By Kenn Gold

Jason Rosell has become a fan favorite on the VH1 channel.  He has starred on three of their hit shows, I Love New York (VH1’s highest rated show), I Love New York 2, and I Love Money. He can currently be seen in I Love Money 2, which premiered February 2 at 9pm (ET/PT).  In addition to the show, Jason can also be seen in a small supporting role in the independent motion picture drama thriller In My Sleep that will be released in late 2009. 

Jason was dubbed “Heat” by Tiffany “ New York” Pollard, due to his charm and distinctive good looks that caused him to stand out from the other 20 contestants as “the hottest guy in the place”.  Following I Love New York, Jason returned with fellow contestant “12 Pack” to host the After-Show for the series’ second season. The guys combined their “Heat” and “12 Pack” personas to form The Party Boyz, which  sent them on a nationwide nightclub tour as hosts/mc's appearing all over the country. Jason followed that with VH1’s I Love Money  where he faced off with cast members from VH1’s hit shows I Love New York, Rock of Love and Flavor of Love in mental and physical challenges in pursuit of cold, hard cash. This year, the 17 I Love Money 2 contestants travel to Mexico and compete for a $250,000 grand prize.

Besides breaking out in reality TV, Jason’s first passion is acting and he has guest-starred and been featured on numerous television shows such as HBO’s Entourage, the WB’s Gilmore Girls and Discovery Channel’s Dr. G: Medical Examiner.  His motion picture credits include roles in independent features such as 7-10 Split, and Chill.  Fans can also catch him with supporting roles in Lions Gate Films’ Unemployed and Tamales and Gumbo both recently out on DVD.

Jason recently took time to talk to MediaBlvd about the difficulties of his new found fame, his experiences on the reality shows, and as an up and coming actor in Hollywood.

MediaBlvd> Tell us about the show.  What is the premise of I Love Money 2 and what do you do on there?

Jason> I Love Money takes people from all of the Love shows on VH1, like I Love New York, Rock of Love, and Labor of Love and obviously none of us found love on these shows.  So they put us in this crazy place on this island in Mexico and we’re competing in mental and physical challenges for one of us to gain a quarter of a million dollars. I was actually in part one of I Love Money and got involved in a bit of a love triangle causing me to leave after a couple of episodes.  Just because of crowd reaction, they wanted me back and the producers called me at the last minute.  They were like, “We want to bring you in as a veteran, are you interested?”  I said,” Absolutely!”  And here I am again.

MediaBlvd> Are you going to make a love connection on this show, or is that something you are writing off after the last time?

Jason> They show me making out, so I definitely do have hook ups.  I really can’t say much about the show, but I played my cards right. 

MediaBlvd> When did the show actually film? Has it been done for awhile and you’ve been waiting for it to air? 

Jason> It wrapped close to the end of November.  We just had to wait two and a half months for it to air. 

MediaBlvd> What’s the favorite thing you’ve gotten to do on one of these shows?

Jason> This has been an on going process for me because I was very reluctant going in to doing reality work back two and half years ago.  I’ve been working as an actor for seven years now, I joined the Screen Actors Guild, and I’ve got a couple of decent credits going on.  I guess I’ve grown a lot internally and externally doing the first show.  You’re being taped 18 to 20 hours a day in these environments with complete strangers.  So you go through a bit of a paranoia stage, especially when you’ve got a pretty good life going on in the real world.  A lot of people that have nothing to loose act how ever they want, but then they have to live with it afterwards.  I can say, going into it, I didn’t expect so much out of it.  I Love New York was the highest rated show in VH1’s history.  I went from being able to live a normal life, and now I have to be really picky about where I go out to eat, where I hang out; am I with friends, am I by myself.  This reality thing is actually sometimes crazier than just being a movie star because people relate to you more; the ones that do like you or hate you.  This is really you and they want to bond with you more than if you play a detective in CSI Miami.  It’s been pretty crazy.

MediaBlvd> What’s the craziest thing you’ve had happen to you with fans?

