The Actor

The life of a animal actor is not as glamorous as that of a human actor. They do not receive lavish salaries or fancy homes or media attention. Their own species is often utterly indifferent to their chosen profession. For this reason, animal actors are often far more dedicated to their roles than any human could imagine. If an animal becomes an actor, he does it entirely for the love of the craft. So it was with Colin, who in his youth played Babe in one of many direct to video sequels and got to be Young Wilbur in a production of Charlotte's Web. As he got older, he played Napoleon in a remake of Animal Farm, Habeas Corpus in a Doc Savage webseries. He played a pequinino in one of the Ender's Game sequels. He came full circle and portrayed Grown Wilbur in Charlotte's Web again, and critics agreed he was “some pig.” As he got older, he had fewer roles to choose from. After all, there weren't many stories about old pigs, as most were eaten before then. Still, he did get to play Old Major in a made-for-TV version of Animal Farm. But that was the last role left for him. Or so he thought, for one day, someone approached him to play the title role in a film called The Lord of the Flies. He was excited to play a title role again. Even when he read the script and saw what the part entailed, he still took the job, for as he always said, “I'm an actor until the day I die.”

- Originally mailed to J. Schwartz in Keller, Texas