Monday, May 2, 2016

Movie Monday: Facing Fear


Actress Ronee Collins holds me hostage over a cliffs edge.
In the very near future, I will have the honor of sharing a film with you called "Wasteland Legends." You can watch the behind the scenes HERE. It's a mad-world end of days piece that was shot on location in Washtucna, WA

Yes, it's a real place. Yes the waterfall is real. Yes, my partner in crime locked down the most amazing location we've shot on to date. You'll have to ask him how.


That film scared the stuffing out of me. For a number of reasons - including that I'd be hanging off a 200 foot waterfall that had recently been closed off to the public because of a number of accidents. No, what scared me more was that the character I'd be playing is NOTHING like me. She is fierce in ways I can't imagine, strong because the world she lives in forced her to get tough or die. I live in comfortable world, she most certainly does not. I suppose being uncomfortable in the 15 degree weather and strapped leather boots was probably for the best. One of my favorite directors I've ever worked with used to always tell me "get comfortable being uncomfortable."

She scared me because there are parts of her I can see in me. If my daughters safety was threatened like this, I'd probably be as desperate to stop it. If my own life were threatened, would I accept my fate or would I cling to the rock through iron will to keep going?

The team behind this film made it look easy. See those gents beneath me on the "safe" cliff? They're there to catch me. This team faced the same grueling conditions of a shoot and were there to catch me. That's what's important about facing fear, isn't it. The person who catches you when you fall.

Just last week I fell pretty hard. I'm terrified of what happens if I don't make this next film come to life. I'm more terrified of what happens if we don't even try. I guess just like my character "Wasteland Legends" I want to give my daughter opportunity. I want her to see me try, I want her to see my fail, I want her to see me succeed. With a little luck and lot of risk, she will see all of the above.

No comments:

Post a Comment