Jeremy Hogan

By Ken Hall

Jeremy Hogan may not be a household name - yet - but the 23-year-old actor and California native has enough drive and ambition to propel himself to the big time. He's been acting since he was a kid, appearing in commercials and on TV shows like Saved By The Bell and Full House. And that was before he was accepted into the prestigious Orange County High School of the Arts in Los Angeles, where he excelled.

Last year, Hogan co-founded the Cassiopeia Theater Company in Los Angeles. Its mission, he said, is "to create authentic and captivating art with integrity and passion." He also co-founded Perception Entertainment, a multi-faceted production company dedicated to "unifying all art forms and propelling an artist revolution in Los Angeles."

There you have it. How many 23-year-old actors do you know who are bent on fomenting an artist revolution? Not many, but that gives you an idea of what kind of stuff Jeremy Hogan is made of. And when he talks of the arts, it's all of the arts: from acting to singing to poetry to painting. Painting is something he also knows a little bit about. Jeremy's been making art since childhood.

"I was always sketching as a child," he said. "My great grandmother, in Laguna Beach, was a painter and onetime owner of the Art Affair Festival there. She inspired me. She'd even give me her paintings. It really got me interested in art. My early stuff was raw, just pencil and charcoal sketches. And I still do a lot of sketching. But now, it's interspersed with watercolors and other mediums."

High school was a positive experience for Hogan, whose fertile mind soaked up the progressive curriculum there. "They had cross-training, so even though my main concentration was in dramatic arts, I also took art classes," he said. "It was great. I know in many high schools the teachers actually stifle individuality and the urge to create, but at Orange County it was just the opposite. We were actively encouraged to broaden our creative spirits in as many directions as possible."

While still in high school, Hogan traveled to Las Vegas, Hawaii and London, performing with stars like Don Ho, Broadway star Susan Egan and Debbie Reynolds. Twice he won Best Vocalist and he was named Best Actor in his senior year. Hogan has performed in more than 25 plays and musicals, including leads in Physical, Hair and the West Coast premiere of Second Wind.

As for his art, he continues to produce it, with subject matter that runs a fairly eclectic gamut. "I can be inspired by anything," he pointed out. "One time I saw this great picture of Johnny Cash. It was very revealing, to me it showed all that he'd been through. So I drew that. Lots of times I'll just do a free-flowing sketch, just a doodle, that will turn into a whole canvas." Each new work tends to be completely different than the one before it. "My art reflects my mood," he said.

Currently, Hogan is a producer-actor in a pair of Sam Shepard plays: Cowboy Mouth (a rock 'n' roll love story); and Savage/Love (which explores love through poetry and original music by violinist Charlene Hung and alternative rocker Randy from One Trick Pony). Together, the one-act plays are called "October Moon" and are being performed at the Complex in Los Angeles. "October Moon" is Perception Entertainment's first production.

Fans of Jeremy Hogan may write to the actor c/o Sharp & Associates, 8721 Sunset Blvd., Ste. 208, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Jeremy Hogan, 23, has appeared on the TV shows Saved By The Bell and Full House. He's also a sketch artist whose doodles often turn into entire canvases.