"TRIBUTE" TO THE "MARVEL AGE" IRON MAN
READ AL'S INTERVIEW WITH LISA KIRBY IN
FILMFAX #117, COMING SOON!
AL’S “IRON MAN” ADVENTURE
Alan Doshna is an actor who put together his own “audition” package in hopes of being cast in the upcoming Iron Man movie. Although he didn’t get the role, he put some of the material on his personal website, which led to his receiving numerous visits to his site.
Q: What made you do such a thing, as described above?
A: In growing up, it was always my desire to combine my two loves, comic books(Marvel in particular) and acting and movies. I was hoping that fans would create a groundswell of support and that I might at least get a shot at the role of Iron Man, who is my favorite character.
Q: What did your audition “package” consist of ?
A: A couple of photos, a two minute monologue(in costume) and a brief synopsis of what would have been the “dream” Iron Man movie for me. The monologue was from a classic piece by Bill Mantlo, Carmine Infantino and Bob Wiacek, and was directed by Ken Mader, who did the cult film CARNIVORE(1992).
Q: How did it turn out?
A: Visually, I thought it was awesome, with the blue lighting and shadows(It seemed like a scene out of CARNIVORE). However, when I took the helmet off, my hair was flattened down, it was a bad angle and my collar was noticeably too tight. I had it on my site briefly, but I took it down, and tried to take what I learned from that and apply it to the photos which I then did.
Q: Who shot those?
A: William Adrian, who has the oldest teen modeling agency in the country(He discovered ‘70’s supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, , singer Kim Carnes(“Bette Davis Eyes”) and more recently pop songstress Ana Nalick. It was one of those that was the “money” shot, to borrow a phrase from Jon Favreau.
Q: But one person online gave it the caption “Where is Stan Winston when you need him?” Aren’t you embarrassed?
A: Mine were the first live action videos and photos of Iron Man, so I was kind of making it up as I was going along. My first reaction was to pull the stuff down and go all “Frank Miller” on it, you know, and make it “high tech/down and dirty”. But then it seemed to me that the low budget look was what gave it it’s “charm”. It was even the #1 Iron Man image on MySearch for a while! For me, the beauty of Iron Man was that he was a character out of a Cold War “B” movie, like KING OF THE ROCKET MEN or EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS. And anyway, Elina, the girl who posed as “Pepper Potts”(one of Bill’s girls) in my treatment, saw the photos and asked me “Where did you get the cool costume?” With comments like that from a girl like Elina…
Q: What were some of the other positive responses?
A: I also wrote an article for my church newsletter entitled The Armor Without, the Spirit Within, likening Iron Man to the “spiritual armor” described by St. Paul, including a photo of me in the costume. I emailed a copy of the article to Gene Colan, my favorite IM artist, and he sent me back a complimentary email, even suggesting that he come by and meet my pastor when he was in the L.A. area!
Q: How did that work out?
A: I later sent him a link to my website with the other material, but he never responded. I’m thinking that the photo may have also had something something to do with my being listed on the Chinese IMDb(Internet Movie Database), as I’ve had a lot of visits from overseas http://www.imdb.cn/name/nm1175348/
Q: You had some other experiences “playing” Iron Man in the past. What were they?
A: In acting school, I designed my own Iron Man costume and did the same monologue that I later filmed. When I got to the front of the room, the teacher was trying not to laugh at my outfit(which was intimidating, as she was very beautiful). After I was done, she asked me “Where did you get that monologue??!!?” and said that it was a “wonderful piece”. Yes!!
Q: Anything else?
A: I was cast in an offbeat sci fi independent cable TV show as a character who kind of went off the deep end. I saw this as another opportunity to “don the armor”, so I put my IM costume on as well as a cowboy hat, where I looked a little like a contemporary Don Quixote, and did an off the wall monologue. It was one of the best received pieces of work that I had done up to that time.
Q: Enter Stan Lee…
A: My manager at that time was also an independent producer who was trying to line up financing to do projects starring his clients. So, of course, I brought up the idea of doing an IM movie. Around that time, I met Stan Lee at a convention and told him about the possibility. He was very friendly and positive, and gave me his business card. I also told him about my “sci fi” show monologue, and told him I would send him a copy.
Q: What was his response?
A: He had his assistant send me a polite, but rather distant letter, including the tape. I saw the piece as something similar to what you would see in Not Brand Ecch! Or Crazy. It was just my attempt to “be” the character again in some way. I’m sure he has no memory of it, but I would like to meet him again, just to feel like I’m on good terms with him(He did keep the drawing I did of IM , tho). Unfortunately, the project financing didn’t come through, as well.
Q: So, what’s next for you?
A: I am anxiously awaiting the release of THE KELTON’S DARK CORNER TRILOGY DVD, in which I have a leading role. I have a script that I have done on stage and condensed into a music video, which could be described as “Woody Allen meets IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE”, which I hope to produce. Also, someone who saw my link on the Iron Man Message Board once suggested that I would be a great TedCord/Blue Beetle. I had never thought about it, but it seems like a really cool idea to me. So, if anybody at DC/Warners is reading this… |
