John D’Aquino needs no introduction to fans of Xena, JAG, and especially the early ‘90s underwater sci-fi adventure, seaQuest DSV. For those not yet familiar with his impressive body of work, be forewarned: D’Aquino is set to become the most powerful man on the planet—on the Disney Channel, at least. On January 12, D'Aquino will be sworn in as President Martinez on the Mouse Network's first-ever spin-off, Cory in the House.
MeeVee caught up with the hunky actor—who first got his acting chops bloodied in the cult horror classic Pumpkinhead—on the Hollywood Beltway backlot where his new series is filmed.
This isn’t your first visit to the Oval Office.
That’s exactly right. In 2001, I played “Larry the Crazy Neighbor” to George W. on That’s My Bush on Comedy Central. Recently, I was looking at some of those episodes, and we did some funny stuff. We only did seven or eight before the network decided we were too expensive for them—after bragging to all that we fit their economic model. That show is more relevant today than it was at the time. It’s a joy to be back in the Oval Office, and this time I wear the suit. I play President Martinez on Cory in the House, starring the ever-fabulous Kyle Massey, who played Raven’s little brother for a hundred episodes of That’s So Raven. Kyle’s character Cory helps me solve major national and international issues. He’s a wonderful force that my character has to reckon with daily. Kyle has that Raven-like ability to take the good stuff our writers deliver and make it even better.
Does President Martinez have a first name or a party affiliation?
In sitcoms, there’s less of a bible for who the characters are. I found out midseason that mine has a wife and a mother [Lupe Ontiveros, late of Desperate Housewives], and in the same episode, I discovered that the President does indeed have a name. It’s Richard. Ricardo in Spanish. We don’t give away his political affiliation. Probably, the worse thing would be for me to espouse my own personal political views. It’s not like at Comedy Central; on Disney, I have to be diplomatic. I have to say that, filming in a city that tends to bend less, it’s a great time for all of these people on the left and on the right to stop talking and to start listening to one another. But they don’t need me to throw any more venomous conversation out there in one direction or another.
Did you emulate a past real-life or fictional President to prepare for the role?
People say I look like John Kerry, and some people perceive me to have that particular kind of carriage. I love to shake that perception up. I love the opportunity to just be silly, because people don’t expect it. The balance of this character is to have the political carriage, and in the next instant, to break it up with a good laugh, and then go back to it.
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