Jeff aka "Mercury"

He was always a good actor, even when he sneaked that bouquet of California poppies to my bus seat outside San Francisco so many years ago. Jeff Gustaveson aka Mercury has been pursuing his acting dream ever since his childhood in Sandpoint. His permanent address is New York City, but try to catch him there, and you in for a challenge. Jeff is often on the road with acting troupes, doing a little Shakespeare among other road show gigs.

Last I knew, his day job when he's in New York dealt with computers and banking, but most of the time he's into some sort of dramatic endeavor. Yesterday, he apologized to all dial-up folks for sending about eight photos apiece in two separate notes entitled "Recent Work."

Accompanying the first note and photos, Jeff wrote:

This batch is work I did on the We Are Marshall film which is Matthew McConnaughey's latest film. Alas, I was only an extra but work must be had, however it may be found.

Photo Descriptions:

The most intriguing thing I found on this film were the inflatable dummies that are used to "fill in" the stands. Often felt like a "dummy" myself for sitting in the sun for 12 hours a day, cheering until my voice was hoarse. The stands that are empty will be filled digitally. Even with 300-600 extras a day, the dummies outnumbered us by three to five times that.

But as you can see in the "extra" photos, from a distance they look just like a crowd. Typically, real people are the sections with umbrellas (to shade them from the sun) and the rest are our oxygenated friends. Are ya digging the 70's clothes?

The picture labeled McConaughey, if you look closely and triangulate between the tuba, black flag, and white bounce, you'll see him dressed in a green shirt and white cap. Sorry ladies, cameras were banned on set so I got what I could surreptitiously.

Of course, as a featured reporter on the field, this is what I would look like in 1971-ish.

And of course, I ran up into the crowd of dummies and sat with them. Can you find me?

In the second note with pictures, he touched on the movie My Christmas Soldier:

This story set during Christmas 1943 is based on true events. I was featured as a German P.O.W. You will find various photos of German P.O.W.'s as well as American soldiers.

The out of focus shot of myself by the train is just to show how large the trains were. They are amazing, and the shoot was incredibly fun.

To view the trailer you can go to:

www. MyChristmasSoldier.com

Oo-la-la, if you pre-order a dvd, you will be listed as an "e-producer" on the dvd when it is released.

Cheers,

M

Jeff aka "Mercury" graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1983. Since then, he's traveled the world and has lived out his dramatic aspirations in a variety of venues. We've kept in touch over the years, and I've devoted a story in my new book to a very special gesture which he kept up for years; it will be called "Emmel's May Day Memories."

It's certainly been somewhat of a banner week for learning about the creative pursuits of former students. Jeff's news provides one more of the hundreds of reasons I cherish my opportunity to have taught all those years and all those talented kids.