Sunday, November 02, 2008

Underappreciated: Tom Lenk

So another Halloween passed us by and I barely mentioned the greatest show ever (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). It's been off the air for five years but it's about the undead so I figure this justifies obsessing on it many years after its demise. After my third time chronologically through the series sometime in 2007, the Boyfriend demanded that I put the DVDs away for a good long while (even though he loves the show too). I'm a year sober now. Maybe in the spring he'll let me start from Season 1 Episode 1 again!?

Is this post filler? You'll be surprised to hear that it's not. I'm just rambling on my way to a new series recognizing underemployed/underappreciated actors in the hopes that some day some where some casting director will say 'that Nathaniel... he's so right!'. And here's where we begin.

I want to say congratulations to actor Tom Lenk who is now officially out of the closet. He's most well known if not famous for his recurring role as "Andrew" super-villain turned Scooby gang fringe-dweller on seasons 6 & 7 of Buffy. Joss Whedon was probably too much of a softie when it came to fan favorites on that departed show. He often let them take over and some overstayed their welcome (obviously Spike did --he was a great character but he made less and less narrative sense to keep around) and some would place Lenk's Andrew in that category, too. But when the show used Andrew sparingly to spike a scene with geeky amoral humor, Lenk always came through. So here's the very funny and talented Tom Lenk in two small doses, satirically embracing two icons of the gays, Britney with a great cabaret version of "Gimme More" and Madonna's "Hung Up".



Another reason to love Tom Lenk... he played "Tommy", a.k.a. 'Floyd's Boy' in the great Boogie Nights. See -- there he is!

These are the next stars. These are real people in the world.
-Floyd Gondoli, Boogie Nights (1997)

Anything connected to Boogie Nights is worth loving ...give or take f***in' idiot "Scotty" (Philip Seymour Hoffman)

10 comments:

Li Wen said...

Nathaniel, have you seen the rumour that Maggie Cheung might be in Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds"?

NATHANIEL R said...

i have. but until it is less than rumor, i shan't celebrate

Ásta said...

Actually he first appeared in season 6, episode "Flooded" (although he had a nother role as a vampire in the season 5 episode "The Real Me".)

Believe me, you can always find a bigger Buffy geek than yourself.

Steven said...

Thank you so much! Tom Lenk/Andrew has always been one of my favorite things about Buffy. I'm so glad for his presence in one of my favorite series, and I'm so glad for this post! Plus, I had no idea he could sing or dance like that! :)

~Steven

NATHANIEL R said...

asta --oh my god. i was thinking of the prom episode but i guess that was andrew's brother. oops.

Ásta said...

Yep - Tucker - he of the innumerable "Tucker's brother" references.

ohnochriso said...

Yay for Tom Lenk and his awesomeness! Now if we can only get Joss Whedon to commit to having an actual gay male character in something he creates and not just a bunch of gay-seeming dudes who all end up being hetero.

NATHANIEL R said...

point: ohnochriso

Anonymous said...

I always seem to fade from watching the series through around early/mid season three. I think I'll try again and better allocate the time to watch it all.

NATHANIEL R said...

but midway through season 3 is THE BEST. That's when Faith takes over. I love season 3 so much.