Joey Sasso's game plan on The Circle was simple: be himself 100%. But, there was one aspect of his life that did not really come up during the show. While he was honest about his profession, Sasso actually does a bit more than just bartending. So, what is Joey Sasso's real job? He has actually been on TV a few times before his star-making turn on The Circle, and now he has his sights set on taking over Hollywood with his own movie.
Opting to completely shun the possibility of playing a catfish on Netflix's social media-based reality competition, Sasso told his fellow contestants the truth about his background from the get-go. He is, in fact, a proud momma's boy from Rochester, New York, who works as a bartender, but he did not reveal (at least not in the footage that aired on Netflix) he is also a working actor. Sasso appeared in a few episodes of the daytime soap General Hospital back in 2016, and he was in the 2018 comedy Dick Dickster. But now that (spoiler alert) he's $100,000 richer as the winner of The Circle's first season, Sasso is focusing on getting his dream project off the ground.
Although Sasso is still bartending after his big win, as he revealed to People, his main focus now is on his upcoming movie Young Lion of the West. Sasso is a co-writer, producer, and star of the movie, which has taken about eight years to put together, but is now finally finished and primed for the festival circuit. It is easy to see why the film is so personal to Sasso from its description: An ambitious club promoter from Rochester sets off on his own to try to open his own club. Of course, Sasso stars as that club promoter, clearly drawing on his own professional life. After all, you have to be an amazing nightlife personality to land a selfie with Lady Gaga and Adele.
Aside from drawing on Sasso's bartending skills, the movie also highlights his hometown pride. Rochester was actually known as the "Young Lion of the West" shortly after the city was founded, and Sasso shot the film on location in Rochester.
Sasso has confirmed Young Lion of the West is finished, but the next step is to find a distributor. Thankfully, winning a buzzy Netflix competition series and scoring $100,000 are great ways to attract attention, so fans can get pumped to see more of Sasso pretty soon, except this time, on the big screen.
