About Me

John Mertens began his professional acting studies in New York City in 2012, first at the Barrow Group and subsequently with legendary teacher Wynn Handman. John has been cast as the lead or lead villain in a variety of projects. His first two feature films (The Dirty Kind, lead villain; Alienated, lead) are both due to be released in 2018.

John is intelligent, versatile, and passionate about the art of acting and filmmaking. He is committed to doing whatever it takes to make every project as good as it can be.

From John:

That feeling of knowing you’ve gotten there, artistically, especially when working with a team to create something great, is one of the best things in the world. Here are some of my proudest acting moments:

-Wynn Handman, after a performance of a piece from Spoon River Anthology:
“As a performance, that was flawless. (turning to the class) Do you see the power of acting!?!”

-Seth Barrish, after a performance in a Directing Class at the Barrow Group, speaking to directing students:
“I would never say this in front of an actor, but behaviorally that was perfect.”

-On set, shooting a scene of the feature Alienated:
“Cut. We got it.” My co-star and I turn and see that there are tears running down the faces of every crew member.

-Cris Thorne, creator of The Same Coin:
“You were amazing.”

-Tom Dworetzky, creator of Closing Night:
“Your performance made the film. You were fantastic.”

-My girlfriend refusing to watch The Dirty Kind and The Same Coin more than once, because she was so disturbed. :)

-Shooting the final scene of the short film Good Morning with Matt Schlenk and crew, and reaching that place.

-“That guy is extraordinary.” Pat Dixon regarding my performance as Mickey in The Dirty Kind on his NYC Crime Report blog.

-”You are clearly a real actor.” Filmmaker Heikki Kujanpää after watching my performance in Alienated at the 2020 Santa Fe Film Festival.

-”I forgot it was you almost immediately. You are a great actor.” Dave Poston.