Because of my recent association with Michael Damian and his film High Strung, I have been exposed to an eclectic variety of talented actors, dancers, and entertainers that I never knew existed. One such person, Nigel Barber, played only a minor role in this film, but his career has spanned almost four decades. Recently, I had the supreme opportunity of chatting with this sagacious man who was willing to share so much of his life and vision that he has developed over the course of his years within this business, and he peppered it with a healthy dose of fascinating anecdotes and pithy observations.
(As a sort of disclaimer, the format of this interview is just a little bit different than normal. To be honest, I asked very few questions. Nigel shared his wealth of information, and most of the time, I just sat in rapt contemplation of all that he was sharing. So in keeping with my dedication to sharing organic interviews, the questions will be few and far between, but I will do my best to organize the information in an easily readable style. So, following our exchange of pleasantries and greetings…)
NB: It is so nice to get to talk with you about the good things and the good people in the world of entertainment. The acting industry sometimes gets a bad name, and I think that’s why I like living here in Europe ’cause it has a different feel about it. I did a lot of summer stock in Middle America when I was “growing up” in the business. There’s some very, very special memories that I have. But there’s just something about England, and London specifically, that has such a diversity of artistic places where you can go. I’ve been very lucky. Since I’ve been here, I’ve not stopped working. I have a place in southern Portugal where I sort of retired to on the Algarve. And I bought a sort of “ruin” in 1990 and rebuilt it myself. I think I was in my early fifties when I retired. And I thought, “This is what I really want to do.” I had a very large piece of property that was very close to the ocean. I speak Portuguese, so I assimilated very well into the environment. And one of my big passions is motorcycles, so I got into bikes. I have two here now in London. I used to just ride all the time and work in my garden. I thought that was what I wanted to do.
But when I was in my middle to late fifties, I was a bit bored, and I thought I needed something different. So I came back into the industry, and it was sort of neat ’cause I had some background. I did a lot of stuff–Baywatch and all of the soaps and the episodics, whether it be Knight Rider or Magnum or as a day player–then I was much younger–so it was boyfriends, waiters. cops. I worked with David Janssen when he did Harry O, and I had an ongoing role, which was very nice–Anthony Zerbe, Stefanie Powers–if you remember those names. Yeah, it was a great time. But then I got very disillusioned with the whole political aspect of it. I think the industry is not going to give you anything. I think you really need to do it yourself when you come back into it like I did. Before, I was looking at it to give me reason, to make me exist. And it just doesn’t do that. And besides, when you’re younger, you don’t have a lot to bring to the table.
I don’t think we act any more. I think we choose what part of our personality fits the character. You know, you and I and everybody else in the world have a range of emotions. We all feel it. We all feel love and hate–not so much, I don’t hate anything–you know what I mean. The whole gamut. What triggers those emotions between you and I, Ruth, is what separates us. What makes you peeved about something will be different than what triggers those feelings in me. I think as a performer now, the customer, the client, the audience is so much more sophisticated. We’ve had fifty years plus of incredible films that raised the level up a little bit. Even our television productions now are such high production value.
And the independent stuff. When we start to see Kevin {Spacey} do House of Cards. You know, with Robin Wright and all of those—just incredible stuff. I don’t do a lot of TV, but I do subscribe to Netflix. I overdose myself. If I have an afternoon, I’ll just watch ten things in a row. And then sort of put it off and do my own work. It’s great. And coming back into the industry as a mature person feeling very comfortable with who I became, it’s a joy every day to do what I do. I’m just so blessed and happy and grateful–I think that’s the big one. I’m really excited, and I don’t need an excuse to get out of bed. And I’m just grinning all the time. So all of that mixed together is really nice.
And then when you get an opportunity to work with somebody like Michael and Janeen {Damian}–I’ll tell you the story. But you should ask me some questions. I’ll just go on and on. It’s just myself in the house, so I don’t even have pets to talk to. I tried a goldfish, but it wasn’t very conversational. (laughs)
RH: No, go ahead, I’m truly enjoying what you have to say.
