When she was in high school, my daughter created a unique art project where she made a graphic map of the people in her life with descriptions of what each of them meant to her. For my description, she wrote, “He’s such a dad”. At first, I was baffled by what she meant, but upon reflection, I realized that it meant that I was everything that a father should be. This made me think about the various acting projects that I was involved in through the years and how I often ended up playing a father in a number of them due to me appearing as the stereotypical dad. As someone who strives to be the best dad that I can be, I was proud to be typecast as a father figure. The following are several film projects that I’ve been in where I played various degrees of ‘dadness’.
Father’s Day Acting Class (2009) – A comedic approach to fatherhood about an acting class tailored to dads who need to convincingly feign delight at the crappy gift that their child just gave them for Father’s Day. Look for my daughter Emma featured at the 1:35 mark.
Maggie (2012) – A dramatic film short produced by an NYU film student for their Sights & Sounds Directing class. This was a dramatic one showing a father’s loss of his child. It was filmed on a snowy day in the dead of winter.
AT&T Commercial (2012) – Catch me portraying the Dad with my real son Hunter at the 26-second mark. Did I appear to be truly concerned about my son’s ‘broken’ arm, or was it just acting?
Miracle Drug (2012) – This music video was filmed by an NYU student as a requirement for his Tisch summer program assignment. It was one of the most heart-wrenching ‘Dad’ films that I’ve worked on.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2013) – I portrayed a father to this young man in a scene in the theatrical production. Throughout filming, he called me ‘Dad’ and I had to remind myself that he was my son that day.
Let Her Go (2014) – After portraying the ‘Dad’ in the Miracle Drug music video, I wanted to create something entirely on my own featuring me and my own daughter Emma. I loved Passenger’s Let Her Go and I wanted to use that touching song for a music video. After a fresh snowfall in the Staten Island Greenbelt, I knew that I had to take advantage of the snowy backdrop that would make a father’s temporary loss of his daughter even more dramatic. My friend, runner, and fellow actor Mark Vogt filmed most of the scenes.
Edge of Eighteen (2018) – When my daughter was a little girl, I knew that one day she would grow up to become a woman. The song, ‘Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon’ kept on playing in my head through the years as she grew. I told myself back then that when she reached adulthood, I would use that song to show her transition from a child to an adult. The inevitability of her becoming a woman emotionally affected me and filming a music video about this transition helped me artistically cope with this change. The beginning scenes where I was featured in were filmed by my brother Aaron.
It’s been fun portraying a father to both fake kids and my real kids. I look forward to working in more productions where I can portray a dad. And when I’m old and grey, I may graduate into playing the stereotypical granddad.
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