Jason> I’ve had a few restraining orders on females already.  I respect everyone, but let’s just say while I have a lot of female fans, I also have a lot of gay fans.  I have nothing against them, but I’m straight and that’s not my cup of tea.  Sometimes these fans can go a little coo-coo on you.  When I did I Love New York, I had an offer from a gay couple that contacted both me and my mother through my different websites offering $50,000 for a sperm specimen so their kid could look  like me.  I did not take that offer!

MediaBlvd> Were you tempted at all?

Jason> No not at all, because it would kill me knowing that there’s a kid out there that’s from me and you have two men raising it.  To each his own, but if I ever have kids I want to take care of them.  It’s pretty crazy.

MediaBlvd> When you do reality shows like this, does that give you a leg up in getting other acting gigs?

Jason> With me it did, but it definitely had to do with a couple of things.  I was a working actor prior to this so I made that clear in sound, even though you don’t see it all the time on the show.  People can debate, “Is he acting, is he there for real?”  Going into it, I told everybody, “I’m taking a break from acting and from my career.”  Coming off of it, I spent six years in college and majored in PR and marketing.  So essentially, I’m marketing myself day by day.  Since the show is not only national, but is shown overseas to Amsterdam, to Switzerland, the list goes on.  I landed two Lions Gate gigs because of it and because people gained a likeness for me.  And I did not play my character, Heat, which is who I am on reality TV.  I played totally different roles.  I do live in Los Angeles and I’m very focused on my career in terms of television and theatrical acting and commercials.  I’d say 5% of the people who do reality television can really grasp and make something out of themselves if they stay focused.  A lot of times people get on TV and it gets to their head where they love people coming up to them, and girls hitting them up.  That’s great and dandy, but I didn’t have any problem getting a woman prior to doing any TV work.  That’s just not my focus, my focus is my career.

MediaBlvd> How did you get into the first one?  Did they just find you, or did you go through an audition process?  How did that work?

Jason> I randomly was looking through a Los Angeles newspaper, and at the time I was going through a lot of auditions.  The ad said, “Be a part of the next big reality TV show”.  I kind of did it as a joke, but had an audition literally two blocks away on Sunset Blvd.  I said, “Why not check it out?”  Two days later they called me and said, “Congratulations, you passed the first phase.  We want you to go through psychological testing and an STD test, and a background check and if you pass all of these you will be cast.” I passed all of the tests, but something got me and I turned it down.  I turned it down three times and they kept on hounding me and hounding me.  Seventy two hours before they started, I gave my mother a call; she’s my best friend.  I asked, “What do you think, everyone is telling me not to do it?”  I took her advice and did it, and it was probably the best decision I ever made in my life.

MediaBlvd> Will you do anymore after this?  If you got approached for I Love Something Else, would you consider it?

Jason>  I don’t know, to be honest with you.  I’m at the point right now that I don’t think I can just keep being a contestant on these shows, or being known and having fame for that.  It’s crazy.  I was just at the Playboy mansion for the Superbowl and I have people that are like A-listers coming up to me saying, “What’s up man, you’re hilarious on your show.”  I was thinking, “This is surreal!”  I guess reality TV is a lot more respected than it was in the past.  With all of these problems with SAG, the cost of production to do reality TV is not even a quarter of what it is for a syndicated series.  So a lot of people that were A-Listers are doing it and they are very fine and happy with it.  If I were to do more reality TV, it would either be me hosting a show, or me at the end of the day, looking for life.  Come on, I’m right for it!

MediaBlvd> What would you do with the money if you won it?

Jason> Let’s put it this way, regardless if I won or not.  No one is going to get the money til the reunion.  So right now, I’ve got money but it ain’t that much money.  Without money, you ain’t got no honey! (Laughs)

MediaBlvd> As an actor I know you’ve done a lot of different series and movies.  As an actor, what would be your dream role?  What would really challenge you and make your day?

Jason> My background is European and Latino.  I’m 75% Spanish from Spain, and 25% Puerto Rican, and I was born and raised in Queens, New York.  I like to take all of my culture into a charismatic character that’s never been seen before.  It would be a romantic/superhero/private PI.  But if you were to tell me something crazy, because people compare me to Michael J. Fox and Tom Cruise, all of the time; I’d love to make the remake of Back To The Future. 

