Jim Parsons talks to playbill about The Normal Heart

After I watched The Normal Heart which aired last Sunday on HBO, I was touched by it in so many ways and had tears in my eyes several times, that I decided to write my next blog post about it. But before I share my thoughts on that, I wanna share with you what Jim Parsons thinks of this movie and and how much it affects him. Why is this movie so important? How was it working with Larry Kramer and Ryan Murphy? Which scene was Jim mostly touched by, and what's different compared to the play? This interview was originally published on playbill.com.

The Normal Heart character poster
with Jim Parsons

Best known for portraying Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory,” Golden Globe Award winner Jim Parsons opens up about the impact The Normal Heart had on his personal life, his professional career and what it has to say to young LGBT people.

Nearly 30 years since it premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in the midst of the AIDS crisis, Larry Kramer‘s impactful docu-drama The Normal Heartmakes its long-awaited screen debut May 25 on HBO.

Parsons, who portrayed AIDS activist Tommy Boatwright in the Tony Award-winning 2011 Broadway premiere of The Normal Heart, returns to the role for Ryan Murphy’s vivid screen incarnation, which Kramer himself adapted.

Playbill.com spoke with Parsons about his connection to Kramer, the character of Boatwright and straddling the worlds of The Normal Heart on stage and screen.

The Normal Heart is a cry in the dark during a terrifying moment in history, and Larry Kramer turned that flashpoint into political theatre. As an actor, does that affect you at all, or add deeper urgency to your work? Or can it be a distraction from simply being in the moment?

Jim Parsons: Yes and no. The “no” for me is simply that I did not, foolishly or not, go into the play or the movie with any sort of feeling in my head of, “This is important! Gotta get this right!” It just wouldn’t have behooved me at all. I wasn’t naïve; I understood that it was hugely important. But all I could do with that was do my job, which was the acting of it. That being said, that importance did affect the work in a good way and did lend gravity to each and every scene and each and every character. As long as you can keep it from making you shrink in fear as an actor – “Am I doing a good enough job?” you can really utilize it. And it made things very real. It’s always important, as an actor, to have your stakes be very high, as life and death as you can make them, and in this sort of situation, that was so easy. Both in a literal sense because what we’re talking about is life and death, but in a less literal, more character-driven sense, in that these are real people, and this is about real lives that have been lost. More than you can count. And what we’re doing here is important in that regard.

So much actually happened politically when you were doing this on Broadway. Marriage Equality passed here in New York while The Normal Heart was playing. People who attended The Normal Heartthe evening it passed said it was a very special event.

Jim Parsons: That was one of the strangest events of my life. We finished the show, we did the curtain call, we walked offstage and somebody stopped us from going upstairs and said, “Hang on, if ya’ll want to wait around, they’re going to make an announcement.” And one of the producers got up and said, I can’t remember the exact words, but he brought all the houselights up and said, “I’m sure you were all good theatregoers and had your cell phones off, none of you probably know that New York State just passed gay marriage.” And, like I said, the houselights came up, we all came back onstage to applaud everybody, just life, and each other… everything. I was just so moved. It was such a rare experience on so many levels from the silly, which was to have the houselights up on this packed theatre of people you just performed this very emotionally wrenching play in front of – you don’t normally get to see all of them like that. And obviously much bigger than that – What are the chances to have had this passed in New York City as we perform Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart in New York City? What the hell?! It was intense.

And the only other thing I’d add to that is that it was one more way in which I looked back and with disbelief, that Larry had ended this play with a marriage in the early 80s. I was alive then. I was a child, but I was alive then – and even though I was alive at the time this was written and even though I’ve seen things move and progress in so many different ways, even I have trouble understanding how absurd it was, this notion that he ended this play with at the time. You have to really think about it and try to put your feet in a different era, which is very hard to understand how unbelievable it is that he put that in there because that’s all we talk about lately; and in a good way for once! It’s just more and more, it’s just like, “Of course, well, why not?” I don’t feel like in my life that I’ve seen an issue evolve, as you will, so rapidly and in front of our faces in my entire life.

Having time to reflect on the Broadway production, the political implications, the awards… Did having breathing room to process all of that impact you or add depth to your work when it came time to shoot the film?

