heroes
a few weeks back i got the call every short actor (i'm five eight) gets. the offer to play a costumed character. around children.
this was a promotional shoot, so it runs only a few weeks, and they agreed this type of work is hard, so my agent negotiated $750 for a few hours work.
turns out, i'm playing a teenage mutant ninja turtle.
the costumes were incredibly well-made, numbered and licensed. and made for someone five four. the rules were i wasn't allowed to talk or remove the head.
so it was hot as hell, kids were punching me almost as much as they were hugging me and telling me (well, michelangelo) how much they loved me.
it got me to thinking about heroes, mythology. i'm pretty much selling out as an actor by doing commercial work. it doesn't feed the intellect, there's little to no craft about it. anybody and everybody will have done some kind of advertising at some point in their life.
how could a guy like me be on the path to be a hero?
i'm in the midst of an identity crisis, and have been for many years. both of my father figures committed suicide in the last ten years, thus taking away my objective to "kill" my father and atone with him. in recent days i've departed from a theater company i started that is now run by a devisive, cunning business person. the whole of my ego was attached to the endeavor and i'm only now starting to feel the effects of abandonment, loss of identity, etc.
well, this is it. a hero does not hear the call, but eventually faces these odds with blind ambition and overcomes them, many times unwittingly, as an unlikely hero.
hunter s. thompson, though brilliant, was called an unlikely hero, yet he traded that moniker when he took his own life a few weeks ago. many of his fans would have punched him as much as they hugged him too.
so, scrunching my skinny manframe into a short girl's TNMT outfit was humbling. cartoon network produced it, and afterwards they opened a giant box of toys and let me have as many action figures as i wanted. i gave one to my buddy (ironically he works for sealab2021), and another to my buddy's kid.
does that bring me closer to hero status?
this was a promotional shoot, so it runs only a few weeks, and they agreed this type of work is hard, so my agent negotiated $750 for a few hours work.
turns out, i'm playing a teenage mutant ninja turtle.
the costumes were incredibly well-made, numbered and licensed. and made for someone five four. the rules were i wasn't allowed to talk or remove the head.
so it was hot as hell, kids were punching me almost as much as they were hugging me and telling me (well, michelangelo) how much they loved me.
it got me to thinking about heroes, mythology. i'm pretty much selling out as an actor by doing commercial work. it doesn't feed the intellect, there's little to no craft about it. anybody and everybody will have done some kind of advertising at some point in their life.
how could a guy like me be on the path to be a hero?
i'm in the midst of an identity crisis, and have been for many years. both of my father figures committed suicide in the last ten years, thus taking away my objective to "kill" my father and atone with him. in recent days i've departed from a theater company i started that is now run by a devisive, cunning business person. the whole of my ego was attached to the endeavor and i'm only now starting to feel the effects of abandonment, loss of identity, etc.
well, this is it. a hero does not hear the call, but eventually faces these odds with blind ambition and overcomes them, many times unwittingly, as an unlikely hero.
hunter s. thompson, though brilliant, was called an unlikely hero, yet he traded that moniker when he took his own life a few weeks ago. many of his fans would have punched him as much as they hugged him too.
so, scrunching my skinny manframe into a short girl's TNMT outfit was humbling. cartoon network produced it, and afterwards they opened a giant box of toys and let me have as many action figures as i wanted. i gave one to my buddy (ironically he works for sealab2021), and another to my buddy's kid.
does that bring me closer to hero status?
posted by ablebody at 10:14 AM
4 Comments:
SWEEP THAT GYAD-DAMN DOJO, SON
A student goes to a master to learn to fight and kick ass. He gets there and is accepted as a student only to spend all his time sweeping the dojo. What does this have to do with fighting?
An Eastern line of thought is that to build great things, you have to get the fundamentals right. You can't build a great empire without building a nation, you can't build a great nation without leadership, you can't have great leaders without building character, you can't build great character without humility, discipline, and self-control - which are things you can never totally master or work on enough.
I know down-time feels like crap, but at least it is there to fuel your passion to be challenged later when opportunities present themselves. Keep your eyes open, and make an art out of sweeping the dojo... (and get paid for it too).
-Kobyrama
I can relate to the idea of wanting to be a hero. I often feel like I should be doing something more monumental in my life to become like the people I have admired. I suppose there is no simple answer but to just follow your heart and do what you can in life.
Heroes and role models come in many different ways and often we find ourselves in those roles unknowingly.
You have great talent and this time is only a slowdown for you. I learned alot from you over the past 2 years at DG. And that learning boosted my confidence enough to branch out and try to do similar things. So in a small way, you got to be my hero in one respect.
And while you were a Ninja Turtle, I hope you exclaimed "Cowabunga Dude!"
thanks. it's the little things...
If it is allowed for older people to have heroes among younger people, then you are a hero to me.
All heroes are not brave succesful super hombres. Some heroes are guys that do what their conscience dictates, no matter what, and full stop.
Let a man be kind, be honest, keep his dreams, be steadfast in his love, constant in character, and there's your hero, kiddo.
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