Ray Creel

 I grew up in Northern Alabama near Talladega County near the NASCAR Speedway and no the Will Ferrell and John C. Riley movie Talladega nights was not shot there. I am the first person in my family to graduate High school and to go to college after serving in the US Navy as a Hospital Corpsman for five years. I have been a huge film lover since I can remember starting with comedy stars such as Robin Williams, John Candy, and Chris Farley. My mother was the one who introduced me to comedy movies on my tenth birthday I remember like it was yesterday.

My mother being a single parent came home late after working as a waitress and came into my room to give me a present since she missed it because of work and wished me happy birthday and handed me a small wrapped gift. I tore open the gift with enthusiasm expecting it to be a clothing item as I usually got but to my surprise it was a movie with a guy named Robin Williams and a woman named Sally Field and the title was Mrs.Doubtfire a comedy movie. The next day I watched it and fell in love with film the storytelling, the emotional connection, and the absolute joy it gave me. Things I missed a lot as a kid with hardly anyone my own age to be around it inspired me to imagine a lot and play pretend expanding my imagination.

When I turned twelve I found a television show called Saturday Night Live and they where showing a best hits list of the 90’s and I saw Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, David Spade, and a few others and I remember seeing the Matt Foley skit and just how committed Chris was to his character as Matt Foley and how he was able to be there in that moment without a moment of wavering and including almost everyone within the skit. I admired that confidence and free movement he had in his on body and a level of fierceness he brought to his characters.

Later on I found a film at Walmart; yes I know Walmart not the best shopping outlet but still, I found a John Candy film called Uncle Buck. I watched it and could not help but noticed the level of storytelling that John Candy was able to bring to a character that was setup early on as being unreliable by the Mother character and how he brought a loving, protective, and goofy personality to the character which is what I found out about him later on was that was mostly his own personality which made it so relate able and real to me. I started to become more connected and personal in my own work with acting and my love for film has not fallen since then but has become stronger.      

I love telling stories that help people feel like they can relate to and feel like they are not the only ones struggling with something in their life or just to get their minds off their day to day lives for a brief period. If the eyes are the window to the soul than laughter is the blanket that keeps it warm.