“I’d like to thank the Academy”

While sudsing myself in the shower this morning, I was preparing my acceptance speech. Last night I walked (beside) the red carpet at the premiere of the first movie I have been in since I started this acting journey. Stardom is soon to follow. I most specifically would like to thank Brooks Douglass who gave me my start. He is the one who placed me in the position to get great face time. The movie “Heaven’s Rain” will open this weekend at the Harkin’s Theatre in Bricktown in Oklahoma City.

I don’t think a cigar has been better smoked or a water martini, with one olive, better drunk than what I did on camera. They may well have to come up with a new category for my talented performance.

The premiere last night showed the audience what very talented film makers Brooks Douglass and his partner, Paul Brown, are. The cast is amazing with such a high level of skill, and the movie holds everything you want to see on the screen. The talented actors they assembled made for a marvelous movie. The film is the true story of Brooks, his sister Leslie and their parents. Their parents were killed by two scum buckets in their family home outside Okarche, OK in 1979. Brooks and his sister, even though they were shot, survived and this is their story. It is told exceptionally well. The last 30 minutes the audience sat riveted in their seats as Taryn Manning (who played Leslie) and Mike Vogel (who was Brooks) played their hearts out in the most sensitive of scenes. It is a must see.

I saw several of my actor friends in the movie, although some for just a glimpse. Others had more screen time. Megan Richardson (no kin, but pretty like the Richardson girls) played a Brazilian mother who received glasses and saw her baby clearly for the first time. Jody Moore played a McAlester prison guard along with Rebecca McCauley (my improv instructor). Ashlee Webster was a reporter in several scenes. Joe Gilliliand was a senator in several scenes including my scene with Mike Vogel at Junior’s bar. (Sad to say, but as good as Joe is, the audience’s collective eyes will just be fixed on me, in all my splendor as an “extra”.)

I wrote in an earlier blog about Mike Vogel when I originally filmed the scene. Once the movie was over last night, at the reception I talked with this very talented up-and-coming actor. A Cheshire cat grin spread across my face when he told me he remembered me. Mike starred in the television drama “Miami Medical” and he told me he had to go to doctor school to learn medical dialogue. He is currently filming the movie, “The Help” in Mississippi. I have read this book and it should make a great film. You’ll be seeing a lot of Mike, and I look forward to watching him as he progresses in his career.

Now I need to start making my list of those to thank. My wife (notice I put her first), my mother, my father, my agent, my sommelier, the editor who did not cut my scene, my hair dresser, my agent, my cleaners, my acting coach, the barista, my first grade teacher, the casting director, the sound man, my orthodontist, the cameraman, the best boy, the foley artist, the gaffer, the martini maker, my high school drama teacher, the writers, snack people, our plumber, the grip, my children, my grandchildren, my two cats, my old girlfriend, my new girlfriend, my marriage counselor, my attorney, my accountant, my .......