#//I knew it had to be referencing the new movie. and I waited with baited breath the whole time | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

pucksnsticksnhockeyboys · 4 years ago

Text

homesick

summary: when you’re homesick near the holidays, Quinn does his best to make you feel at home with him and a cup of cocoa.

word count: 2.4k

note from the writer: day two! gotta say, this one was very self indulgent / masterposts of the Christmas fics

tagging: @bqstqnbruin @broadstbroskis @laurenairay @calgarycanuck @sorryjustafangirl @slapshot-to-the-heart @cthoodsthetic @tayella13 @wastedheartcth @kiedhara / add yourself to my Christmas fic taglist

Moving far away from your hometown had always been the plan. It was a fresh start, with new people, sights, and opportunities.

But, no matter how much you loved living away from home, you really missed it sometimes.

The Christmas season had long arrived in full force, decorations in every window and holiday songs on repeat in every department store. And usually you loved it, you were the first person to put up the lights and the last one to take them down in the new year. But it was your first Christmas away from home; work keeping you in Vancouver when all you wanted was the nostalgic familiarity of the holidays in your hometown.

As a result, you turned into a bit of a grump. Declining invites to go out with friends and opting to stay inside and mope by yourself. Really, it was doing nothing to help the feeling of homesickness, but you’d never admit that to yourself.

Quinn caught onto this; he was always sperceptive of your changing moods even before you started dating. So once you sent your message telling Jake and the rest of the group to go bar hopping without you, it only took Quinn half an hour to show up unannounced on your doorstep.

A knock drew your attention from the corny Hallmark movie you had been watching, and you hit pause on the dramatic confession of love. The woman who never had time for romance after moving to the big city to pursue her dreams could wait to tell the hardworking man from her hometown how she felt. On your doorstep was the man who managed to capture your own heart, even if you hadn’t quite told him in so many words yet.

“Hey, I didn’t realize we had plans tonight?” You told Quinn, nonetheless opening the door wider and letting him in. He ducked down to give you a kiss before replying, and it was only after he had shuffled all the way into your apartment did you notice the takeout bag in his hand.

“We didn’t, but I wanted to see you.” He shrugged a shoulder, making his way into your kitchen while you shut and locked the front door behind him. When you finally caught up to him, he was pulling containers of food out of the bag, and when you recognized the company’s logo, you looked at your boyfriend suspiciously.

“You ordered from Kimmy’s; you never order from Kimmy’s.” You confronted him, his answering laugh echoing throughout the otherwise quiet apartment. It was the old argument between the two of you; you loved Kimmy’s, Quinn loved Lucy’s. They had the same food and were in theory the same place, but you swore Kimmy’s way better. Even when you told Quinn to order from Kimmy’s, he always, without fail, came back with Lucy’s instead.

Except for tonight, apparently.

Quinn gave you a sheepish look and stopped pulling food out the bag, and instead opened his arms for a hug. Confused but not wanting to pass up the opportunity to be held by your favorite guy, you complied, and his arms came around you to hold you tight.

“I know you’ve been sad about not being able to go home lately.” He started, rocking you back and forth. You didn’t protest his statement, because there was nothing to object to. Instead, you waited for him to finish. “So I figured that we could have your favorite takeout, and then watch some Christmas movies. I also have a surprise for later.”

“This isn’t the surprise?” You questioned with a grin, tilting your head up to look at him whilst staying in his arms. A swell of emotions took over you, but the one that hit you squarely in the chest was the overwhelming desire to tell Quinn you loved him.

And you did love him. You loved that he knew when you were upset and when you needed a pick-me-up movie night. You loved the way he smiled and the way he laughed. The way he made you go to all of his home games when you were free and called you his good luck charm, win or lose. You loved him with your very being, and you had known for a while that you loved him, but you had been waiting for the perfect moment to tell him.

“No, this isn’t the surprise.” He chuckled, dropping a kiss to your forehead before turning to finish getting the food out of the bag. You slipped away to grab two plates, along with silverware, moving seamlessly with Quinn until you were sitting on your couch with him.

“What movie did you want to watch?” You asked, reaching for the remote to turn off the cheesy Hallmark movie you had all but forgotten about.

“This is your cheer up movie, you pick.” Quinn told you with a shrug, already digging into his plate. You rolled your eyes at his smile, biting back the joke about how he shouldn’t talk with his mouth full. Wasting little time, you pulled up a classic—Love, Actually.

