|
Silver Surfer makes waves at CHS
By Courtney Burleson and Jacob Truchard
Hollywood made its way to Columbus High School Thursday, Jan. 17 as one of the movie industry's leading costume actors visited with CHS drama students about his films, life as an actor and his youth in Indiana.
The mood was casual as Doug Jones entertained students and shared his experiences from the movie industry. While the name may not have the notoriety of Tom Cruise and his face may not be recognizable to many, his performances as the silver surfer in "Fantastic 4: The Rise of the Silver Surfer" and the robot in "Benchwarmers" or Abe Sapien in "Hellboy" are ones that many of the students instantly recognized as he showed pictures of the many characters he has portrayed.
Jones made his way to Columbus last Thursday via his best friend Rex Kastner of Daley Iron and Metal. The two met in Los Angeles at a party of a mutual friend. At that time Kastner was working as a writer for the game show Hollywood Squares.
While Kastner now lives in Columbus, Jones has remained in California where he has made a career in the film industry developing diverse characters under layers of prosthetic makeup and elaborate costumes.
It's Jones expressive face and highly animated moves that make him ideal for the roles and costume acting for which he has become known. For Jones, the thick costumes and layers of makeup are a second skin as he moves with ease in what is most of the time quite cumbersome gear.
"I will never get out of costume acting, they won't let me get out of it," said Jones.
Jones' face has been concealed in most of his blockbuster films but Jones told CHS students that he takes his characters no less seriously than that of leading man.
Anyone can put on a specific costume in a film, but Jones emphasized that it is important to develop a character that the audience cares about and bring to life that character as he did with "Abe Sapien" in Hellboy, The Faun in "Pan's Labrynth" and the Silver Surfer.
Jones' said he sees acting, especially costume acting, as a "full body" experience where a character is played from head to toe, regardless if that character is being played in jeans and a T-shirt or full body prosthetics and makeup.
"All of those roles deserve the actor finding the heart and soul of the character," Jones said. "Walking, posture and listening all come into play."
Being a fan of the legendary Boris Karloff, who developed a tragic, yet horrific character of the monster in the 1931 film "Frankenstein" and two of its sequels, Jones said it is important to bring life and depth to the prosthetics and costumes.
He explained to CHS drama students that there are restrictions that an actor has to become accustomed to when wearing makeup and costumes. He talked about learning the mechanics of these restrictions and limitations while trying to find the heart and soul of the characters actors play.
Jones is the first to admit he doesn't have the stereotypical physique of a leading man so he channels his talents to other areas.
"I learned that if you're not Brad Pitt leading man material you have to be funny or scary," said Jones. "So I let all the pretty people play smoky, leading roles."
He joked about how he never perceived himself as a handsome, leading man, but more of the clown and since kids were laughing at him, he would have them laughing with him due to being labeled "the funny guy."
Jones portrayed great enthusiasm to the students while discussing his love for acting. He said that while it can be a difficult career to make a living in, one should never give up their dreams.
"To pursue acting, you must love the art and to expect not get rich and famous from it," Jones said.
Jones said what led him to his love of acting was his own awkwardness as a young, tall skinny kid in Indiana. He said that after school he would watch sitcoms such as "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Andy Griffith Show" and sketch comedy such as "The Carol Burnett Show." This is where he fell in love with the characters and scenarios being presented onscreen.
"I became a friend with the TV set," Jones said. "Since all of my friends were on TV, that's where my desire to be there came from and it never went away."
So Jones packed up his belongings and new wife to head to the sunshine state. Jones first found work as a bank management trainee in Los Angeles.
"Ever heard the phrase, 'square peg in a round hole'," described Jones. "That was I. They fired me in eight months."
So now what thought Jones?
Little did Jones know his next decision would launch his acting career. He took a television commercial acting class that was given by an agent. The agent noticed Jones' natural talent and immediately signed him. And the story begins.