Jim Parsons: I’m sure it did. I think it was almost a two-year period between finishing the play and starting the movie, and I think it would have been difficult to jump from the play straight into the film. Logistic reasons, for one thing. Even two years after the Broadway show had closed; to hear some of these lines coming out of new mouths, to hear some of these Ned lines now coming out of Mark Ruffalo‘s mouth, to hear Joe Mantello, who was my Ned on Broadway, and now he was Mickey, was very jarring in my ear for the first couple of days. You quickly got over it because things were going so well and the scenes were intense, and the acting and the actors were so good at taking their parts that it quickly became theirs. But I can’t imagine how that would have been going straight into it.

On a less literal level I’ve never been in a position to have essentially gotten to do so many months of homework on a project before. Literally living day in and day out with that material for months and then to let your subconscious sleep with that for a year and a half and then to go back to it again. That is something that I don’t know the ways that it affected me, but I know it did, and I’m very grateful for it.

Did you initially know that you’d be part of the film following the Broadway run?

Jim Parsons: When we did the play, I knew the movie was happening, and I had no designs about being in it. I didn’t not want to be in it, I just didn’t think I had a place with it. [I figured] that Ryan [Murphy] would be doing his own thing and that it will, of course, be his own cast. And no one had come to me, you know, everyone knew where to find me if they wanted me for it. But a couple of months after getting back to LA after closing Normal Heart, I got a call from my manager saying that Ryan did want to meet and I found out even later, that even just recently, that it was really Larry’s goading that Ryan met with me. Although I don’t know that he did it dragging his heels behind him, but that was what happened. It was really Larry who had pushed for me to be seen for that.

What was your working relationship like with Larry on both the play and film?

Jim Parsons: It scared the shit out of me. Having Larry around for the play scared the hell out of me. I was scared to death that Larry was going to come along and say, “You’re ruining this part!” Not because I thought I was [bad], but just that negative human instinct of going, “Oh, God. It’s his baby and he’s here to watch it.” But the exact opposite happened. Well, obviously, he went to Ryan on my behalf by the end. But even during the play, I knew that he was very forthcoming with his positive feelings about what I was doing and I was so grateful. I only bring up that I was scared because I was too scared to pepper Larry with any questions. I thought that if I was doing something wrong, he’ll probably tell me, so why go asking for trouble. What I did do though was that I found out that Tommy is based on Rodger McFarlane, and there is a fair wealth of information to find on Rodger. The first thing I found was that he had recently died; he committed suicide a couple years before the play. That was heartbreaking. But he left such a legacy of organizations from Gay Men’s Health Crisis and Broadway Cares, and also he literally wrote a book. It’s about seeing somebody through the end of life. And that was the most interesting thing to me. I read a lot of it. And there was a certain way that you can kind of hear him talking through it. His voice… There’s a rhythm and a music to the way that Rodger apparently talked, that also being from the South, I feel like I could hear the song in there. I think it’s really useful given the topic at hand. Dealing with death and dying in such an intimate way can really use a bit of a song, if you will. There’s something about Rodger’s presence, apparently, and I think Larry put that in Tommy, too. There’s something about those characters, the real person in that character’s presence that helps take an edge off for certain people to deal with certain things.

The play is immediate in a way that only theatre can be. What struck me so profoundly watching the film is how terrifying and vividly this moment in history is presented. In the theatre, the audience must fill in those gaps to some degree; everything is so visually specific in the film. Did that in-your-face realism color the work for you?

Jim Parsons: It’s not that it rang more deeply, it’s just that being part of the play – It’s one of the things that fascinated me about doing the movie version, but really getting to watch the movie version to see if it’s as effective because so many things don’t transfer from one medium to the next very successfully. More often than not, if you’ve got a good book when they make the movie, you’re disappointed. [Laughs.] And this was kind of the exact opposite case. It seems to glow in the cinema as brightly as it glowed onstage. But I think that has a lot to do with the fact that one of the things that worked so deeply about the theatrical production, a certain lack of realism with everything but the emotions, everything but the heart and the emotion. There was a gurney onstage, there was a telephone on stage, there was a chair onstage, there were some groceries onstage, other than that… there was nothing. And when we did the play, I thought what was so brilliant about that (thank you, George C. Wolfe) was that it made all of the emotions and the words more real and more impactful. That was your meat and potatoes, that was it.

