,” Meggison told the Lynnwood Times. “I’ve always had a big work ethic, I’m always working, so I wouldn’t say I’m hindered [by my project scope] at all.”
Meggison’s children stay with their mother while he’s off on location and he typically reconnects with them on the weekends. He told the Lynnwood Times when he’s not on set, and not raising his children, he’s constantly looking for his next part.
“I don’t like having downtime,” Meggison said. “I like to set my set up for the future so I’m continually working.”
Pathway to Film Success for Jon Meggison
When the country shut down at the beginning of 2020, Meggison, in an attempt to keep busy, decided he would try his luck with modeling. He reached out to the Seattle Talent agency, doing several commercial print projects for outlet stores such as Macy’s and H&M. While modeling, his agency asked him if he had any interest in acting. At first, he told them no. A few months went by and the agency kept asking, so Meggison caved and decided he would give it a shot.
“It seemed like during COVID a lot of people weren’t trying to find work. To me it was a blessing because it really gave me an opportunity to learn about the industry and how it operates,” Jon Meggison said.
Completely self-taught, Meggison began practicing monologues at home, reading acting books, and watching Youtube tutorials before eventually auditioning for his first film, “Operation Y2K,” in March 2020. He continues to look up to and study, his favorite actors – Michael B. Jordan, Denzel Washington, and Will Smith – with hopes of someday sharing the screen with them.
“I think the best way of getting good at anything is just putting yourself out there and doing the work,” Meggison said. “To this day all the jobs that I’ve done have been self-booked by putting myself out there and reaching out and self-submitting.”
Since acting in “Operation Y2K,” Meggison has continued to find consistent work including the feature film Survivor’s Choice, alongside Eric Roberts, Julia Roberts’ brother, expected to release later this year.
Before he knew it, Meggison was signing with Los Angeles agent Shawn Brogan of The Brogan Agency, receiving auditions for television and network studio films.
He starred in his first feature film, A Haunting in Ravenwood, alongside esteemed horror actress Eileen Dietz (Halloween, the Exorcist 2), in 2021. Since then, he has appeared in Conjuring: The Beyond, one episode of the TV miniseries The Town, and Survivor’s Choice amongst many other small, independent projects.
Although the Conjuring: The Beyond shares a name with the Conjuring Universe by James Wan the franchise does not recognize it as an official installment. Meggison informed the Lynnwood Times the decision to name it after Wan’s film came in post-production for marketing reasons which appeared to work because the other day he was recognized by a viewer of the film at a local gas station.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
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