“It’s a sappy romance movie kind of night.” You told Quinn decidedly, and he didn’t put up an argument. Settling back into your seat, you felt yourself start to feel a little bit better about not being able to spend Christmas back home. After all, you couldn’t worry about much with Quinn by your side.

By the time Colin Firth was jumping into the lake to save his novel, Quinn got up from the couch and whispered a quiet ‘I’ll be right back’ before slipping into the kitchen. You tried your very best, but you couldn’t focus on the movie any longer and instead you found yourself listening to your boyfriend doing something in your kitchen. Ratting dishes, running water, and the sound of your microwave—for the life of you, you couldn’t figure out what he was up to.

“Do you need any help?” You called after a moment, a smile toying on your lips as you heard Quinn let out a quiet curse. Part of you wondered if you should be a little more concerned, knowing his lack of domestic skills could very well lead to something disastrous, but you trusted him enough to tell you if something went awry.

“No, I got it.” He replied, and just then he was reemerging with two mugs of hot cocoa, decked out with marshmallows and candy canes that he must have snuck in with the takeout.

“You’re really pulling out all the stops, huh, Huggy?” You teased, watching with mirth as he rolled his eyes playfully at the nickname. You spent too much time with his teammates, but you had to admit they were onto something with the teasing name. There was just something entirely too adorable about calling your boyfriend Huggy, especially when all he typically did in response was blush.

“Anything for you.” The comment was delivered in a light tone, but you and Quinn both heard the honesty that rang through the three simple words. Another set of three simple words made its way to the forefront of your mind, begging to be said. But instead, you chuckled quietly, most of your attention on the mug he was setting on the coffee table in front of you.

“Cheesy.”

“Hey, you said it was a sappy romance night.” He defended, settling back into his seat by your side. You didn’t respond right away, too busy taking a sip of the cocoa Quinn made. You could tell he was waiting for your reaction expectantly, and you gave him a proud smile when you realized it tasted perfectly fine.

“I love it.” You assured him, and with that final bit of convincing both of your attentions returned to the movie. You had to admit, as much as you felt like a grinch before, Quinn’s efforts to make you feel more at home thousands of miles away from your family were warming your heart.

Though, you wanted to say something a little bit different than ‘I love it.’

The movie continued and by the time credits were rolling, Quinn was on his feet and ushering you to the door with a grin. You complied, only after pouting your lips for a few short kisses that he readily supplied.

“So what’s the surprise?” You questioned, following Quinn’s actions by tugging on your coat. He chuckled, not taking the bait and revealing what he had planned just yet.

“I’m not telling you, but I got the idea from Brock.” He confessed, opening your front door for you. You shot him a teasing look, meeting his lopsided grin and feeling your heart swell in your chest. Following him out of your apartment, you couldn’t help the next comment that slipped past your lips.

“You’re taking romance advice from Brock now? Was Jake not available?” You joked, referencing his teammates’ mess of love lives. Jake was in a friends with benefits situation with someone he was falling for fast and you were pretty sure Brock was still in love with his ex from his hometown. Quinn shook his head in mirth at the chirp directed at your mutual friends, and instead of answering, he slipped his hand into yours.

“Well, it was my idea. Brock just told me where to go.” Was all he said on the topic, watching you lock your apartment door behind you. He filled you in on the latest jokes from his practice earlier in the day as you made your way out to his car. He was in the middle of a story about Petey’s sports car and not handling Vancouver’s winters by the time he opened your door for you and it was only after ten minutes of driving did you think to question him about where you were going once more.

“Huggy, where are we going?” You sighed dramatically. Even in the dark, you could tell he rolled his eyes playfully at the nickname.

“Why do you have to call me that?” He teasingly groaned, reaching over the center console to thread his fingers through yours. Giving his hand a squeeze, you chuckled at his mock annoyance.

“That’s not an answer.” You said in a sing-song to get your point across. It was Quinn’s turn to chuckle, the sound bringing a grin to your face and causing your heart to pick up in pace.

“You know how you said you wanted to go look at lights?” Quinn started, immediately piquing your attention and earning an excited gasp from you. He was smiling, clearly proud of himself and you felt your eagerness grow.

“You’re taking me to drive around and look at Christmas lights?” You sat up in your seat, turning to face your boyfriend with a hopeful look. He chuckled at your reaction, lifting your hand to his lips to press a kiss to the back of it as a form of answer. You could have sworn you felt your heart grow two sizes at the action, the three words you had yet to say to him begging to roll off your tongue.

