Biography

February 25, 1953 · Decatur, Illinois, USA

John Nommenson Duchac

Was the founder and bass player for the influential 1980s punk rock band X.

Father of Veronica Nommenson, Elena Nommensen, and Amelia Nommenson.

Was married to X lead singer Exene Cervenka.

The one thing that doing the scene study and going to classes taught me is that you gotta take it really seriously. There are several amateurs, several musicians, several people who just kind of get into movies, and they're very cavalier about it, and I'm not okay with that. I think that's not respecting something that's been around forever. You should respect the work you're gonna do and get there. Find a way to meet your character. Find a way to uncover how you want to play him or her. And respect it. Don't just go in there with the attitude of, "Yeah, whatever."

[on his prerequisite on taking a film role] It has to be some little nugget that I can latch onto, that can help me feel that I get it and do it; where I don't have to go someplace that's so uncomfortable that I'm going to fail. So it's a lot about success and a lot about ... Not success in the traditional sense, but knowing that you can capture the character, that you can find where the character wants to go. You can do it right. You can do justice to it. So maybe it's about justice.

And, for me, usually the time line or the evolution of getting the [acting] job is like 15 minutes of unbridled joy and 15 days -- if you're lucky enough to have that much time before you start shooting -- of ultimate terror. You realize, "I got the part! I got the part!" and you're running around, jumping up and down. But then you realize, "Holy shit! I got the part! Holy shit. What do I do?!" So it's 15 minutes of joy and 15 days of terror, because you realize you have to develop the character, understand what you're supposed to do, learn your lines, and do all of this serious preparation.

I love what Robert Mitchum said: "How much do I have to fall down?" So, I would never play a child molester, because I don't wanna go there. I would never play ... I might play an abuser, but someone who got away from ... I mean, at this point, I have no interest in playing roles that are really dark. I'm past that. From the beginning, my creativity was mainly in music. But in the film business, I can be somewhat mercenary. Plus the hours, plus the pay.