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Lessons on That Elusive Big Career Break: How Ed O’Neill Became Al Bundy

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Ed O’Neill with Sofia Vergara in the middle. Image via Mental Floss.

Many of you probably know Ed O’Neill as the older dad in Modern Family, Sofia Vergara’s husband. But if you got exposed to 80s and 90s television, Ed O’Neill is hilarious Al Bundy in the sitcom Married with Children (1987-1997).

If you love Modern Family, Married with Children’s comedy might be too obvious and over-the-top for you. And I love it for exactly that reason. I still couldn’t get in to Modern Family; I’m still in love with the ridiculously dysfunctional and hilarious family that is the Bundys.

Applegate), Bud Bundy (David Faustino), Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) and Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal).
From left to right: Kelly Bundy (Christina Applegate), Bud Bundy (David Faustino), Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill) and Peggy Bundy (Katey Sagal). Image via tbs.com.

And since a lot of people know Ed as a funny actor, it might comes as a surprise that he is also great at drama. Hell, he was discovered for the role of Al Bundy while he was playing Lenny (from Of Mice and Men) on stage.

Let’s take that in for a second. An actor plays a heavy, significant role on stage. A producer likes him. A year later, they’re casting a sitcom. He remembers Ed’s performance and suggests they try him out. Others think he is crazy, but casting had failed to find the ideal leading actor at that point. So they try him out, and by luck (or intuition), he goes with a different approach. Instead of the angry portrayals of fellow actors, he does resigned.

And voila! They get Al Bundy right.

The moral of the story is do what you love, do it well, and never give up. And it never hurts to use your own take and voice on projects.

To sign off, below is some Bundy footage:

On Happy Endings and Why I Rarely Kill My Characters in my Stories (And Why Black Mirror Isn’t My Kind of Show)

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Spoiler Alert. The post contains spoilers about the following movies: (And there are aff. links in the post.)

Black Mirror is a great show, make no mistake. It’s engrossing; you can’t take your eyes from it. The quality of production is top-notch, and the stories show how technology often takes our flaws, obsessions or inhumane qualities one step further. So each episode tends to be extremely depressing. Ergo, it is not for me.

 

Strange Days image via Amazon.

I need a bit of light in things that I watch. One of my favorite movies is Strange Days from 1995, which is not a happy movie in general. It takes place in a brutal 1999 where a technology allows people to get high on other people’s experiences. Since you feel everything yourself, it has turned into the most addictive drug. And it’s illegal. Disenchanted ex cop Lenny (Ralph Fiennes) makes a living selling these tapes, and people either go for the overly violent or sexual. He is obsessed with his ex girlfriend, hooker Faith (Juliette Lewis), and his only friend is Mace (Angela Bassett), who is a kickass limo driver that often has to save his sorry ass from trouble. With a Los Angeles that is out of control and a serial killer on the loose who is making his victims watch their own killing, it is a dark movie. But it is also a lot of fun, and there is love, action, hope and friendship. And friendship and love win. I can’t recommend the movie enough. I’ve seen it more times than I can count, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

The Broken Circle Breakdown. Image via youtube.

One of my least favorite movies is The Broken Circle Breakdown. A friend of mine fell in love with this movie, and even though I loved some parts of it, it depressed me so badly, I was swearing at the writers at some point. I’m not saying the movie isn’t good. It’s just so emotionally raw that you feel like you have a big hole in your soul, just like the characters do. And I don’t like to feel depressed. I suffered from depression, my dear readers, and I’m not good with characters who don’t try to deal with it. And by deal with it, I mean actual therapy! You can’t just fix yourself after losing your child! And these are freaking musicians from a well-developed country. I’m pretty sure they could have found the means from their government (Belgian!) OK, I’m calm, now. J

They destroy each other with their pain. They grow distant instead of supporting each other. Go ahead and watch the movie, and let me know if you left the movie with joy.

Surprise, surprise, I hate unhappy endings. Sure, you might say, your favorite movie Braveheart has the protagonist dying after being betrayed by his closest ally. Yeah, but he also impregnated a princess that seemed determined to take over the kingdom and that betraying ally decided to win the war in his honor. So sure, he died, but nothing he did was in vain. And while he was alive, what a life that was!

Mel Gibson in The Man without a Face
Mel Gibson in The Man without a Face. Not the movie poster, but you needed to see the face. Image via movie-rouletteç

The Man without a Face showed McCloud (Mel Gibson), whose face is so badly burned that he is referred as a freak, being excluded, judged and blamed, but he turned Norstadt (Nick Stahl) into an achiever. He gave him a father figure. He gave him an excellent mentor, teacher and best friend. And the end? The end is at the very least semi-happy.

