'Jersey Shore' Star Vinny Guadagnino's Shakespearean Secret

Vinny Guadagnino dreams big. Bigger than the "Jersey Shore" in the U.S. and in Europe, bigger than an MTV spin-off. He wants to be an actor, and surprisingly enough, he has the Shakespearean chops to back it up.

"I have been doing acting my whole life. I did plays in high school. I take it pretty seriously," Guadagnino told The Huffington Post. "I used to do a lot of Shakespeare and Shakespearean festivals and monologues."

Well, color us surprised. The reality star said his biggest role was during senior year of high school.

"My principal told me it was the best play he had ever seen. I had played RP McMurphy in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.'"

But that wasn't his favorite.

"I think my favorite one was Marc Anthony in 'Julius Caesar' where Caesar dies. I made my drama teacher cry. I only took drama to get out of writing papers in English and the teacher was this thespian Broadway geek and here I was this Italian guy from Staten Island and I would put her in tears."

And no, he didn’t even drop his Staten Island accent when on stage.

"People think for Shakespeare you have to have a big English accent, but it's not true. He designed it so it can be performed in any accent in any time period," Guadagnino said.

Another fun Guadagnino fact: He graduated from college with a 3.9 and was studying for the LSATs the day the "Jersey Shore" premiered.

So what he really wants now is not another free trip to Europe or another summer down at the shore, but a serious acting role -- like the one he was recently given on "90210" where he plays a celebrity poker star.

"I would love a recurring role on '90210.' I would say yes to just about any role in acting that doesn’t tarnish my image," Guadagnino said.

And while some may question whether his image could be further tarnished following his stints with Snooki in the hot tub in Seaside Heights, there is no questioning that this 23-year-old does have a heart. He's done several PSAs for anti-bullying campaigns, including this most recent video for GLAAD in honor of Spirit Day.

He doesn't see it as ironic at all to be doing a bullying campaign following a show that often glorifies fighting and name calling.

"I'm not saying I am an angel, and the reason why I want to contribute to this is that I am a regular guy with my friends," Guadagnino said. "I do clown on people. But I do have a heart and I definitely am a regular guy. I joke around and when I go out I mess with people, but there is a thin line between joking around and hate speech. The way I see it, kids will listen to me because I am part of their peer group and I am not a saint."

Comments

[brooklyngirl8]

08:36 AM on 10/19/2011

Vinny my advice to you is to study for your LSAT and pass and have a back-up plan. You know. In case the acting thing doesn't work out.

[floodmfx]

08:23 AM on 10/19/2011

his claims of culture are invalidated by trash he currently produces

[miamorphos]

08:19 AM on 10/19/2011

Vinnie, kind to gays!

I am probably one of the few people on HP who watch the show regularly and who love these kids and their ragamuffin antics. Julia Kristeva suggested a few years ago that these "reality" shows are a way for a certain cultural expression to be brought to light. A generation of young people for whom there never was any interiority or private subjectivity are fascinating to watch. Their postures and statements are scattered and baffling, but there is the tiniest hint of a resemblance to what used to be human life in the past. How will humanity survive, without the internal structures of conscience and social awareness? How will we survive when we have jettisoned ideas like dignity or privacy? The Jersey Shore cast are brave pioneers, charting a course through the post-apocalyptic world.

Okay, maybe I'm overselling it. Maybe I just love JWoww and Ronnie a lot. (And the new Sammi! Can we dish?)

[Mort]

03:06 AM on 10/19/2011

Someone else writes his lines?

[garystartswithg]

06:34 AM on 10/19/2011

did you think reality tv was real?

[miamorphos]

08:21 AM on 10/19/2011

Actually, that is a beautiful irony: the "reality t.v." phenomenon exploded because of the writer's strike, when the Hollywood writers demanded more cash and the networks responded by airing hour upon hour of "unscripted" material. Which turned out to be scripted, just somehow outside the purview of the union.

[Mort]

11:21 PM on 10/19/2011

It was a reference to Shakespeare, not reality tv.

