By Valerie Milano
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 12/23/22 – Joseph Makkar was a young boy living in Inglewood, California when he was discovered by Chip Fields, an actress and acting coach. It was career day at Joseph’s elementary school, and Chip was teaching an acting class when she noticed Joseph, who was known for being a bit rough around the edges and interrupting during class. Despite this, Chip saw potential in Joseph and offered him a scholarship to acting school.
Chip became Joseph’s mentor, confidante, and somewhat of his second mother, supporting him as he auditioned for roles and encouraging him to stay grounded. She even took him under her wing for his audition for the prestigious High School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. In addition to acting, Chip also made sure that Joseph was well-read and exposed to new experiences. She often encouraged her daughter, Kim, to expose him to her school, Pepperdine University. It’s amazing what love can do, he eventually earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business from Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business. Joseph said “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill was his first must-read.Joseph’s other passion is veterinary medicine, and he has supported the veterinary industry as one of the leading advisors and executives for 31 years.
Throughout his career, Joseph remained grounded and focused on his faith, inspired by his late father’s guidance. He has been married for 30 years and has two college-aged daughters who are following in his footsteps and have been raised in faith to make an impact on young people’s lives, much like Chip did for him of which he told Hollywood Times, “I am forever grateful.”
Today, Joseph is a successful actor and business professional, grateful for the opportunity and guidance that Chip provided him at the beginning of his journey.You can find Joseph and Chip working together once again in January in a made-for-TV project called the Passion Play, written and directed by Chip.
Along with this amazing upcoming project, you can find Joseph’s work on shows like NCIS-LA, Seal Team, and most recently Hulu’s Onyx Collective “Reasonable Doubt” as the Los Angeles Medical examiner. Joseph also performs voiceovers with over 20 episodes of various shows on Netflix. When we asked what was next on his plate, he replied, “ Well, I was almost a season regular on Steve Levitan’s Hulu show “Reboot” last season, but they changed the pilot and four characters, including Leslie Bib, Michael McKean, myself and another actor.
Steve and I hit it off because of both of our mutual love for animals. “He said he’d write me in if they got picked up next season…and I believe they will!” Joseph exclaimed how kind everyone was because of the tone that Steve set during the original pilot. “I’d work with him again in a heart beat,” Joseph said.
