For an alleged “next-big-Hollywood-thing,” Dave Patten has none of the polish or pretense. In fact, he looks more like the bad boy from a preachy TV movie — long hair slung back, crumbs of a Philly accent on his lips where a toothpick might otherwise go — than he does a Hemsworth or a Jonas.
“So, what do you think?” Patten said. It was clear he was ready to begin. For Patten, success is all about being ready to begin.
In his newest movie, he plays a street musician who leads a group of 20-somethings in a court battle to learn the identity of their sperm donor father (Vince Vaughn). The movie’s goofy at best, but Patten knows his characters can bring heart to the movie.
“I don’t know, you can just tell through the dialogue, like the way that he deals with stuff, that he really cares,” he explained. “It kinda gave him a sense of purpose, I guess.”
In general, however, he isn’t quick to consider himself just an actor. Patten founded a production company while in college and spent the next few years producing music videos for local artists, including friend and occasional collaborator, Meek Mill. As a singer-songwriter, Patten has a number of albums to his name. He published his first novel, “Run of the Mill”, earlier this fall.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever [expletive] done,” he said. “It’s like writing a ten-page paper 25 times.”
Jokes aside, it’s hard to look at such a lengthy résumé over such a brief career without being impressed.
“Too much of one thing, I just go crazy,” he explained. “It’d just drive me nuts. So it’s nice to be able to try to jump back and forth and everything.”
Patten touts his anti-industry philosophy proudly, crediting his recent victories to commitment rather than connections.
“I get so frustrated and mad and envious of … everyone that’s our age in Hollywood right now,” he vented. “When you look at who their parents are, you’re just like, ‘Oh my God, this is such [expletive],’ and that just fuels me. I’m gonna go do 20 other things and work a hundred times as hard as they do, and one day I’m gonna get in.”
More than anything else, Pattensaid he believes in the power of hard work and dedication. And he has no patience for laziness.
“If you’re gonna try to write a book, [expletive] write the book, you know? And then write the second one while you’re trying to sell the first one.”
He’s willing to set that example to those like him: Being an entertainer should be about what you’re made of instead of who you know.
“If you just sit on stuff, there’s never the perfect moment,” he said. “It’s never gonna come.”
There’s plenty of time to do it and Patten shows no intention of slowing down, regardless of what he tackles next. Through it all, he doesn’t worry that everything might stretch him too thin.
“You just have to be optimistic to make anything happen in this industry,” he said contently. “At the end of the day, I did what I wanted to do, and I’m able to make a living off what was always my hobby.”
Patten is certainly optimistic, but from the books to the music to his brief stint in acting, Patten has had his foot on the gas since that first music video. Nonetheless, he has no intention of stopping.
“That’s the thing about art, though,” he said. “Sometimes it’s so miserable, but it’s so addicting.”
And this is just the beginning.
Joe covers Shrek the Musical for The Daily Free Press. He previously served as managing editor.