But wait... you mean it's NOT real?

[argolid]

02:03 AM on 10/19/2011

Vin,
your the best one of the bunch, but that Snookie thing is a serious freakout....we all saw you with better options THAT night. You will have to defeat your low standards in order to be taken seriously

[intellifran]

07:57 AM on 10/19/2011

I don't think the snookie issue is hi biggest problem.

[miamorphos]

08:22 AM on 10/19/2011

I think argolid means that Vinnie's "puttin it in" on the night that she had the disastrous phone call with Jionni was wrong. I don't take it as a global commentary upon Snooki in her entirety.

[George Rosen]

01:53 AM on 10/19/2011

"What's wrong with your faaace"

[VeryGrood]

01:32 AM on 10/19/2011

I ran track in high school. Middle distances.... I won a few meets running the 800 and the 4 x 800. I even broke 1:30 a couple of times.

That doesn't qualify me for the Olympics.

[VeryGrood]

01:35 AM on 10/19/2011

**I'm totally joking about 1:30. My best time was a 1:47.

(But I can dream, dang it!)

[VeryGrood]

01:38 AM on 10/19/2011

And we ran 800 yards.... not meters....

[Mitch Johnesee]

02:16 AM on 10/19/2011

The world record in the men's is 1:41.

Can you just let it go?

[Mitch Johnesee]

01:57 AM on 10/19/2011

Lol, well yeah, it pretty much would... a 1:30 in the 800 is obscenely fast.

[VeryGrood]

01:58 AM on 10/19/2011

See my below post :p

[VeryGrood]

01:59 AM on 10/19/2011

Or... actually... my 'above post.'

[sstevens37]

12:54 AM on 10/19/2011

I have no idea who this guy is, but, what's the matter with his head?

[Sean Whelan]

12:37 AM on 10/19/2011

What is wrong with his eyes??

[Nick Walden Poublon]

12:58 AM on 10/19/2011

Not much -- just close together and kind of crooked. A face only a mother could love. Maybe, you know, he could like totally play Richard III w/ those creepy peepers.

[VanTroi]

01:54 AM on 10/19/2011

Look in the mirror before you comment about other people's looks. Really now.

[moreover]

12:15 AM on 10/19/2011

"To grind with Snookie, or not to grind. That is the question."

[Jinni]

12:26 AM on 10/19/2011

and on the morning after..."out! out! damn spot"

[cvbnm67]

11:54 PM on 10/18/2011

"I would say yes to just about any role in acting that doesn’t tarnish my image," Does not tarnish his image? What image?

Oh, you mean the respectable one you have created as a cast member of "The Jersey Shore?" As a cast member of a show that specializes in random violence, abuse of women, glorifying negative stereotypes and celebrating ignorance, he should be happy to get any role. What a joke.

[liberalbug]

11:45 PM on 10/18/2011

High School play plus getting wasted and laid on the Jersey Shore, sure, there's a serious actor.

[VanTroi]

01:54 AM on 10/19/2011

He's made a lot of money.

[jinsei]

08:02 AM on 10/19/2011

And?

[HamburgerTime]

04:37 AM on 10/19/2011

Yeah, actors never indulge in vices like alcohol or casual sex.

[milomilano]

11:40 PM on 10/18/2011

Wow. What a weird hairline.

[Zomvik 1511]

11:33 PM on 10/18/2011

His eyes are so uneven that he looks like a Picasso painting.

[clivechristy]

11:31 PM on 10/18/2011

"My principal told me it was the best play he had ever seen" Well say no more....let's all welcome Mr. Guadagnino to the pantheon of the stars, move over Barrymores....there is a new star in the firmament.

[intellifran]

08:02 AM on 10/19/2011

Well he can't be any worse than Keanu, Kirsten Dunst, Paul Walker, Beyonce, etc.

[clivechristy]

08:39 AM on 10/19/2011

Well if those are your benchmarks, you have NO argument from me.