Acting superstars are not traditionally thought of as avid lovers of Alabama football, but if John D. Hickman has his way, viewers might get to see an authentic Bama fan gracing the silver screen on a regular basis. This year, Hickman quit his day job to take on acting full-time, landing several roles in big-budget movies. One may think such a busy actor would live amongst the stars in Los Angeles. But Hickman scoffs at the idea of leaving Tuscaloosa for two reasons — his family and the Crimson Tide, of course.
Hickman was born and raised in Tuscaloosa. For years, he worked in the poultry business until he won a role in an episode on the hit TV series, “True Blood,” at an auction in 2011. After shooting the episode, he sent a bottle of wine from Alabama to the producers and several cast members as a thank you for the great time he had. So, they invited him back for seasons 5 and 6, later offering him a regular role as a werewolf.
After “True Blood,” Hickman played a role on “The Vampire Diaries,” and then he switched over to acting in movies. From that point on, his roles have been gaining significance.
“I want to get better and better, and I want each role to get bigger and bigger,” Hickman said. “And that’s how it’s been going.”
Hickman has played parts in the films “Blood Heist,” “The Vault,” and “King Cobra” alongside actors like James Franco and Molly Ringwald. He has several films currently in post-production that will be released in 2018. Titles like “Blood Ride” and “The Harrowing” should be making an appearance in the coming year. One of his films, “The Last Full Measure,” is gathering Oscar buzz already.
His newest film, “Welcome to Willits,” is set to come out Friday, Sept. 22. Hickman is in the movie’s trailer, which can already be found on YouTube. “Welcome to Willits” is a comedy/horror movie about an alien attack set in the Northern California woods.
Hickman recently signed on to another James Franco-directed movie called “The Pretenders.” Except for one scene, all filming for the project has been completed. Hickman was asked if he could come shoot the scene on a Saturday in September. But, not just any Saturday — the Saturday of the Alabama vs. Florida State game.
“I’ve been telling them for months, it’s going to be one of the best games of the year,” Hickman said. “Well, guess what. That’s the only day one of the actresses could do it because she was busy.”
But Hickman still wasn’t going to budge on missing a fall Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
“No! I’m not doing that,” said Hickman. “Are you crazy?”
Hickman’s love for the Tide runs deep. He has only missed two home games in the last seven or eight years. Throughout the fall, his contract states that he will not be able to work on certain Saturdays purely so he can enjoy watching his favorite team.
“You can catch me every Saturday in the South Zone,” Hickman said.
Due to his allegiance to the school, Hickman expressed his desire to be able to work with students here in the drama school. To aspiring actors and actresses, he even offered some advice that he has picked up along his journey.
“Just keep doing it,” he said. “Keep acting. Experience is a must. Don’t let people talk you out of it. That was my problem. I had somebody say, ‘You’ll never be anything — you’ll never be on TV; you’ll never be in a movie. You’ll just be an extra.’ And I’m like, ‘watch.’”
Emily Adams, a junior studying foreign language and literature, closely watches the shows “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries.” She said she was excited to see a Tuscaloosa native in the series.
“Both of those shows were really popular in the last several years, and it’s really interesting to know that a man from Tuscaloosa was able to use those shows to propel his career,” Adams said. “It’s not too shabby to say you started your career on a show with Alexander Skarsgård!”
Students interested in following his acting career can look up his IMDb page or simply watch his work on streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu.
When asked for final thoughts and comments, Hickman had but one phrase left.
“Roll Tide,” he said.
