Post by gilmourfan on Aug 19, 2005 14:31:33 GMT -5
Dell Dude Moves to the Stage
By Blake Green Ž
(c) 2005, Newsday Ž
NEW YORK -- Can it really be two years since that capricious goofus, Steven the Dell Dude, was popping up on our television screens pitching Dell computers?
Ben Curtis, an unknown actor, made a name for himself as the spiky-haired, one-note Steven, and its carried over to his current role in Joy, an Off-Broadway romantic comedy running at the Actors Playhouse, where theatergoers recently reminisced about the once omnipresent Dell Dudes more audacious scrapes.
A real-life pot bust (the charges were dropped) got Curtis spots yanked off the air -- which was just as well. A Tennessee native, hed begun to worry about getting stereotyped and had experienced the downside of living the life of a commercial icon, as he puts it. I couldnt go outside my house without getting recognized; people thought I really was that guy. They got angry and obnoxious when they found out I wasnt. I couldnt get any work except that character.
This was galling for someone whose Web site, www.ben-curtis.com, lists music and magic as well as acting as talents. An alum of two bands and forming a third, Curtis plays guitar, blues harmonica, didgeridoo and hand percussion. Hes done magic tricks professionally since 13, incorporating them into performance art and improv comedy.
Certainly, hes able to play younger: The casting call for the Dell Dude was for someone 12 to 17. At 19, I was the only guy there without my mom, he says.
Now 24, Curtis describes Christian, his new character, as the free-love boy toy of a band of college friends exploring love and sexuality. Fans of Steven will be able to spot some similarities: The television character also had an eager-to-please charm.
By Blake Green Ž
(c) 2005, Newsday Ž
NEW YORK -- Can it really be two years since that capricious goofus, Steven the Dell Dude, was popping up on our television screens pitching Dell computers?
Ben Curtis, an unknown actor, made a name for himself as the spiky-haired, one-note Steven, and its carried over to his current role in Joy, an Off-Broadway romantic comedy running at the Actors Playhouse, where theatergoers recently reminisced about the once omnipresent Dell Dudes more audacious scrapes.
A real-life pot bust (the charges were dropped) got Curtis spots yanked off the air -- which was just as well. A Tennessee native, hed begun to worry about getting stereotyped and had experienced the downside of living the life of a commercial icon, as he puts it. I couldnt go outside my house without getting recognized; people thought I really was that guy. They got angry and obnoxious when they found out I wasnt. I couldnt get any work except that character.
This was galling for someone whose Web site, www.ben-curtis.com, lists music and magic as well as acting as talents. An alum of two bands and forming a third, Curtis plays guitar, blues harmonica, didgeridoo and hand percussion. Hes done magic tricks professionally since 13, incorporating them into performance art and improv comedy.
Certainly, hes able to play younger: The casting call for the Dell Dude was for someone 12 to 17. At 19, I was the only guy there without my mom, he says.
Now 24, Curtis describes Christian, his new character, as the free-love boy toy of a band of college friends exploring love and sexuality. Fans of Steven will be able to spot some similarities: The television character also had an eager-to-please charm.