That would be a very strange movie. That’s not what Ryan did with it. Instead, everything is fleshed out to the nth degree. For me, as an actor, having that, I have to say, it simply made life a lot easier because one of the things I keep having to talk about, and I don’t mind I enjoy it, the eulogy scene that wasn’t in the play, but was in the movie. It was emotionally hard, but that was okay because you knew that that was the point, to traverse in that area. So as an actor it was a pleasure in going there because that’s what you were supposed to do, to tell the story properly. But as far as preparing for it, you just walked into it. We were in a church and everyone was wearing their clothes for a funeral, there was a body in a casket, and it was like, “Well, there’s no ignoring this.” I would have to willfully take myself out of this mindset, it’s sitting right here. And that’s an extreme example, I’m sure that Mark and Matt and Julia probably felt similarly about some of those hospital scenes. There’s just no denying it at a certain point. Set or no set, part of the mind doesn’t know the difference at the end of the day it just knows we’re at a hospital or at a funeral. And so, I don’t know what that has to do with the material transferring from one medium to the next, but it certainly worked at a different but equally effective level for me as an actor.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a playwright with so much at stake in their work, certainly not the way Larry Kramer does it. He was standing outside the theatre passing out information on HIV/AIDS. How involved was he in the film?

Jim Parsons: Once we were actually shooting he wasn’t around a whole lot, I think because of health issues, but he was there for some key moments. It was all the work that he had done with Ryan before. I’ve heard Ryan talk about that. To work with Larry is to work and struggle with Larry, and Ryan threw himself into that, as one must to get something like this done. It was such a difficult process to get to this point right here. Many years and even once in Ryan’s hands still more years and whittling away, and there lies the key for me. Like many things in life, those things that aren’t that easy to get done tend to turn out more brilliantly because you chop away all the excess bullshit, you know? You go back and forth enough and you struggle with enough people and emotions and minds that sometimes it’s not too may cooks spoiling the pot. Instead, sometimes it’s the right people getting together to say, “Here’s the diamond that we have.” I felt this way doing the play, but I felt this way as I watched the movie too, there’s a real clarity about it, it’s not a mystery. It’s not confusing, it’s not muddy, it’s just as clear as a bell, which only makes it more painful because there’s no disguising what you’re seeing in front of you. And what you suspect happened at that time, what you think you’re hearing is exactly what you’re hearing. It’s not an over dramatization, it’s not gussied up, this is it. And that’s very powerful.

The Normal Heart is not just a history piece, it’s also about our future. What do you hope young LGBT people, who are coming of age now, will take away from the film?

Jim Parsons: Without a doubt. I think it’s so important to understand – I personally, everyday reap the benefits of the efforts of the people depicted in this. Not just even as a gay person, but as a human being I stand on the shoulders of the efforts of these people, of Larry specifically, of the other characters that he depicted after real people. And that’s always good to know. Obviously, you can be grateful and have a level of respect for what came before, and more importantly, who knows what’s next? And who knows what’s next with what group of people? This story may or may not be important in the future as far as what happens with gay people, or even disease, but what’s so powerful about this story, I think, and why time has been really good to Larry’s text, is that the story transcends being about a specific group of people and being about a specific disease. It’s a tale of human beings and of how they treat each other both for bad and for good in certain periods of time for whatever reason. It’s a tale that’s been told before, and sadly, but let’s all get informed now, [it] will get told again. Whether this serves as a warning to keep your eyes open or it serves as a lesson on how to react to whatever injustice is being practiced next. I think that’s important.

In The Normal Heart, Ned talks a lot about claiming our gay identity and coming out. Is that information valuable to you? Do you think that it’s important for people to come out? Did it have a meaningful effect on your career and personal life?

Jim Parsons: Well, yeah, oh God yes. The freer one feels about who they are, you know, in all aspects. But the more comfortable with who they are, just every hour of life is easier. What’s hard, and this has always been hard, has been trying to say what’s best for somebody specifically. It’s amazing to me that Larry was able to put voice to the fight of “everyone must come out” on Ned’s end and he is also the man who wrote Bruce’s side, which is that, it is not for you to identify other people. My hope is that the progress that is going on and the way the world is going, we’re going to a time where it won’t even be a topic. Who you are or not, as far as sexuality goes, will not even be any more interesting than anything else about sex is, which is always obviously going to be somewhat interesting. [Laughs.] But I don’t think it’s all the way there yet. I have tried to live as organically and as honest to myself as I can. By the same token, I have never desired to have a cover story about “let’s talk about my sexuality.” My hope was that it would always just be a part of who I am, the same way that I don’t cook a lot is just a part of who I am. I’m very fortunate that it sort of turned out that way for me. But again it goes back to the people and the story that we’re talking about in The Normal Heart. That’s what paved the road for that to be possible.