(MUSICAL THEATRE IN LONDON)
When I first got here, I was cast in the original Bodyguard musical. And I did a year in the West End here with Heather Headley playing the lead role. And I was very fortunate to meet the original playwright and the original screenplay guys. It was a very special time for me coming into town and being cast in something that was so iconic. It’s a very closed shop–just like Broadway–and I sing and I dance, and that’s how I started in this industry. I was much younger, and I’ll tell you about that if you’re interested. Now, I can move, and I can tell a story to music. I really don’t consider myself the same kind of singer/dancer I was. But I just finished the London premiere of Xanadu, which was a big hit on Broadway, I guess, in 2009. Howard Bean wrote it. He turned that awful 1980’s film with Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John–but with great music. Very iconic music. He turned it into something that was fun and upbeat, and I think it ran for five hundred plus shows. Cheyenne Jackson had played the lead role, and the part that I played–Danny/Zeus–Tony Roberts had done that role. He actually came to London, and I had an interesting conversation with him. And that was really, really great. I did that just before Christmas. I enjoy that I’m able to cross genre. And not only cross genre within the entertainment industry, but also cross genre in film or theater. A lot of dramatic pieces as well as musical theatre. And horror and sci-fi and the feel-good Hallmark movies like Michael Damian makes.
I know we could have done this over email, but I wanted to meet you. I think that’s very important. We don’t get enough of that. We don’t get enough touching in our lives. Here’s somebody who went out of her way to make a connection one way or another who said, “Hey, do you want to talk to me?” And I say, “I would love to.” I’m not a celebrity. I’m not a big name. I’m a fortunate working actor who now is starting to get people calling him up to say, “Hey, Nigel, are you interested in doing this role?” Which is what Michael did on the second film. We might as well go into this because it’s a nice segue.
In The Sweeter Side of Life
I auditioned a few years back for The Sweeter Side of Life. And a very interesting character that I played. I went to a casting director here in London. Because of the cost in making films in Europe in really good facilities, I’ve done seven features in the last two years. I guess eight, including Michael’s. So we have a casting director here in London that Michael works with–Carolyn McLeod. And I came in and I read for the part. A couple days later, my agent called me up and said I’d been cast in this film, and I’d be going to Romania, which I never had been before.
The thing that really touched me was about a week before I was supposed to go, I got a call. Normally, if I don’t recognize the number or you’re not in my book, I don’t answer. I let people leave a message. And I certainly don’t answer if the number is unknown or blocked or restricted or something like that. All too often, there’s this phone canvassing that goes on where you answer it, and the person says, “Now about this accident you just had..” But you can always hang up on them, and they don’t know where I am. My telephone number is everywhere on Facebook and my website and my IMDB. My YouTube channel. It’s all open to the public. It’s silly to be in the business and not use it to spread yourself around. The thing that got me when this telephone rang was when I answered it, and I always answer, “Nigel Barber.” There was this great voice, “Nigel, how are you? It’s Michael Damian! Look, I just want to tell you how happy we are that you are involved with this project. And you are so awesome! And I just want to tell you that we’re so happy. And if you need anything, just let me know. So we’ll see you there. It’s going to be really good. We’re going to have so much fun.” My goodness, here’s a player in the industry and had been for thirty plus years on so many different levels takes his time and calls some guy that nobody knows really, when you look it. What am I on IMDB now–30,000 something out of millions? But still, it goes up and down depending on what I have going on. It’s the algorithms, and I don’t know how they do it with their star meter. I really thought it was great that he did that. And when I got there, it was like going home to family. He was just so genuine. It’s like that old cliche when people say, “Have a nice day.” Well, they don’t really mean it. Michael Damian really does mean it. He’s concerned about you–how are you? Are you all right? So I had this wonderful part in the film with Kathryn Morris of Cold Case fame.
