Villainous Actor Dave Vescio Chats with LATP About His Craft, Playing the Bad Guy and Upcoming Feature Film Roles

Unlike many wannabe actors, Dave Vescio did not discover his love of the craft until age 35, and from there he has made his mark on many mad scientist and sci-fi villain roles and is currently working on “Gemini Rising” and the upcoming “Showdown in Durango” and “Blood on the Border.”

At the age of 30, Vescio was working as a TV photojournalist with CBS News and was earning high praise—even talks of an Emmy—but it forced him to reevaluate his career path.

After a stint teaching at Virginia Tech, he decided to pursue professional acting instead. It was 2001, and in that summer he enrolled in David Mamet’s Acting Conservatory. Mamet is an American playwright, essayist and film director, notably helming projects like “The Verdict” and “Wag the Dog.” After reading many acting books, it was Mamet’s that stood out to Vescio, so the school seemed like a perfect fit.

“I found out that I finally got accepted into his acting conservatory, and then the following summer, I moved to NYC and started training at his school,” Vescio told LA’s The Place. “And that decision was the best thing that I ever did with in my life. I just love acting more than anything else in life! And I honestly practice and study this art form every single day of my life.”

In 2005, Vescio was cast in several projects, two short films “Manic” and “SomePlace Wonderful” and one movie “Blue Hour.” All a little on the dark and supernatural side, those pieces are where Vescio first began professionally working, and since then he has performed in about three dozen short films in a two-year period. From those experiences, Vescio has learned a lot.

“I’ve learned how to work on a film set without ever seeing the camera at all, that way I can totally be in the moment as the character, and not worry where the camera is,” Vescio explained. “That way, my performance can look like a documentary film, versus a fictional film. It’s just more natural-looking versus pretend-looking.”

He continued, “I’ve also learned how to take direction from all different types of directors as well. Which is definitely a plus, because I can now take direction from any kind of director that there is, because I’ve pretty much seen and/or heard it all.”

Frequently, Vescio is seen playing the villainous and evil role, but it’s what he enjoys and he wouldn’t have it any other way, even commenting that there are no other genres of film he’d like to pursue.

“Yes, I definitely do enjoy being the villain, but I also feel that the villain portrayal isn’t properly being told by most actors here in Hollywood, so it’s my duty as a professional actor to be these character types as truthfully as humanly possible—as if it is real life,” Vescio revealed. “And in the end, I definitely do want the audience to learn these hard cruel facts the easy way, by watching me perform in a film, versus the hard way of it actually happening to them in real life instead.”

The action/sci-fi flick “Gemini Rising” is currently in post-production starring Lance Henriksen, Amy Hathaway, John Savage, Brian Krause and Vescio as Dr. Bainbridge, a role he says is different from previous outings.

Here is his brief synopsis on the mysterious film: “When my character (Dr. Bainbridge) was a child, his father was a top medical scientist for the CIA. So basically, I was his guinea pig for most of his experiments, from sleep deprivation to LSD injections, etc. My character grew up being as anti-social as humanly possible, but, now, he’s the top medical scientist working for the U.S. government, figuring out how to control human beings telepathically, and that’s where the storyline begins. You have a mad scientist and a super smart colonel trying to control human beings telepathically, but, at the same time destroying human life in order to achieve this mission. That’s where the protagonist of the story comes in and tries to destroy us for doing these cruel things, but my character is, well, not up for any of that at all. His medical research means everything to him, and he will literally kill it.”

Vescio has a lot on his plate coming up, including roles in two movies in the pre-production stage, “Blood on the Border” and “Showdown in Durango,” the latter starring Martin Landau. He just finished shooting “Hick” with the ensemble cast of Alec Baldwin, Blake Lively, Juliette Lewis, Chloe Mortez, Eddie Redmayne and Rory Culkin. It was shot in Wilmington, N.C. and tells the story of a Nebraska teen leaving her small town for Las Vegas. It’s based on the novel of the same name by Derick Martini and Andrea Portes. It will hit theaters next year. And again, Vescio is the villain.

Vescio is also appearing in the horror flick “Q for Death” starring Jeremy London, who portrays a man who loses everything and decides to punish criminals for their wrongdoings themselves in a “Boondock Saints” type of thriller. Vescio just so happens to be one of those criminals.

“I’m a Hollywood producer who loves conning people out of their hard earned money, and for some reason, I always get away with it, because I have the best lawyer in town,” he explains laughing. “Isn’t life great!”