Celebrating the greatest gift

Every year we celebrate the miracle of birth. The greatest gift that we got is life. Being fine, being healthy is something we shouldn’t take for granted. Money can’t buy what is most important. So every year we think of our birth and celebrate life.

Parents do not only celebrate their own birthday, but also the ones of their kids. For them, their kids are like parts of themselves. They gave them life. A mother will never forget the day she gave birth to her child. The first time she heard her screaming, the first time she held her baby in her arms and saw her smiling are very special moments for every mother.

me with the Milton Mickey key chain I sent Jim

The love of a parent lasts forever. It’s a bond that never breaks. Family is what matters the most, what keeps us alive, what makes us stronger and encourage us to continue when life gets tough. Family is love, love is home and home is family. So wherever you find love, someone who really cares about you, keep this person in your heart. Family isn’t only blood related, it’s who truly loves you and who gives you this feeling to be home.

Today is Jim Parsons’ birthday and this year I was thinking of a present that might be his biggest wish - in some way. When I saw him as Sheldon in Big Bang Theory season 6 Christmas episode, when he talked to Santa that he wanted his Grandpa back, I saw Jim talking about his Dad. Last year he mentioned his Dad’s name, who died in a car accident, on “Who do you think you are?”. As a sign that his Dad is still with him, I bought a Mickey key chain and sewed a shirt. So this Milton Mickey should show him, though his eyes can’t see him anymore, his heart still can and his father is still always with him.

Well, sewing is not my strength, actually it’s the first time I ever did this, so I also wrote a poem. I thought of what Jim’s Dad might say to him if he had the chance to.

"Remember Me", the poem I wrote for Jim - click on the pic to enlarge it

 

Birthday is not only our day of birth we celebrate. It’s that we are all together with our families and forever will be. Birthday is the time to share with family, to forget the everyday stress and just enjoy the time and celebrate life.

Happy Birthday, Jim Parsons.

Being perfectly me

Last Friday Oct 18, Jim Parsons and Todd Spiewak won the Inspiration Award at the GLSEN Respect Awards in LA. GLSEN is a Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network. The Big Bang Theory star and his partner seemed to be surprised that, like they called it "boring lives", inspire others. They might live in Hollywood but they seem to have a very normal life when Jim spoke about them having coffee in the morning, doing the laundry and taking their two dogs for a walk. But exactly that is something inspiring. When I grew up I learned that is not important to be rich, it's important to be happy. Sure Jim is blessed with both, and as much as he appreciates the success of the show he's part of, he even more appreciates what he shares with Todd. 

As an actor you have to be one guy today and a total different one the other day. Even people who don't see themselves as actors, do act sometimes. And some even get lost in their self-created characters. This is what happened to Lady Gaga. When I read in an interview that she wants even her mother to call her like that, and not Stefani, her real name, anymore, I was truly shocked. I mean I love her music, do doubt, but in my mind she's overdoing it too often. She is seeking for the spotlight, she wants to be seen all the time. When you look at some old pictures of her, she seemed to be a shy girl, quite the opposite she is right now. But what makes people to change so much? 

Show everyone around you all your colors.
Their mixture makes you special, makes you who you are.

I am far away from being perfect. I am not a Lady Gaga who wants to be in the spotlight. My parents taught me to be humble, to appreciate the little things in life. When two or more people talk, I can't just join the conversation. I only do it when I am asked directly. It's just something that I learned. I don't wanna bother anyone. Sure I sometimes have the wish that my life should be more exciting. But the longer I think about that wish, the more I realize that it already is exciting. I have a wonderful family and amazing friends who never left my side. What is more important than that? It's nothing that I can take for granted. I love to go to college, I love to see my fellow students. When I think back, everything I did the past 25 years of my life, I would do it all again the same way if I could relive it.