“I remember you said that you always drive around your hometown with your family to look at the lights, so I figured we could do the same thing.” Quinn said as if it was something nonchalant like the weather, and not one of the sweetest things you had ever heard.

That was the tipping point.

“I love you.” You blurted before you could stop yourself. You felt the car swerve slightly as Quinn worked through his initial shock at your confession. He glanced at you, then, a broad smile on his face that helped calm your nerves slightly.

“Yeah?” He questioned with unrestrained glee in his tone. You nodded, watching as he pulled over onto the side of the road. As soon as he had the car in park, he was leaning over to your side and grabbing your face with both of his hands to connect your lips in a kiss that settled you completely.

He didn’t need to say the words back immediately, you felt them in the way he was kissing you, the way he was taking you to drive around and look at lights. You felt it in the way he bought your favorite takeout and let you watch your sappy romance movies. The way he knew you needed a night with him to help get over your homesickness.

You loved him and he loved you just the same.

“I love you, too.” He told you just that the moment he broke the kiss, the words mumbled against your lips with a sureness and honesty that you felt to your core. You were in love with Quinn and he loved you back, and with that knowledge you felt all your previous sadness about missing home disappear, because as long as you were with him you could make any place feel like home.

“Thank you.” You told him as he pulled back out onto the road and continued towards the neighborhood full of houses decorated to the nines with lights and other Christmas ornaments. Quinn gave you a confused look, though he was still wearing his same dopey smile he had since the moment you confessed your feelings to him. “For doing all of this, I mean.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He said simply, and now that you had already said it once, your second I love you fell past your lips with much more ease and a lot less nerves. He repeated his earlier action of pressing a kiss to the back of your hand, and you couldn’t help but admire his profile that was currently bathed in white, red, and green lights from the decorations outside on the houses. His smile turned a little mischievous, but you barely noticed, too caught up in your love for him. “You’re supposed to be looking at the lights, you know. Not me.”

“I can’t help it.” You replied with a chuckle, finally dragging attention from him and out the window. The sights were truly beautiful, but you were looking at everything with rose tinted glasses now that you had finally confessed and knew he felt the same.

It was funny, you thought, that you moved so far away from home and yet the lights on the decorated houses could have been the ones in your hometown and you wouldn’t have known the difference. You still missed your family, of course, but with one glance to the man driving you around, it all felt a little bit more like home.

Being in love made it all a bit easier.

#Quinn hughes #Quinn hughes imagine #quinnn hughes x reader #vancouver canucks #vancouver canucks imagine #vancouver canucks x reader #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #12 days fics

267 notes · View notes

minaminokyoko · 7 years ago

Text

A Love Letter to Black Panther

Disclaimer: Y'all gon' get tired of hearing me scream, "WAKANDA FOREVERRRRRRR!"

Because I mean it. Bless this movie, man. This is everything I have ever dreamt of seeing from a black superhero with an all black cast. They couldn't have done a better job. This movie is a vision, fully realized. It's going to leave a very important impact on pop culture at large and I am so here for that. I've been a black nerd since birth, and to be given a big budget film with a 90% black cast that is backed by a studio giant is so gratifying I can see why some people left the theater in tears of joy. It's not that we haven't had black films before that did well. It's not that we're not giving credit to Blade for being a (mostly) successful film franchise with a black hero at the helm. It's all the elements lining up from having Ryan Coogler direct to grabbing actually African cast members to being marketed during the Superbowl--which is the most expensive ad time you can buy on television--to seeing an amazing integration of tradition, science fiction, and modern topics that are relevant to the black community. I sound like I'm overstating things, but I truly am so happy with how this film turned out. It wasn't a cheap cash grab. It was a genuine attempt to weave a story about African and black culture based around a whole lot of ass-whuppin' and I can't wait to dive in. Follow me, Wakandans.

Naturally, spoiler alert.

