I heard a story and I have no way of knowing if this was true. But anyway. Some girl reported, claiming to have gone to the same school as Jensen like in middle school, that he was so shy she NEVER HEARD HIM SPEAK. Like he was MUTE. In my very humble opinion, i think that for someone that shy to become an actor is a choice they make about the way they live their lives. Like, an intentional act of courage. Then dealing with the other things like interviews and con appearances and fannish behavior and paparazzi and internet gossip etc -- each level of discomfort becomes an additional challenge -- and I think Jensen seems like the kind of guy who takes that challenge as an incentive to grow. That's just my impression of him as a person -- like watching him deal with his discomfort in interviews and at cons, how he seizes on the opportunity to talk about something substantive (rather than stuff he clearly thinks is off the wall!) to calm himself down and give a good interview. Case in point: the Redbull where do you eat question -- he was like, "where do we eat?" like what kind of a question is that to ask a guy -- and Jared did all the talking for the rest of the interview. Still he had a good time with Jared that day, if photos are evidence. Even he was a good sport later in the evening when someone tracked him down at the after party and asked for signatures and photos -- which, to me, has got to be one of the MORE annoying facets of celebrity. I mean, stuff on the internet, you can choose whether to engage with that, but people interrupting your life (even politely), that's one on one interaction where you're ASKING him for something and he politely GIVES.
So I do think he's aware of stuff like RPS, but I also bet he doesn't look into it. I mean, clearly, the guy who played psychic kid Andy actually READ an RPS about himself and talked about it at one con. So the actors do know it's out there. Jared also one time replied, apropos of something I can't quite remember, that he will not look into any kind of material produced by fans, at least until the show is over, because his job is to be the Sam written for him by Kripke and co. It's a good way to look at it.
So based on just the evidence I've seen -- he DOES know about rps and wincest and i seriously doubt he looks into it. I think his everyday challenge is just to be as courteous as he can to the everyday fan as he can possibly be, because he's a genuinely courteous person. And I think when he has the opportunity at cons and in interviews, he tries to respond to questions in a serious and professional manner, because that's how he sees his work.
So I know we're ALL SQUEE ALL THE TIME, and he knows that? but I don't think he lets it get to him. Clearly he thinks we're all a bit crazy -- but I do think he looks at it like he's doing his job. In acting, life and work are integrated to a mysterious degree -- you try to stay distinct from a character, but those are your eyes crying.... and everyone who loves Dean Winchester clearly loves the part of Jensen he uses to bring Dean to life.
I didn't mean to tldr so hard, but my husband is an actor and I think about this stuff.
and a bit more...
Date: 2008-09-16 09:02 pm (UTC)I heard a story and I have no way of knowing if this was true. But anyway. Some girl reported, claiming to have gone to the same school as Jensen like in middle school, that he was so shy she NEVER HEARD HIM SPEAK. Like he was MUTE. In my very humble opinion, i think that for someone that shy to become an actor is a choice they make about the way they live their lives. Like, an intentional act of courage. Then dealing with the other things like interviews and con appearances and fannish behavior and paparazzi and internet gossip etc -- each level of discomfort becomes an additional challenge -- and I think Jensen seems like the kind of guy who takes that challenge as an incentive to grow. That's just my impression of him as a person -- like watching him deal with his discomfort in interviews and at cons, how he seizes on the opportunity to talk about something substantive (rather than stuff he clearly thinks is off the wall!) to calm himself down and give a good interview. Case in point: the Redbull where do you eat question -- he was like, "where do we eat?" like what kind of a question is that to ask a guy -- and Jared did all the talking for the rest of the interview. Still he had a good time with Jared that day, if photos are evidence. Even he was a good sport later in the evening when someone tracked him down at the after party and asked for signatures and photos -- which, to me, has got to be one of the MORE annoying facets of celebrity. I mean, stuff on the internet, you can choose whether to engage with that, but people interrupting your life (even politely), that's one on one interaction where you're ASKING him for something and he politely GIVES.
So I do think he's aware of stuff like RPS, but I also bet he doesn't look into it. I mean, clearly, the guy who played psychic kid Andy actually READ an RPS about himself and talked about it at one con. So the actors do know it's out there. Jared also one time replied, apropos of something I can't quite remember, that he will not look into any kind of material produced by fans, at least until the show is over, because his job is to be the Sam written for him by Kripke and co. It's a good way to look at it.
So based on just the evidence I've seen --
he DOES know about rps and wincest and i seriously doubt he looks into it. I think his everyday challenge is just to be as courteous as he can to the everyday fan as he can possibly be, because he's a genuinely courteous person. And I think when he has the opportunity at cons and in interviews, he tries to respond to questions in a serious and professional manner, because that's how he sees his work.
So I know we're ALL SQUEE ALL THE TIME, and he knows that? but I don't think he lets it get to him. Clearly he thinks we're all a bit crazy -- but I do think he looks at it like he's doing his job. In acting, life and work are integrated to a mysterious degree -- you try to stay distinct from a character, but those are your eyes crying.... and everyone who loves Dean Winchester clearly loves the part of Jensen he uses to bring Dean to life.
I didn't mean to tldr so hard, but my husband is an actor and I think about this stuff.