triangle man, triangle man
So, uh . . . there’s a story about me in today’s New York Times.
Oh my god. The New York Times. And it’s incredible.
In 1000 words John Schwartz captures and communicates who I am, what I am, where I am, and (most importantly) why I am. I always hope that reporters will understand me, but John grokked me.
I spoke with John for about 90 minutes last week, and the story he wrote is in today’s edition of the Times: A Computer Is Also a Screen, Wil Wheaton Discovers.
I was going to buy the reprint rights so I could put it up here, but the Times wants $1,000 from me for a year, and as much as I’d like to spare you all the annoying-but-free registration, I think that money would be better spent on some bills. The bugmenot plugin for Firefox calls . . . 🙂 Update: or you can use this NYT-approved blog-friendly link. Thanks to countless e-mailers and commenters who pointed it out, and to Aaron Swartz who wrote the oh-so-useful code.
The absolute best part, the part that made me scream out in joy and run laps around my living room is:
Mr. Wheaton said that on the “CSI” set, he had to manage a potential conflict between his new writerly self and the professional actor. “It was unbelievably difficult for me the first two days I was working on the show to be very present,” he said. “They’d say ‘Cut!’ and I’d say, ‘I can’t wait to write about this!'”
If he was distracted, it didn’t show, said Duane Clark, the director of the episode. Mr. Wheaton had originally tried out for a smaller role, a hotel clerk. But after seeing his audition tape, Carol Mendelsohn, one of the executive producers, suggested giving him the meatier role of Walter, even though the writers had drawn him as an older alcoholic. A younger drug addict, she said, might prove more menacing, more interesting.
At first, Mr. Clark said, the writers said, “Wil Wheaton, a crack addict – are you nuts?” But Mr. Clark said that Mr. Wheaton brought “a lot of scary volatility” to the role.
“He really dug his teeth into it,” Mr. Clark said, “and on his own came up with a backstory of who Walter was.”
“He really filled out what could have been a caricature. ” he said.
Oh.
My.
God.
When I read that the producer and director believed in me, and the writers took a chance on me . . . well, I’m speechless.
And if all this wasn’t enough, John helps me put some nails into that “former child actor” coffin:
To Mr. Wheaton, the experience on “CSI” is proof, if any is needed, that he’s still in the game. “When you say a ‘former child star,’ you may as well say ‘failed child star,’ ” he said. “The fact is, Jodie Foster is a former child star. Ron Howard is a former child star. I am a former child star. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
I can’t wait to watch CSI tonight, and see how I did. I haven’t been this excited to see something I did since the first screening of Stand By Me.
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Unfortunately I missed CSI last night, as I was out with a friend and I forgot to set up my VCR to record it. (No, I do not have Tivo. Yes, I love living in the early 90s. Now leave me alone, you meddling kids.)
I’m keeping my eye open for when it’ll be rerun. Though with my luck, that will be the one episode that won’t be rerun. I still haven’t seen “My Coolest Years: The Geeks” because that’s the only episode VH1 hasn’t run ad nauseum.
Stupid VH1.
Coming so late to this fan-party, much of what I wanted to say has been said, so I’ll just include those by reference, saving my verbosity for my uniqueness:
* long time occasional reader, first time poster
* Stephen Baldwin, who?
* Great that the NYT article was on the same day as your CSI.
* Thanks for the behind-the-scenes information. The reminder that an appearance of 20 seconds requires the same care to set-up as one of 20 minutes is timely for me, as I have an upcoming guest role in a fanfilm and I will be doing all that practice and make-up for my one line (two if you count the break for a stage directior). It is good to know that this is normal.
* not a CSI watcher, just this one for you.
* Saw your name on the front, then all these characters go by, “Where’s Wil??”. Then they drag that guy out in the dark, and I didn’t detect Wheaton-ness until your close-up.
* I haven’t heard your voice in a while, but you did a great job of sounding like a guy who has been sleeping in the park under a bush without a blanket (or a sweater!!).
* Agreed that this is a better role than the desk-clerk, though if you had gotten that part, you would have done better than that guy.
* You will definitely be getting better offers/attention/calls after this.
* It felt cool to read the NYT article and be able to verify every fact without having to go look it up. He really did clarify “who WW is now” for all those dismissers out there.
I give you kudos for your too-short performance. Here’s hoping (knowing) you’ll get something more significant soon.
Wil I think you’re a good writer and you did a good job in Stand by Me, but I don’t know what people were watching yesterday but your performance was just awful. You were by far the worst actor in the episode and I don’t see why so many people were giving you praise for such sub par acting job. This is just my opinion.
Wil,
I watched CSI not realizing you were on that episode until I watched the credits at the beginning. I enjoyed your performance. I realize it is out of the norm of what I was used to seeing you do. But I liked it. Go for the parts like that. Heaven help me, I can’t remember his real name, Richard something, “John Boy”, ROCKED on Law & Order SVU. I love that episode. Keep breaking out of the box. You’re doing great.
Chrys*