Before being discovered in television and film, Jones acted had various roles in commercials in the 1980s as a mummy in a Southwest Airlines commercial and a crescent moon character with sunglasses, playing the piano in the "It's Mac Tonight" McDonald's commercial from the late 1980s.
When asked by students what is the best way to memorize dialogue or develop dialects, Jones replied that each actor's method is as diverse as the characters they play.
"Your technique is very personal and very different then everyone else's," Jones said.
He said his best method is to develop the accent or dialect before memorizing his lines.
Jones had to learn all of his lines for "Pan's Labrynth in Spanish before he could work on his performances.
When it comes to the memorization, Jones says what has worked best for his 20 plus year career is repetition.
"One way to help memorize lines is to look at the dialogue as music and to say the words over and over as if one was singing a song," Jones said.
As far as his greatest inspirations, Jones said a veteran actor who has inspired him during his career is the legendary British actor John Hurt who played in "Hellboy," "Alien" and "The Elephant Man."
Jones said that when he was on the set of "Hellboy" in 2003, he met Hurt and spoke to him about how difficult it can be to develop a strong performance under heavy makeup. Hurt performed under similar circumstances in the 1980 critically acclaimed "The Elephant Man," directed by David Lynch.
Jones described Hurt as a decorated, wonderful man.
"When it comes to the art of acting, you can't help but be better being around someone with such class as John Hurt," Jones said.
Jones has also worked with a number of distinguished Hollywood directors throughout the years such as Tim Burton ("Batman Returns"), Spike Jonze ("Adaptation") and Barry Sonnenfield ("Men in Black II"). However, he said he is proud to have worked on many projects with Guillermo Del Toro including "Mimic," "Hellboy," "Pan's Labrynth" and the upcoming "Hellboy II" which will be released in movie theatres this July.
Jones had nothing but great things to say about working with Del Toro and his talent as a filmmaker.
"Everything he touches turns to gold," Jones said.
Jones said that not only does Del Toro care about the technical side of film making but he is also an actor's director who has faith in his performers and their ability to bring what they can to their roles.
Jones said his favorite role ever played and one that he would want to be remembered most at his funeral for was the "faun" character in "Pan's Labrynth." The faun character helped guide the main character, Ofelia, through the film.
It is this film, along with the popularity of Hellboy that helped make Jones a more common name in the industry and with his fans.
Jones told the story of how a young female artist approached him at a fan's convention and told him of how her sister had passed away the previous year.
She told Jones how the Oscar winning film, "Pan's Labryinth" and especially the "Faun" character inspired and touched her so much that it caused her to want to work with her art again.
She then found through a Jones' fan club website that he loved dolphins. So she gave him a dolphins portrait.
"It was a beautiful work of art," Jones said.
Jones said that when he plays a role that touches a person so much it makes him proud of what he does for a career and is also something he can be proud of for the rest of his life.
Touching young lives is a part of Jones that fans don't see on the movie screen.
"My wife and I were never able to have kids of our own so outside of acting we adopt a lot of 20-year-olds and offer them a mom and dad figure," said Jones. "At Christmas we invite them all over. A lot of them don't have anywhere to go."
Jones said they are often kids who have come to California to make it in the movie industry and either have a good family who they miss terribly during the holidays or kids with bad families.
"Either way they need us," said Jones.
This is just one example of the caring, tender-hearted actor who off the screen is an ordinary guy who says he enjoys taking an occasional break from the industry and sitting down with an old friend for a good drink and a good laugh.
"Sometimes I just have to shut down the Doug Jones part of my life and breathe. While filming Hellboy II I fantasized about the road trip to see my best friend [Rex] and having a true get away."
Jones said when playing a costume character it is not uncommon for him to spend 18 hours a day, six days a week in the bulky, awkward costumes.
Jones did mention some upcoming films where he might play leading roles out of costume but could not specifically comment due to ongoing negotiations.
While he was not sure when his next road trip would be, Jones said he looks forward to making his way back to Texas and sharing his experiences with more aspiring young actors.
| 
