Up and Coming Actor Jay Seals Remains a Heights Boy At Heart

TV and film actor Jay Seals continues to meet success by appearing on popular shows and working amongst A-list stars but he'll always be a Hasbrouck Heights boy.

The actor who's appeared on TV's popular show "Mad Men" says he loves any chance he gets to come back home.

In fact his hometown of Hasbrouck Heights is his favorite subject, the actor tells Patch.

The actor who will soon appear in the film "My Man is a Loser" which also stars John Stamos and Michael Rapaport recently came home to take part in the Garden State Film Festival's award ceremony where he was honored as the 2013 Robert Pastorelli Rising Star Award recipient.

Seals has wanted to be an actor since he was a little boy playing Little League in Heights. He admits there were two things he wanted to be growing up - an actor or a shortstop for the New York Mets.

"If you've ever seen hit me a curveball you'll know why I went into acting," laughs Seals.

The interest in acting was always there and he took a shot at it.

Seals says he started out dabbling in it by taking some acting classes in New York City and auditioned for commercials and plays. 

He began to see acting as a realistic possibility for him and then he "never turned back" says the actor.

In fact two other actors raised in Heights - Jason Biggs and Adam Mucci - were a big influence on him. Seals says seeing other guys who came from the same place as him become successfull with acting inspired him to go for it.

While in high school, Seals played sports and was captain of the Aviators football team. Looking back he says he was more of an athlete at the time but the love for acting was inside of him.

"Deep down I was shaping who I was as an actor," says Seals.

He credits Mucci for helping pave the way for him. In fact Mucci nominated Seals for the "Rising Star" award.

Hasbrouck Heights continues to be very much a part for the actor who now lives out in Los Angeles. He loves every opportunity he can get to come home and visit.

Last year while filming "My Man is a Loser" he turned down the opportunity to stay in New York City while filming so he could instead stay at his mother's house in Heights.

Seals called working with John Stamos and Michael Rapport a "great experience" and referred to Stamos as an icon, someone to admire for his continued longevity.

Seals is very grateful for the opportunity he had to work on Mad Men which has led to other opportunities such as "Awake" an NBC TV show which has since been cancelled. He's also appeared on TV's "Revenge."

The actor has some other film projects he's looking to put together which he says are very "Jersey-centric" and have some kind of East coast vibe to them. In addition to acting he's also helping to produce as well.

Seals says he would love to work with his fellow Hasbrouck Heights-bred actors on a production one day selling out the high school auditorium for a number of shows raising money for a good cause.

"All I want to do is come home to Hasbrouck Heights and make movies forever. That would be a dream of mine," Seals says.

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