Lady Gaga didn't seem to be happy with her life. As much as I love to create characters and to tell stories, I never wanted to become an actress. People would know when I'm acting. That makes me even more fascinated by guys who can do that, like Jim. But he knows when he is acting. Some others not. We girls put on some makeup before we leave our homes, but we don't put on new faces. Lady Gaga wants to do everything to be seen, she wants everyone to talk about her. She lives like she's the sun in her own solar system. She is the big star. No matter where in the solar system you are, you have to see her. But I wonder what might happen if she becomes a white dwarf. Being always on the top is a very tough job. She is a fighter, that's for sure, but could she handle it to not be seen anymore and become again who she once was?

We are who we are, because of the people we are with. 

Stefani Germanotta didn't like what she saw when she looked in the mirror every morning. So she created a new person: Lady Gaga. But the fact she wasn't happy helped her to become what she is now: happy. And that's the most important thing. Do what feels right for you to do, be who you are. Some people might try to hide themselves, so they try to pretend to be someone else. We are changing all the time. When we grow up we don't see any change because it's a slowly process, but people who don't see us every day say something like: you grew a lot since last time I saw you.

As adults we still grow every day, but on the inside. At some point we put it on the outside too. No one wants to be the same his entire life. We need to be challenged, but over all we need to be who we are, ourselves. When I look in the mirror, I am happy. I am no Hollywood star, I'm not a famous actress or singer. But that's not what I want to be. I also don't see perfection, I do have my issues, but these make me just me. All my memories, all the decisions I made, all the people I have in my life, they all help me to just be me. And that's also something Jim Parsons said in his acceptance speech last Friday in LA at GLSEN Awards too. "...We (Jim + Todd) are both surrounded by so many people who make our lives better and easier, friends we've had for many years and friends we've made since living in L.A."

Live your life. Maybe you think it's boring, but it's your life and when you don't live it who does? Everyone can inspire other people when he dares to be himself and don't try to act, not try to hide behind a self-created character. I love to write and I love to tell stories, but I mostly love to tell my story. Here on this blog I do that, not as often as one year ago, but I still love to tell you guys new chapters now and then and what's going on in my mind. Inspiration comes from being you. So what do you see when you look in the mirror? Does it reflect yourself?

Happy Birthday Jim

As you might know from my Surprise,Surprise blog post I collected birthday greetings for Jim. Fans from all over the world like Peru, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil and some more countries sent me messages, pictures or video greetings. Once again I’d like to say thank you for everyone who’s part of this. I added them all to the letter, and I also made a video with the pictures, videos and the shorter messages (the longer ones are simply too much to read for a video, so they are only in the letter). You can watch it here, or go to youtube.

Some of you maybe know that Jim wants to learn French, and that’s why I add a video of my fave French singer Emmanuel Moire to this post. I love his song “Ca me fait du bien” since I firstly heard it in 2007. Back then I listened to lots of French music, and watched some movies and it helped me a lot to learn the language better – and to go to Strasbourg and order some “tarte flambée” (you should really eat that when you are there ;-)). For those who doesn’t know much French, in “Ca me fait du bien” Moire sings that he wrote a letter to his love, he hopes that he will come back to him. Everywhere he goes, it all reminds him of his love, but he needs that to be happy, to feel good. When he hears their song, he thinks about their love, their time together. All he wants is his love to come back, because he misses him so much, and he would love to have a chance to, at least talk to him one last time. But even if he won’t come back, it would be okay for him, if that is what makes him happy. He only wants him to be happy and he can only be happy when he is happy. So the last thing he does, is writing a letter.

It’s a very beautiful song about love, I do not only love it because of its beautiful lyrics, but I also love the melody, Emmanuel Moire’s piano playing and voice. I could listen to all his songs the whole day, and I’m glad that he will release his 3^rd album this year!!

But back to another part of the surprise for Jim: Kayla and Vicky also did an eCard and collected some more birthday greetings for Jim. Just click on the picture below and read the eCard. 

Some girls from Latin America also made a video for Jim. Watch it here:

So once again: 

Happy Birthday, Jim!!!

I speak for everyone now, who’s part of this little surprise: we hope you’ll see and read this, and that you like it. Have a wonderful day with your family, may all your wishes come true, and stay this wonderful person.