But the story that I have–the little anecdote that I have about this one–is when I got there, I had all of my scenes with her, and the whole deal was that my company wanted to buy and franchise Paddy’s Bakery. You know James {Best}, Janeen’s dad, played the part of Paddy. I didn’t get to work with him, unfortunately, but his presence in the film was–I mean still in his late age–was just absolutely brilliant. Kathryn is very great in comedy as well. We know her, of course, from this very specific medical investigator person, but she’s very good in comedy. Very light and easy to be with. When we started filming, on the first day in the morning, they did all of my shots. Because of an issue with her contract and SAG, they told her till it was ironed out, she was not allowed on set. So the first half of the day, she was locked in her trailer. So the person that you see with her hair–you call it a “dirty shot,” where they’re just establishing over supposedly Kathryn’s shoulder–is really Janeen. It’s Janeen’s hair, which is very similar in color and structure. And I had the most wonderful time with her. I worked with her. And then when they did my reverse, Kathryn was allowed to come out, and so after shooting the scenes, we had lunch together, which was great. But that was just really, really neat to work with Janeen.
Speaking of our location, Kevin {Costner} shot the HBO special Hatfields & McCoys there. They did Cold Mountain there. Because the topography in that part of Romania, about one hundred miles north of Bucharest, is a place called Sinaia. And it looks so much like the Blue Ridge Mountains. It looks like Gettysburg and those places along the James River. It’s wonderful. If you could make a movie for ten cents on the dollar, then of course, you’d be there. That’s why so many people now are shooting in Bulgaria and Turkey. I’ve shot in Istanbul. I’m going back to Sofia, Bulgaria for my seventh film there. A new project called The Philosophers, and I’m very much looking forward to doing that. It’s very nice, and I had a lovely time shooting Sweeter Side over there.
And then about a year and a half later, Michael actually called me himself and said, “I’m doing another film. It’s called High Strung. I’m gonna have some great people in it. It’s gonna be Jane Seymour, Paul Freeman from Raiders of the Lost Ark fame and a few other people. And some really good young dancing talent. I have a part for you, and I’d love to have you come out for a week and shoot that.” And it was lovely. I told Michael then, I said, “Buddy, you call me, I’ll be there.” And so it’s really nice. And that took a while to get off the ground. Michael did a lot of his own stuff on it, and I know there was some involvement with Motion Picture Corporation of America and a few other people. But Riviera, his brand, had pushed it through. And it was really nice to see a lot of this hustle that he did in the bus, traveling around and really shaking the hands and kissing the babies. And I think that for me, that really shows the stamina of the man. You know, it really shows the guy that really walks his talk and loves this industry. He does the kind of stuff you can sit down with your family on a Sunday afternoon and watch together and cry a little bit and laugh a little bit, and you know, nobody has to die. Nobody has to use swear words. And nobody has to see any body part that we shouldn’t. You know what I mean? And how lovely is that? And we don’t really have that opportunity much as an actor to–there’s some things I won’t do. Generally speaking, I’ve been blown up. I’ve been shot. I’ve been driving very, very badly through cities and a couple of swear words–it’s what you do. It’s not who I am. But with Michael, you know it’s always something really heartfelt and loving and that you’re proud to be associated with. And the people that you meet on his sets are always so empowered and impassioned and just as nutty as he is. And it’s just great. To say that I’ve done two Michael Damian projects is something very, very special. And I’ll support the guy as long as I can still stand up. Even if I have to sit down and work on it in a wheelchair. Maybe do a remake of Ironside. Do a Raymond Burr thing.
Interestingly enough, he actually sent a question for you.
You know, and I responded in a very kind of facetious way. I’ll tell you what the deal was. He asked, “What was it like working with that lovely or talented legend in his own mind, the incredible Tom Cruise?” And I wrote back, “Not as awesome as working with the Damians.”