Brandon Lee as Eric Draven, The Crow. Image via movieweb.
Brandon Lee as Eric Draven, The Crow. Image via movieweb.

The Crow has Draven (Brandon Lee) take his revenge, make peace with Sarah, die happily to be with his dead love of his life forever. Happy! He was already dead when the movie began, so I wasn’t exactly sad when he went back to his grave.

My point? Don’t give me a love story where the couple loses a kid, and one of them dies. Thank you!

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Maybe this is why I tend to write romantic comedies and dramas. This is why I rarely kill off a character. There have been no villains in my stories so far. Maybe jackasses and assholes, but that’s about it.

I’ve killed two characters in a total of five screenplays (three finished, two in the works): One was dead practically before the story began; his death was the catalyst for three characters’ actions, and the other was a supporting character whose death, while tragic, was necessary for one character’ growth. And while my characters go through a lot dealing with these deaths, it doesn’t define them. It doesn’t take my story into a direction so bleak that my viewer/reader will get depressed alongside them. Feel sad? Yes. Desolate? No.

It would probably come as no surprise to you that I love reading John Grisham and Lee Child. The main character almost always lives. They might not always get a happy ending, but the stories give me enough adrenaline and serotonin that I don’t mind (a lot).

I’m not saying I won’t ever kill off many characters. I’m not saying I won’t ever write a thriller or action movie. I’ve been dreaming of finding brilliant thriller premises ever since I was a kid. But I haven’t found the right idea. Yet.

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Here’s the thing: Life is full of pain, death and destruction. It is also filled with love, happiness and hope. I don’t need to be reminded of the first that often. News, politics and our own lives provide enough of that. On the other hand, I don’t mind overdosing on the positive stuff.

How do you like your endings?

 

 

The First Part of January 2017: Unproductiveness, Writing, Goals, Binge-watching and (Bad) Luck

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Representative. This laptop looks a lot sexier than I do at the moment.

I ended 2016 on an ambitious note, determined to be healthier and more productive than ever. The first 10 days, however, had other ideas. OK, the first few were okay. But the remaining 5…Ouch. Shudder.

I caught a stomach bug. I didn’t think it was a bug until I learned the hospitals were filled with people with fever throwing up. I almost had a fever on my first night with some shivering, but “luckily,” it just turned into a “manageable” nausea.

By manageable, I mean I didn’t need to go to the hospital and could maintain things inside. However, my awesome diet consists of tea, toasted bread with no oil or butter, non-salty white cheese, plain yoghurt, mashed potatoes, chicken breast and……Water. That’s it. I forgot what coffee smells like, and I’m in pain.

I also lost a tooth, and now I can no longer delay a dentist’s visit. (I’d been putting one off for far too long.) I also have a cold sore. Might be because I’m pissed my Internet connection is so slow that this post took me three days to get online. I’m not kidding. I’ve been all snowed up inside. Oh, the joy.

Naturally, my productivity jumped out of a plane without a parachute; I wasn’t even able to sit straight for the first couple of days.

The upside: my wrists feel better since I couldn’t use them much, which supports my resting advice on my writing disability article on Be a Freelance Blogger.

With this kind of eating you would think I’d lose a little weight, but since I can’t move much, I haven’t.

I’m currently beta-reading a friend’s novel, and completed a proofreading job on a screenplay. I kept up with blog posts and my email, and followed-up on previous pitches.

However, I’m good at finding great binge-watching cures for myself during times of ill health; this is how I had discovered Supernatural (aff.link). (A show I whole-heartedly recommend until season 6. I totally advise you to stay away from 7, and 8 is also good. Then I couldn’t get into it again.)

Zoo Tv series poster
Image via CBS.

This time my savior was Zoo, a sci-fi/adventure/drama that is way better than its rating (of 7) and even the engaging trailer. The pilot starts beautifully. And the rest is fast, addictive, emotional, thought-provoking, action-packed, and all suspense all the way. It stars James Wolk, Billy Burke, Kristen Connolly, Nora Arnezeder and Nonso Anozie.

I won’t go into much detail, but just to get you also hooked, here’s the premise of Zoo in a nutshell:

When animals all around the world start attacking people out of nowhere, a group of five people (two animal experts, a veterinary pathologist, a journalist and a French intelligence officer) come together to find a cure so that they can save both the animals and the mankind. Along the way, they realize they have more enemies than just the increasingly violent and unpredictable animals, and they can only rely each other for survival, and well, saving humanity.

