WHERE DID IT ALL START?

By mumofthreedevils on January 2, 2016 • ( 1 Comment )

After getting the first wash load on for the day, I have been sitting here, still in my PJ’s, wondering.
Wondering how I’ve been getting so hooked on certain actors in the last few years.

The obsessions have only really started in the last few years.
The first real obsession was Karl Urban back at the end of 2012 and the film that kicked that one off was Dredd.

The second was Joel Kinnaman and the film that kicked that one off was Robocop.

The Third was Jake Gyllenhaal and the film that kicked that one off was Southpaw.

The fourth was Adam Driver and if you’ve read any of my last few blogs you’ll know that this is a very recent obsession and was kicked off by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Each obsession starts with the need to ‘catch up’ on the work that the actor has done.
This alone can be frustrating.
TV shows that aren’t available on any platform.
Films that have seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet.
Films that are available but in a foreign language WITHOUT English subtitles!
It’s a challenge and I think that’s one of the things I enjoy.
I end up watching shows and films I wouldn’t have ordinarily watched and end up either being a little disappointed or completely blown away!

Thankfully, with Adam Driver, he’s still very fresh on the market.
With the exception of one movie I’m waiting to be delivered, I’ve now seen all the films that he has semi-starred or starred in.
I’ve also caught up with all 4 seasons of Girls which I have to say, was unexpectedly brilliant!
I am now eagerly awaiting season 5
From here on, it’s all new movies that aren’t even released yet and he’s signed a contract that ties him to at least the next 2 Star Wars movies!!

But back to the reason for this post…. where did it all start?

Growing up I was always into movies.
There was no internet and no video recorders so the only way of getting any information on actors and films was through magazines and TV or radio interviews.
My computer currently has folders of pictures that I can look at and print at my hearts content.
Back in my teens, this would have been known as my bedroom wall.
At one point my picture archive was all four walls and my ceiling. The pictures had been glued on with wallpaper paste.
I just kept overlaying as new pictures and interests came along.

Until I started earning my own money, my only access to movies was the TV and an occasional trip to the cinema.
3 channels, BBC1, BBC2 and ITV.
That was it, until channel 4 came along.
The only movies were on Sunday afternoons where we were treated to classics like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Roman Holiday, Ben Hur.
This is where my love of movies started.
Classic actors were the order of the day.

I think that if the internet were around back then, Gregory Peck could quite easily have been an obsession!!

Anyway, when I started earning my own money things started to take a change.
We had the arrival of our first multiscreen cinema which meant that I could indulge myself with movies whenever I wanted.
By then we also had video recorders so I could start collecting my favourite films to keep and watch whenever I wanted. I no longer had to wait for them to be shown occasionally on TV.

I think the major change came at the end of the 80’s
I landed a job working on computers that I had never even touched before in my life.
Star Trek the Next Generation arrived and re-lit a fire in me.
As a child I always watched the Classic Trek on TV and loved watching the late night Sci-fi movies, but as none of my friends and family were into it, I kind of kept it all locked up.
Then when Next Gen came along, I was earning my own money, had my own transportation, access to the internet and I decided to join a club where I could share my interest with like minded people.
And then I went to my first convention!!
What an eye opener.

I suppose this is where my first real interest in an actor came into play in the form of Jonathan Frakes who played Cammander Riker in Star Trek the Next Generation.
I thought he was the bees knees!!
So tall and beautiful eyes.

Within 4 years of joining the club, I had married the captain, done countless conventions and started creating artwork to sell at collector fairs.
Doing this artwork was my hobby as a stay home mum and was a way for me an Ian to continue going to conventions and collector fairs.
It meant a perfect excuse for me to trawl the internet for news and photos.
We started to broaden our interests into more multi-media.
Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Stargate, Earth Final Contflict, Kindred the Embraced, Smallville, Battlestar Galactica, Vampire diaries, Pretender, Hornblower and Highlander.

Various actor interests like David Boreanaz

Mark Frankel (RIP)

Tom Welling

Jamie Bamber

Ioan Gruffudd

and then I suppose my first real obsession, Peter Wingfield!

Methos, the 5000 year old immortal in Highlander was intriguing to say the least.
Like a couple of my current obsessions, he wasn’t/isn’t a classically handsome man.
But also like a couple of my current obsessions, I found him very attractive!

This obsession developed to a point where, for a short while, I helped to run the UK side of his fan club, the PWFC.
Sadly, with the arrival of baby number 2, I just didn’t have the time to carry this on and had to give it up.

Collector shows were becoming harder and harder to do because I couldn’t give my time to the preparation that was needed for them.
Then back in around 2005/6 after struggling to keep up with the shows after baby number 3 and with Ebay taking over and ruining collector fairs, it was time to call it all a day.

For the next few years I became a Mum.
I had an ordinary life and watched the occasional movie and TV show.
I even got a real job!
Then as the kids got older and I was getting more and more time to myself again, I started to get back into my movies.
With the availability of any information and photos available on the internet, I was able to take an old hobby to a new level.
Dredd kicked it all off for me again and then when all of the kids were old enough to be able to take care of themselves for a couple of hours Me and Ian invested in Unlimited cinema cards that allow us to go and see whatever we want at the cinema at the drop of a hat.
We have had these cards now for over two years and I can safely say they are the best decision we have ever made.
I don’t feel guilty going to see a film multiple times.
Which is just as well because Star Wars is heading for visit number five!! later this week with my Brother.

I’m rooting for Ren!

I look back at my hobby as a child with magazines and limited TV and I compare it to today, where in the last 3 weeks I have had access to 4 viewings of Star Wars, every photo under the sun of Adam Driver, most of his back catalgue of work available on various platforms and every TV appearance and interview available on Youtube and I realise….

IS IT ANY BLOODY WONDER I GET SO OBSESSED?!