Let's start with the man himself, the King of Wakanda, T'Challa. First of all, I knew I'd love him since Civil War. Most people went for Tony or Steve and came out of that movie going, "OH MY GOD BLACK PANTHER IS THE FUCKING BADDEST I CANNOT WAIT FOR HIS SOLO MOVIE DUDE." We all knew he was a total badass, but what I left this movie with was a sincere love for the mercy and compassion he showed us in this film. It's very easy in a position with that kind of power to let it corrupt you and become jaded, but the gestures he made in this film were so lovely. I love that he was outraged by his father trying to erase history with what happened to his uncle and cousin. He was genuinely angry and hurt by it all and in the end, he showed so much kindness by letting Kilmonger see the sunrise before he died that it was honestly touching. I love T'Challa because he has such a big heart. It’s an incredibly important perspective to provide, as much of the world still sees black men as angry, dangerous thugs incapable of kindness. He has flaws as well, like his anger issues and naivete, and that's what makes his journey so compelling. It's very easy to write a royalty character as above it all, but that's why Thor: Ragnarok was so well received recently: they knocked Thor off his princely pedestal and brought him down to our level. We understand what T'Challa is going through even though we aren't royalty. He has a homeland to protect and a family to look after in his father's absence, much like we have our own responsibilities trying to tug us in a thousand different ways. I love that he challenged his father and brought about a new era, extending his help to the world. T'Challa is an excellent character and Chadwick Boseman did a hell of a job with him.

As a black woman, you know what's coming next. My girls Nakia, Okoye, and Shuri. Where do I even start? First of all, let me raise my fist for some lovely dark-skinned women getting the spotlight in a major superhero film franchise. Now, don't get me wrong--I absolutely freaking LOVED Tessa Thompson in Thor: Ragnarok. She slayed. But my heart is just bursting with pride at these beautiful badass women who are given weight, agency, and attention in this film. I have absolutely nothing against light-skinned women at all, but I do acknowledge that they tend to get roles easier than dark-skinned women because society still has this idiotic aversion to them because of the establishment's idea of beauty. It was such a rush to see each woman on screen having inner conflict and deciding what side of the line they would stand on. I love Nakia's stubborn nature and her hesitance to join the fray, but the second T'Challa was gone, she switched into spy mode and she did the damn thing. She saved the people who cared about her, she saved Ross, and she stood up for her country as well as the other people out there who needed her help. You are a diamond, Nakia. Okoye is probably going to come out of this film as the runaway favorite, if you ask me. I mean, Danai Gurira is already worshiped for her role as the amazing Michonne on The Walking Dead, but seeing her here, slicing and stabbing and beating the tar out of everyone while struggling with her loyalty to the Wakandan throne just gives me all the feels. I adored her sharp tongue and her grumpy frown and her impossible awesomeness. Then there's Shuri. I can't express my delight with her. She was such an adorable, witty addition to the team. I fully admit that I fell for the low-hanging fruit: the "WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOSE!" joke was hilarious even though I know no one over the age of thirty is going to have a single clue what she was referencing. I loved her calling Ross "colonizer." Shuri was throwing shade left and right and it was glorious. Furthermore, having her be the gadget gal of the film was brilliantly done. I loved her enthusiasm and her amazing tech. I loved that she bravely fought even though she was inexperienced. She was such a great character and I look forward to seeing beautiful little girls idolizing her mind and her strength in the future.

Kilmonger is definitely one of the strongest villains in the MCU so far. Most people ding Marvel for having thin villains, and that's not an unfair assessment. In my opinion, it's Cutting Room Floor issues. When you have to tell a story in two and a half hours, sometimes there's just too much content that you're excited to fit in and you just can't get it in there, so you take out chunks related to the villain to avoid the hero having an unsatisfying character arc. It's not a great idea, because then your villain isn't three dimensional and it can diminish the overall enjoyment of the film. Kilmonger is the answer to that problem. He had a reason for what he did, and while it wasn't an excuse for his cruelty, it definitely made you think about the fact that every good villain is a hero in his own mind. Kilmonger's plan even tempted someone in T'Challa's camp because it had a serious amount of relevance not only to Africans but black people all over the world. Wanting to stomp out oppression, especially in this day and age, is a trap I think a lot of people can fall into. I love the almost Shakespearean tragedy of it all, that maybe this could have been avoided if T'Chaka stayed behind and explained to the boy where he came from and that he had no choice. It probably wouldn't have worked, but just abandoning the kid with his dead father was ice-cold, and it's more tragic that it was done out of good intentions in T'Chaka's mind. I love that T'Challa sympathized with Erik and even offered to save him in the end. That has weight. That's excellent writing. I do admit, though, that Michael B. Jordan is definitely a young actor, because he was hamming it up pretty hard in certain scenes, but overall the kid did well with the role.

The costume design and scenery were just breathtaking. Man, I love the visuals we got to see. African culture is so vibrant and interesting. I'm really delighted knowing millions of people will get some exposure to all the different aspects and traditions it has to offer.

The soundtrack is killer. From the score to the tracks, it was done truly well.

