I first was introduced to Joost Janssen through his childhood friend and former Halifax MLA Joachim Stroink. The two knew each other as youngsters, growing up as Dutch immigrants in Nova Scotia in the 1970’s.
Joost Janssen was born in Holland but his parents moved to Halifax from Holland when he was very young. As it is with any immigrant family, it wasn’t an easy transition.
In some ways, Joost still considers Nova Scotia home, however, he is now living in San Diego, California. His life has been an amazing journey with tremendous highs and, as you will hear, some earth-shattering challenges.
After a particularly dark episode, Joost was determined to become a US Navy SEAL Team member. It is perhaps the most difficult of all military training regimens and is notorious for taking participants to the very edge of their capacity to endure.
In this episode we’ll explore Joost’s experience in Halifax, the reason he chose to join the Special Forces and the exciting career he has embarked upon now training Hollywood actors on the realities of military technique.
His credits include such big-budget features 13 Hours, a story he has a personal connection to, American Assassin starring Michael Keaton and Dylan O’Brien, and most recently, the Prime Original series Jack Ryan.
I hope you enjoy my wide-ranging conversation with the navy seal who turns actors into assassins, Joost Janssen.
