Character Study

Alumnus Jadrien Steele Parlays TV Role Into A Multifaceted Career

Creating his art: Jadrien Steele '99 directs his Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet this summer in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Whether it’s Lana Turner at the Schwab’s Drugstore counter or Vivien Leigh’s pivotal introduction as Atlanta burned in the background for the cameras, tales of being discovered in the industry are the stuff of popular legend. But when an executive producer from Ryan’s Hope (1975-1989) needed a baby to play “Little John Ryan” on the classic daytime serial, living right next door was indeed a true discovery: five-month-old Jadrien Steele ’99.

Ten years after his soap opera debut, with his acting credits firmly established, the future production graduate of the School of Cinematic Arts branched out to a variety of roles from Broadway (the 1982 original production of Nine) to a host of feature films.

“It was always in my mind to go to film school,” said Steele, who knew he wanted to become a writer and director when he was eleven and working on the 1986 feature The Mosquito Coast. “USC was a natural progression for me.” With a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Princeton, Steele earned his M.F.A. from the school’s Division of Film & Television Production and then spent three years in Los Angeles before moving back to his native New York City.

“Inevitably after film school, you start thinking in terms of shots, even when you write,” said the writer/director, who recently released his first novel The Taker with co-author Richard Abate, under the nom de plume J.M. Steele. The Taker, follows the adventure of a high school senior who, for a mysterious price, enters into a pact with an anonymous text messenger who will retake her tanked S.A.T. for her so she can gain acceptance into a prestigious ivy league school. The tale was the first part of a two-book deal Steele and Abate procured with Hyperion Books. 

The Taker is part of a two-book deal Steele and writing partner Ricahrd Abate procured with Hyperion Books.

“Production classes teach you to think more visually and that’s really helpful no matter if the medium is a screenplay, novel or a play,” Steele added. “Even though The Taker is in first person, it unfolds shot to shot.”

With interest swirling in adapting The Taker into a feature, Steele also recently helmed a successful Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet in Allentown, Pennsylvania and has a feature script optioned by LMG Films. In addition, he and Abate are hard at work on their second novel The Market about an average young woman who goes on the search to become the new “it” girl.

“You have to have a certain pragmatism in your stories,” said Steele when asked how the School of Cinematic Arts has helped him throughout his career. “Even though I learned an incredible amount, from my classes to my professors to my peers, it’s also about understanding that you’re writing for an audience. Making sure that you find ways to connect with them is so important. You’re not just creating your art in a vacuum.”

Contact:

James Tella jtella@cinema.usc.edu