Andy Serkis as Claw (although I don't appreciate the bait and switch, I can live with it; Marvel always kills their villains that are not Loki and even he is probably going to die in Infinity War). I knew he was an oddball in Age of Ultron, but damn, was he a complete nutcase. I appreciate how completely insane he was the whole time with no real explanation as to why. The simple glee on his face when he giggles, "I made it rain!" was just flawless. He might have the market corned for wackiest Marvel villain thus far. I'm sad that we only got to enjoy two performances from Serkis, but they were still entertaining as hell.

The action sequences had me floored. This is one thing I've always adored about Marvel films. The pacing is always excellent and they know how to wow you. If you follow me at all, you'll know one of the numerous reasons I hated the Justice League movie is that there was NO imagination in ANY of the fight scenes. Black Panther offers some of the best and most creative scenes to enjoy, from hand to hand combat to flipping cars with a fucking vibranium spear. I was cringing and twitching in my seat like I was playing a VR of Tekken, for God's sake. These fight scenes were so well done (though I will ding the film for lighting issues; the jungle scene suffered badly from that problem, as did at least one other one to my chagrin) and I loved everyone's various weapons and fighting styles.

MY BOY BUCKY AT THE END CREDITS YOOOOOOOO. I am infatuated with the idea that the Wakandans analyzed him and have been slowly helping him recover from being brainwashed and abused. It made my cold, petrified heart all warm inside when he smiled and looked out over the water. I just want Bucky to be happy, okay?! Leave me alone!

Well, I've gone on long enough, haven't I? I regret nothing, honestly. This is like The Dark Knight all over again: one of those rare instances when the hype for something was so crazy that we were sure it couldn't deliver, but not only did it deliver, it kicked the hell out of all expectations. I can't wait to see where the road will lead from here. My wish and hope is that this movie does so damn well that Hollywood opens its damned eyes and listens to what we have been saying since the beginning: we want diversity and we want it well done and we want it now. Stop relying on the old ideals of a market that we outgrew decades ago. Black people are just as complex and interesting as everyone else on the planet, and it's time you woke up. We've been doing it ourselves with all kinds of various projects from comic books to novels to short films and you can either lead, follow, or get out the way, as Jidenna once said. Your move, Hollywood.

WAKANDA FOREVER.

#Black Panther #marvel #Marvel Cinematic Universe #T'Challa #representation matters #movie review #sorta #film review #Black Panther So Lit #spoiler alert #spoilers

35 notes · View notes

viralhottopics · 8 years ago

Text

Playing Jason Voorhees: Three Actors Who Played The Villain Discuss The Fraternity Of Friday The 13th

As soon as guests made their way out of the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel’s labyrinthine parking deck on Feb. 3, they weren’t greeted by the expected strings of elevator muzak. Rather, they were bombarded by the dulcimer tones of Metallica before running headlong into a mob of people (the males generally donning studded denim jackets with Cannibal Holocaust patches, the females usually clad in tattered jeans, fishnets and every hue of black lipstick imaginable)double-fisting 24 packs of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the lobby.

No, these were not the visitors attending the Southern Region National Black Law Students Association meeting. These were the merry, jolly sorts participating in this year’s Days of the Dead horror convention.

And these are unmistakably the most hardcore of the hardcore horror fanatics. Not content with merely cosplaying as their favorite celluloid psychopaths, those waiting in line at the ticket booth compared and contrasted Freddy Krueger tattoos while discussing the most minute intricaciesof ultra-obscure genre films such as The Leopard Man.

The scent of patchouliand raspberry-tinged deodorizer spray wafted over the show floor, where merchants hawked all sorts of kooky knickknacks – running the gamut from blood spattered hockey masks and lawsuit baiting “mash-up” t-shirts depicting random pop cultural icons gussied up as moviedom’s most memorable murderers to stunningly realistic replicas of mutilated cats and infant onesies depicting the mugshots of real serial killers like Richard Ramirez and John Wayne Gacy.

While the old comic books, action figures and VHS cassettes for sale garnered their fair share of attention, the real draw of the event was its smattering of genre movie staples offering a photo op or their John Hancock for cold hard cash. While names like Bill Johnson, Sid Haig and Doug Bradley may not resonate with the hoi polli, the Days of the Dead attendees flocked to them like teenage girls making a mad scramble at Justin Bieber. Surreal doesn’t begin to describe the scene of green-haired men wearing shirts reading “fuck the world and fuck you, too” and elementary school-aged children in panda costumes rapt with attention as the co-writer of Night of the Living Dead showed off a framed paycheck from 1968 – all while self-described “dominatrix wrestlers” in chain mail bikinis feverishly gyrated one table over.

