Dylan Saunders

Dylan Saunders Instagram – In 2004, I got the good fortune to visit Chicago for the very first time. I was a junior in high school, and it was my first time in the Midwest. I visited colleges and followed in the footsteps of Ferris Bueller. The city absolutely blew my mind. My mom took me to see a production of O’Neill’s “Hughie” at The Goodman directed by Bob Falls, and I watched Brian Dennehy with my jaw on the floor and my heart beating fast. He commanded the space, clever, smooth, gut-wrenching, and funny as hell. He was all of it, all at once. I nearly burst from my seat when the curtain fell. All I wanted was to be an actor. Nine years later, I found myself in the rehearsal room with Brian at the Mark Taper Forum at @ctgla for “The Steward of Christendom” directed by Steve Robman. The first thing he said was, “Who tows a car from the sixth floor of a damned parking garage? Los Angeles. What a town, what a town.” He corrected my posture when he introduced himself to me. I couldn’t stop grinning. That production got me my @actorsequity card. I could barely form a sentence at the table while I signed the union paperwork with Brian only a few seats away. He told us stories about working with Chris Farley in “Tommy Boy.” He could pontificate about Irish history, and he would always be right. He got mad when I tried to talk politics with him, but he’d laugh at my jokes moments later. He continued to correct my posture, even in the middle of rehearsing scenes. He poured over every syllable. He asked my opinions before we started working. He loved the Irish Whiskey “Writer’s Tears” and would roar with laughter over the name. He kept it going when we went to the pub on a few occasions. He always brought me in. He was always kind. RIP Brian, you staggering genius, you absolute gift. You’ve left an indelible mark. | Posted on 21/Apr/2020 06:03:52