HELLO AMERICA!─Every so often, one connects with an artist who is blessed with the same kind of artistry, connecting emotions resembling that of such iconic stars as Jimmy Cagney, Bogart, Bette Davis, a Barrymore and yes, my dear friend and confidant James Dean. When young actor, Chris Barone was introduced to me, it was an emotional, moving experience; it wasn’t only the way he spoke or smiled but his every physical movement when expressing himself was reminisce of Dean. His presence was so powerful I had to know where he grew up and what influences affected his thinking artistically. Chris didn’t hesitate to let me know that he grew up in Boston and it wasn’t exactly an easy journey.
“There were many challenges, decisions concerning what I genuinely wanted to be or dared to consider, especially when being aware of so many pitfalls and unwise choices which would possibly produce more darkness than light.” Yes, there were times when he wondered why life handed so many choices, ones which were enticing, but instinctively he seemed to understand that some things initially might be sweet tasting, but would eventually turn bitter, forcing one to accept a reality level of what the experience was really about.
Chris had dreams; he didn’t miss an opportunity to watch some of the young stars of his time. When sitting in a theater viewing a film, he watched every move the actors made; he was keenly aware of their voice levels, how they handled close-ups and was excited when he when he could tell what their subtext was; it was exciting to know the actor was believing everything he or she was involved in within a scene itself.
It definitely was magic and something he must be part of one day; he needed to understand the technique of being so into what you were creating that it would be a shared experience with yourself and the audience. “To me that is the magic of being a genuine artist,” he believed, “And I was determined to meet the challenge.”
Chris began naming some of the films which really captured his imagination. “I was extremely taken with films such as, “Titanic,” “Goodfellas,” “Harry Potter,” “The Sopranos,” “Ted” and “Star Wars.”
“My basic focus at the moment is strictly acting and possibly do some voice-over work. Actually, even though most see me as a very serious guy, I really enjoy comedy and creating outrageous characters types, too. If you’re really prepared, you should be able to feel just as comfortable developing comedy as easily as you can when creating serious characters.” Chris believes it is really about being grounded in technique.
He finally emphasized that his greatest desire is to allow people to view the world in a positive way, one in which you can achieve your dreams. Now that Hollywood is taking a look at him, Chris believes that it is an opportunity of a life-time and won’t allow anything to get in his way.