While there were plenty of attractions to keep attendees occupied – full movie screenings and punk rock concerts and costume contests and special effects demonstrations, among others – perhaps the most popular events of all were the numerous panel discussions in which horror all-stars gathered to reminisce about the good old days of cinematic guts and gore.

And that evening, Days of the Dead attendees weren’t getting just one beloved screen psychopath performing a grindhouse version of Inside the Actor’s Studio – they were getting three of them.

The Unholy Trinity

Almost universally reviled by critics but nonetheless a perennial box office powerhouse (earning more than $460 billion worldwide across a spate of a dozen motion pictures), the long-running Friday the 13th series more or less represents the James Bond cash cow of Hollywood slasher series. The same way numerous actors over the years have portrayed Agent 007, about a dozen men – including credited actors and uncredited stunt doubles – have donned the iconic hockey mask (and sometimes, burlap sack) of franchise anchor and serial oversexed teenager slayer Jason Voorhees.

Three of the most memorable actors to ever put on the Jason regalia – part two’s Steve Dash, part six’s C.J. Graham and the only man to portray the character more than once, Kane Hodder – took the stage for a reunion and free-floating chit-chat on opening night at Days of the Dead 2017, each sharing personal recollections of their respective experiences beneath the ghoulish goalie mask.

That is, except for 73-year-old Dash (birth name, Steve Daskewisz), a former New York cop turned movie stuntman, whose tenure as Mr. Voorhees preceded the unveiling of the horrific hockey equipment in Friday the 13th Part 3.

“I got called one day for a job – there was this guy they hired to play Jason on Friday the 13th Part 2and his name was Warrington Gillette,” Dash recounted. “He was going to go through a window … he said he was a stunt man, but when it turned out he had to go through the window, he was scared shit.”

The stunt coordinator asked Dash if he was up for portraying Jason instead. He drove all the way to Connecticut for what he believed was his big acting breakthrough.

“I said ‘holy shit, I got a lead role in the film,’” he reminisced.

Alas, the title role in the film that was initially dubbedJason wasn’t exactly what Dash had anticipated. He recounted the words of stunt coordinator Cliff Cudney. “‘The whole deal is you wear this bag and you kill all these kids that are having sex and then, at the end of the film, then they kill you … and you have no lines.’”

Still, Dash soldiered through the shoot, in which cast and crew had to rough it through freezing filming conditions and sleep in unheated cabins. Such a miserable experience, Dash turned down an offer from Paramount to reprise the role in Friday the 13th Part 3.

“If I would’ve known then what I know now, I would’ve taken the job because I would’ve made a lot of money like Robert Englund,” he said, referencing the man who made a mint portraying Freddy Krueger in eight A Nightmare on Elm Street films.

Fellow stuntman – and one time Culver City, Calif. Chippendales dancer – C.J. Graham was likewise brought in as a replacement Jason for Friday the 13th Part 6, which, incidentally, was filmed in nearby Covington, Ga, in the mid-1980s.

“The first dailies come back and unfortunately, he didn’t resonate with quite the physique they were looking for,” Graham said. “It is kind of a Cinderella story, you know, but I knew what I was getting into when they pulled me back to [Paramount producer] Frank Mancuso’s office.”

Kane Hodder, 62, is the only actor to portray Jason in more than one film. In fact, he played the character in four consecutive movies, beginning with 1988’s Friday the 13th Part 7. Hodder made quite the impression on the director of that film, John Carl Buechlerwhile working as a stunt coordinator on an earlier horror flick titled Prison. When asked to put live nightcrawlers on his body while portraying a zombie, Hodder one-upped director Renny Harlin by stuffing a dozen real worms into his mouth.

Buechler was instrumental in getting Hodder the Jason role. He even paid out of his own pocket to bring Hodder in for a screen test.

“Because there were a lot of stunts to do in this particular movie, I think that’s what helped put me over the edge,” Hodder said. “I loved playing the character, and would’ve done it for free.”

Becoming Jason

As the first actor to portray the notorious Friday the 13th killer (discounting, of course, Ari Lehman’s seconds-long appearance as the character at the end of the original film), Dash more or less had carte blanche when it came to creating Jason’s mannerisms. From the get-go, he didn’t think the antagonist should’ve been much of a sprinter.

“They wanted me to run a certain way,” he said. “I said ‘no, I’d rather lope.’”

