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Actress Jo-Ann Pantoja

Actress Jo-Ann Pantoja

I was born Nuyorican. That means I’ve got strong opinions and wear my heart on my sleeve. My Papi was in the military, so he taught us kids toughness and work ethic. In a street fight, my weapon of choice is a knife. But honestly, I’d much rather play out my conflicts in the form of staged drama.

My showbiz ambitions started at Long Beach City College where I was awarded a scholarship for acting. I won a Dramatic Allied Arts Guild Award for best supporting actress in Macbeth. Double double toil and trouble. That’s right, I was a witch.

After that, I got behind the mic, hosting a show for the mayor. Then I produced my own show on which I interviewed all the best SoCal bands like No Doubt, Black Eyed Peas, Sublime, The Vandals, Pennywise, Long Beach Dub All Stars, and the list goes on.

I moved to LA and trained my butt off at Playhouse West under Robert Carnegie. I joined SAG when James Franco cast me in a short film there. Another short film I did, Prelude, went to Cannes Film Festival.

I continue to stay active in learning. I’ve trained with lots of other great teachers: Larry Moss, Harry Mastrogeorge, Margie Haber, Diana Castle, The Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade… And I’ll probobly keep training til I keel over and croak, because acting is my life’s passion.

You might catch me on tv now and again. I’ve been in a whole slew of commercial and shows like: General Hospital, After Lately, The Bold and the Beautiful, Meet My Dad, and the Chunk and Bean pilot. Done a few movies too. Oh, and did I mention plays? Well, I think you get the picture.

Theatrical Reel

Commercial Reel

Filmography

Jo-Ann Pantoja is an actress and producer, known for Chunk & Bean (2016) and Good Time Max (2007).

  • 2018

    9-1-1

    9-1-1

    Female Firefighter #1

    Explores the high-pressure experiences of the first responders who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping situations.

  • 2018

    Superstore

    Superstore

    Waiting Customer

    A look at the lives of employees at a big box store.

  • 2018

    Magic Bullet

    Magic Bullet

    Jo

    Both motivated by loss, a clinical psychologist and a regional shopping network host collide in a televised confrontation.

  • 2017-2018

    Taste

    Taste

    Lupe

    “Taste” is a final year student short film set in a cafe where every woe and sickness can be cured with cakes and pastries.

  • 2016

    Chunk & Bean

    Chunk & Bean

    Tina

    The unlikely friendship of two misfits, Chunk and Bean, who benefit from having two very different sets of parents living next door to each other.

  • 2016

    General Hospital

    General Hospital

    Nurse Everett

    Families, friends, enemies and lovers experience life-changing events in the large upstate New York city of Port Charles, which has a busy hospital, upscale hotel, cozy diner and dangerous waterfront frequented by the criminal underworld.

  • 2014

    Deadly Lessons

    Deadly Lessons

    Nurse

    A mysterious college professor becomes the focus of a murderer investigation when he is framed by his rival, Dr. Crazx, a Pulitzer prize winning psychiatrist.

  • 2014

    Confessions of a Womanizer

    Confessions of a Womanizer

    Serenade

    What happens when a compulsive womanizer becomes best friends with a transgender prostitute?

  • 2013

    Booked It!

    Booked It!

    Housewife

    Casting Directors CeCee and Dior and their trusty assistant, Molly, give a behind-the-scenes look into Hollywood’s commercial casting world.

  • 2011

    After Lately

    After Lately

    Guadalupe

    A mockumentary behind-the-scenes look at the Chelsea Lately (2007) show. The show’s host and creative leader Chelsea Handler likes to think of her staff, especially the writing staff, as family, albeit a highly dysfunctional family where she is the only bright one amid a bunch of morons.

  • 2010

    Warcox

    Warcox

    Groupie

    Sometimes it’s hell getting the band back together.

  • 2009

    Chips

    Chips

    Rodriguez

    Is it poker or is it real life?

  • 2009

    Prelude

    Prelude

    Soledad

    It follows the events leading up to a high school shooting by telling the story of how seemingly unrelated lives can intertwine and something so small can have such a dramatic effect on us all.

  • 2007

    Good Time Max

    Good Time Max

    Girlfriend

    Two genius brothers grow up and grow apart as one becomes a successful surgeon and the other pursues a drug-fueled high life.

  • 2006

    Deadly Lessons

    Deadly Lessons

    Nurse

    A mysterious college professor becomes the focus of a murderer investigation when he is framed by his rival, Dr. Crazx, a Pulitzer prize winning psychiatrist.

  • 2004

    Most High

    Most High

    Mile’s Girl

    Set against the backdrop of crystal meth abuse, Most High is a painfully intimate examination of a young man in crisis. Drugs are incidental. Nonjudgmental yet brutally honest, Most High explores cause rather than effect. It forces us to reflect upon our own vices, whatever they may be, and ask ourselves what we are trying to avoid by indulging in them.

  • 2003

    The Bold and the Beautiful

    The Bold and the Beautiful

    Las Olas Waitress

    The saga of high fashion glamour, honor, romance, passion, and most importantly, family.

  • 2003

    Heartland

    Heartland

    Healthy Meals Receptionist

    The relationship between a young man (Daniel) and his sister (Ally). Their mother dies and Daniel comes to live with Ally. Not understanding all the responsibilities which comes along with Daniel, Ally takes on the role as his protector from not just harm but from life. See Daniel has Downs Syndrome, Daniel lives a regular life. Ally doesn’t see this until one day she realizes the only life she needs to protect is her own.

  • 1996

    Westside N 'Ja

    Westside N 'Ja

    Melanie

    A student learns about a gang/cult led by the Dean of Students at Long Beach University via a video of a torture murder caught on tape. The fight begins when they kidnap his girlfriend.

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