JOSEPH VASSALLO

Background from Yahoo search resultI am traditionally old-fashioned and have strong Mediterranean foundations mingled with many years of traveling experience, fluent in Italian, English and Maltese, conversational in German, with some understanding of French and Spanish, and constantly seeking stimulation, whether it be intellectual, spiritual, artistic or emotional. Thus far my life has been a roller coaster of events and I continue to pursue to live an extraordinary life. I take great comfort in the fact that I connect deeply with my imagination and drift away in my fantasies where I can make imaginary worlds and people come to life, and can fly high above the negative, greedy spirit and disturbing nature of this world and live in my dreams...
Joseph Vassallo was born and raised on the Island of Malta, just a few miles south of Sicily, Italy. He is the first born of four children. Joseph did not consider acting until, at age 13, he saw his father play a small role in the hit movie, “The Midnight Express”. This led to him enrolling at the prestigious “Manuel Theater” in Valletta. He left school at the age of 16, drifted through a variety of mini-jobs and before he turned 17, he left the country to go live in, Wintertur / Switzerland, Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. Thirsty for more excitement, Joseph sailed around the world multiple times on board the luxurious cruise liner the QE2 were he worked as a waiter.By the mid-eighties, he decided to rent a small studio in New York City and enrolled at the, “Herbert Berghof Studio”. In 1988, the young actor moved to Los Angeles and continued on his path in the dramatic arts. There, he trained under legendary acting geniuses, Sanford Meisner, Stella Adler and Joanne Baron. Joseph landed a spot at “The Actors Studio’ in Hollywood as an observer under the supervision of the legendary Shelley Winters, who at the time ran the studio. He developed a love for the stage early in his career, between New York and Los Angeles he appeared in about 18 stage plays some of which to critical acclaim, such as “A HATFUL OF RAIN”, “A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE”, “SHE STOOPS TO QONQUER” and “OTHELLO” to mention a few. In the early 90’s he got his first professional job as a principle actor on a TV commercial for “ROYAL CARRABEAN”. Since, Joseph endorsed over 100 national TV commercials one of which, “TWIX” won the Gold Award at the New York Film Festival. In 1994, Joseph auditioned for the role of “Tony the Match” at the Sony Columbia Studios in Hollywood and got the attention of Damon Wayans who hired him for the role in “BLANKMAN” to play opposite DAMON WAYANS himself, JASON ALEXANDER and JON PULITO. Shortly after followed the drama feature “MY BROTHER JACK” opposite "CINEMA PARADISO’S" MARCO LEONARDI, followed by “THE 4TH TENOR” opposite the funny RODNEY DANGERFIELD, then the feature comedy “JUST MARRIED” and in this film Joseph plays opposite BRITTANY MURPHY and ASHTON KUTCHER. Once again he found favor in the eyes of Writer, Producer and Director DAMON WAYANS in the movie “BEHIND THE SMILE”. Joseph is also enjoying a career appearing on American National Television. He had the privilege to Guest Star opposite some TV icons such as, DICK VAN DYKE in "DIAGNOSSIS MURDER", “THE WEST WING” with MARTIN SHEEN and ALLISON JANNEY, "ALIAS" with JENIFER GARNER and MICHAEL VARTAN, "DAMON", and ABC's successful Sitcom, "MY WIFE AND KIDS" again opposite the "generous and hilariously funny" DAMON WAYANS and TISHA CAMPBELL-MARTIN. Over the years, Joseph learned how to write for film and television. In 2005 he was hired to work on the Disney Studios Lot as a writing consultant on the hit TV series “MY WIFE & KIDS” which he remembers it to be an exceptional experience. Since 1992 he wrote over a dozen screenplays and a Novel. During 2006-2007, Joseph went on to write, produce, act and direct and he endeavors to continue on the same path.