MediaBlvd> After you did the after show, I guess you guys got to go all across the country on a tour?  Is that right?

Jason> When I traveled with another contestant, twelve pack?  Yeah, we actually traveled to 29 (or was it 32?) states over a year and a half.  It was very surreal.  I kid you not, I felt like a rock star.  I lived going on stage for 2500 people doing sexy comedic acts.  If you go to Vegas and have all of these sexy guys dancing and performing, it was like that.  It was a surreal experience that I don’t regret by any means.  It was a big eye opener in terms of what it would be like to be a rock star without actually having to play an instrument.  I was down to my Speedos doing acrobats and insane comedy jokes, dancing to Backstreet Boys!

MediaBlvd>  Were there any cities that really stood out, or were different than what you thought they’d be like?

Jason> I loved going to Chicago.  We performed at the Chicago Crow Bar and that was awesome.  They gave us metallic celebrity stars all over the walls.  I had a blast there and in Providence and Manhattan, New York. There were so many places, but I can say, at the end of the day the best experience from that was to have fans from the ages of 12 to 60 reacting differently; from smiling to crying.  You have 20 women waiting outside your hotel room to just sleep with you.  It was crazy!

MediaBlvd> It sounds like a pretty tough life!

Jason> Believe it or not, and this sounds crazy.  With all the love and all the fame and attention, at the end of the day, it can get very lonely.  You are questioning yourself, “Do these people really like me, or is it the fact that I’m on television?”  I can be sitting here talking all slick like I’m Mr. Hotshot, but to me, I’m just like every other human being out there and nothing makes me more special.  I push myself to be the best person I can, and I don’t let it get to my head.  I feel that, thanks to my family and the way I was brought up, I respect myself and I respect everybody. 

MediaBlvd> So tell us about the movies you have coming up?  I think one of them is In My Sleep?

Jason> Yeah, I play a police officer in that.  I also have a film called  Tamales and Gumbo.  It’s been wrapped for over a year now and it’s taking forever to get released.  It’s a Lions Gate DVD distribution and I have a supporting role.  The film is the African American/ Latino version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.  I play a smaller role, like 17 lines.  I play the cousin of Vida Guerra.  You’ve also got Lawrence Jacobs in the film, Roberto Sanchez from The Fast and the Furious.  Definitely some good names are attached to the film, and it was a great opportunity.  I’m very thankful for it.

MediaBlvd> Do you want to give your website out so people can go look at that?  I have to say by the way, you’ve got one of the coolest and most well done websites I’ve ever seen for a celebrity.

Jason>  Thank you very much!  I do a lot of networking through there.  I have a lot of merchandise from calendars to boxer briefs, to women’s bikinis and T-shirts.  I feel it’s a great marketing tool to connect to people around the world, and for people to get my products.  I obviously personally sign stuff, but you can check it out.  The official one is http://www.jasonheatrosell.com, and then I have the MySpace which  is http://myspace.com/ilovenyheat .  Or just type in VH1 Heat in Google; from videos to comedy acts to all my sites, it’s all there. 

MediaBlvd> You’ve done a really good job with everything there.

Jason> I didn’t just come out of the wood works with this.  I went to college and was really reluctant going to it.  I took acting and drama classes, but I’m really greatful that I did.  What people who want to get into this business forget is that once you become noticed, you are essentially a business.  If you don’t have business tactics and knowledge, you can really mess up.

MediaBlvd> It sound like your education is really helping with that, with your background in PR and all?

Jason> Yeah, because when we are doing serious meeting with the head chiefs of big companies, you’ve got to know how to call to people in terminology that makes them able to look at you and be able to say, “I can respect this person regardless of whether he’s a hard core rapper from the streets, or whether he came from noting to becoming a successful actor.”  You’ve got to have your stuff right and guess what, no one can ever take those degrees from you.  You are essentially the King or Queen of the jungle. 

MediaBlvd> Is there anything else you want to say to your fans before I let you go?

Jason> I just want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart, from any country that’s listening.  Just continue supporting me, there’s a lot more in the works.  You’ll be very happy with it and I’ve got a lot of goodies.  Just look me up on the sites, from MediaBlvd.  Once again, I love you guys.