Joe Hursley

Joe Hursley
Born	Joseph Gregory Hursley Austin, Texas
Occupation	Actor/Musician
Website
http://joehursley.com/

Joseph Hursley (born March 19, 1979) is an actor and musician living in Los Angeles, California.

Career

As his career evolves as an actor, Joe Hursley is being recognized for his ability to portray complex characters combining comedy, physicality, and drama. Starting with "Sequence" an intense action/fantasy/horror short, was internationally recognized at festivals worldwide, which included a nod for Best Actor (Short Shorts Film Festival Japan 2014), and winning overall Best Short at Academy sanctioned LA Shorts Fest (2013).

Recently, he has been tapped to lead independent films where the dual themes of comedy/drama, and fantasy/reality collide. In "The Origins of Wit and Humor" he is Les Candalero, a relatable modern day Woody Allen-esque outsider. At the other end of the spectrum, in the upcoming indie feature "For All Eyes Always", he plays Thomas Devlin, a CIA operative starring in a gritty, government sanctioned reality TV show for the American public. It's a timely film, playing on modern day themes of privacy, government transparency, and reality entertainment. The film is written and directed by Rob Bralver and is in post-production (2015).

Hursley cut his comedic feature chops in blockbuster movies like "Accepted", "Resident Evil: Extinction", and "Fast and Furious", which lead him to his is first starring feature role with cult director Penelope Spheeris (Black Sheep, Wayne's World) in Balls to the Wall (2011).^[1]

His first break in the business was being tapped by Ashton Kutcher to star in the 2004 MTV reality comedy series You've Got a Friend.^[2][3] The show, produced by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, showcased Hursley's ability to improvise realistic, silly, and subversive comedy. His task was to play an obnoxious 'friend' for 48 hours, while contestants had to prove their friendship in front of real friends and loved ones for a prize of $15,000. Hursley was increasingly sinister as the series progressed, pushing the limits while bending contestants to his whim. After the show, Hursley joined Kutcher on Punk'd, where he stumped various celebrities.

Music

In late 2004, Hursley started the Los Angeles based rock and roll band and Sunset Strip staples, The Ringers, with whom he released the albums "Tokyo Massage III" and "Headlocks and Highkicks". They appeared in the Miami Ink episode "Ruthless and Toothless". The Ringers were featured in SPIN magazine in 2007.^[4] They also performed on stage in Accepted and were the only unsigned band to be featured on the movie soundtrack.

Although The Ringers broke up in 2010, Joe and his cousin Patrick Hursley (the drummer of The Ringers), came back with indie rock band, Indians.^[5] They released their self-titled debut in 2011. The first music video, "Sink Into You", was written and directed by Jordan Albertsen, and starred Joslyn Jensen and Taylor Handley ^[6]

Music by the Indians was featured in the 2012 film Rites of Passage,^[7] and the television shows Top Gear, and MTV's Catfish.

In 2013 Indians changed their name to We Were Indians, and released their debut album that same year.

Early life

Hursley was born in Austin, Texas. His great-grandfather is Frank M. Hursley, co-creator of the longest running television soap opera, General Hospital.^[8] His father, Greg Hursley, is an architectural photographer and his mother Kelle, a nurse.^[9] Hursley began his entertainment career after participating in the Schick "Groove n' Smooth" national talent search in 1999. He won the talent search, and started a karaoke company at age 19. He became well known in Austin nightlife scene as Karaoke Joe, going on to perform over five-hundred shows the next few years.^[10]

Filmography

References

External links

• Joe Hursley at the Internet Movie Database
• Joe Hursley Official Site
• Sink Into You Music Video/Short Film by Indians
• We Were Indians band site