Daniel Day-Lewis can teach everyone passion

I really, truly like and admire passionate people. There is something about a person being excited about/dedicating themselves fully to an idea, a craft, a person, a whatever, that to me is one of the purest traits that we as humans have. In my eyes, passion is truly one of the doorways to experiencing the best life has to offer.

So what does this have to do with Daniel Day-Lewis (DDL for the rest of this post)? Everything. I wasn't really made aware of DDL until I saw the Scorsese flick "Gangs of New York" and was blown away by the character Bill the Butcher. Their was an electricity in his cruelty that was simply undeniable and unforgettable to me. Soon afterwards, I rented "My left foot" and was sold on his commitment to his craft forever. For those who have not seen the movie, he plays a man that has cerebral palsy and had you not known he was an actor, you would have guessed that DDL was stricken with that in real life. Just as some examples of how far DDL takes his craft:

"My Left Foot":
Playing a severely paralyzed character on screen, off screen Day-Lewis had to be wheeled around the set in his wheelchair, and crew members would curse at having to lift him over camera and lighting wires, all so that he might gain insight into all aspects of Brown's life, including the embarrassments. He broke two ribs during filming from assuming a hunched-over position in his wheelchair for so many weeks.

"Last of the Mohican's":
he reportedly underwent rigorous weight training and learned to live off the land and forest where his character lived, camping, hunting and fishing. He even carried a Kentucky Rifle at all times during filming in order to remain in character and learned how to skin animals.

"In the Name of the Father":
He lost a substantial amount of weight for the part, kept his Northern Irish accent on and off the set for the entire shooting schedule, and spent stretches of time in a prison cell. He also insisted that crew members throw cold water at him and verbally abuse him.

Now as I was reading the above examples, I know I must come off as fucking insane to some. "Raph, you expect me to break my ribs and have bitches yell at me and shit for a job??? Mutha fucka you need ta...." and it goes on and on. The answer, no. But I do believe that everyone can benefit from doing what they enjoy and doing it well. While I was still working at the-job-that shall-not-be-named, I often found my refuge at Barnes and Noble and there was one employee in particular that amazed me. She was this much older french lady with a slight hunch, interesting teeth, big glasses, and so-so english; every time she rang someone up, she just seemed to be happy and in turn made the customer happy and it was in these moments she was just as potent as academy award nominated acting.

So basically what I'm trying to say is find something you can dedicate yourself to and go DDL style

links:
DDL's wikipedia page











p.s. - like everything in life, passion can be a double edged sword, but this particular sword for some is potentially the most dangerous of character traits.

"I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill" - Will Smith

So this is one of the original clips that even inspired me to begin this blog. Now a quick note to the reader, I've always been a major fan of Will Smith since I heard summertime back in the day and though his albums started turning to shit, he seems to have always been able to transform himself up to the next level. That being said, my fandom will not allow me to believe he runs with crazy ass Tom Cruise and the Xenu tribe 3000.
Anyways, this is a short clip from a Tavis Smiley interview done late last year and it gives a definite insight into how and why this dude has so much shit on lock. If this doesn't inspire, check you pulse because your either dead or so far removed from your dreams that you may as well be dead! Just kidding, enjoy and get that inspiration bitches

p.s. - I wasn't kidding ; )

full interview with Tavis smiley

Ideas that are given to the world

In honoring the memory of a budding artist whose work I enjoyed, I'm taking this time to applaud him on the physical direction that he decided to take this lunatic character . Classically (never thought I'd be using that term to describe comics) most of the world knows the joker as this : the well-groomed-perfect-white-complected-well-placed-red-lipstick wearing madman. The legions of comic nerds know him as such especially, and when dealing with them, you tread on dangerous territory because despite their looks, they will fuck you up. I'm not sure if Heath Ledger knew of these dangers, but he flew in the face of all that and brought a new version of the Joker to the masses. When this image of the new Joker was first released, it was unlike anything I'd ever seen, but it made sooo much sense. From one image, you could tell it was a real life mad man, a Joker that, apparently toward the end of shooting the "dark knight", was staying in Heath so much that he was getting only 2 hours of sleep a night. Fuck the perfect green hair, you can see that my shit is clearly dyed, but I'll still cut ya! Fuck the chemical bath perfect white skin, my shit is makeup, makeup runs, but I'll still shoot ya! And lastly, fuck the permanent smile, that shit hurts and I can't have my face hurting while I'm being devious so I'm just gonna carve it into my fucking face!

Combined with a great online marketing strategy, new trailers and a 6 minute preview of the film, Heath Ledger and Christopher Nolan have forever changed the image of the Joker. Already, a google image search of the character yields many images of this interpretation (as well as the occasional porn). Though the character didn't start out this way, once it was released into the world, it began to morph and change in nature. That, in my opinion, is probably the highest honor any creator can have; being present for your idea to be birthed into the world and then watching as the world molds it. Though the world may fuck your shit up every now and again, when they get it right, its truly something to behold. Now get those ideas flowing and release them into the world and as I always do at this time, get that inspiration bitches...

Heath Ledger (1979 - 2008)

just added: Christopher Nolan's Newsweek article about Heath

"Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture. He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again. He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren't many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them."