Prometheus (2012)

This movie....

I don't know where to begin. There is a deep sentimental attachment to this movie I've developed over the past couple weeks after I've seen it. Not because it moved me, or inspired me, or saw it with a significant other (or anything like that). It's just brought back memories for me. But not just your run-of-the-mill memories involving watching the original Alien movies, but memories involving a certain star of the film. 

When I was seventeen, I was enrolled in a six-week acting intensive at Brown University. Thirty-six theatre geeks like myself (or the person I was back then) took classes from 8AM to 10PM in different techniques from different instructors, and were given ample opportunities to meet and engage with actors, directors, writers, and performers both in college and in the local area. 

At one point, a struggling actor named Logan Marshall-Green came and talked to us about what it means to be a working actor in New York City, why you should go to grad school, and the importance of live theatre. He wore khaki shorts, Birkenstocks, and had a full beard. In other words, he looked like he rolled out of bed to talk to some teens as a favor to his mother, who was head of Brown's theatre department. He had some interesting things to say, but unfortunately, I was too young to hear it, and most of us saw the question and answer session as kind of a joke, since he had only been in a failed television series and some minor parts off-Broadway. It takes a while for a seventeen-year-old brain to get its priorities straight (and to also not be a judgmental dick all the time). Looking back, I can appreciate that what he told us was wise advice, and that he clearly had his head in the right place.

In any case, when I saw the movie, I enjoyed the sets, the acting, the special effects, and Michael Fassbender, but I kept repeating to myself that Charlie Holloway looked familiar. I couldn't place him, and rightly so, since I went home and looked him up and this was his debut. When I saw who it was I flipped a shit. Like, literally ran around my apartment like a giddy fucking schoolgirl before finally calming down, taking a deep breath, and saying to myself, "Yeah, I guess he cleans up well." 

After coming out of this dreamland where I realized that once upon a time, I met the star of this summer’s biggest blockbuster before he was cool (don’t let my friends hear you say that— I already have enough trouble convincing them that I’m not a hipster), I’ve realized that the reason I got so excited wasn’t because of Logan Marshall-Green himself. I actually couldn’t care less (again, NOT a hipster). The excitement comes from the fact that I have witnessed firsthand proof of someone who is talented and hard-working actually making it in the industry. Because it’s been a while since I was seventeen, and I haven’t heard anything about him… until now.

On this blog, I usually skip the sentimentalism in favor of satire and critical dry humor. But not today. Today, I just want to say congratulations to an actor who deserves it, waaaay more than the Kristen Stewarts and Miley Cyruses of the world, who have everything handed to them. You go, LMG— and I’m glad you ditched the beard and Birkenstocks. You are testament to anyone out there who has ceased believing that perseverance pays off and that anything is possible, and I thank you for reminding me of that.