Cross & Crescent

Jonathan Sadowski (Illinois 2001) grew up in the same building as his grandmother in the inner-city Chicago, Illinois, area call Bridgeport. He had two older brothers with whom he would always compete.

“My brothers and dad and mom instilled a competitive spirit in me,” Sadowski says.

In high school, his football coach put up a sign in the locker room saying, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” As Sadowski works up the ranks in Hollywood, California, he often thinks about this message.

“Looking back it is kind of cheesy but you take something from every opportunity,” Sadowski says. “You learn from your mistakes and try not to make the same ones again. Out here it is all about perseverance.”

College and L.A.

Sadowski entered the University of Illinois as a finance major, with plans to become a banker. His sophomore year, he decided that wasn’t the future he wanted, so he gathered up his courage and made the jump to acting.

“I always wanted to be an actor but when you find out the average income for an actor is $10,000 a year, you have second thoughts,” he says. “I just wasn’t super excited about working at a desk the rest of my life, so I took a chance and made the jump into theatre.”

He graduated in December 2001, and began working for his college roommate’s brother as a handyman in an apartment in Chicago, Illinois. A month later on January 24, 2002, Sadowski left the Midwest for Los Angeles, California, with $300.

“I do not miss those days, lots of Ramen Noodles,” Sadowski jokes. “I was really fortunate, the University of Illinois has a great network of people out here and I was living on the couch of a guy from my theatre program.”

Sadowski quickly met his manager, Susan Yoo, and began working two jobs at a mall and restaurant to survive.

The Break

Sadowski says, “I was bartending at a rock ‘n’ roll bar in Hollywood and Susan came in one night and said, ‘one more month of bartending then we are done.’”

Within that month, he was booked as the lead in a pilot, sold a script, and landed a role in the feature film, “She’s the Man.”

“I was scared to leave my house because I thought I would get hit by a bus,” he says. “It was too good to be true.”

Sadowski left the country for the first time in his life to travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, to shoot “She’s the Man” for three months.

“It was great doing my first studio feature with such a great cast, such as Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum. And having Andy Fickman direct made it even better.”

Though Sadowski jokes about having played a hairdresser in the film, he says he learned a lot.

“Every time you are on set you learn something different — whether it’s the right or wrong thing to say to an actor in a certain situation, how to get a note from a director, or how to adjust to a note,” he says. “Every time you work, you keep your eyes and ears open for something that can help you.”

Making ‘Die Hard’

Sadowski originally auditioned for the role of Matt Farrell in this past summer blockbuster, “Live Free or Die Hard.” He got a call back from the director saying he didn’t get the role but wanted to know if Sadowski was interested in another part.

Sadowski never got the message as he and some friends were on a ski trip. As soon as they got back, his agent called and told him to change his upcoming audition plans.

His agent said, “I think we are going to pass on the audition. You begin shooting “Die Hard” on Monday.”

“It was four months after the initial call that I found out about it and it absolutely just blew me away,” Sadowski says. “So I got the call on Friday and ran in to get my costume lined up and started shooting on Monday.”

“Live Free or Die Hard” shot for seven weeks.

“I remember sitting in this van with Maggie Q, Justin Long, and Tim Olyphant and thinking what am I doing here? I am working with Bruce Willis,” Sadowski recalls. “It’s moments like that when you feel a sense of accomplishment and now you are doing what you really want to be doing.”

The premiere party is what seemed the most surreal.

“We were all back at Bruce’s house in New York and it was amazing because you don’t envision him standing on his furniture singing karaoke with the cast and crew.”

Sadowski says that many parts play into his rush for success. He says representation and learning from mistakes are key elements, but it often all boils down to luck.

Other Projects

Sadowski has worked on several TV pilots, including “Pool Guys,” “My Ex-life,” “Miss Guided.”

“I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the community to get a pilot every year,” he says.

In addition, he has made appearances on numerous other TV series, including “Entourage,” “LAX,” “The Division,” and on the network TV debut of “Chuck.” He also has a recurring role in the upcoming TV series, “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.”

He also has a movie coming out next summer called, “Spring Breakdown.”

When Sadowski isn’t acting, he’s writing. He sold his first script, “This Bill Smith,” to Columbia Pictures. The story is about a 60-year-old man with terminal cancer who travels the country meeting some of the other 70,000 Bill Smiths.

The Fraternity

When he entered college, Sadowski says he was anti-Greek. He did visit a few houses but never went through rush.

Ironically, he then ended up going out with a bunch of the “Lamb Choppers” one night and the next day signed a bid card.

At the time Sadowski joined the chapter, it was on a down slope. The chapter had been the largest house on campus but for various reasons, a great deal of the membership had been asked to leave and they were down to only 40 members.

“When people ask me about acting, you do what you want to do and success will come,” he says. “When I graduated there were over 100 guys, and it was just the most amazing experience of my life.”

Sadowski served as both external vice president and ritualist as an undergraduate. As vice president, he says speaking in front of sororities and campus leaders helped his confidence.

“Being ritualist was cool,” he says. “I remember the feeling of when I went through. Everybody in my class was gunning for the position. It was such a respected position in the house especially for the new guys.”

Sadowski says that all undergraduates should make the most of their Fraternity experience and not let it pass them by.

“The Fraternity experience is never over but when you graduate you just want it back,” he says. “It’s the Al Bundy syndrome — you want to be a high school football player again. You don’t want to look back with regrets.”