To commemorate Comic Con going on this upcoming weekend in San Diego, I wanted to share a quick snippet of what goes on behind-the-scenes during the production process of video games and cinematics. Just remember the next time you're embarking on a mythical fantasy adventure in Dragon Age or dodging bullets and defending freedom in Call of Duty, there was a real person living in that make-believe world that makes it all possible!
Oh, and I'm a comic book superhero now (courtesy of my awesome friends Tara Macken and Matt Berberi!)!!
Wow. July is here. Amazing how time flies...half of the year has gone by! Sometimes things get to busy that I forgot what I did the day before. But look at me, neglecting my blog. Tsk tsk. So to quote the celebrated poet and philosopher Lil' Jon: "Whass happenin'?!"
Well for one, my website, www.alex-huynh.com, is getting a facelift, tummy-tuck, and augmentation so it can be the website you can't take your eyes off of (ahem, my eyes are up here). Stay tuned for a blog post in the near future that will feature its update. In the meantime, check out the latest "Alex Huynh: I Do My Own Stunts" reel for 2012:
As you might have caught in the video, I've been hard at work to deliver you, the audience, the finest entertainment I can provide. I talked about my experiences on the sets of Kickin' It and Ringer in my previous post, and there's a clip of my booty getting handed to me by the lovely and legendary Bridgett Riley on NBC's Grimm at the 0:47 mark of my reel.
Reggie and I dressed as police twins. You should see our synchronized dance routine.
Bridgett stunt doubles for the amazing Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who plays the "Woman in Black" in the episode I worked on, which is appropriately titled (you guessed it!) "The Woman in Black." Mary Elizabeth's also Tony Montana's sister in Scarface. So I got beat up by Scarface's sister. Um. Pretty wicked. ANYWAY…Grimm is a fantasy drama that takes place in Portland, Oregon, where the show is filmed. I had the pleasure to travel up to the Pacific Northwest to stunt double my friend of whom I've doubled before during the years we shot Pirates of the Caribbean 3 together, my homie Reggie Lee!
My stay in Oregon was short but left a really strong impression on me. I had never been to Portland but really enjoyed the friendly people, street food vendors, walking-city culture, and art everywhere around town! My hat goes off to Matt Taylor, the super cool Stunt Coordinator of the show for bringing me up to such a nice city!
Three hours away is a small town called "Seattle." I had heard much of this place, as my best friend now lives there, so I decided about an hour before my flight back to Los Angeles that I'd take a short detour and head up north to this "Seattle." Much to my surprise when I arrived, it was downpouring! *Please take note, there's a lot of sarcasm in this paragraph.
Of all the photos I took in Seattle, this is the one I chose to post. It's THAT DAMN GOOD.
First of all, there's a monorail in the Emerald City. I. Love. Monorails. Expectedly, I boarded it and traversed the railways to visit the Space Needle. After admiring the architecture, I made my way back to Pike Place Market, where employees famously throw fish at each other. I imagined a food fight with gamey smelling seafood, but it was rather tame. So I wandered into a cheese shop where I had no idea my tastebuds were going to explode into cheesy happiness! Beecher's Handmade Cheese. I'm not gonna describe it. Just go there. Maybe not if you're lactose-intolerant, but have faith in my judgment and dine upon amazing cheesed-up food while watching them create the wonderful food product. And if you want, go for your post-meal coffee at the Starbucks next door. Edit: the FIRST Starbucks. Ever.
All tourist attractions aside, there's one monument in Seattle that I HAD to visit. It's my Graceland. The gravesite of BRUCE LEE. From martial arts' impact on my lifestyle to my career as an entertainer in Hollywood, Bruce Lee's words, philosophy, and example have shaped and influenced me tremendously, and I wanted to pay my respects.
So that's SOME of what I've been up to. Stay tuned for more posts in the next few days/weeks...I'll really stay on it! Boy scout's honor, I'll be more frequent and regular than a fiber diet! Prepare for some goodies!
- Alex
(P.S. Thanks for reading my ramblings. I really do appreciate it. I love you. Now say it back.)