In Mission: Impossible–Rogue Nation
Working with Tom was a rather interesting experience. I was blessed to be cast in that role. It opens and closes the film {Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation}. It’s probably one of the best of the franchise. Fifth one out. I’ll tell you this story. I walked onto set and I had about five, six pages of dialogue. It was given to me a few days before because it was all very hush-hush and very non-disclosure agreement thing. The car picks me up about four ‘o clock in the morning and drives me north of where I live into the big Warner Bros. facility we have here. I go to my trailer first and it comes up, “How are you, Nigel blah blah blah. There’s food if you want it.” There’s always food. I don’t eat when I’m working. I mean, that was ridiculous. They had whole pigs that they were roasting. The catering guy actually traveled with them around the world on all the shoots for a year. And the stuff he told me about how he had to source things and things you had to have. But the first thing I noticed that there was this small, very quaint car-truck kind of thing. An old one. An antique. Someone had converted it into an espresso bar/coffee bar. And there was a little sign that said: “Cast and Crew of Taurus. Free coffee compliments of Tom Cruise.” He was just so generous in everything that he did. I walked in. J. J. Abrams was on set. I’d already been to hair and make-up and costume. I was ready to come in and start doing set-ups. I was introduced to all the other cast that was with me. I was the head of the senatorial committee. All of the guys, and there were lots of Americans there. It was nice to connect. J. J. came up to me and he said,” I’m really, really sorry, but we’ve rewritten your part.” And I said, “Okay.” He said, “Don’t worry. We’re going to give you big cue cards.” (laughs) And I don’t do cue cards. I don’t think you really can use them with 65mm Panavision with 70mm high definition stuff. Like they’re going to come up and see my nostril hairs if they were there. So the last thing I want to be doing is moving my eye focus away. So I went back into my trailer and spent about fifteen minutes–this is what I do–I learn lines and interpret somebody else’s words and try to make them as real as possible under direction. Chris McQuarrie was there, and what a great person he was. I didn’t do a scene with TC, but he was there. And I was introduced to him and another little story…
A guy comes up to me and says, “Nigel, hi.” And I said, “Hello.” “It’s Michael. Don’t you remember?” I said, “Sorry, I don’t.” “I’m Michael. You were in Baywatch, right?” And I said, “I was in the first year, yeah, before Pam {Anderson} and Alexandra {Paul} and all came on. 1989.” I was utility lifeguard, so I did everything–bits and pieces. And drove a truck and drove a jet ski and ran and stood up and looked through binoculars and those kinds of things. He said, “You and I would stand up on the top of Will Rogers Beach and look down and look at all the girls in bikinis.” I said, “Michael? What are you doin’ here?” He said, “I’m TC’s personal hairdresser, and I’ve been traveling with him for a few years. But I remember you. You look exactly the same!” “No I don’t look exactly the same!” “Well, your hair’s a different color, but you basically look exactly the same.” So that was really interesting. And then all of a sudden, the connections started. And I was working with Alec Baldwin, who’s just a solid human being. We started talking about–he knew that I had moved to Portugal and he wanted to talk about that because his eighteen-month-old doll–this wonderful, little child. And he’s concerned about growing up in a culture and all that. It was a family shoot. So relaxed even though you had the cinematographer Robert {Elswit}, who won an Academy Award for There Will Be Blood. Working with Jeremy Renner, of course, and everybody so passionate about what they did and what they do.
So to answer Michael’s question, I didn’t have the opportunity to work with, but I had the opportunity to work for TC, and the contact that I had with him–he seemed gracious and generous and like he was there for you. After we finished the shoot, I got away and worked in Italy and a few projects in Europe. And I was in Austria shooting a commercial and found out that the cast and crew were attending the showing in London–and I was invited. So I just flew back to London. And so we went there and there was all the cast and crew from the London shoot. And you walked in and the whole theater had big boxes of popcorn on each seat and water and it was really lovely. Everybody was so nice and wonderful. We went in and sat down. There were a few actors I had worked with before. I saw them, and we sat together. I looked around and I said,” Gosh. I think Tom’s gonna be here tonight.” And the guy said, “No, he’s not gonna come. Why would he come to this thing?” And there he walks in–in a t-shirt, and he just comes up in front of everybody and says, “Look, I’ve been doing this on a soundstage most of my life. And I just want to thank you guys for what you did. Because without you, I couldn’t do what I do. And the passion and the quality of work made this, I think, my best Mission Impossible.” And it was just so lovely and so giving and you know, you’d stop a bullet for that kind of guy. Just like, Michael Damian, I’d stop a bullet for. It was a really, really lovely experience. Another great human being. And another guy that if he would call me up and say, “Nigel, would you mind?” And I would go, no questions. Some great opportunities to work with some very special people.
