This winter, NIRVANA has played a large part in my mornings. Today in particular, I kept listening to Come As You Are.
In the last few days, I heard from model and actress Katherin Elizabeth Schlegel who worked with Film Annex and Model's Web TV in the production of a video called Katherin Schlegel, Confidence. Katherin is definitely talented and I am brainstorming on what we can do with her. This brings my mind back to an article I wrote a few days ago, “Interesting people with interesting opinions make interesting media.” With it I am projected back to 2001 when I met John Malkovich and started with him a fashion company and a clothing line called Uncle Kimono.
I remember John Malkovich telling me that actors usually don't have passions beyond their own personalities. Contrary to most actors, John Malkovich was interested in projects that transcend from his name and image. He was directing theater plays and movies, but also venturing with me in the world of fashion design. A few months later, we met in Venice at the International Film Festival. There I brought the first samples designed by him for his friend and film director Bernardo Bertolucci, and for Javier Bardem, protagonist of the movie Dancer's Upstairs, directed by John Malkovich and premiered at the festival.
Flipping Uncle Kimono, Milan Fashion Show:
I traveled to Venice with my wife-to-be Cara, and we spent two beautiful days as guests of our dear friend Paolo Landi, in an intimate apartment in the historical part of Venice, just across from the festival. We traveled on traditional Venice boat taxis, attended the premiere, walked down the red carpet and spent the rest of the night having dinner with John Malkovich and the cast and crew of the film, including Javier Bardem and Laura Morante. During dinner, Cara looked at Javier Bardem and asked the charming Spanish actor, 2007 Oscar winner for his role in No Country for Old Men, “What are you hobbies? How do you spend your time when you are not working on a film?” Javier was taken off guard and stared at Cara for a few seconds, while John Malkovich, seated next to me, was chuckling reminding me of what he said about actors. A few seconds later, Javier improvised this answer: “I spend time with my friends.” Cara, persistent and slightly evil reinforced said: “Francesco has a passion for Judo, regular training and competitions. Are you sure there is nothing specific that interests you?” Javier had no way out, smiled and said “smoking with my friends...”
Looking back to that evening, it was just the beginning. For the next 5 years, I spent an incredible amount of time with John Malkovich. Along with creating and distributing a fashion line together, we spent time talking about politics and religion. Those deep conversations even annoyed a writer from Gawker.com with the following comment: “Sunday (Oct 31) at 10 at 60 Thomson — Kittichai outdoor seating area: John Malkovich wearing all white, drinking red wine and smoking Marlboro lights — in a two-hour long, intense political conversation with three twenty-something guys and one tall blond (who looked like Sandy from "Grease") — not sure who the three guys were, but they looked models or actors or something. The debate (which seemed to be about everything from Bush / Kerry to world religious trends) raged on pretty intensely — I watched from a nearby seat until I could take no more, at about 12:30AM. Malkovich looked good, but not as good as the twenty-somethings.” I am glad they thought I was a young actor and Cara was compared to “Sandy from Grease”, but what was interesting is that the reporter could not take it anymore... John Malkovich is an interesting person with interesting opinions who can make interesting media!
At this point, I think the route is simple: connect Kurt Cobain's song “Come as you are” to Katherin Elizabeth Schlegel and ask her to expand on her own words. “I think some people search their all life for confidence and never achieve it... and some people have it, some people are born that way... some people can live life confidently with their heads high, and than some people always look down."
At my 14th street subway stop, I also took a picture of a dismantled payphone to remind me that portable smartphones and social media are replacing the old tools of communication,
while in my head, NIRVANA keeps telling me:
Come
As you are
As you were
As I want you to be
As a friend
As a friend
As an old enemy
Take your time
Hurry up
The choice is your
Don't be late
Take a rest
As a friend
As an old memoria
Memoria
Memoria
Memoria
Come
Dowsed in mud
Soaked in bleach
As I want you to be
As a trend
As a friend
As an old memoria
Memoria
Memoria
Memoria
And I swear
That I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
Memoria
Memoria
Memoria {don't have a gun}
And I swear
That I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
No I don't have a gun
Memoria
Memoria
If we can just connect the dots and create interesting media, we can also entertain and educate young women and men from developing countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Actors and models embrace their profession to interpret roles and express the vision of a film director or a screenwriter. Actors with interesting opinions combined with their interpretation skills are those that inspire millions.
This is a good start:
“I think some people search their all life for confidence and never achieve it... and some people have it, some people are born that way... some people can live life confidently with their heads high, and than some people always look down.” Katherin Schlegel, January 20th 2010.
