Johnny and his beloved Agentress Extraordinaire
Tara Modlin at EQCA, April 2010.
Special Friday fun! Today we present the second in a series of interviews translated from the incredibly fabulous Japanese Mook Book. In honor of Agentress Tara Modlin's birthday tomorrow, our selection comes from her interview conducted by Akiko Tamura in New York City in May 2010, and presented on pages 68-69 of the Mook.
As anyone who has seen even a single episode of BGJW knows, being Johnny's agent is best described as similar to herding cats. Only more challenging. And with snuffles. Watching them work, joke, argue, and roughhouse together, there's a sense that maybe each is the sibling the other never had: For Johnny, she's a loving but necessarily bossy (because he NEEDS that) big sister; for Tara, he's a pesky but adorable little brother. As you'll see below, Akiko Tamura makes a similar observation. :)
In the Mook, the interview is titled, "I Want Johnny to Continue Skating Forever and Ever."
Skaters’ agents rarely come onstage, but Tara Modlin, who was a competitive figure skater herself, doesn't hesitate to appear before the camera and offer her comments. Johnny seems to have a good relationship with the cheerful and sociable Tara. Seeing them together, they seem like brother and sister rather than business partners.
Will you tell me about your first meeting with Johnny?
This is my favorite story of my whole life as an agent! In 2003, I was looking for a skater to participate in “The Charity Ice Show Dedicated to 9/11 Victims,” the second ice show I produced. At that time, Johnny was a young skater who had not yet won a senior title. An acquaintance recommended him to me, saying, “He will be a national champion someday.” So I asked him to join. After the show, all the skaters were relaxing in the VIP room. But Johnny was in a corner talking with my grandmother, a fashionable older lady. I wondered why a boy his age would be sitting with my grandmother! Coming closer, I found them enthusiastically chatting about fashion, make-up, the theatre, and costumes [laughing]. I was impressed that he was so kind as to sit and visit with an older lady. That inspired me to become friends with him, and with his mother, too.
When did you become his agent?
Before Nationals three years ago—probably around November.
You have several skaters as your clients. How different is Johnny from the others?
He’s totally different! [laughing] It was my honor to have Johnny, the three-time U.S. champion, as my client in this Olympic year. Every morning when I got up, I pinched my cheek to make sure it wasn’t a dream. I am closest to Johnny of all my clients, and one of the reasons is that we live near each other. A lot of events are held in NYC. When Johnny is invited to an event, I go with him, so we have a lot of opportunities to spend time together. I work hard for all my clients, but Johnny is my friend as well as my business partner.
I’m sure you know some aspects of Johnny that are unknown to his fans. Will you share some with us?
He’s a cleaning freak. To my eyes, my condo in NYC is usually clean enough, but he never finds it satisfactory. As soon as he comes over, he begins to look for Windex and a vacuum cleaner.
I do hope he will come to my house! [laughing]
Seriously, I think he would be the best roommate! Another story: He always has a bag with him, and he hates to throw things into it randomly. He has a rule that everything has to be put in separate small cases--a case for his wallet, a case for tissue, a case for pens--everything should be in a case, and all the cases should be put in the bag in proper order.
He really loves to keep everything orderly, doesn’t he?
Yes, he does. It’s the same when he packs. Like, say, his umbrella must be put in its proper place so he can find it at first glance.
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| Tara and Johnny at the Pop Star on Ice screening in NYC, June 2009. |
I would say we are very good advisers for each other. He always gives me good advice on the outfit I should wear when I go out. Of course, sometimes I give him some advice. He has a lot of aspects to his personality, so I suggest to him which one he should focus on at any given time.
Johnny doesn’t seem like a person who obediently does what he is told.
You’re right. When someone tells him to do something, he does something else, usually the opposite of what he was told to do [laughing]. But it isn’t that he will never accept anyone’s opinion. Especially when he trusts someone, he listens carefully to what that person tells him.
He is known to always be sociable and outspoken. As his agent, have you ever been troubled by something he said?
Yes, I have. For example, a song-recording project has been going on. He couldn’t wait patiently until the proper time to announce it, and instead he began to tweet about it. I said, "Johnny, I’d like to market your song, but I can’t do it effectively if you scatter tidbits about it all around. Let’s control the information and release it all at the best time." Sometimes just little stuff like that happens.
Have you ever heard him sing?
Yes, I have. He’s awesome! The producer of his song [Lucian Piane, or RevoLucian] is also brilliant. The song is similar in style to Depeche Mode and Black Gold. What’s really good is that the producer understands that Johnny is a skater. The song is a good dance song, and Johnny plans to create an exhibition program to skate to it.
Do you think he will continue competing?
I have talked with him about this many times, but he doesn’t seem to want to decide now. Having lived the same life for so long—getting up every morning, practicing at the rink for two hours, having a break, practicing for another two hours—he says he can’t imagine leaving that lifestyle. On the other hand, he’s getting a lot of offers from a variety of fields—to write his autobiography, to record his song, to judge at the Miss USA pageant, etc. He once said that he had achieved his dream in figure skating to some degree, and it might be time to move on to another dream. It seems he’s not ready to decide just now.
As his agent, do you wish that he would continue competing?
Johnny has many faithful fans. They’ll want to read his book, to watch TV shows that he's in, to listen to him sing. Still, I’m sure what they really want is to see him skate. So I hope he will continue skating, as either an amateur or a professional.
Johnny shows his fans a lot of consideration, doesn’t he?
Yes, he does. He may look like a showy celebrity-type person, but actually his attitudes are so different. At receptions, as his agent, I have to say to him, “Greeting the fans is limited to 15 minutes,” or “Autographing is limited to 20 people,” but I know Johnny won’t leave until all his fans in the hallway have received an autograph. He is very considerate. When we are in the elevator together, he always holds the door for me and lets me walk out first, and when we get into a car, he always opens the door for me. He is a true gentleman.
Where did he learn such manners?
From his mother, Patti. I think she influenced him 100% in that regard. I sometimes hear people say, “Johnny is always doing such crazy things. What on earth does his mother think about her son?” Patti taught him to be himself, to be proud of himself, and to be polite to others.
Johnny’s father is a very private man. What is he like?
He is big and sweet, like a big teddy bear. His name is also John, so everybody calls him “Big John.” Johnny’s brother is Brian, but they call him “Boz.” When Boz was little, Big John took care of him. Big John can’t sit on a plane for long flights because of his chronic back pain. He and Johnny don’t seem a lot alike, but I know they share a deep father-son bond.
Johnny and Tara in Lake Placid, July 2010.
Photo taken by Leah Adams after Tara made Johnny
take a break from autographing for about two minutes
so he could order something for dinner
(at 10:30 p.m.!).
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Stay tuned! More info here!
Coming soon: More in the series
of translated interviews from the Mook Book
courtesy of the fabulous Akiko Nakata!
copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved
