Meet Joshua Goodridge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Goodridge.

Joshua, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
From as far back as I can remember, I’ve always enjoyed expressing myself. I’ve never been shy and wanted to be the center of attention at any time possible. I have old home videos where I got in front of the camera at three years old and was giving a tour around the house, making jokes, entertaining whoever might be on the other side of that lens. I was about 11 years old when I decided I wanted to be an actor.

I had been watching Will Smith A LOT in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, MIB, and some of his other movies. I thought it was so cool for someone who looked like me to be able to play so many vibrant and very different characters. I took every drama elective or club or group I could in both middle and high school. I helped build my high school drama program from the ground up, and of course, once I graduated, I found myself pursuing a bachelors of fine arts at the University of Central Florida (UCF), in Orlando.

However, acting wasn’t my only passion. My parents. like most parents of color, taught me early that I was going to have to try and work harder for everything because of the color of my skin. I didn’t take that very hard but it sure fueled my determination and perseverance as a person. In high school, I was student council president, drama club vice president, and was also in at least seven other clubs. My creative nature didn’t manifest only in acting but also in working with others and being a leader.

It was these other skills (and the urging of my loving parents) that drove me to double major at UCF with a Bachelors in Science in business administration. Much like high school, I was very involved at UCF. In addition to being cast in shows in the theatre department, I was very active in student government on campus as well as a student alumni leadership group and a resident step team. I was even selected to be one of the few personal guides to Bill and Melinda Gates when they toured UCF with their charitable education foundation.

During my last year of college, I applied for an internship at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern upon the request of a colleague. I was really drawn to their education program in addition to their performance opportunities. The internship was mostly administrative, helping out with summer education programs and getting to know the company from the inside out. I spent three months here in Atlanta in the summer of 2017 and instantly fell in love with the city and the numerous opportunities for me as an actor, creative, and teaching artist. I needed to get back to Orlando, graduate and get back here as soon as possible.

Sure enough, two weeks before graduating, The Shakespeare Tavern’s education program reached out to me about a temporary teaching job starting in January 2018, not even a full month after graduating. I accepted, moved to ATL three weeks after I graduated and I’ve been thriving ever since. I am a teaching artist at the Tavern and I have worked on five shows there now including Romeo in Romeo and Juliet this past February.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Well, as I think most artists can attest to, it’s never really “smooth” and most times, it’s us who get in our own way. I’ve been really blessed in that whatever struggles I have gone through I always try to attack them with a positive attitude and come out on top, or at least learn from what happened. I attribute this mindset back to one of the hardest times in my life.

I was 16 years old and was diagnosed with scoliosis, which is a curvature of the spine. I had two curves in my back which were over 50 degrees, so basically, my back was S-shaped. It all happened so quickly since I had a little growth spurt and we didn’t really notice it happening. Anyway, I had to get this 7-hour surgery which resulted in two metal rods and 25 screws into my back. Needless to say, I was scared but I didn’t want my parents to be scared, so I did what I always do, stayed positive, made jokes, and made my parents and nurses laugh before and after the surgery. Recovery was long but the doctor’s said that they believe my positive attitude helped the healing go much faster than normal patients. I spent a week in the hospital, barely eating and sleeping a lot. There were definitely other struggles but I think back to that time in my life now and nothing really scares or intimidates me anymore. If I can get through that, I can get through anything.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am a theatre and film actor with hopes to one day star in a situation comedy on television.

I have always been the class clown. Comedy is something that has come so easy to me that I didn’t realize that it is a skill and a talent that some people have to work really hard to get good at. My theatre training started with improv so that is the oldest form of acting for me and one that is always a part of my arsenal. Since senior year of high school, I found a fascination for Shakespeare that grew in college and has found me performing at the Atlanta Shakespeare Theatre in Midtown. Shakespeare is definitely one of my strong points, I have a great knack for translating Will’s words to common themes and portraying that onstage.

Additionally, I have extensive backgrounds in martial arts, stage combat, movement and dance. I am always moving! And I love that I can put that into my art. These are the things that mainly set me apart from other actors, and they are also the facets of my craft that I am continually looking to expand even further.

One day, I also hope to run my own acting school for young actors. One of the parts of my craft that I am most proud of right now is the teaching artist and educational touring work I am able to do here in Atlanta. To be able to be a positive example in theatre to students who look like me is worth all the stress and struggles and everything in the world.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For me, success is about achieving goals. You cannot achieve something if you haven’t first visualized it, made a plan to get it, and then executed that plan. But at the same time, I believe one can sometimes still achieve success even if they haven’t reached a particular goal. I can describe it like this: I like to sometimes set “unachievable” goals. Goals that may be very unlikely to achieve; if I do achieve them, GREAT! But if not, I did other tasks that got me close. And those tasks are the ones where I have learned, or grown, or perhaps set up habits to help me to one day achieve that “unachievable” goal. “Aim for the moon, because even if you miss, at least you’ll land among the stars.”

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jgoodman8
• Twitter: @jgoodman8

Image Credit:
Jeff Watkins, Tony Firriolo, Taylor Irby

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