No Stranger to Success

Chances are you’ve seen this actor before. It might have been on such television shows as Law and Order, Family Matters, Columbo, Chicago Hope, CSI, One Tree Hill, Star Trek: Enterprise, True Detective or Nashville. It could have been in such movies as The Pelican Brief, Erin Brockovich, Runaway Jury, The Blind Side, Secretariat, The Campaign or Ant-Man. And, most recently, you might have seen him in Netflix’s hugely popular original series Stranger Things. Meet Joe Chrest, one of the Marshall School of Theatre’s most prolific exports. From gracing the stage of the former Old Main Theatre to hitting the big screen in more than 100 television and movie appearances, Chrest has made quite a career out of small roles.

He began acting his senior year at St. Albans High School where he also played football, basketball and golf. He attended Marshall from 1981 to 1986 and recently recalled his most memorable class.

“I was a freshman and it was my first acting class. Most of the heavyweight actors that were there at the time ended up being mentors to me throughout my time at Marshall,” Chrest said.

Chrest’s favorite professor at Marshall was Dr. N.B. East, who he said embodied Marshall Theatre.

“He was such a character, such a presence, so idiosyncratic. Every actor has a Jack Nicholson or Christopher Walken impression, and every single person who passed through Marshall Theatre had a N.B. East impression,” Chrest recalled.

One of his fondest memories at Marshall took place during his freshman year. Chrest, a self-professed night owl, had sneaked into the Old Main Theatre at 2:30 a.m. to rehearse lines for an upcoming play. It was something he did often. He remembers walking to the middle of the stage and looking out into the empty auditorium. He stood there silently, took a deep breath and then proclaimed, “To be or not to be.” Suddenly a voice from the balcony bellowed, “If you’re going to say something on that stage, it better be worthy.” A shocked Chrest looked up and found fellow classmate Craig Johnson laughing. Interestingly, Johnson would go on to become the best-selling author of the Longmire series, which expanded into a hit television crime drama.

Chrest earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in directing from Marshall in 1986, while concurrently serving in the West Virginia Air National Guard from 1983 to 1987. During his service, he received an award for expert marksmanship. He then earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Louisiana State University in 1989, where he now teaches occasionally as an adjunct professor of film and television.

At the end of 1989, Chrest packed his bags and headed to Los Angeles with aspirations of being paid to do the work he loves. Fortunately for him, those dreams were quickly realized by Hollywood standards. Just one year later, Chrest was making a living solely as a professional actor.

“You see a lot of really talented people come and go. It’s a tough business and that’s where my sports upbringing and military service comes in handy,” Chrest said. “You have to have that toughness. You must have the soul of the poet and the skin of the alligator to make it in this business.”

While he isn’t known for being a star — he can still go to the grocery store without being recognized by most — Chrest continues to make a long-standing career out of small roles, something he’s proud of.

“My passion today for the art of acting is stronger than ever. I continue to take pride in the craft because it would be easy just to phone in some of these roles.”

In Hollywood he is known for being nearly unrecognizable in many of his roles. A bio of the actor says Chrest “continues the chameleon-like range of early performances to the widely different characters of recent films — from the steely quiet sharpshooter, Mitchell, in Mockingjay Part 2 to Jonah Hill’s nerdy dad, David Schmidt, in 21 Jump Street to the despicable Southern aristocrat, James Eakins, in Free State of Jones.”

Chrest noted that one of his favorite quotes is by renowned Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski, who once said, “Love the art in yourself and not yourself in the art.”

“That axiom has affected my perspective on my acting career. Whether I was hired or not, I’ve always known that I would still be an artist at heart. But, fortunately I’ve continued to be hired,” Chrest said.

He said he’s proud of the longevity of his career of small roles, as they’ve led to a filmography of over 100 titles, and more than 60 plays and musicals.

“It’s a very subjective business — you never know what they’re going to be looking for. You just don’t have a lot of control about the way things are going to turn out. What you do have absolute control of, every day when you wake up, are the two most important things — your work ethic and your attitude.”

Chrest’s first significant role in film was as an antagonist bellhop who terrorized the main character in Steven Soderbergh’s 1993 film, King of the Hill. After that movie came out Chrest said he was often cast as the antagonist.

“You get typecast in your career, but I still think my favorite part to play is the villain because I’m just a pretty average guy in real life. It’s fun to tap into that dark side.”

These days, you can find Chrest playing a lot of father roles. He played a father in the two Jump Street films and he plays a father in two more movies slated for release later this year. However, the father character he is best known for is his current role as Ted Wheeler on the Netflix Original Series Stranger Things. Chrest plays a lackadaisical dad who appears in 12 of the 17 currently released episodes of the series. A father of two himself, Chrest said he relates to his character in how he provides for his family, but not his parenting style.

“Unlike my character, when my kids want to go out to play I always make sure to join them. I don’t think Ted would. He would stay inside and fall asleep in front of the TV. Being a real-life father is awesome, but extremely expensive. I get to play these father roles and get paid for it. It’s a nice turnaround.”

The series, which debuted in July 2016, has been a huge hit. The first episode of the second season had 15 million viewers in the United States in the first three days of its release.

“One thing I love about Stranger Things is it brings pleasure to so many people — kids and adults alike.”

But Chrest said his favorite part of being on Stranger Things is the people he gets to work with including the cast, producers and the show’s creators — the Duffer Brothers.

“The show is produced and directed so efficiently. They get you in and out of there quickly. It’s ironic because, unlike most shows, you don’t want to leave the set because it’s really great hanging out with these people.”

In fact, the camaraderie between the cast is so great that in 2016 they won a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Chrest is married to choreographer Christine Chrest and the couple have two children, Nicolas and Samantha. He was back in West Virginia this past summer when he was inducted into his high school’s Hall of Fame. He said he had a wonderful time catching up with his college roommate, Dan Henthorn, where the duo enjoyed whitewater rafting in Fayetteville and a meal at Jim’s Spaghetti in Huntington.

“There’s just such a brotherhood that lasts all these years later,” Chrest said. “I’m proud of my roots in West Virginia and my years at Marshall University.”

Production for Stranger Things season 3 began in April 2018 and is set to release in summer 2019. Until then, keep looking for Chrest on television and the silver screen. We don’t expect him to be sneaking into Old Main in the middle of the night any time soon.

Kasey Madden is the managing editor of the Marshall Magazine.

Photos (from top):

Chrest poses with his 2016 Screen Actors Guild Award for his work in Stranger Things. The cast won for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Chrest (as worried father Ted Wheeler) with Cara Buono (as Ted’s wife, Karen) act in Netflix’s hit series, Stranger Things.

Chrest playing Corporal Clive Winton in Marshall Theatre’s 1985 production See How They Run with classmate Shelley Ramsey as Penelope Toop.

Chrest as James Eakins in the 2016 film Free State of Jones which starred Matthew McConaughey.

Joe Chrest is interviewed at the 2016 premiere of Killing Reagan, a look at the 1981 assassination attempt against U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Chrest plays Jerry Parr, one of the Secret Service agents protecting President Reagan on that day.