Jordan Hoffart Hollywood dropout

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As far as people go, Jordan Hoffart could be one of the nicest around. As a kid with tremendous talent and the rare ability to learn tricks with ease, Jordan has come up quickly over the years. However, it goes without saying that Jordan is still relatively underground as far as blown-out skate media is concerned. But that's all about to change.

He's got a pro model in the works and the last part in Powell's newest and, quite possibly, most anticipated video to date, "Fun!". It's only a matter of time before Jordan receives the widespread recognition he rightfully deserves. I haven't seen Jordan's part in "Fun!" yet, but I've heard that it's insanely good. Trust me, when you see it, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

HUCK: How old are you, Jordan?
JORDAN HOFFART: Twenty-three

Where are you from originally?
I was born in a suburb of Vancouver called Maple Ridge. You can just put Vancouver though. It’s only like 40 minutes out.

Cool. Did you grow up skating with all the Red Dragon dudes?
Yeah, yeah. I’m actually with one right now, Paul Machnau. I was always involved with them but for some reason I was never involved with the crew per se, but I’m on good terms with everybody. They were always the dudes, and I was always a little younger than everyone. So they were the dudes I looked up to. You know, when you’re kind of intimidated by older people.

Yeah, for sure. They always had a reputation for being gnarly.
Yeah, yeah. I was always like, “Those guys.”

Any crazy stories about the Red Dragons?
I don’t know. They were just always everywhere. They always had the best skaters in the area and like, you always make stuff up in your head that they’re not approachable and stuff, so…at the time Moses [Itkonen] probably had the gnarliest reputation. Just don’t fuck with him, you know. But I’ve met Moses and he’s awesome.

Are you an official Red Dragon?
No, I don’t ride for them. I always kind of wanted to pave my own path. A lot of skaters at the time were surfacing with Red Dragons as their backer. All those dudes grew up together and had a history together, so I always thought it was out of place just for me to jump on that wagon without experiencing a childhood and stuff with them and just use it as a podium to get myself out there. So I chose a different route, I suppose.

It’s crazy because I always thought you were from Southern California. I didn’t even no you were Canadian. How do you think you chose a different path?
I was pretty good friends with Chris Haslam growing up. It wasn’t until one year that we went to Tampa together. My mom actually came cause I was like 14 at the time. That was the first time I got looked at by Bones Wheels and Sixteen Skateboards, which are no longer around. Sixteen was geared towards younger kids coming up and I just got this opportunity when I was there. They were like, what are you doing for boards? I was like, “nothing.” So that was my first chance to hit Southern California because after Tampa they called me and got me a ticket there and I ended up spending a summer there the following year.

How old were you then?
I was 15.

And you went by yourself?
Yeah, I went down there by myself. My dad came for the first week or so and then he flew back. He just wanted to make sure everything was cool. Then I stayed for a summer, from like June till the end of August.

That’s crazy, for a little kid to be on his own in California?
Yeah, pretty much. I met a dude named Drew Doren. He was a freelance filmer at the time. He was a few years older than me and let me stay at his house and we ended up being really good friends. And we filmed a lot together and he got a contract with this video magazine called Progression. We ended up just filming for a little part for that while I was in California and that was my first video part. That was kind of the first exposure I really had.

How long was that after you got hooked up in Tampa?
Let’s see, Tampa was January, so I went out there five months later. From there, I went to Tampa a few more times and the next year I got on Bones Wheels, which is Skate One which does Powell. And once I started getting too old for Sixteen Powell so they asked me what I wanted to do for boards and asked if I wanted to ride for them. I was like, “Okay, cool.” It seemed like a natural fit. I was just stoked to get boards. I’ve ridden for Powell ever since. So it’s been eight years.

That’s sick. Have they always taken care of you so you didn’t have to get a job?
I had a few jobs, actually. When I was younger, Sluggo and Alex Chalmers, they were in the stunt industry. When they’d get gigs, they’d sometimes be asked to find younger kids who skate too. So I just started going to auditions based off of them calling me. I was probably like 14 and I got a Pop Tarts commercial. They painted a mini ramp to look like a giant Pop Tart. And I was actually doubling for this light skinned black guy, so they painted me light black. It was crazy because I couldn’t sweat or else the paint would run. So they had a giant fan on me, and were like, “Don’t sweat, don’t sweat! Stop skating!”

Was that you first gig?
Yeah, yeah. And from there the residual checks came in the mail and I was like, “Holy shit!” It was literally like a one-day shoot and it was residual so every time it played, every six weeks I’d get a check in the mail. And it was just like money I’d never seen before. And my Mom saw them too and she was like, “Maybe this is something you should consider?” So from there, it was like, get an agent. I got an agent when I was 16.

And you were just doing stunt shit?
Yeah, it was just skateboarding and stunts. So I’d get the odd gig and it was pretty cool and I never took it too seriously. And then there was one role in Blade Trinity; they were looking for skateboarders that could say a few lines. And that was when I was like 18. So I got that gig and that was shot for like a week. And then directly after that I got this gig as a blue alien in an extreme sports kids’ movie and I shot that in the spring for like a few months. And then after that, it came to a point where that stuff was kind of occupying my time and skateboarding was kind of becoming less. So at the end of the day this stuff was cool, but my heart wasn’t really in it. And my sponsors called me out on it, like, “Listen, what are you doing? We know you got this acting thing going on but we want to make sure you’re still on board.” Then it just came down to it, like, “This industry’s rad, but my hearts not in it.” Skating gives you that undeniable feeling where you’re at peace and it feels like what you should be doing. So I kind of dipped out of the acting and just stuck with the skating and I headed down south right after high school.

Did you save a shitload of money from those acting gigs?
Actually, when I got the few gigs back to back, I made a shitload in that short period and my dad pretty much said, “You can spend this and go down south and whatever, blow it all or I’ll help you put a down payment on something.” So my Dad co-signed with me on a loft in Vancouver. And then I started renting it out pretty much after we renovated. So I’ve been doing that ever since, just renting out my loft and sleeping on other people’s couches and what not.

Cool. So, what is all this business about you and Jessica Biel?
Oh no!!! (Laughter)

I’m sorry, man, you don’t have to talk about it.
Yeah, man I just want it to die. My girlfriend’s not hyped. She’s like, “Fuck Off!” ‘Cause everyone asks me that but the thing is, by not talking about it it just makes it worse.

Okay, next question. So you’re gonna be one of Powell’s next pros, right?
Yeah. We’re releasing the video in time for the tradeshow and then the word is that they’re turning Dallas [Rockvam] and I pro. I’ve seen a sneak preview of the graphics and stuff.

That’s sick.
Yeah, I’m super stoked because that’s always been the dream, but to see it actually happening it’s like, “Whoa, is this really going down?” I’ve learned over the years not to get my hopes up until it’s actually gone through, so I’m still trying not to believe it right now. But I’ll take it, that sounds dope.

So the video, “Fun!”, Is it a full-length or a promo?
Well it’s a full-length ‘cause everyone has parts, but we just didn’t want to make it where it drags on, like an hour long, epic video. We want it to be solid but we know the attention span for kids is like nothing so we wanted to hammer out like good, solid parts and be really picky with the footage. Pretty straightforward, not too much Hollywood pizzazz. Just real good music, keep it tight, keep it shorter and just get kids stoked. We want to get kids so stoked that they can’t even watch it to the end; they just want to go out and skate.

That’s rad. This is the first Powell in, like, how long?
Yeah, 10 years. 11 years. It’s called “Fun! “And hopefully that’s what we’re portraying.

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