OFHS Grad Making Waves in Tinseltown

Oak Forest High School graduate Vince Rossi is chasing his dreams—all the way across the country.

Rossi moved from Oak Forest to the bright lights of Hollywood nearly two years ago, and the move is starting to pay off. Following his appearance in advertising for Jewel-Osco, Rossi went viral thanks to a College Humor video in which he is extensively featured.

The 22-year-old Rossi said that he's had his eye on California since he was five. He wasn't always sure quite why he dreamed of the move, but now that he's made the trek, he couldn't be happier.

“It's been my dream to pursue my dreams," he said. "So, coming out here, it's just been amazing. I couldn't be happier out here, everyone is in the industry and working towards their dream."

Rossi said that his time in California has been exactly what he envisioned: hard work.

“It's been a lot of just trying to get my foot in the door," he said. "I've spent every day just getting out there, going into agencies and giving them my headshot. I've spent a lot of time just doing that."

While the viral nature of his latest work—which has drawn nearly a million views on YouTube and was recently included on perezhilton.com—is something Rossi said was unexpected, he is extremely honored to be a part of the video, a tongue-in-cheek view of gay marriage and its acceptance. The characters all portray gay men chiding heterosexual men about how, without gay marriage, gay men will be left with no other option than to marry the girlfriends of straight men.

“It's crazy how big it has gotten," Rossi said. "I was worried about it at first, because of the nature of the material, but it's so well-written and funny! And the message is just great, it was a lot of fun."

He added that since the video has taken off, it has only reaffirmed his dreams and he is already setting his sights on bigger goals.

“My goal is to be on television, with all the shows on right now like 'Glee,' 'Smash,' and 'Nashville,' I think that would be perfect," Rossi said. "I came out here for singing, modeling and acting. I feel like a show like that would be perfect for me, that's my hope. To get on one of those kinds of shows."

Did you know Vince Rossi during his time in Oak Forest? Any best wishes for him? Leave them in the comments!