BTW: Just because I mentioned it in the Surprise Surprise post: I am still working on the Funny News Show I wrote as another part of the surprise for Jim which included only things he likes (based on what he told in various interviews), but because of some problems, I wasn’t able to finish it in time. Thanks to Chriselle Almeida and Letícia Bricio for helping me so much with this so far. I will put it on youtube as soon as it is finished ;)

Surprise, Surprise

Jim Parsons

Because we all love surprises, Vicky and I wanna surprise Jim Parsons, actor of the CBS hit comedy “The Big Bang Theory”. As he turns 40 in March, Vicky had the idea to collect fan messages, and because I love that idea, I help her with it.

The plan is easy: everyone who wants to be part of the surprise writes me. All your messages will be put together, we make one big letter and send it to Jim. So if you wanna write him something, send him some birthday wishes, just write me an email sannyspiess (at) gmail.com (the (at) is for security reason to avoid spammers writing me, please replace it with @) -> or use the contact form below!!!

Please add your first name and where you come from (only your country or state like Canada or Florida), and write that this is for Jim’s birthday letter. And no worry, I won't give your email address to anyone!!
If you want to, you can also send me a video message, as we will also add a DVD to the letter. So if you don't wanna write something, you can say your words and make a short video. But please don't make it longer than three minutes. Thanks.

Edit: So you can send your personal messages and birthday wishes to Jim, you can write him, make a video greeting, or you can take a picture like the Robin Tunney's fans did, when she turned 40. Thanks to Kayla, who told me about this. 

 

But besides that I have another idea, which if you guys like it, will be also put on the DVD. I thought about making a funny news show, like Seth Meyers on Saturday Night Live. I'd be the host, and we have four contributions which are all about the things Jim likes.

• First is about theater compared to real life
• Second about a movie called "The Real Simpsons" (which won't exist, it's like the whole show just fun ;))
• Third about a new sports reporter, who's very excited but mixing up everything
• Forth is about melody of the heart, family and love

I have made some specific ideas for every part but I don't wanna write here everything and don't wanna make this post too big. So if you are interested in being part of this, just write me. Then I'll give you more info. If you have some ideas, please feel free to write me, too, or comment this post.

You can also just use this contact form and writing me your messages to Jim, or/and when you wanna be part of the funny news show and wanna know the details.

Messages will be accepted till March 10, 2013.

foxyform.com

Please spread the word and send the link to this blog post to all Jim fans and give them the chance to be a part of this hopefully big surprise for Jim.

Let us put Jim a big smile on his face – as the fact that he turns 40 prolly doesn’t do that…. 

Edit 2:
Here it is, the whole surprise for Jim. Thanks everyone for being part of this!!! It would not have worked without you all!!!
Click here to see the surprise for Jim ;)

The ability of liking someone or something

Have you ever asked yourself why you like someone, or not? It mostly happens in the first few seconds. Imagine you are sitting in a bar, having a drink with you friend and then you see this person. You can't hear her voice yet, because she's too far away, but coming towards you slowly. The closer she comes, the better you can see her. And already in that very moment you have made your first opinion of her. At college we learned that communication already starts the way we are dressed. Clothes showcases our personality to others. Clothes represents us. So when someone wears something that you would wear too, it's more likely you think positive about her.
And what is you meet that person on the internet? Well, more or less it depends on the person's writing. Does she use similar words like you, you keep writing with her, also when you figure out she likes the same things or she went through the same, like getting through a divorce.

But back to the bar. Imagine that person sits right next to you, talking to you. Now it's not only her clothes that you recognize, it's her voice, the way she talks, her gestures and her smell. In the German language there's the saying "Ich kann dich gut riechen", which simply means "I like you", but when you translate it word by word it's "I can smell you well". This might sounds weird to you, but it makes sense because several studies proved that smell is also an important factor if you like someone or not. It reminds you of a good childhood memory, or this person just smells like someone you know and like. We don't recognize this actively, but passively. I guess you all smelled something and then remembered something. For me it's like when I use the scent I used on a vacation. So every time I smell it, my memory of the vacation comes back, so I love it now even more.

Who are the reasons we like someone or something?
picture taken by D. Sharon Pruitt

But what is about Sheldon, the quirky character of the sitcom The Big Bang Theory, played by Jim Parsons? Is he liked by more and more guys because so many people already like, write and talk about him? I guess if he would exist the way Jim plays him, he would be as popular as in the show. So can it also be possible that someone who is liked by many people, will be liked by even more just because of that? Yes. We are interested in what others like, especially if it's liked by someone we like because of the above mentioned things. So we keep focused and even though we don't understand what people like about that person at the beginning, we stay interested. And some day, we start liking that person, maybe because we wanted to know more about him because so many guys seem to like him. And then these facts we learned about that person, make us feel we know him well, and maybe let us realize that we have more similarities with him than we thought at first.