ABOUT JANE SEYMOUR AND MORE, HIGH STRUNG
Jane Seymour, an absolute goddess of a person. Just full of energy and right there with you, and she was dancing on the stage in between takes. No airs, nothing. Sits down, has a sandwich. Wonderful picture that Janeen’s mother took. And we’re sitting down and there’s Michael and myself and Janeen and James Townsend, who was in the film, but also a producer and Bianca, who was one of the special people who was also a judge in it–a very famous woman in Romania and an American actress who lives in London as well. It was a wonderful shot. The feeling about it is here’s a group of people having a lovely time. Went out to dinner with Paul in the evening and had some really lovely, supportive conversations with real people really enjoying what they were doing. The blessing of working in an industry that’s not easy with like ninety-eight percent unemployment all across the world. And if you can say that you can earn a living working in this industry, you’re one of the very few blessed people in the world that can say that. And then to work with really good people as well, it’s super.
So going way back, how did you get started being an actor in this industry?
It was really an accident. It’s almost like being discovered in Schwab’s, if you remember that story about Lana Turner. I was a carpenter, originally, a theater carpenter. I was working in a theater called the Off-Broadway Theater in San Diego, which was an equity house, and I was building sets. I used to sing a lot more than I do now. My voice has dropped down so much now I sound like Lee Marvin in Paint Your Wagon. And the pit band was there, and they were playing some songs that I knew. So I’m backstage and I’m just singing along with them. And after about fifteen minutes and a couple of songs, I hear this, “Hey! You! Come ‘ere!” And I thought, “Oh, gosh, what did I do? I wasn’t whistling onstage. What taboo did I break?” And it ended up being the owner of the theater that produced shows and said, ” You got a great voice, kid. Look, in our next musical, we’re doing Pal Joey with Dean Jones and Patricia Morrison, and we’d like you to play Victor. And you get your equity card.” And it was like–yeah. That nanosecond it took me to respond. I did Lenny. I did The Boys in the Band. I did Anything Goes. Pal Joey was the first one. And then I went to Los Angeles, and I had one of those–you know–the Damian look, at that time. And did a lot of stuff. Some commercial work as well. In theater, everything from musical theater to heavy dramatic pieces. But I was still in my twenties.
Then I got into my thirties, and I’d left the United States sort of permanently at the end of 1989. I’d fallen in love with a British woman. So it’s just one of those things. And we’re no longer together, but she was the reason why I said that I was moving to Europe. I was working on a cruise ship. I was an entertainer. I had my own show. I worked a year on the Holland American Line. We did Cancun and the Panama canal and all up the west from Puerto Vallarta to San Francisco. And I finished off my contract in Vancouver. And sailing on a seven day return from Vancouver inland passage–Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Glacier Bay National Park, and then back down again. That was sometime around 1986 or 1987–it was when they had the World’s Fair there, Expo, and there was a twenty-three piece big band aboard. So I had the time of my life, singing every cover in the world. It was great and a lovely, lovely time. I met Hillary. And then thought–Yeah, that’s it. That’s it for me. We were together for twenty-five years and still good friends. But that’s the reason I moved to Europe. I left the States and have not worked–except for American companies–but have not been back to the States to work. A couple of times to visit family and friends. My younger brother got married so I was there in 2003, I think, and went back to see him. Like Hemingway said, “You can never go home again, my son.” I think once you start seeing other places, you’re a different person. Your outlook changes. I lived in Singapore for five years. I lived in Shanghai. I lived in Brazil, in São Paulo. And suddenly this very big place becomes very small as your eyes change. I’m sure if you grow up in a small town somewhere, and you live there most of your life, and then you went away, and you came back, you think, “What’s going on?” It’s like the first time someone comes from the States and goes to Paris for a week, or London for a week or any other big European cities like Rome, and all of a sudden, coming back to Spokane or San Dimas or wherever–I mean they’re beautiful places, but it’s just different. You dress differently, you speak differently, you butter your toast differently.
