Personality Test: Joe Fishel

Joe Fishel of Butler has one of those faces that just looks familiar, even if you can't place it.

Unless you've been a student in social studies at Kittanning Senior High School (his day job), you've probably seen him in movies. Fishel has found small acting roles in many, if not most, of the movies made in Western Pennsylvania in recent years. He's been a cop, a mixed-martial arts trainer, a SWAT team officer, a football official and a prison guard, in locally shot movies like “Jack Reacher,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Foxcatcher.”

Fishel is working as an actor and executive producer for a film called “Potential Inertia,” an adaptation of a play by Matt Croyle about dealing with loss, being made in Venango County. The film is a largely self-funded effort and can be supported by donors at its crowd-funding site, potentialinertia.onefishfilms.com.

The star who would play me in the movie version of my life:

Tom Cruise. People told me when I was younger that we resembled each other but definitely not in terms of height and build. I am much bigger.

Pick one:

A. Go-Gos

B. Goo Goo Dolls

C. Lady Gaga

D. Yo Gabba Gabba

C. Lady Gaga. I have a friend who looks exactly like Lady Gaga. If they were the same age, they could be twins.

The superpower I wish I had in real life:

The speed of The Flash. I could get a lot more accomplished on a daily basis if I could have super speed and violate several laws of physics.

I can't live without my iPod, cellphone, DVR or laptop:

My cellphone, because it is like carrying around a mini computer. I hardly ever use it as an actual phone.

My favorite cable channel:

My brother Dave works for ESPN, so I am bound by family ties to choose that network.

The song that always gets me on the dance floor:

“Dancing Queen” by Abba

My favorite reality show:

Although I am not a big fan of reality shows, my favorite would be “Farm Kings” on GAC-TV, because it is filmed in Butler County, and I appeared in an auction scene in one episode.

Pick one:

A. Pirates

B. Penguins

C. Steelers

D. Other

E. I hate sports

I picked three: Pirates, because I enjoy going to games at PNC Park more than attending games at Consol Energy Center and Heinz Field; Steelers, my favorite pro team in Pittsburgh; and Pittsburgh Power arena football team — I have season tickets.

Something I would do over if I could:

College — I attended Juniata College — just to see if I would have a different perspective and situation in life as compared to now.

My first job:

Carpet installer

My favorite Pittsburgh pizza:

Pepperoni with cheese fries on the side at the O in Oakland

Movie I could watch every time it appears on cable:

Any one of “The Dark Knight” trilogy

If I could live my life as someone else, it would be:

A native on some island with perfect weather year-round in the South Pacific

The oldest thing in my refrigerator is:

Only about two weeks old. I got a new fridge a few weeks ago.

When I was 10, I wanted to be:

A pro football player

My favorite “bad” movie:

Anything that was on “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” The running commentary made any bad movie my favorite.

Life would be better without:

Traffic

Exercise I hate the most:

Anything on a stationary machine. Exercising on a stationary machine, no matter the type, always gets me bored after about 10 minutes.

The movie that always makes me cry:

“Ted.” During the Flash Gordon party scene, it makes me laugh so hard I start crying. The first time I saw the film in the theater, it took me about five minutes to stop laughing after that scene.

Saturday mornings, you'll find me:

Doing some type of physical activity, such as exercising, playing a sport, cutting grass or walking my dogs on a trail

The first band I saw in concert:

The band Yes when I was in ninth grade in 1983 at the Civic Arena

The best concert I've ever seen:

Almost everyone says this who has seen him: Bruce Springsteen. Just a great show from beginning to end, and one of the few concerts I have been to in which almost everyone sings along the entire time.

My favorite thing about Pittsburgh:

The ice skating rink at PPG Place around the holiday season

My favorite sandwich, plus fixings:

Primanti's cheesesteak with hot sauce. The fixings come with it and on it.

Star I'd like to dance with on “Dancing With the Stars”:

Actress Nicole Forester. She is gorgeous onscreen and even more so in person. After the filming of a scene of “Jack Reacher,” I had a short conversation with her. It might have been the only time in my life I felt somewhat star-struck.

The last book I read:

Cracked's “The De-Textbook: The Stuff You Didn't Know About the Stuff You Thought You Knew.” I actually knew most of the stuff Cracked thought I didn't know about the stuff I thought I knew.

My childhood nickname:

Joey

Favorite brunch food:

Scrambled eggs, sausage links and hash browns with ketchup on the side, salmon and bagels with cream cheese and a serving of cran-apple juice