De Lancie Mentors Student Filmmakers

An exchange of e-mails with a pair of young fans led John de Lancie (Q) to agree to take part in a student film, John Cue, for which the actor provided a cameraman and sound expert as well as his own talents.

"If kids have any interest in the arts, they need to be around adults who can cut around the myths," de Lancie told The Detroit News of his decision to appear in a movie by by Arts Academy in the Woods students Benjamin Hastings and Jeff Jimison, who wrote the screenplay as part of a senior project. "I had never heard anything about the company they said they represented, but we started talking anyway," explained the actor. "Then I asked them how old they were. I was surprised - it was a very adult conversation."

After helping the young writers with the script, de Lancie said that he would make himself and some crew members available for a week to shoot the film. "Getting a project of this scope done in a week is normally impossible," said Hastings, who is now a freshman at Central Michigan University. He had concentrated in instrumental music at the fine arts-focused high school.

Jimison, who has not yet graduated, said that de Lancie "is quite a fanciful character" like the one he plays in the movie. "And the fact that he came out here says a lot about his character." The film will debut at a student assembly later in the school year, followed by an opening at a local theater.

de Lancie himself spoke about the experience at the recent Creation convention in Las Vegas. He had planned to be in Chicago directing an opera and made time to work on John Cue, saying that his agent had said, "'John, you have brought us some very bizarre projects, but I have never had an experience like this. I just got off the phone negotiating for you with two 17-year-olds and their mother.'"

In the film he plays an actor based on himself who is approached by two young filmmakers who want to make a biography of his life but are not certain he's right for the role. He said that the script was very funny and he "almost hit the person" driving in front of him when he learned via cell phone the ages of the writers.

The original article is at The Detroit News.

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