UPCOMING WORKS
So I have the best of both worlds here. I’m an American actor working in London, playing mostly American parts. I was in Spectre- Bond 24. And played head of Nation America, what else? I just finished a Western called Fear the Unknown Men. There’s a new sci-fi coming up called The Void. I recently played the lead antagonist in Crystal Inferno for French Television 1 and Free Dolphin Entertainment. And something very special–I’ve gotten to narrate a mini-series for the BBC and PBS, so you’ll hear me on American television. It’s called Nature’s Epic Journeys—The Great Race, and there are three specials about migration. They will air in September on PBS. One is about caribou. Another one on zebras and the other one on elephants. It’s an hour of me yapping! But they are beautiful documentaries on animal migration. So there’s a lot of stuff there. It’s funny. You come to London, and you end up working for American companies. It’s bizarre. And there’s lots of big projects coming up now. I’m in Sofia, Bulgaria, currently in pre-production for Mariano Equizzi’s The Philosophers for Omniavision, and I will be playing the lead, Mr Lem.
I haven’t had the opportunity to see High Strung yet. I think more than anyone, Michael Damian deserves so much. It’s a tough industry for a nice guy. I’ve never heard him say a mean word or a bad word in either of the two projects I was fortunate to work with him on. He seems to surround himself with those like-minded people. It’s a joy. And the quality of his stuff when we were working on the stage in this big theater represented the place where I was sort of the philanthropist. I was sponsoring the string and dance competition. And he’s up there with the people, and he’s absolutely brilliant. And with Janeen’s background being a dancer, and still having it all together. It’s amazing. And to see how they work together, this wonderful synergy between them. And it’s often very difficult to see that when two people have been together so long, but they’re still so much in love and so very supportive of each other. And ego’s not involved. It’s just great. It’s wonderful. I’m lucky to be part of that. Hopefully it will be well-received. Sometimes distribution can be a tough one, too. It’s one of those films that people will see and say, “Gosh, that’s good.” But they have to see it first. I’m sure Michael has three or four other projects he’s working on now. And if you’re reading this, Michael, call me!!
I know they’re working on the sequel to the film now.
Oh great. It makes sense ’cause it’s a passionate thing for him. And I think it’s very poignant today. And with {Dave} Scott choreographing everything. The dances that he had there were just amazing to watch. Absolutely incredible.
Well, I had all these questions, but you have answered most of them.
Well, that’s what happens. If somebody feels comfortable in an interview situation or a chat situation, I think that’s the art of the interviewer. You sort of let things happen and organically go on and things are covered. And it’s great. You know where I started. You know I was involved with Michael Damian and Janeen. You know what I’ve done because you can pull up my IMDB and you can see all that stuff. And projects to come. You know, there’s all sorts of things. This industry just turns so quickly. I’m very fortunate to do the commercial work that I do. And I voice a lot, so that’s also very, very good for me. There’s always something going on. And every day, I have something to do.
It’s amazing all the things you’re doing. It’s not like you’re slowing down any time soon.
