Trivia

Basic Facts

Real Name: Joseph Charles Nemec IV

Birthday: November 5th, 1971

Place of Birth: Little Rock, Arkansas

Height: 6'1"

Eye Color: Hazel/Green

Hair Color: Dirty Blonde

Marital Status: Divorced (with two children)

Career

First acting job: Got a role in a Suzuki motorcycle commercial two weeks after he turned 12. It was his first audition and he landed the job. The commercial played during Superbowl XX in 1986.

First film role: Noble Tucker in Tucker: The Man and his Dream (1988).

First tv series appearance: Sidekicks (1986).

Favorite actor he's worked with: Jack Palance.

Acting: Studied with Method actors Larry Moss and John Len early in his career.  Later rejected method acting after he began studying with Manu Tupou.

I Know My First Name is Steven: One of the questions most often asked about this project is... Did Corin meet the real Steven Stayner? Yes, Steven Stayner took a leave of absence from his job to act as an advisor on the production and had a non-speaking part. He played one of the policemen who escort 14-year-old Steven (played by Corin) through the crowds to his waiting family.

Star-ving: Corin's favorite Star-ving episode is El Al-Qaeda (Season One - Episode 10).

Star-ving: The concept for Star-ving originated with a film script Corin and Todd Bringewatt wrote entitled Gimme that Chicken.

Star-ving: The "Beggin Ed" episode was actually part of the original presentation they shot to market the Star-ving concept to Sony.

Star-ving: The scene where Corin chops up the housekeeper in "Just One Drink" is an homage to The Sopranos (where they chopped up Joey Pants).

Parker Lewis: He originally turned down the role of Parker Lloyd Lewis several times.

Parker Lewis: Did not keep any of the loud shirts from the show and never dressed that way in real life. He has stated he still has a few of the cast jackets they gave away at the end of each season.

Parker Lewis: His favorite character on the show was Frank Lemmer (played by Taj Johnson).

Parker Lewis: Corin is still friends with Abraham Benrubi (who played Larry Kubiak).

Parker Lewis: His favorite celebrity guest star on PLCL was Weird Al Yankovic.

Stargate SG-1: He never had to audition for the role of Jonas Quinn.

Stargate SG-1: Gained 25 pounds for the role of Jonas Quinn so not to be overshadowed by his large co-stars.

Stargate SG-1: Pitched several story ideas to the show's producers, one of which was accepted and became the Season 7 episode "Fallout."

High Hopes: Corin landed the role of Tom with a little help from his older sister Stacia (who was an assistant director on the film). Corin called Dave Faustino, who liked the script and signed on. Dave then called Jay Mewes who also ended up in the film. In other words, the actors cast the movie in a weird domino effect.

Mick Garris/The Stand: Corin had the flu when he auditioned for the role of Harold Lauder in The Stand. Besides the fact that he was sweating from a fever, he had little hope of landing the role since he didn't fit the physical description of the character. After conducting auditions in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, LA, San Francisco and Toronto the filmmakers could not find the right actor and Mick Garris persuaded Stephen King to take a look at Corin for the part.

Mick Garris/Tales from the Crypt: When the actor originally hired for "The Whirlpool" episode of Tales From the Crypt episode came down with laryngitis Corin got a last minute phone call from director Mick Garris.  Garris asked "Can you work tomorrow at 6 a.m.?" and Corin lucked into the role.

Beer For My Horses Music Video: According to a 2003 interview Corin gave, Luke or Owen Wilson was originally supposed to play Toby Keith's sidekick in the video. When that fell through, the casting director (who used to do promotion for Parker Lewis Can't Lose) thought of Corin.

David Van Gorder, the kid who played Waldo in the Van Halen "Hot for Teacher" music video, was in Corin's class in elementary school. It was through him that Corin joined Center Stage LA, eventually getting an agent through one of their talent showcases.

Has acted alongside real life best friend David Faustino in eight projects: Parker Lewis Can't Lose (Episode 9 - Musso & Frank), Killer Bud (2001), High Hopes (2006), Boston Strangler: The Untold Story (2008), Rules of the Game (2008), Star-ving (2009), RoboDoc (2009) and Hollywont (2010).

Has starred in six SyFy Channel original movies (a running joke amongst reviewers is that he trying for a record): The Lifeforce Experiment (1994), Raging Sharks (2005), Mansquito (2005), S.S. Doomtrooper (2006), Sea Beast (2008) and House of Bones (2009).

Has appeared in drag four times: as Hitler in The Process (1998), Ellis Pond in Brother's Keeper (2002), in Toby Keith's "Beer for My Horses" music video (2003) and in deleted scenes from the "Just One Drink" episode of Star-ving (2009).

Has worked with horror Director Mike Feifer three times: in Chicago Massacre: Richard Speck (2007), Ted Bundy: Legacy of Evil (2008) and Boston Strangler: The Untold Story (2008).

Is best known for his portrayals of likable characters Parker Lewis and Jonas Quinn but has also played quite a few creepy characters including serial killers and murderers over the course of his career:

• Creepy debut as Harold Lauder in The Stand (1994)
• Definitely damaged Simon in Summer of Fear (1996)
• Total psychopath Stryzack in Goodbye America (1997)
• Menacing henchman Black in Legacy (1998)
• Creepy stalker Eric Sessions in Blackout (2001)
• Serial killer and riddle aficionado Ellis Pond in Brother's Keeper (2002)
• Serial killer Len Grady on Navy NCIS (2007)
• Mass murderer Richard Speck in Chicago Massacre (2007)
• Serial killer Stewart Savage in Quality Time (2008)
• Serial killer Ted Bundy in Bundy: Legacy of Evil (2008)
• Spooky masked man Paul Eastman in The Ghost Whisperer (2008)

Miscellaneous Factoids:

His graffiti tag is Pyke 169

Nickname: Corky

Fashion: Loves to wear hats and has stated that his favorite is the green sheepherder's hat he wore on Star-ving.

Poetry: Corin has written poetry since he was in elementary school. He won a poetry contest and was published in a book called The Best Poets Of The Year 2000.

School: Attended North Hollywood High School through 11th grade and then transferred to a private school called Excelsior.

Locales: Was born in Arkansas and has lived in Georgia, Tennessee, California and Texas.

Wikipedia: Has stated that he loves Wikipedia and uses the site when researching roles.

Then and Now:

Books: Favorite book as a teenager was "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger.

Books: As an adult has stated he enjoys reading non-fiction and that his favorite author is Stephen Hawkings.

Music: As a teenager was a huge Bob Marley fan and was also into Chuck D./Public Enemy, KRS One, Rakim and De La Soul.

Music: As an adult has stated he enjoys Tchaikovsky, The Mad Professor, Thomas Otten and Ravi Shankar.

Movies:As a teenager his favorite films were Legend, The Goonies, Blade Runner and Harold and Maude.