(Reprinted courtesy of The Currier Times )
By Sara Letourneau
It’s no joke: Curry student (now alum) Christopher Ryan has spent much of his life trying to make people laugh. Not all adults appreciate outright goofiness in children, but for Ryan it seemed to work like a charm.
"When I was in fifth grade, I couldn’t shut up in class because I was making everybody laugh," said Ryan, who is a senior majoring in Communication. "So my teacher made a deal with me: If I behaved all day, at the end of the day for ten minutes I could get up in front of class and be an idiot and make my friends laugh. The other three fifth grade classes heard of this, and they would come in at the end of the day, too."
Since then, Ryan has turned his ten-minute stand-up routines into clear-cut career aspirations – which are now on the verge of coming true. In the Fall of 2006, he was cast as an extra in "The Game Plan," a new football movie that was filmed in Boston and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and features The Rock and Kyra Sedgwick from the TNT show "The Closer."
Ryan found out about this opportunity through his internship at the Boston Casting Agency, which has worked with TV shows and major motion pictures including "Celtic Pride" and "Fever Pitch."
"One of the days I was there working, the casting director was looking for an actor who could drive a golf cart in a scene," he said. "I overheard this conversation and told them I work at a country club where I drive golf carts all the time. So they told me that I was going to be a featured extra…[meaning that] my face will actually be on the screen, not just one fan out of 700 fans that are in the stands."
When the day came for Ryan’s scene, he explained that he "didn’t know what to expect" when he got there. He didn’t even know how important his featured extra role really was until shooting began.
"It turns out I would be driving the three main characters of the movie in a quick scene: The Rock, Kyra Sedgwick, and a new actress named Madison Pettis," he said.
"So I had to drive back and forth for about nine hours to film what will end up being probably a ten-second scene when the movie comes out in theaters."
Working in movies is not a new ambition for Ryan. As a child, he was encouraged by relatives and teachers to become a movie star.
"I soon realized it myself that I wanted to be a comedian and make movies," he said. "Today, I still aspire to do the same thing, but along the way I also want to direct and write movies or TV sitcoms."
Here at Curry, Ryan has been able to get some experience in the television field through his work at Curry’s Channel 8. He has hosted "Curry Talks" in the past and currently co-hosts "Hot Topics." This year, he is the producer at the TV studio and his responsibilities include organizing shows, handing out assignments, and scheduling office hours for TV students who need extra help.
In addition, Ryan also set up auditions in November for "All the Gorgeous People," Curry’s very own reality show/soap opera.
"The auditions went well," he said. "We’ve recruited a few people that we will need, and anyone else who wants to be in it… I will find a part for them, no problem. I could always use more help."
Nevertheless, Ryan’s experience as an extra for "The Game Plan" will most likely stick with him for years to come.
He learned on the set that "making a movie is a lot more work than people think…I also learned from a production standpoint how to set up the shots you want, how to set up and use lighting and cameras."
After graduation, Ryan hopes to work either in Boston or Los Angeles as a production assistant and eventually become a director or producer. However, he doesn’t want to give up comedy at that point.
"I want to tell jokes in various comedy clubs and write scripts that hopefully will end up in Hollywood one day," he said.
His advice for any students trying to make it in the film industry? "You can’t let anybody say that ‘Oh, Hollywood is a reach.’ Yeah, it’s a reach if you’re driving there. Take a plane, and you’re there in six hours, and that’s not too bad."