La Botz began his acting career after catching the attention of actor, director, and independent filmmaker Steve Buscemi, who cast La Botz as a blues-singing convict in his 2000 film Animal Factory. La Botz performed two original songs in the film, "This Ain't the Way I Came Up" and "Lay Down the Bottle." In the next few years, La Botz appeared in Terry Zwigoff's arthouse film Ghost World as well as in Buscemi's Lonesome Jim.
After catching Steve Buscemi's attention, La Botz began his acting career. Buscemi cast him as a blues-singing convict in his 2000 film Animal Factory where he performed two original songs: "This Ain't the Way I Came Up" and "Lay Down the Bottle." In subsequent years, La Botz appeared in Terry Zwigoff's art-house film Ghost World and Buscemi's Lonesome Jim.