I'm gonna be straight with you, I'm kind of annoyed about this post because I distinctly remember a time in high school when I was with Jackie Bery and laughing my ass off, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was about. This bugs me because Jackie is freaking awesome, and I can't stress this enough, freaking awesome. We were never all that close but I always liked her because she just felt so...real. When she smiled, it was always warm. When she laughed, you knew something was funny. And when you talked to her, you felt like she actually gave a shit about what you had to say. Everything about her felt genuine, and I loved that.
Jackie and I were both in theater, but the defining difference between her and I in that field would probably be that she had talent. You can just see it in her when she's in front of an audience, she radiates, she has an aura that only real actors have. For me, unless it's a legend like Jack Nicholson or Bill Murray, the way I assess whether an actor is good or not is if I know the person but while I'm watching them on screen or stage, I forget I do. I thought Jackie was on her way there in high school, I can't imagine seeing her now.
It's been years since I've seen or talked to Jackie, but as I'm writing this, a picture of her showed up on my Facebook and I must say, she looks absolutely fantastic. I'm not sure what she's doing these days, but if she isn't already on it, I hope she's fighting to get on that big stage. And when she does, I hope she knows I'll be in the crowd watching with a smile.
Cheers,
Andrew
