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Christopher McCaleb
IMDB Entry
One of my oldest and dearest friends in the world, Chris is
almost as central to my early career as I am, and appeared in
every play I directed until 2000, creating several roles along
the way, most notably Galeata Hastings (in drag) in The Vampire
Sorority Babes vs. the Inter-Galactic Frat Zombies: A Ballet
and Able in the original production of The Exiled. His other
Quicksilver credits include appearing in Lysistrata, The Oresteia,
Faust Part One, creating the role of Quentin in my short play,
Men And Women, and authoring/directing the fragments Rain and
Instant Oresteia for the mini-play collection I Laughed, I Cried,
I Shot The Person Next To Me- which was also his title, incidentally.
He gave me the idea for Wild Blue Peaks and basically invented
the character of Jake Ion one spring when we spent two days
walking around our high school “making a movie”
about a crazed serial killer, Chris, offing the various boyfriends
of the woman he loved, and when he made Overlord, a stop-motion
animation sci-fi film with G.I. Joes, he cast me as Entak, his
side-kick, my largest film role to date, and lest you scoff
at this little project let it be known- it got Chris in Loyola
Marymount University, from which he graduated with a degree
in film production. While in school he shot two more short films,
Femme Nocturna and Murmur (which featured Quicksilver regulars,
Anne Heintz and Amanda Karam), the later of which was featured
in Slamdance in 2000. As his final project he shot the mini-feature
Insomnia, collaborating on the script with myself and Amanda
Karam, who also starred in the film, picking up a John C. Cosgrove
Award and later getting featured in the 2001 New York Film Festival.
After college Chris permanently relocated to Los Angeles, where
he still lives, making movies and working on various features
and television projects, including the movies Bluelove, Sunshine
State, Collateral and Miami Vice, the television show Homicide,
and a music video that got into the 28th Annual Asian American
Film Festival (not bad for a white boy). Despite his insane
schedule he’s still managed to drive up to the Bay Area
twice, doing me the honor of attending the closing night of
Edward II and the one crappy performance of The Exiled. Though
in some ways the last person you ever want to fail to impress,
he’s actually one of the easiest people to be yourself
around, and if ever there was someone to be wacky with, it’s
Chris- probably because of his long history with action figures,
which make up the bulk of his earthly possessions. Despite his
success he’s also continued to be a great friend and is
the kind of guy you can stay up all night talking to and still
kick out of you apartment early in the morning because you have
to be at work. Speaking of work, my favorite piece of his ever
is actually a film of the short play Man Sitting In A Chair
Waiting For A Phone Call, written by Werner James and originally
staged, starring Chris, as part of I Laughed, I Cried, I Shot
The Person Next To Me. The film was re-titled The Trouble With
Women, still starring Chris in one of the parts he plays best:
suffering ex-boyfriend. What I like so much about this film
as that he’s totally unafraid to make fun of himself here,
and anyone who’s seen the movie knows what I’m talking
about when I mention “the belly shot.” It’s
a moment of absolutel shamelessness, harking back to that time
when he not only was willing to play Galeata Hastings in a blue
sapphire cocktail dress, but more or less demanded to. And just
as it did in days of old, the risky choice wins the day, and
Chris walks off with the show once again and every time.
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