Zibby chats with Hollywood actor, producer, and debut novelist Josh Plasse about DUST, the first installment of his propulsive, action-packed fantasy saga. Josh shares how this book came to be, touching on how childhood memories—like collecting sea glass with his mother—inspired the magical elements of his world. He delves into the meticulous process of crafting DUST, from structuring it like a screenplay to developing his three main characters, each grappling with morality, power, and identity. He also talks about his love of fantasy, the unexpected connection that helped him break into publishing, the humbling editing process, and the pressures of comparing his work to others.

Transcript:

Zibby: Welcome, Josh. Thank you for coming on Totally Booked with Zibby. Thank you for rescheduling 100 times with me.

I really appreciate it. Sorry about that. So before we get into Dust, congratulations. You have been one of the many positive side effects of Kyle's career when I met you because of Wildflower and all that, which is so fabulous. How did you even get involved with Wildflower, that project, by the way? 

Josh: Yeah, yeah.

Well, thanks for having me. First of all, it's awesome being here. And then, um, yeah, Wildflower. So I actually just got cast in Wildflower as an actor. So I was not a part of that from a producerial side. I just had a ton of fun with the audition. I think Kyle and his team probably just, uh, enjoyed the many antics that I brought with it.

So I just got involved as an actor, but when I got there, they were so easy to blend with and have fun. And so I think, you know, it was, it was a pretty seamless, Hey, we should work together again in the future. Kind of a thing. 

Zibby: Amazing. Oh, I just love that. Okay. Well, let's talk about Dust. First of all, why did you write a novel and why this novel and what's this novel about?

Like how did we end up here? 

Josh: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So disclaimer, I have always been a huge nerd my whole life growing up specifically like any all things warfare so my dad was a Navy SEAL and I grew up doing all kinds of interesting like I loved anything Tactica so risk games he and I would always play tabletop board games together.

He's a nerd, too. 

Zibby: Nerd is not negative. We let's like spin this a little more positively. 

Josh: Exactly. 

Zibby: So is it intellectual and interested in, you know, strategy? How about that? 

Josh: Strategy. Yes. I think, I think the nerd term is really making a comeback. 

Zibby: Okay. 

Josh: I think we're, uh. 

Zibby: Alright. I'll leave it then. I'll leave it.

Josh: No, no, no. I kid. Yeah. So, you know, we did that and I say that to say that led into me drawing comics. And as I started drawing comics, I started reading more books. He got me into literature at a pretty young age, and I actually studied Homeland Security and Criminal Justice in college. But after that, I left Virginia, BCU, came to California, and I started studying screenwriting.

And so I sort of blended those loves of like the more terse screenwriting pros to what he had kind of raised me on with literature. And like, we would read some stuff together when he was home or he wasn't deployed. And I was drawing comics. One thing led to another where I started sort of blending all of this.

And really the birth child of that is, is Dust. It's my love of warfare. It's my love of comics. It's my love of literature. I consider the pros pretty terse in this. And one thing led to another. I just really was like, you know what, then, uh, I want to try my hand at this. I've always been somewhat creative.

I've always loved the concept of fantasy. I grew up on like C. S. Lewis. Like I loved a lot of his early work, Brandon Sanderson, a lot of these really, really successful fantasy, like the Stormlight Archives. Do you know Robin Hobb? I loved her stuff growing up. She was amazing. So that would say those were like the inspirations for the book.

And then I started writing, I got about, I want to say 200 pages in maybe six years ago and I shared it with some friends. They're like, dude, this is terrible. Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Uh, but I was very honest with myself, I was very harsh. And so I took what was working, deleted the rest, started a new manuscript and here we are.

Zibby: Oh my gosh. So you're happy with those friends or you're not happy with those friends? 

Josh: I am so happy with those friends. If I have anything I could say to any artist in the world, it's like be unbelievably, and you have to be careful with this of course, but be unbelievably real with yourself because it's so stinking competitive and truly you usually only get.

One first impression with people, you know what I mean? So if they read your work and it isn't top class, or at least your best, you're probably not going to open that door again. So I owe a lot to those friends, actually. Because they gave me the honest truth. Literature was not a circle that I was in. I had grown up reading and writing, and I had a, I had a love for it.

