Joshua Schubart’s wedding was not only the beginning of a new life for him and his bride, but the beginning of what would become a story of friendship, family, & starting over. Of course, we are talking about the story of his new show ‘After.’
The show, which premiered on IFT Network, tells of a man who must begin his life over after the loss of his wife. Josh says that the idea came to him on his wedding day, when moments after he said “I do”, he glanced over at his wife and couldn’t help but wonder what he would do if he ever lost her.
Following his appearance on ‘The Tick,’ which Schubart says was one of the best experiences of his life, he began working on putting together the pieces to create this story.
One of the things that he enjoys and appreciates most is hearing that the new rendition of ‘The Tick’ has given the current generation the same feelings of belonging that he got from the original comic as a kid. ‘After’ was no different. Within days of the show airing, fans began posting on socials that they related to the character and his story, which for Schubart is the reason behind making things so that people can have that. “It means a lot to me that they did….It feels good.”
Schubart admits to being affected by mental illness for most of his life, both having his own struggles and watching someone he cared for battle their own. Because of that, he said he wanted to shine a light on that in this story. “I wanted to show a large man with a beard—me—going through that stuff and it not being weird and
not being crazy. There is this terrible stigma about anyone not being okay and I just wanted to show people that it’s okay to not be okay and this is how you can work through it and this is a person moving through it.”
“If I can write some of my personal experience into a thing that will be made and other larger folks can see it and feel normalized, then that’s what I want to do”
The show is also filled with a wonderful cast, all of which Joshua wrote parts with them specifically in mind. He explained that he knew them all, and after he wrote to ask if they wanted to be a part of it, only one person had to decline due to conflicts. During auditions he found a replacement and then rewrote the part so that it would fit that person because it “makes it a better, more personalized performance.” As an actor “you feel like, this is me…and who doesn’t want that?!”
Looking forward, Schubart has a few shows that he is working on and more audiobooks coming out on Amazon. During the pandemic, he redesigned a closet in his home into a soundproof recording studio and began doing voice over work and then moved into audiobooks to keep being creative at a time when film and theater were shut down. Thankfully, theater productions are set to resume at the end of summer, but until then, Joshua shares with a smile that “romance novels are my niche apparently because of my voice, so if you are into those…”
It was such a wonderful experience to talk with Josh about his experiences on ‘The Tick,’ the theater, and in creating audiobooks, as well as his amazing show, ‘After.’ You can watch the full interview on our YouTube channel, as well as many other videos and interviews. Be sure to follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for news and updates from Nerd Alert News.
Written by: Melissa Fudge
Hi, I’m Lynn, and I Make.
Props, Cosplay, Scale Models, Home Projects, and just about anything else that involves me Making.
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