Counselor, acting buddy link up for lessons in persistence

actor-visit

Lights shining dimly onto the stage, Davy King, a Dutch film actor, spilled the secrets on being an actor in the real world to Michelle Rathe’s acting class full of eager listeners in a recent visit.

On Thursday, Sept. 15, King paid a visit to his old friend in the high school building, counselor Chris Wood.

King, after having grown up in The Netherlands, attended Wartburg with Wood. They became lifelong friends, and when King returned to town, Wood jumped at the chance to invite him to speak at the school.

“Since we graduated nearly eight years ago from Wartburg, we have made it a priority to communicate regularly, stay in touch, bounce ideas off one another about professional and personal interests, “ Wood said. “It has been a choice to make our friendship last, and we’ve felt like brothers from day one.”

Wood joined the class for the talk and the questions that followed after King gave the class the basics of working in the film industry.

“I think I may have done, Chris probably knows about this, 1,500 auditions, and may have gotten only eight or nine callbacks, at which I got parts.” King said, talking about the waiting part of the film and theater industry.

“How were the worst times when you’ve called me and said, ‘I hate my life’, how did you respond to those?“ Wood asked from the back of the auditorium.

“Y’know, I truly believe that if you’re meant to do something, that one thing is going to keep coming back at you, even if you’re trying to ignore it,” King replied, his legs dangling from the stage as he perused the audience. “I knew that this [acting] is what I have to do. Deep down you know when it’s something you have to do.”

Referencing the calls and texts about rejection he has gotten from Davy over the years, Wood said King’s “growth mindset has been second to none. Never once has he allowed himself to be completely depleted. Rejection and disapproval happen often in the world of acting and modeling. Almost all of our conversations are geared around what his response will be. While he can’t control the decision of the director or photographer, he can control his response.”

And their friendship has always been a way to weather the tough times and celebrate the successes.  Wood said, “Davy and I have always said if a friendship and relationship are important enough, regardless of where an individual is and how often you see one another, you will stay in touch.”

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