But, you know, film is where I've, I've actually worked. And I've been critiqued, and I've, I've had that, that sculpting, if you will. Whereas my work here, I needed that. And so that's why it took me 10 years to get anything done to have a first manuscript and even an agent. It's like I, I was never going to rush a process I wasn't prepared for.

Zibby: Wow. But this is like your very first novel. I mean, that's crazy. This never happens and it's rarely good. So there you go. I mean, I understand it's like the second draft of an, of a first novel, but still impressive. 

Josh: Very much. I appreciate that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm quite proud of it. 

Zibby: So, tell everybody what the book is about.

Josh: Yeah, yeah. So, it's high fantasy for anyone who likes fantasy. If you don't, it's not for you. Ultimately. 

Zibby: You were so funny. You were like, Zibby, this might not be your, totally your genre, but thanks for having me anyway. 

Josh: I'm like, it's all good. I love it. I love it might not be. But honestly, I think, I think fantasy is, is good for anybody.

If you just want to have that suspense for a moment, you want to walk into a different world that is reflective of our world, but obviously kind of gets you lost for a while. I think it's a nice change of pace from from most of what we have today. So ultimately Dust is about three siblings in the fallout of their parents assassination.

It follows three different characters and ultimately their stories intertwining to the question of like, is Dust still existing in the world today? And what Dust is, the reason it's called that is, I'm going to have some fun here for a second, uh, this is the map of the book and sort of like Pangea in the real world today.

The sort of continental fragments are as they are because of the comet shower. The story takes place 2, 000 years later, and these ancient comets are all lost. But if one comes across them, the Dust from these comets contains mythical and or magical elements to them. So that's sort of the source of magic, which keeps it very grounded and very, like, One note, if you will, within the world of the story, where if you come across this Dust, you'll gain one of seven gifts, and that's like the source of magic for the book.

So, ultimately, these three siblings are vying for a throne and vying for the truth of, is Dust still real? Once they discover that it is, there's a great conquest and great warfare over obtaining the Dust. It's a lot. 

Zibby: So, where, where did this all come from? Like, tell me it didn't come from, like, sweeping the Dust in your, in your house one day or something.

And you're like, what if this was a magical element? What if this ceased to exist? Like, who are, what are the traits? Like, where, I know there's never a good answer to, like, where did my imagination, how did my imagination come up with something like this? But do you have any? Any sense? 

Josh: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That's a great question.

So, okay. Actually, this is the first time I've ever said this to anyone really live. It, it comes from a number of things, but I used to collect sea glass on the bay in Virginia beach with my mom and we would go in, you know, you dig for the glass cause it rises up kind of in like the foamy shallows. When I was a kid, I just had this super vivid imagery in my, in my head still kind of like smells like if you played football or soccer or something, you remember like the smell of the field.

I remember the smell of grabbing the sea glass in the sand, just kind of trickling down through my hands. And that imagery stuck with me. And it kind of felt like it's not Dust, but it was. And if you, once you get the hardcover, you'll see, it's like a mat. The Dust is sort of in there. It's kind of like that in the soft cover too, but that I wanted to design it like that because of just that memory to me.

And that's where the concept of Dust came from. And I sort of, I sort of have that vivid imagery. And just remember as a kid being like, man, look at this blue. turquoise sea glass amongst this sand falling through and just feeling like it was magical as a kid. And I didn't take that concept and directly think, let's go write a book.

But that feeling stuck with me as something that was always very magical in my life. And so as I got older, I think if I'm looking back on it these days, I'm recollecting like, man, that's where that concept came from to me. And it was, it's so, it's so strange how aspects of our life stay with us so long, you know.

Zibby: Well, as a mom, I'm suggesting that you tell your mom that those times like digging for sea glass on the beach when like maybe she was stressed and had to go somewhere else or whatever that it actually, it was that moment that inspired your, your book. Cause who knows?

Josh: I love it. I will. She'll, I assure you, she will watch this.

So I'm sure she'll see it. 

Zibby: That's awesome. Oh my gosh, I love that. Tell me about these three main characters and how you came up with who they were and did you base them on anybody and, you know, were there things to learn from each one that you wanted to, like, did you outline who these characters would be?

Tell me about crafting them. 

Josh: Yeah. Yeah, no, that's a great question. I appreciate that. I do. I'm super, super meticulous with the way I craft the world and the story. This is the first installment of, you know, what I hope to be three books, potentially even four, as long as it is successful. But I actually took to answer that question.