Oh, and of course there is a very curious writer character. (The journalist/blogger.)

zoo-tv-series-cast
The Magnificent 5 that will save the world. From left: The Intelligence Officer (Nora Arnezeder), The Zoologist (James Wolk), Veterinary Pathologist (Billy Burke), The Journalist (Kristen Connolly) and The Safari Guide (Nonso Anozie). Image via Collider.com.

Also watched: (The common themes are suspense and Billy Burke; I have loved him since Revolution.)

Movie

Untraceable starring Diane Lane, Colin Hanks and Billy Burke: FBI’s best cyber crime agents try to stop a serial killer who makes sure his victims die faster as more people log on and watch his victims get murdered online. It’s a decent thriller/mystery whose flaws only come from the stupid actions of several characters. In their defense, it’s not more than your typical slasher.

Rewatched:

Fracture starring Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, Rosamund Pike and Billy Burke: Fracture is a damn solid thriller/mystery where a brilliant, rich businessman (Anthony Hopkins) murders his wife, and arranges it so that he shoots her with the weapon of her lover, the hostage negotiator (Billy Burke) who arrives first on the scene. It’s up to the ambitious young ADA (Ryan Gosling) to find the truth, and it seems like the businessman is more insanely smart than insane.

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I’m luckily working at a desk again. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to have coffee for a couple more days. Wish me luck, full health, and patience.

On the bright side, I now know my sleeping problems have nothing to do with coffee.

What have you been up to?

2016 in Writing: The Best of This Blog, Year in Review, and Goals for 2017

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This post contains affiliate links.

As I’m writing this post, it is 3.45 pm, and it’s snowing heavily outside. Power is out for the second time, and I’m just glad we live on the sixth floor of a seven-storey apartment. (My intolerance of heights disappears when there are floods everywhere, and I’m just glad we are safe, warm and dry.)

2016 has been a weird year, to say the least. I’ve had personal and professional ups and downs, as well as financial ones. I’m not going to talk about what a terrible year it has been on a global scale. We all know what happened. News and social media feeds and friends’ updates, and even our favorite cartoons, constantly reminded us that the world had become even more dangerous than many of us knew.

Best of 2016 for This Writer

Let’s not mock anyone who feels 2016 has been the worst year ever. If they live in a country where terrorism attacks have increased, it might truly be the worst year ever.

Now that we acknowledged that, below are some of my highlights:

  • I finally decided on the theme and launch date of my travel blog.
  • I was published on The Washington Post’s Solo-ish blog.
  • I took some great courses on advancing my writing and my writing career.
  • I started to stick to some of my earlier resolutions.
  • I read some great books.
  • I’ve made some important decisions to make 2017 different in a terrific way.
  • I was active on some amazing FB groups, made great connections and friends.
  • I started cold-pitching.
  • I responded to calls for submissions, meaning I wrote according to a given theme and sold two articles in this vein.

Some of My Favorite Movies of the Year:

Favorite Novels

Favorite Series (That Premiered in 2016)

  • This is Us
  • Bull
  • Good Behavior (My review on my entertainment blog.)
  • Designated Survivor

Plans and Goals for 2017

  • Train my Dragon Dictate: Apparently, there is a book on it. My hands hurt, but typing has always been my favorite method of getting my point across and recording those points.
  • Move, move, move! I plan on getting a gym membership or taking regular dance classes again. I’m particularly interested in zumba.
  • Travel, travel, travel. I haven’t been aboard since 2015, and I’m itching.
  • Pitch, pitch, pitch! This goes for both fiction and non-fiction. Gina Horkey’s 90 Day Pitching Challenge was an awesome prompt in the right direction, but I still have some organizing to do. I haven’t been able to keep up with the 10 pitches-a-day goal. I fully plan to this year.
  • Eat more healthily. If I can’t eat perfectly healthily, I will at least add healthy stuff to make the relatively less healthy better. For instance, to keep my blood sugar level in check, I’ll have some nuts with your dark chocolate. Advice borrowed from one of my country’s top nutritionists.
  • Launch my first e-book on productivity.
  • Take on more coaching work
  • Respond the more submission calls.
  • When you are taking a course, actually apply the sound advice.

2016’s Top Posts on the Blog

  • How Not To Pitch An Editor: Be Vague and Impatient. Pitching is our bread and butter. Whether you’re looking to guest post, apply for a staff writing job or pitching ideas, you need to know your pitching etiquette. I offer two of the most important things to avoid with real life examples.

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That is it. What about you? What are your favorite moments of 2016? What are your goals and plans for 2017? Let me know in the comments!

 

 

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