You know what? I have no intention to. I’ve been blessed with good stock. I’ve been blessed with a strong constitution. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. So that’s sort of boring. That’s my choice. I still go to dance and vocal class. I still go to workshops, which is very West coast and not very London at all. I find that if I go on a call for my age group, the guys who are my age look like my dad or my granddad. And being a Baby Boomer West Coast boy, it’s that whole Peter Pan thing, isn’t it? I think age is–Deepak {Chopra} wrote a really great book called Timeless Mind, Ageless Body. So much of what we think is what happens to us. So if you think, “Wow, I just turned sixty-five, and it’s time for me to retire, and I can’t do that–I’m too old for that. Let’s not do that.” And you know? Who said? Because some cultural, economic thing said you need to stop working at that age, so other people can come in? Or where did that number come from? And those of us who are of an age–more and more of us, as far as the viewer– and so you’ll start seeing a lot more good work coming from and for people of a mature age. If you’re looking at Judy Dench and Helen Mirren and John Hurt or any of those guys–I just worked with Michael Gambon and people like that, you know, just lovely. And with Jane {Seymour}and Paul Freeman, of course. Michael was very fortunate to be able to get them. So I don’t think I’ll ever slow down. I’m riding my motorcycles a little bit slower, but I’m still riding them. Whenever there’s a little bit of sun out. I normally don’t ride when I’m working ’cause of the responsibility and stuff. But I was out on a recent weekend. And I should still be working pretty steadily most days most weeks. But I have a couple days coming up where I might take half a day ’cause England in the sunshine is very, very pretty.
Well, I think I have really enjoyed this time with you, Nigel.
It’s been delightful, so thank you very, very much.
Oh, it’s been wonderful. I always love hearing all those stories.
Everybody has stories, and when you think about how connected we all are together. I mean, those are really the only two truths. We’re not forever, and we’re interconnected. And I think we’d probably have a lot less negative energy in this world if we realized how really connected we are. You know, we separate ourselves by age and race and economic status and education and gender. We’re still connected. We still are from the same energy. We’re all born, and we’re all gonna die. And in between now and that time, I want to have some good times and walk my talk. And try and leave something behind that somebody can get a laugh out of or a little bit of enjoyment or have a memory. And I think that’s what immortality is. It’s a wonderful thing about our industry is that when we make a film, when we create, when we tell that story, it’s forever. They may change the format of how it’s recorded, but we can still go back and watch one of those iconic, old films–something from De Mille or something from all the early talkies or the Chaplin films–and they’re forever. And that’s probably how to become immortal. I don’t know. Maybe that’s my motivation. I haven’t really thought about it till just now.
Now, I don’t know about you, but there is nothing like learning from someone who has truly experienced a rich and full life like Nigel has. I was so entranced with everything he told me that I didn’t feel the need to jump in and redirect him towards some other agenda. On the contrary, I was perfectly content to let Nigel tell his story. In fact, his commitment to just talking about this industry that drives him every day to present his best no matter what gushed forth in such a genuine way that I went the extra mile to ensure that I have represented this man in the foremost way I could. I didn’t interfere as a more petulant interviewer may have. Nigel is one of those rare people who has the knack of putting people at ease, and it as if you have known him for years the moment he opens his mouth. He is kind, humble, insightful, and extremely responsive. His credits are extensive, but he doesn’t see himself as any sort of celebrity. There is no doubt how highly he respects the Damians, and Nigel himself seeks to live his life similarly–clasping tightly to his fierce devotion to his acting career as well as a vicious determination to be that person who demonstrates sincere and unmerited concern for his fellow human being. He might say that immortality may be his motivation within the business, but in my opinion, if that were his impellent, he would be so egocentric that the warmth, joy, and benevolence that radiate from his soul would be ensconced by arrogance. And I do not believe there is a pompous bone in his body. Furthermore, the advice he imparts at the end–I so wish our chaotic world could put it into practice as there is no doubt he is one hundred percent correct! Be sure that you check Nigel out at the various links below (realizing that IMDB is not a comprehensive list of his works–be sure you look at his resume too, which is linked in his profile there), and be sure to watch out for the myriad of dazzling projects where you can see this delightful, gifted man in the weeks and months to come!
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