One step forward. I took a screenwriting process to the literature process here where they have, you know, the classic beat board four X structure, three X structure there. And each, you know, each card is a scene, if you will. I actually color that and I categorize it with each character, all three of them.

So I take those scenes and I replace them with chapters. The book is 75 chapters. I broke it into three sections, if you will, three acts of 25 chapters, and then I would color code each character for each chapter and sort of where they intersect with their thematics. So like Taryn, my main female character, her, her main principle and theme is good versus evil.

I find that fascinating from a perspective of like human moralism, what is good and what is evil if two people are. are vying against one another. It's generally a more of a concept of perspective. No one ever thinks they're wrong and is willing to fight or die on the sword because they're wrong. And it's like, no, we both think we're right.

And that's where this conflict arises from. So I crafted her out of sort of human moralism. I'm a huge theology buff as well where I just like, I'm, I'm very into that kind of thing. So I crafted her from there. It's like good versus evil. And then similarly, Tyvetti, which I, excuse the fantasy, Dave's that I bet he is her older brother, who for him, it's the concept of right versus wrong and what is right.

And again, I think that's fascinating. You know, I, I took him off of my father actually. So I bet he is away from their kingdom. He's stationed in this desert called the red sand desert where they fight this war. And I crafted that not to get political about it. Cause I, I'd never. I never, I don't like anyone who states their politics.

I like to just ask questions and let readers deduce for themselves how they feel about the situation. So, what I did with Ty Vetti was just pose this question where he, he wonders in the, in the realm of right versus wrong and what is right, were we ever the good guys here? And so they're in this desert for 250 years, protecting local tribes from this great evil, which is sort of, I'll admit, outright, I took from, totally stole from orcs, but like, they're a different faction.

It's my own version of it. It's cool. I don't think there's anything new under the sun, if we're being honest. So I say that to say that he was crafted based on my dad who was always gone and was always serving time over in in places that are desert is. And so I kind of wondered in this concept of like, man, you are doing the right thing, but what is right?

What is wrong? And from perspectives, and so there's a line in the book, it's one of my favorite lines where one of the local village women says to that, he says, Hey, you know, are you happy that we're here? And she says, well, are we happy? Yes. And he goes into like, like, honestly, are you happy? We're here.

And she says, yes, uh, we're very happy. You're here. Cause without you, this force might've killed us, but without you, we also may have discovered all the dyes underground and we might've grown strong. We might've gone rich. We might've done it ourselves. And I think that's really fascinating where it's like.

You know, we could get into any country in the world and the politics of their influence and what they're doing in certain sectors of the world. So I based Tidetti off of that and that sort of core principle of like, am I right being here? Are we wrong? Is this war a good thing? Is it a bad thing? That's where he comes from.

And then Hendrix, which is the third character, he's kind of based on me. He's one of the younger characters and you could argue the primary character of the book, but really I try to share the time equally. He is essentially rooted in staying true to yourself in a world that's telling you not to. If that makes sense, that's sort of the best way that I can, I can articulate that he is part of the royal family and he has grown up sort of in the shadow of his older brother and the shadow of his sister and all the things that they go through with their family.

So it takes a while to get into this. I think any good fantasy usually does. It's a slow burn of a read. It's, I'm not going to give everything away in the first chapter. It's just like an info dome. So as you sort of go through with the book. You'll realize he's discovering, you know, the Dust of legend.

This is true. This is real. The things that are happening, the assassination of his family was nefarious. He's, he's blamed for it. It wasn't him. And so he starts realizing like the hard truth of the world. And as he gets out there and realizes, wow, this is a big world in my little home sector of, of where I grew up in the world family is like, not what the real world is like, but he has to stay true to who he is as all these different influences come into his life.

So, those are the three main characters and sort of what I based them off of. 

Zibby: Whoa. So, is that, do you feel you are wrestling with some of the same issues as your alter you in the book? 

Josh: I think, I think at times, at times I certainly have. I feel, of course I think we all do, and that's also an interesting thing because we as humans grow individually.

So, yeah. It's like staying true to yourself is an interesting premise in its own, because who is yourself? What is that rooted in? Are you rooted in something larger than yourself? Are you yourself? And does that change over time? So I think if we're all honest with ourselves on some level, yes, uh, I, I do.

