10.01.2005
Premiere
Bam!Matt Evans here with the first issue of my explosive new blog! I've gotta say it - I am pumped about this! It's a new thing for me, and it's not as if I didn't have my reservations. I mean Jerry once said (that's Jerry Bruckheimer),
Don't give 'em any interviews - not a word. You let the work speak for you.
Easy to say when you've got Top Gun and Days of Thunder under your belt. I mean, after Iceman tells Maverick he'll fly with him anytime what is there left to say?
But that's Jerry. When you're at his level it's hard to remember what it was like starting out. And that's where I am - starting out.
Sure I've had my successes. I suppose it all started back in high school. The principal comes to me and says,
Mr. Evans, we need to put on the best damn high school play this town's ever seen. We cannot have a repeat of last years West Side Story debacle. We need a hit. Matthew, we need you.
I was stoked. I had three weeks to come up with a fresh, explosive concept that would have parents running for their cheque books and funding the school's drama department into the next millenium. But it's when you really need inspiration that it's hardest to come by. I'd say to Mark-Paul (that's Mark-Paul Gosselaar),
Dammit Mark-Paul! I'm tapped. The well of Evans' ideas is running dry!
Mark-Paul turned to me and said - oh, I suppose I should say something about being in high school with Mark-Paul Gosselaar. When people hear about it, they always react the same:
Jesus Matt! You went to high school with Zack Morris! That must've been fantastic!
Which, pardon my French, is complete merde. I grab the guy by the scruff of the neck - if it's a chick I'm less aggressive - and say,
F*** Zack Morris! Zack Morris doesn't have s*** on Mark-Paul Gosselaar! If Eric L. Harry's nightmare vision of a Chinese Invasion of the U.S. ever comes to pass, Mark-Paul is the guy I'd wanna have in the trenches next to me. Not Zack f***in' Morris.
So Mark-Paul says,
Matt. The Evans well is bottomless. I've known from the first time I met you, you'd blow the f*** out of Hollywood with your ever more explosive ideas! Now get back to work and write, direct and star in the best damn play this school's ever seen!
His exact words. I'll never forget it.
And so it came to pass. For the next three weeks I worked my ass off to adapt the hit TV show Kung Fu to the stage. I played David Carradine's role. Mark-Paul starred opposite me as my smart-alec kid sidekick. The dialogue was tight. The flashback scenes to my childhood in the Shaolin monastery had the crowd in tears. The fight scenes blew everyone away. We were getting standing ovations during the performance! It was explosive!... Reviews were mixed.
But that was it. I'd caught the writing/directing/starring in bug. Every teacher in school tried to convince me to follow another path, but once you've caught the bug, you can't let it go. Never.
Enough reminiscing! What I came here to say is this:
Welcome to Matt Evans' Xplosive True Life Xperiences
I'm pumped and I hope you are too as you prepare to get a glimpse into the fast-paced high-flying rollercoaster ride that is my life.
Mark-Paul, this one's for you. You can be my wingman anytime.