Need to say goodbye to another creative, truly innovating force we were fortunate enough to have seen in our lifetime. On January 11, 2015, we lost another legendary performer. David Robert Jones, better known to the world as David Bowie, succumbed to cancer. A battle he’d apparently been in for two years and yet, despite his lofty status in the world, he not only wished to, but succeeded in keeping his condition hidden. Often, we don’t realize how impactful and relevant some people can be in our lives until they are gone from it forever. I’ve been a fringe appreciater of The Thin White Duke since his pop-leaning metamorphosis in the 80s with songs and ground-breaking videos like “Let’s Dance”, “Blue Jean” and “China Girl” and further on through the 90’s with his band Tin Machine and continued musical morphing with songs like “I’m Afraid of Americans”.
It was as an actor where Mr. Stardust really kept our attention however. Why? Because every time he performed on stage, he was already in full character. His whirlwind wardrobe changes, personas and theatrics during shows are legendary. (The stories of his living in the character of Ziggy Stardust to the point of needing treatment is in itself a legendary tale.) In fact, you still see flashes of it in so many artists who have emerged since Bowie’s early days nearly 50 years ago.
Bowie’s theatrical nature as a performer ended up landing him in movies as well. His turns in films like The Hunger, Into the Night and Labyrinth, were all reflections of the character the world had come to love on stage altered accordingly for the character the film required him to be. But when you saw him in films like The Last Temptation of Christ or Basquiat you began to see what talent and craft this man possessed. Which brings me to what I consider to be his best film performance ever. If you’ve never seen The Prestige, you should. It’s another example of Christopher Nolan’s unique storytelling voice which should be enough in itself. But in addition, the performances of Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman are all you’d expect from these leading men known for their commitment to their roles. I’ve spent the years since that film’s release in 2006 reflecting on Bowie’s work, however. His embodiment of Nikola Tesla was so understated and conservative than the usual charisma we are used to seeing from Bowie. Not to mention nailing the accent of an English-speaking foreign-nationalist driven by his passion for scientific creation in a time and place that was potentially dangerous for him (as least in the context of the story). I had to view the credits in full to be sure it was Bowie –so fooled was I! My response to his performance in this film has been the same in the three or four times I’ve seen it since. He seamlessly blends in with his fellow-performers while making his character’s importance in his scenes resonate with such significance to the entire story.
But that is one of the very elements that made Bowie so special and endearing even if you didn’t like his music or style: he as an artist constantly in flux, always pushing boundaries, ever seeking something new and different than before. While we as people often look to establish an identity for ourselves (and as actors we often take pieces of that identity into our work), Bowie always seemed so quintessentially different because his public identity was the embodiment of change. He could turn it on, he could turn it off and he could completely modify it as needed seemingly effortlessly. Bowie’s life work should be a reminder to all performers of all practices of the reason we aspire to our respective art form of choice: to create, to impact, to influence and if we’re really lucky, to be immortal on this earth.
Farewell, Ziggy. Thank you for inspiring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF76qlwWM8s