The answer is yes, I do still struggle with that, but I think we all do. I found that over the last five or six years in my life. I've been more rooted in who I am. And so that's been a lot easier to stay true to myself. I certainly don't let outside influences dictate how I'm going to live my life. But with that said, the way that I choose to live my life changes as it does for everyone, especially, you know, I'm still relatively young, but as I've gotten older, you know, I got married.

I've got my, got my fur babies here and other kids one day in the future. You know, it's like, um, your, your priorities change who you are changes fundamentally. And I think that's good. So yes. 

Zibby: Wow. So, and even with all of this sort of brilliance that became a book, this is still not your day job, right? So take me through the day job.

Are, how many, how much is screenwriting producing? Like what, what does that look like also? And then when were you writing this? Like how did you marry the two? 

Josh: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So day job, you know, first and foremost, like again, getting, getting honest in here, like I pay the bills with acting. So acting is my, my day job, if you will.

Like that is my favorite thing. That is my first love, but I actually think that serves as a really good basis. For everything else, because acting is ultimately like the study of human behavior, and if you're really good with human behavior, that means you're good with character, and that means you're going to be, in some sense, good at writing.

You're going to be good at screenplays, you're going to be good with literature. So the, the sort of walking through it is, yeah, um, first and foremost, I'm an actor. I'm, I'm auditioning every week, which is great. I'm super thankful for that. And that's amazing. 

Zibby: Are those on Zoom? I heard a lot of auditions are on Zoom now.

Josh: Pretty much everything in the first round is on Zoom. 

Zibby: Wow. Crazy. 

Josh: That's crazy. Well, more likely, the first round will be self tape. But if you're starting to do callbacks, those will be on Zoom producer sessions. But some stuff is going back to in person in New York and in L. A., but yeah, it's pretty much all Zoom now.

Isn't that great? 

Zibby: I have all these images of, like, long hallways of people, like, waiting for the door to open, you know, from, like, all the sitcoms in the 80s or whatever, you know, anyway. Yes. Okay, so sorry. So your day job is you're auditioning a lot. Okay, keep going. 

Josh: Yeah. No, no, no. That's funny. You're, you're right.

I, I wish it was that still, by the way. So yeah, acting. Um, and then slowly over about the past four years, uh, we started making our own production company called Pine Bay Pictures. I met, uh, three other gentlemen, two creatives, two guys who are more on the business side of things. And we all had a mutual taste for the kind of cinema we wanted to put in the world, the kind of stories we wanted and, you know, what we want to stand for.

So we came together, made that. And our first film, Ride, was just acquired by Paramount Plus, which is great. 

Zibby: Wow, congrats. 

Josh: Thank you, yep. And now, obviously, you know, we're teaming up for Late Fame with Kyle. Which is great.

Zibby: It has been freezing outside filming this every day, by the way. So thank you for that.

It's like, it's like one degree here right now. So, yeah. 

Josh: One degree? 

Zibby: No, I mean, I think that's like the wind temperature. I think it's 18, but not to exaggerate. But either way. 

Josh: No, it feels like it. Yeah. They'll send me pictures and they're just like, right. Literally this stuff. So yeah. So producing sort of became this other thing and that was sort of that and Dust.

Dust has been a long thing cause I've been writing it in the background every day for about 10 years and just different facets just a little bit every day. I don't have the time to really sit down and properly take four hour sessions. But when I was younger, I had that energy. It's like I could finish a 12, 14 hour day, sit down and write, I could get up before go write.

I can't do that now. I'm like, I'm tired. I need, I need to rest. 

Zibby: Oh my God. But you're still young. How old are you? Am I even allowed to ask you that? 

Josh: Yeah. I'm 31. I'm 31. Um, yes. So I, I feel. I don't know. I still have the energy. Of course, I'm, I'm somewhat kidding, but you know, it was easier to write back then.

So hopefully that answers the question. I, I started getting into producing and I say all that to say, I had more time to actively work on Dust, polish the manuscript, get my agent pitch letters ready, like get everything set over the last four years because of COVID. So once COVID took all of our auditions virtual and simply non existent during the actor strike, that was actually my birthplace for saying, okay, you know what? This is terrible, but I can also, I can sit here and play the victim card. Or I can go create my own production company and I can go finish this book that I've been working on every single day for the last X amount of years. So that's kind of the answer to that. And depending on the success level of the book and these next films and where my acting is, that will sort of dictate how quickly.

