I'm embarrassed. As you may have guessed, I'm going to tell you why.
Bruce Dern, who is now 77, is a classically trained actor. (Strasberg, Kazan, etc.) He made his name as a bad cowboy and a bit of a weirdo, and was finally critically acclaimed in the fantastic 'Coming Home'. But he never felt that he really got the big role, the one that could showcase his training, his talent, his craft.
Well, that's over. Mr. Dern received the best actor award at this year's Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Alexander Payne's 'Nebraska', and he is a shoe-in for Oscar nomination. So you're thinking, this little diatribe of mine is about 'it' finally happening for him at the age of 77 right? Wrong. Wow, I hope none of us has to wait for 77.
The statistic that blew my mind about Mr. Dern and this particular project, is the fact that he received the script TEN YEARS AGO. Ten years it took Payne to get the project into and out of production. The film's reception at Cannes and pre-release buzz confirms that everything certainly came together in the right way at the right time.
So, I repeat: I'm embarrassed. Compared to Bruce Dern, I have not shown enough patience or spent enough time honing my craft to assume that I should have had 'the big break' by now.
I'm gonna suck it up. I hope you will too.
- TK
Tom Kennerly's 'Not Love' is filming in March 2014.
