Sometimes the things that are meant for us can find us in the most unexpected of ways, something that many people in the film business have discovered after sudden journeys into the industry. Whether it be Harris Dickinson and being encouraged to join a youth theatre group, or Samantha Morton and the street casting that led her to become the star of Lynne Ramsay’s feature debut, many artists have had unconventional paths into performing, something that feels like a serendipitous twist of fate.
However, surprisingly enough, two actors who were influenced by the same singer to pursue a career in the arts, with Elvis Presley inadvertently sparking two of the biggest stars in Hollywood after their humble beginnings of impersonating the singer.
Woody Harrelson has truly been through the wringer over the course of his career, starring in everything from dystopian thrillers, zombie comedies and satirical dramas, with the kind of presence that everyone is immediately drawn towards and reassured by. If Harrelson is in a film, you can be sure to have a good time, with the actor possessing a timeless screen charisma that naturally pulls you into each expression, even if he isn’t saying a word.
While he is an ingrained part of Hollywood after roles in cult classic films like The Hunger Games, Triangle of Sadness and Natural Born Killers, fame wasn’t always on the cards for him or something he could even see in his future, only deciding to pursue acting after a chance encounter as a teenager.
Harrelson described, “I was doing a little Elvis impersonation in the library when this girl Robin Rogers saw me and told me that I should try out for theatre. He had a big impact, thank God for the king”. Who knows what would’ve happened had he not been caught doing his impersonation that day, or if he had never listened to Elvis Presley and been struck by the desire to imitate his signature style.
While this fact is bizarre enough in itself, it is increasingly strange that Ryan Gosling also had a similar journey into the industry through the King, with the actor being inspired to act as a child after watching his uncle perform Elvis impersonations in a local mall.
Gosling described, “We were living very normal kind of boring lives and then my uncle came to live with us and one day he showed up in a dazzling white jumpsuit and said he was going to be an Elvis impersonator and he wanted us all to be in his act. So my father became head of his security, my mother became a back-up singer, I became a back-up dancer and suddenly we were all in his act… It was a pretty eye-opening experience because I didn’t know that entertainment was really a job and that show business was something you could really do”.
Elvis Presley has a lot to answer for, and who knew that his presence would become such a key factor within the careers of both actors, with Harrelson being forever surprised by the turn his life took that day in the library.