I write the next book, but I want to write it very quickly because I hate when people take like 10 years. 

Zibby: So for the next two, did you sell it as a trilogy? 

Josh: No. Just one. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Just one. So I'm, I'm hopeful that so far it's looking like it's doing pretty well. Like my pre order numbers are pretty good, which is great.

I don't know. I guess that's a subjective, a subjective term for me. My good is not Robin Hobb's good, you know? My good is not Patrick Rothfuss's good. 

Zibby: Most books sell less than a thousand copies. Most. Like 99 percent. Something crazy. I'm probably getting this wrong. But really, most books don't sell that well at all.

So I'm sure your pre order numbers are, are great. Oh my. If I had to guess. 

Josh: That's funny. Okay. Awesome. Well yeah, hopefully that answers the question. I so appreciate that. Yeah, that basically it's sort of, um, you know, acting first and then my secondary creative endeavors are my, my producing, which I love my writing and slowly this is overtaking screenwriting.

I would like to continue screenwriting, but I have a much greater love for classic literature. I'd rather write novels than I would write screenplays. I love to act and produce in screenplays. So that's, that's, I'll do that, you know, forever. But yeah, I just really like this world. It's, it's so much, I don't know, it's more rewarding to me when I finish a book than it is a screenplay.

Zibby: Wow. Well, at first when we were talking and you were talking about your dad being Navy SEAL, I was like, maybe he's actually in the CIA and this is his cover story and he didn't even write this book and whatever. But now I feel like you're busy enough that I'm not sure I believe that anymore. So. 

Josh: That's hilarious.

You know, it's funny. My grandpa was in this three letter agency. And it's so funny because the day I told them I was going to be an actor, they were like, not bad, but they ultimately love it now. They ultimately love it now. 

Zibby: Awesome. Oh, good. Well, that sounds like another story to be told in greater detail, perhaps, putting in another novel.

I don't know. 

Josh: Exactly. Exactly. 

Zibby: Oh, my gosh. So what was the process like of selling it? You went and got an agent. Like, was that easy, hard? Like exciting, terrifying,.. 

Josh: Uh, all the above, all the above. I am the first person to admit and always be honest. I got pretty lucky. Actually. I think the manuscript is strong and it spoke for itself.

And I had been working. I'm very meticulous. I've been working on it for so long that there were a few grammatical errors. Few this, few that. I mean, of course, everything has, has some, some process, but it was strong. And I got lucky in the sense that I looked for an agent for a while to no success. But A, I already had a little bit of a following from acting and I already had some really good connections and I had just been in this show with an author named Karen Kingsbury and she's a multi time New York selling, uh, New York Times bestselling author.

So I was actually at her home where I met another woman who was working at the time at a huge publishing house and I had no idea and her daughter was trying to get into marketing. So I was just being kind and just talking to her. We were talking, I had no idea what she did and I wasn't pitching Dust that hard.

My agent was, but I wasn't. And so we're talking and she's like, yeah, my daughter's got a call. She's trying to get a marketing job. I was like, no way. You know, my wife works for Nissan here in Nashville. It's their, it's their, uh, US headquarters. Oh, it's like, send me the resume, see what we can do. She's like, oh my gosh, I will.

And just like outta nowhere, just so happens that she is massive in the publishing game. And one thing led to another, we became friends. Karen put, truthfully, Karen put in a good word, she read the manuscript and the rest was kind of history. 

Zibby: Oh my gosh. 

Josh: Yeah. Yeah. But did, 

Zibby: did her daughter get the job at Nissan?

Josh: She actually never ended up applying to that job. I know, I know, I know. But I think, I think she found something else pretty quickly. And so she had a, it was fine. She had an easy time of it. 

Zibby: See, this is just another example of like, you just put good will out into the world. And it, it comes back in other ways.

Like you don't, you, I mean, not, not, you can't do it for that reason, but it's just like, if you're a good person, generally something will come your way. This is, I don't know. 

Josh: I love that. No, I like to believe that as well. So truly growing up, I, that was like my mantra. I always believed that. And I think it is still very true.

I've gotten slightly more pessimistic, but I still believe at heart that that is absolutely true. And yeah, good things do happen to good people. It might just take a little longer. 

