Biography

November 2 · Brooklyn, New York, USA

Blue eyes

Soft voice

Long, light brown hair

[on father-in-law Robert Cordier] I once mailed him one of my poems to his home in Paris FRANCE. He later spontaneously contacted us and said, go to your local Western Union. He wired us some money with the message to "keep writing".... When he would ask me, "What are you doing for money?" If my work wasn't creative, he would say, "Why? You should be acting; you should be writing." He was uncompromising in the pursuit of art. Dear Robert, May your artistic soul Rest in Peace.

[on mother-in-law Betty Lou Holland] Betty Lou enjoyed sharing stories from her prolific Broadway career. Her passion was directed more toward theater than film. However, sometimes when we were watching films or television shows that she had worked on, she would say, "That's not me, who is that pretending to be me. It's not me." She was modest and shy when it came to seeing herself on screen, it was humorous and cute. Betty Lou would commit to that idea that it wasn't her on the screen.....I sometimes second guessed, asking myself, "Wait, is it her?". She would also give me acting advice when I needed it. I once was struggling on how to approach a role and she gave me some advice that really helped a great deal.

[on working with Sam Elliott] I had just seen The Hero (2017) in July 2017, at the theater and thought Sam Elliott gave an excellent performance as the protagonist.... Fast forward one month to August 4th, 2017. I am working on The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot (2018), an overnight shoot in Greenfield, MA. I am playing a Norwegian soldier wearing a hazmat suit. In this scene, I have to escort Sam Elliott across a field to a large, secured government biohazard safety tent. So, between each take Sam would kindly fix/adjust my problematic hazmat suit. I then thought it was a good time to let him know about my impression of his performance in The Hero (2017). I said, "I recently saw The Hero (2017) and I thought your performance was excellent." He said, "Thank you, I'm happy you saw it." I said, "Yeah, I hope it gets acknowledged, I thought you did some fine acting in it......Actually, there was one particular scene with you and Nick Offerman where I thought you were really present, in the moment." He said, "That was my favorite scene, all those emotions that came were a surprise. What's your name?" It was a nice exchange and wonderful to have the opportunity to let him know what I thought about his performance in the film. Dear Sam, Thank you for the countless memorable performances throughout your long, impressive career and your major contribution to the history of cinema.

[on a commercial session with Fred Berry] In the late 1990s I took a one-on-one session with Fred. It was in midtown New York City, where he shared a large loft space with the manager of G. Love & Special Sauce and Fun Lovin' Criminals. When I reached his floor and met him.... he greeted me, he was kind and warm with a ton of charm. He said, "You're a Leonardo DiCaprio type". I said, what should I call you? Mr. Berry? Fred? Rerun? He said, "Just don't call me late for dinner" and flashed his, what I can only describe as, a million-dollar smile. We did some commercial copies together.... He made it look so comfortable and effortless every time he read, flashing that smile with the greatest of ease, right on cue. As I was leaving, he asked if I liked G Love and the Fun Lovin' Criminals? I said "Yes". I'd seen G Love live a few times. He then disappeared for a few minutes. He came back with a stack of rare, special edition CDs of both bands. Growing up, he brought me a lot of laughs and enjoyment, as I often watched What's Happening!! (1976). Rest in Peace Fred Berry.

[on working on The Unholy (2021)] It was a small scene on March 13th, 2020, in Sudbury, MA at the Wayside Inn. (Babe Ruth lived up the road from the Wayside Inn in the 1920s when he played for Boston, it's been said that he would frequent the Inn.) I was a bartender in this small scene with two of the principals. March 13th, 2020 was just when the pandemic was beginning.... At this time there were no CDC or Union regulations put in place for masks, social distancing etc., no vaccine yet, it was a precarious situation. I was well aware of the dangers and steered clear of anyone having coughing fits or with obvious symptoms, there were only a few people wearing masks that day.....As I was getting situated in my limited space at the bar, Craig Wrobleski (DP) came over to let me know my space constraints for the shot and that I would be in the frame for over a minute, with the camera up close. Steve Danton (First AD) directed me to smoke cigarettes and polish bar glasses, while giving irritated looks to the principals, as I was trying to close down the bar at the end of the night. He then said, "Be cool, like James Dean." So on "action", we did the scene, and after "cut", Steve busted out of the back room and said, "Great work Chris!". All we needed was one take. Production was shut down the next day due to the COVID19 virus and expected to resume filming at a later date. Ultimately, the scene did not end up in the final cut of the film.