It's also about other stuff for sure, not only people. So often that some friends talked about something like a book, a movie or a TV show, then I was curious, started to watch or read it and liked it, or not. It's not always working, because we are all different, and it's not the worst thing when two people who like each other don't agree with everything. Sometimes it's good to have a different opinion on something. Maybe this interest will bring you to someone else who also is a fan of that. So you meet people in your life. Sometimes the more you know about them, the more you like them, and sometimes people drift apart because their interests changes too much and they have less and less in common.

What do you think of that? How do you know when you really like someone or something? What's important to you?

Another big BANG

Time is going by so fast, it’s amazing that I already write my 100th blog post today. What a blast! I’m doing this since March this year, and I like it all more and more. Mostly I like the people who come and read what’s on my mind. It’s great that you take your precious time for reading my lines, and some of you also leave a comment. I love to read them, I read them all. I also go to other blogs, and it’s wonderful to ‘meet’ so many nice guys, to know more about them and their life.

Writing means a lot to me. I loved it already as a kid to write down so many things. I love to be creative, to think about a topic and how to write about it. I love to think, sometimes I maybe think too much. I know that it’s often better to simply do somethings, and I also tell myself, that without trying I will never know if it would work. Then I ask myself what would be worse: failing or never trying? What are the things we regret in the end? The ones we did, or the ones we did not even try?

I’m glad that I didn’t think too much about starting this blog. It’s my second, actually, the first one was in German like most of the stuff that I wrote before I started this. As writing always helped me, that blog was like a fresh start to me. I started to write it all in English, the language that had fascinated me all the time. For a reason that I can’t really describe. But I liked it, I loved reading books or watching Conan O’Brien when I was about 13 years old. He was the only late night talker I could watch on TV, now it’s Jimmy Fallon. Luckily I have internet now ;)

I love the American comedy, it’s so much fun, not like most of the German comedy. I don’t know that much funny German stuff, only two parodies: one of Star Trek (I was at the original set of that movie, and during a set tour we could replay parts of the movie, which was my first time in front of a movie camera, which is a very good memory and I still have the DVD and totally enjoyed it) and one of Winnetou. We do have some good shows and at least one good late night talker called Stefan Raab, who also writes and produces great music, but in my mind we can’t be compared to the US.

Anyway, I love Germany, and I love the place where I come from and grew up. But I also feel connected to the Americans, maybe because I have relatives there, and in Canada as well, and that’s why I started that blog. I had the chance to write and hoped that anyone would read it. I can improve my English, my writing. I don’t know yet where I’ll go after college, if I’ll spend some time in the States, or if I’ll stay in Germany. The future is a surprise, it would be lame if we could predict exactly everything, wouldn’t it?

I’d like to thank you, you who come to my blog. You are the reason why I still love to do that. That blog was the right decision, though I also struggled a lot. But I needed it, because I missed the English as much as the writing, while I was working for some years in an office after school. It helped me to end the darkest time I went through. I really don’t wanna go back to that time, in which I didn’t saw a future or a reason to live. But now I am back on track. This blog was like a big bang, the second after Jim made me see who I am, what I wanna do, what I missed. After 100 blog entries, I feel that another big bang has to come. Another thing I am working on. As people helped me, I try to give something back, try to help others. It’s a new project I thought of for a while, and I can’t do this on my own.

You can have a look here or by clicking on the tab above -> Charity project I follow my heart. Please spread the word, please write a comment, share your opinion on it, or if you have any ideas to improve it. Have you met such a person who just came into your life, and changed it that you are glad and happy that he or she did that? It don't have to be a person you met in real life, maybe also someone you saw a TV or anywhere else, that let you think about something and see it differently. That this person has inspired you in some way? If so, please tell me about it. Let us show that we love and appreciate the work of someone else. Let me create a big bang for others, too. Thanks.