Zibby: I mean bad things also happen to good people, but I don't know. I still think the karma comes around. So Who knows? Who knows?

Josh: I'm definitely with you there. 

Zibby: So what are you, do you read fantasy? Like what are you reading now? Like do you read all this or do you read across genres or I know you said you love. 

Josh: Yeah, no, I do. I do read across genres, but fantasy is admittedly my favorite for sure. I just finished the entire series for Pierce Brown, Red Rising, and I will never stop raving about that series.

It's funny. The first book, I just like, I couldn't put it down. It actually bothered me for a minute because in the total spirit of transparency, I was like, man, I don't, and mind you, I've been writing mine for 10 years, I was like, I don't feel this way about my book. I was like, I think my world is as strong as his.

Genuinely, I believe that. I think my characters are as strong or deep, more deep, but the flow of that work is so fast and I'm just churning the page. I don't feel that way about my work. So for a while, I was like, man, this, and I just kept reading the books and covering this. So I just started raving about it and I was like, well, I can do two things about this.

I was like, I can be upset. I can learn from this. I can, whatever. I just think it's that good him. And then the same with the name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I read that, which is like a 900 page book, maybe even more. And I literally. Just turning the pages and, um, it's one of those things where, I don't know if you've ever had this happen in your life or in your work, but where you, in a good way, and it happens to me as an actor a lot, I'll read or witness someone else's work and I just, you immediately have this, like, gut feeling of, wow, this is truly great.

Like, I am witnessing something great, and it is putting my, my work under the microscope. And I'm like, it may be good. It may even be great. I think Dust is great. I truly do. But it's, it's a different type of great. So with interest, I, I, I been trying to, I say that to say, I've been trying to find works like that, where I go online and gone, good reads gone, whatever.

I'm like, okay, Oh, wow. This is, this is this caliber of work. Everyone objectively thinks this, this has 3 million reviews or whatever, and just really hold the microscope up to my own work for the followup installments for the other things. So I say that to say, I have been on a kick of more of the kind of bestsellers, which is not always good.

Cause I, I'd like to support more indie work. But yeah, like I read all the Game of Thrones again by George R. R. Martin, the entire Stormlight Archives, Brandon Saracen, like I said, like, uh, Patrick Rothfuss, I love that. Though, dirt, like, though, admittedly, if he ever watches this somehow, Patrick, finish the third book.

It's been ten years, bro. I hate that. So like I said, you know, uh, Robin Hobb, I love all of her stuff. I was a Harry Potter guy growing up, J. K. Rowling, but recently I've been on a kick of Pierce Brown and, uh, and Patrick Rothfuss. 

Zibby: And, to your question, yes, I often am blown away by how good other books are and things.

And if I am at the same time trying to write something, it is deeply depressing to me. Because I'm like, why am I even trying? This is so good. Like, what, what is the point of my even putting something in the world when like, people could just read this. Like, I could never even do this. But then you're like, I don't know, something for everyone and we all have something to say.

Josh: Well said. That's very well said. I love an honest take like that because so many people don't. Aren't objective or honest about their work and you're right. I feel that way a lot, but it's all so objective too. 

Zibby: Yes It's that's right. You just don't know how it lands Amazing. So what, is there anything we're going to see you in on the acting front soon?

Josh: Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. So on the acting front, there's a show on Amazon called Butterfly and that's going to come out this year and I'm super proud of that one. I've been, I think you know this, maybe you don't, I don't look it. I haven't in a while, but I grew up doing MMA and I was pretty darn good.

Ah. He won golden gloves when I was 18 like I was, Oh my gosh, totally different human. But that was when I was like trying to be a CEO and wanted to do stuff like my dad. And I say that to say, I, I booked this show, uh, with a guy named Daniel Day Kim and he's the lead of the show. And it's kind of like, um, speaking of CIA stuff, it's kind of like a three letter agency espionage spy show kind of meets the born identity series.

And um, I got cast in that, which comes. Out I, I think August of this year, standby. They haven't released an official date, but I got to use my fighting in it and I got to do all the stunt work. I was in South Korea for like four months training with their stunt teams, which was so much fun. So you'll see me in that butterfly, that's gonna be really good.

And then there's a movie called Day of Reckoning coming out that I'll be in. I know I'm missing some other things. There's one other I have to go look at my MDB . That's okay. That's okay. Bill. The next one I'm doing will not, probably won't be out until early next year, but I'll be in this thing called the Pirate King, but I'm very, very.

