Actually rejected is too harsh a word - the exact phrasing was "Conan, I'm sorry but the framing..." to which I laughed.
I knew it from the start, I was thinking how the heck are they going to frame me.
Oh, sorry 'framing' is a movie term, not like a gangster term as in "Lets frame Conan for murder", here come inside and I'll explain better...
Remember in movies everything is seen through the camera what fits in the camera viewing area is the frame.
So 'framing me' means getting me onscreen with the other actors. With a 1 to 2ft height difference this is a problem.
In the French movie L'Ile Aux Tresors the Director originally wanted me in more shots, up the front of the crew but with the cameraman having to do violent swinging of the camera to go from face shot of me to the next actor I was finally placed at the back then they could just get me in wide shots or could pan up to me then cut to the next scene.
In Chandni Chowk To China in one of my initial scenes I am in frame with Hong Kong Action Star Gordon Liu and to be honest standing next to Gordon I look MASSIVE so much so that it shocked me. But it did show how difficult it is to frame me. Well actually it is technically easy to frame me, but I dominate every scene I am in, which isn't good for the storyline or the director. The audience would just be looking at me and waiting for me to do something rather than following what the director wants them to pay attention to.
Especially difficult when the other characters are more important than the character I play.
But it is not just my height, it is my size too. My arms are massive, my torso is massive, so just sitting me down is not going to help too much.
It is just too hard to frame me for an 'ordinary' movie.
Which is why I laughed when the casting director said I wasn't able to play the role - because I had been wondering how the heck I was going to be used.
No worries, I discuss this in another article anyway.
Next movie....