My best friend’s a rabbit… and imaginary

Who had never had at least once an imaginary friend? Is this one of the geeky things on us? I guess I hadn’t just one – I had lots of imaginary friends. When you become older, you find out that is better not to have such friends. Otherwise someone will take you to a shrink, or directly into a mental institution. And you also know, that having real friends to talk to is even better.

Anyway, having an imaginary friend can sometimes help and encourage you. If you have something on your mind, but you don’t wanna talk about it to anyone, you can think about someone. No matter who this person is, if it’s someone you know, any star or just someone completely created in your mind, it can help you. You can talk to him or her, feel better afterwards and maybe you also think what she would answer you and so get another point of view. I don’t think that anything is wrong with that, maybe because I do it sometimes. Just when no one is around, or I am not sure how or even if I should tell to someone real.

But why a rabbit? We know the Easter bunny. We know that rabbits are smart and fast. And they are also symbols of birth, a new beginning. A rabbit seems to be loyal and frankly. He is clever, and so gives useful advices when you have a problem. This might help you to get a new start, or a new point of view on something.

Today is the offical start of Harvey on New York Broadway. When I read the first time about it, and I haven’t seen it so far, I thought this is really interesting. An imaginary friend, that no one else can see, and his ‘inventor’ is such a warm and friendly person who wants to connect with everyone. I would really love to see this. The story is wonderful and I guess also Jim will do an awesome job. I like seeing him in other roles than Sheldon, and live on stage would be extra special. But as a student I’m probably richer of knowledge than of money…ha, joke, would be great if it really would be like that. No, but I also have soon my exams I have to work for, and such a trip to NYC is simply impossible now. But I am happy for everyone who’ll get the chance to see this wonderful play.

Seeking in the box

I am a person, I wanna live, give me air to breathe, I need it. Let me outta the box.

My last blog entry was about the acceptance of everyone, that everyone is unique and special in his or her own way. The audio project I was working on this week was about goths, so I gave them as an example of a group of people who are part of our life but still aren't accepted or even tolerated by so many people. I also considered to mention the gay guys, because it's the same. We do now have a change and I really like that Barack Obama is now in favor of gay marriage. I mean why shouldn't they be allowed to marry? In which century do we live, that we still have to treat them differently? Who cares which gender is preferred?

It's like box-thinking. We see someone and we want to know everything, that we can put him or her into a box, and we won't stop, until we have what we want. But do we wanna live in a box? You can't put all goths, all gay guys into one box, as well as you can't put all blonde girls into one. I guess that this is the reason why everyone now is talking about Jim Parsons and the interview he gave to Patrick Healy of The New York Times. This interview was also published on Wednesday, the same day I wrote my blog entry. I see this as kinda sign, so I come back to my last post.
If you read the whole interview of Jim, you know he said so much more things, really interesting things like about the work at theatre. But what do we read all over the internet? All articles about that interview, are about only one thing. Google it if you don't know, but I guess you do.

So why on earth is THAT the most important thing? Back to my question: in which century do we live? Seriously? Is this really worth to be a 'news', beside the fact that as the word says itself, it should be new? Why are the most people so much interested in other's private life? We don't want someone else talking and writing about our private life - okay some might want that, but in my mind these are the guys who have to talent, no passion except for themselves.

Being an actor, or a singer is as normal as any other job. I appreciate a lot what these guys do, share their talent with the world. Without music, movies, tv shows, we would have less to talk about and life would be very boring. We need them as well as we need plumber, teacher, architects. They might not be known by so many people like an actor or singer, so the chance that many persons are interestend in him or her are less, but also they will talk. Only not in that wide range. But as the internet is open to everyone, imagine your co-worker heard that you talked to a friend that you are in love and wanna make him or her a gift. The next day a foreigner comes to you, giving you an advice for the gift, and an other guy tells you he can't imagine what you like on her/him. How would you feel? What would you think about it? Later you found out, that your co-worker wrote this about you and put it on the internet.

Do you think this is far-fetched? Do you really think that only because someone works in the public, he or she has to share everything with total strangers? Certainly not. If he doesn't want to, he doesn't have to and we should respect that. Also all the actors and singers out there aren't different persons, they are no superheroes. They do their job as we do our job. Let's stop digging, let's stop seeking in the box, let's stop putting everyone into a box.

Here you can read the interview with Jim Parsons http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/theater/jim-parsons-prepares-for-his-lead-role-in-harvey.html?pagewanted=all