Yeah. 

Zibby: So last question, why, and maybe this is like something more for therapy and with your family. Why did you decide not to be a SEAL or go down that route? Or did you like, what was that about? 

Josh: I have a extremely specific moment that I'll never forget in my life with multiple words said, and it was pretty wild actually.

So I was, I just won Golden Gloves, went to Virginia Commonwealth University, like I alluded to earlier, I studied Homeland Security, Criminal Justice, I was like ready. And I was shooting all the time, running all the time, swimming all the time, and I found that I was much too serious in my life. And there's some, so there's something called BUDS, which is Basic Underwater Demolition School, which is like the precursor to becoming an ABCL.

Most people don't make it through that. And I was getting ready to do something called pre BUDS, where you like enroll and you can prepare to do stuff to prepare yourself for that. And because of the caliber of who my dad was, I had a lot of connections that would have made the process easier for me.

And in the sense of like helping me train for that, there's no shortcut to busting, but helping me train and get better. So I was doing that. And I had a buddy in college who was super nonchalant. His name was Adam. And I was like, man, why are you always so happy all the time? And he was like, dude, you're not going to like this, but.

It's the theater. And I was like, Oh man, what? So I'm like, all right. He was like, yeah, why don't you try it? And so I get into this theater class with a guy named Joseph Obermuller who was a huge thespian. He's like a big, he's a big Christian actually. He's a big kind of religious guy. Big, uh, theater guy and just a good, good human.

And I, I met him and just kind of fell in love with what he was doing. And he was like, so why are you here? And I'll get to, I'll answer the heart of your question in a moment. It's like, well, I want to sort of open up, I guess, and be less brah, you know, less care what everyone thinks about me. I was in a fraternity.

I was that guy, you know? And he was like, all right, well start by going and playing Dungeons and Dragons on sorority row at the local bookstore down there. I was like, Oh man, it's a very, very long story short. I did. I went, I played totally embarrassed myself, but as you know, I love that stuff. So like, whatever.

So I went, I did it, embarrassed myself, didn't care, got in theater, fell in love with it, started booking stuff in Virginia really quickly. There's not a lot of competition there. And he was like, dude, you're doing pretty good at this. I think you should go to LA. So I'm like, I'm 20 at the time and I was like, well, I have my whole life has been, you know, predicated on doing this seal thing.

Like I'm, I'm, I know I can do this and if I can't, I know I'll do something in the Navy. I'll be good at this. And we sat down and we were on the corner of Hope and Grace Street. And again, I'm sitting here with this Christian guy, like listening to him and like what he's saying. He goes, Josh, I'll never forget this.

He says, Washington is power, but Hollywood is influence. And Washington was metaphorical in this instance for a naval career. And again, I should track back by saying that nothing but the greatest respect for that. If you're in any armed service in any kind, I think that's the cream of the crop top of the line profession anyone can do on this planet.

But, uh, at the time with, with where my skill sets were leaning, he was like, you know, there's, there's. a cultural war right now in all kinds of ways. And I think that for where you are right now, if you want to bring the most good into the world and you want to do the best you can and make a positive impact for this world, and not even in any specific way, just to promote some good, like we were saying earlier, like just objective good.

It's like, I think you would have an easier time doing that out there and you should try it. And it was literally in that moment, you know, Washington's power, Hollywood has influenced. I was like, wow. And I think I packed up my car like a month later and moved to LA. 

Zibby: Oh my gosh. And you're glad? Right call?

Josh: Yeah, right call. I have moments where I'm like, oh dude, you should have never sat down on that call. But uh, no, no, no. I do think it was the right call. I think it's all worth working out as it should have. Yes. 

Zibby: Okay, good. Good, good. I'm glad to hear it. Well, what an impressive story. What an impressive life. I can't believe how much you've accomplished already.

I feel like very lazy at this point. I'm like, what am I doing with my time? But um, anyway, so impressive. And this is so well written and you're like, this is awesome. And I'm, I'm really hoping for all the best with this whole thing. So congrats. 

Josh: Thank you. I really appreciate you having me and on the 4th, I'll see you on the 4th.

I have so many people who are getting ready to come and check everything out. 

Zibby: Amazing. Okay. See you soon. Thanks. Bye bye.