I’ve read some really sweet things written in remembrance of
John Still, and I wanted to share my favorite things about him and what he gave
to me. I worked with John on several projects, but most extensively on Live
Animals. I was always blown away by his performances, but when he impressed me
the most was when we did a scene where I had to spit in his face. We were
sitting there discussing how to go about it. “Well, maybe I can just pretend to
spit”---“Fuck that”, says John. “you need to really spit in my face like you
mean it”. I don’t know how many takes I really spit in his face, but everyone
knows how gross that shit it. Spit smells all germy. And he took it like the
goddamn champ that he was because he was in it. He was committed. He loved what
he did and I admired him for that.
I had him come out
and shoot a scene for “The Dead Shall Walk”, the ill fated feature my friends
and I tried to make, and in the scene John had to get tackled by two zombies.
He showed up in his convertible, looking cool as shit smoking a joint and proceeded
to let some dumb ass kids who had no idea what they were doing film him getting
tackled to the ground.
When we wrapped on Live Animals, John gave me the best
compliment I’ve gotten as an actor to date. He told me “You gave me exactly
what I needed for me to do my job”.
The last time I spoke to John on the phone, I could hear how
bad he was. I tried to be optimistic. “Hey John, maybe we can get together soon”.
“I don’t leave the house anymore”, he said. I told him that I’d see him soon,
but the elephant in the room was there. We both knew it was the last time we’d
ever speak. I just told him “I wanted you to know that I appreciate you and you’ve
made a huge difference in my life”. That’s all you can say. He always made me
feel appreciated. I hope that I make him proud.
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