The burlap sack get-up was quite problematic, Dash recalled. With only one eye hole slit into the mask, he wore a patch for several days to help himself get acclimated to losing peripheral vision during filming.

It wasn’t until Part 2‘s climactic scene – in which “final girl” Amy Steel does in the villain with a mean machete blow to the jugular – that Dash said he felt like he was portraying a true movie monster.

“The only time that it came to reality with me that I was a character was when we were in Jason’s lair,” he said. “I had to develop – and I wasn’t intentionally developing – the character … I was just being Jason.”

Apparently, Dash’s menacing disposition made a big impact on the film’s leading lady.

“Amy Steel wouldn’t talk to me for the whole shoot,” he said. “The first time I talked to [her] was 25 years later.”

By the time Graham came on board, Jason Voorhees was already one of Hollywood’s most famous (and feared) villains. Considering the opening sequence of Friday the 13th Part 6 pays homage to a certain Universal Monsters masterpiece, perhaps it’s not surprising he found inspiration for the character via the horror classics of the 1930s.

“It was more of the Frankenstein factor of the old Boris Karloff days, the curiosity factors,” Graham said. “The powerful force that was unstoppable, no matter what you put in front of that person.”

Before filming on Part 7 began, Hodder rewatched all the films in the series. He said he took elements of each previous Jason and incorporated it into his portrayal – albeit, with quite a few touches of his own.

For starters, he decided early on that Jason should’ve been played more zombie than human – so that made running a big no-no. He also sought to introduce a few body language quirks to non-verbally express the character’s ill intentions – primarily, by breathing rapidly and puffing out his shoulders instead of simply standing still before axing, knifing or spearing his latest prey.

Hodder also took great strides to elicit real terror out of his fellow actors. Before shooting began, he said that sometimes he would wander off into the woodlands and scream into the night to intentionally creep out his cast mates.

Few know his unique style of method acting as well as actress Joleigh Fiorevanti, who played one of his victims in the 2006 film Hatchet – a Friday the 13th inspired neo-slasher starring Hodder as the recurring antagonist Victor Crowley.

“They never saw me live in the makeup until they were on camera, and the best scene where that is evident is where I come out and grab Jolie and the belt-sander to the face,” Hodder said. “She was crying knowing I was right behind her off camera, waiting for the moment where I turned the thing on … she was so terrified that when she turns around in the movie, she drops to her knees – and she wasn’t supposed to do that – so I had to grab her hair and yank her up and ad lib a little bit.”

Slaughter On the Set

Dash doesn’t have to think too long to drudge up his most memorable murder in Part 2.

“My favorite kill was wheelchair-down-the-stairs-backwards-with-a-machete-in-the-head,” he quipped as the Days of the Dead audience roared with applause.

It was actually a pretty intricate little stunt, he recollected. The prop itself was tied to a line traveling down the stairwell, and the rainy, nighttime shooting conditions made it even tougher to pull off.

“It took about a week to put that thing together,” he said, “and there was no rehearsal because it was a one-shot deal.”

While Part 6 had its fair share of memorable executions – Graham himself is fond of the scene where an unlucky sheriff has his spine folded up like an accordion – perhaps the most iconic sequence of the entire film is the grand finale in which the flick’s hero attempts to drown Jason at the bottom of Crystal Lake with the help of a humongous boulder.

While the exterior shots of Jason Liveswere filmed just outside the city limits of Atlanta, that scene was actually shot in an Olympic-sized swimming pool in Los Angeles. Black felt was draped around the natatorium and safety divers were onset to provide Graham a steady supply of oxygen.

“They dropped me in the water in normal wardrobe – and that is a real chain around my neck – and they stood me on a cinder block 20 feet down,” he said. “We went down several times and finished the shot in one night.”

Hodder had a similar experience filming Part 7. He described the unanticipated results the first time he hopped into the pool while wearing the full body Jason costume.

“I floatedright on top because foam latex is so full of air bubbles,” he said. “The safety divers had to attach a cable at the bottom of the pool … and then looped it around my ankle because when I would go underwater, I would stay perfectly upright.”

Although Hodder does have some misgivings about the critically maligned Jason X – when a New Line Cinema rep told him the concept was “Jason in space,” he thought it was a joke – he does appreciate it for facilitating what he considers one of the most inspired death scenes in the entire franchise.

“At least there’s the frozen head kill in there,” he said, “that’s a good one.”

Behind the Screams

Hodder, already a huge fan of the Friday the 13th films, said he was utterly awestruck the first time he donned the goalie gear and tattered mechanic uniform.

