Call Me Barry...Or don't

If there were a movie about my life (and there goddam should be) the opening scene would find our hero (me) climbing off his post-apocalyptic battle-chopper and striding purposefully across a dusty parking lot through the double-doors of Insidious Max's End-Of-The-World Saloon. The bartender, Banjo Lou, immediately pours the hero his drink of choice for fear of incurring his considerable wrath. Our hero downs his Fruitopia-and-whiskey-on-the-rocks-but-in-a-dirty-glass-so-i-dont-look-like-a-bitch in one long swallow and sets down his glass.
      "Where's Max," the hero inquires in a gruff whisper.
      Silence decends uopn Insidious Max's End-Of-The-World Saloon.
       "He don't wanna see ya, Barry," replies Banjo Lou, an obvious quaver in his voice. "Not after last time..."
       Suddenly sensing the four enourmous thugs carrying machetes sneaking up behind him, Barry explodes from his barstool. Moving with lightning quickness, he draws his weapons of choice: two handaxes made out of dragon bone because everybody in the wasteland knows dragons have extra tough bones. And without a moment's hesitation, our hero lays waste to every last motherfucker in the vicinity.....

But onto my blog...

A few years ago, I recieved the great honor of playing a character that I had loved since the moment Jack Black exclaimed "Holy Shiite! What the fuck is that?!" And being one of my Top 5 favorite movies, High Fidelity was a show I was eager to be a part of. Now I get to revisit one of my favorite characters and live in their skin again.

Call me Zak...or Barry. Many New-Liners will tell you that the line between Zak and Barry is incredibly thin or even blurred, but in all honesty I just doesnt exist. I get the extreme pleasure of playing a character that I know inside and out because we're basically the same person... with miniscule differences.

The main difference between Barry and I lies in our obsessions. I love movies and Barry loves music. While those two aren't mutually exclusive (I love music and Barry makes film references in both the book and movie), you can see where a night in would differ between the two of us (Barry listening to "The Wall" while I watch the dvd). Here's a brief glimpse of what that coversation would go like:

ZAK: What'd you do last nite?

BARRY: Listened to "The Wall" for like the billionth time. Shit never gets old.

ZAK: No shit?! I was watching the film!

BARRY: Dude, fuck you. That shit's not a "film" it's not high art, it's an overlong music video that was made simply because most idiots can't just sit and fucking listen to a goddam album anymore. Think about that shit, dude. An artist goes to the trouble of writing an album- NOT A FUCKING SCREENPLAY- and they make fucking "Tommy 2" outta that shit!

ZAK: Yeah, sequels are usually diappointing...



In the words of Lavar Burton:
                                                    -"I'll see ya next time, Kunta Kinte."