“I still can think back to the feeling I had when I was on the set,” Hodder remarked. “Saying ‘holy shit, there’s people around the world – literally – that know this character and I’m wearing the fucking mask.’”

He considers the one night of shooting in New York for the somewhat misleadingly subtitled Jason Takes Manhattan to be the single most remarkable moment of his 40 years in stunt work and acting. He vividly recalled thousands of spectators flocking to Times Square to catch a glimpse of his character.

“Just imagine, you’re in the costume, shooting one of the films, people know the character all over,” he said. “You’re standing out there by yourself, in between shots, and you just look over in one direction and they just start going fucking crazy, cheering and yelling and stuff.”

Promotional work for Part 8led to an appearance on The Arsenio Hall Showin 1989 when Hodder appeared as a guest on the program in full Jason get-up. Before filming, the host made the dire mistake of telling Hodder he was deathly afraid of his character – Hall’s terrified reaction when Jason yanked his hand at the end of the segment, Hodder said, was 100 percent genuine.

Interestingly, Graham said he also made an appearance in-character as Jason on The Arsenio Hall Show shortly after Hodder’s visit to the set. In a backstage skit set up by Paramount, he reprisedthe role – albeit, while wearing the old burlap sack from Part 2 instead of the more famous hockey mask – as a green room server.

Not that he didn’t have some memorable moments filming his canonical Jason Voorhees role. He recounted a scene where Jason plunged his arm inside the rib cage of Ron Parillo (yes, the actor who played Arnold Horshack on Welcome Back, Kotter), and – before the Motion Picture Association of America rating board scissored it to shreds – yanked out his still beating, blood spraying heart. Then there was the shot where he had to bust open an RV door. The prop people merely unhooked the hinges, then Graham stepped up on a couple of crates andliterally sent it sailing off the frame with one punch.

Graham said he was treated very well during the filming of Jason Lives – indeed, he was one of the few cast and crew members to have his own trailer during the shoot. The antithesis of the Hollywood prima donna, however, Graham loaned out his mobile home to any weary set transportation workers who needed a quick nap; as a token of appreciation, the department let Graham keep the trailer after filming wrapped up.

An Ode to the Stuntman

While all three men share bonds in one of Hollywood’s more atypical acting fraternities, they are similarly united by an altogether different type of brotherhood – the fellowship of stuntmen.

Before portraying Jason, Dash, Graham, and Hodder all had extensive experience as Hollywood stunt performers. Hodder alone has performed stunts in more than 100 films and television programs – including big budget offerings like Lethal Weapon 3, Batman Forever, Gone in Sixty Seconds and Daredevil – and has served as stunt coordinator in more than 40.

“This is the person who keeps everybody alive on the set,” Graham remarked. “He’s the general.”

Hodder certainly takes set safety seriously. Early in his career, he was nearly killed in a fire stunt gone awry. Nearly four decades later, his neck, biceps, and upper body still display the scars of third-degree burns.

“Sometimes, the directors get really crazy with what they want to shoot and it becomes an art to say ‘OK, that’s great,’ even though what they’re coming up with you know in your mind is impossible,” Hodder said. “In your mind you’re saying ‘we have to do it this way or else somebody’s going to get killed,’ but you have to present as if you are making the shot even more exciting … it’s kind of a tightrope you walk.”

He brought up one of his more harrowing recent stunts – a sequence in the 2010 horror film Frozen in which an actress had to lie on an icy road, with a car jettisoning downhill swerving to avoid hitting her at the last second. “That kind of stuff is some of the most nerve-racking,” Hodder said.

Although Dash has never served as a stunt coordinator, he has performed stunt work in more than 30 films and television programs. He said he greatly admires coordinators like Hodder, who not only are tasked with ensuring performer safety but doing so without costing the studio extra money.

“If the budgets for these stunts is $600,000, it better not be $600,001,” Dash said, “because they’re on his ass constantly.”

And if you’re wondering what could possibly strike fear into the heart of a man who has the word “kill” tattooed on his bottom lip and whose biography touts him as “the world’s most prolific cinematic killer?”

“If you’re going to shoot for three months and you have 100 stunts, it’s going to be very hard to budget, and you’ve got to stick to that budget,” Hodder said. “Or else, those producers have no interest in hiring you for the next film.”

Forget being chased through the woods by a hockey mask-wearing psychopath with a machete –the fiduciaryresponsibilities of filmmaking terrifies even Jason Voorhees himself.