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by Donna Douglas |
One terrible lonely year made the difference of a lifetime. Jonathon Crombie was 13 when his father's job made the family move from his lifetime home to Ottawa. A new school, full of kids who all knew each other since kindergarten, and Jon found himself on the outside in his senior public school year... alone and lonely.
"I was used to a lot of friends, of coming into a room and being loved. And here I was in a school where nobody knew me, or liked me. I became very unsure of myself, nervous that I would do things wrong. I knew why we'd moved to Ottawa, but I longed for the comfort of what I knew back home."
"I was sure if I managed to meet friends, I'd like it. It was being an outsider that hurt, and I knew the reason for that was me. I remember back in Toronto in our old house, I'd always complain when it was my turn to do the dishes, or clean up. That whole year I vowed I'd never complain again if I could just do dishes in our old house!"
Jonathon survived that year, but only because he kept a diary, spent a lot of time by himself, watching other people in their relationships. He made one casual friend, just one.
And the insecurity caused by that loneliness and his perceived rejection stayed with him when he moved back to Toronto the next year.
And it's with him today, eight years later. So is the sensitivity he developed while he watched other people and got to know himself through his diaries and letters.
During high school Jon Crombie on the outside looked like a popular guy... involved in debating clubs and drama; on the inside he says "I was nervous and internal a lot of time. I'd be able to play along with the gang but still worried about what everyone was thinking of me. I've always tried to show that."
Today, at 21, with a major television acting role behind him, and the conclusion of his first TV series wrapping up, Jon Crombie says the insecurity often provides professional fuel. "Those insecurities come from reacting to how I'm doing on TV or film. People give me criticism and I want it, but I worry about it."
As Gilbert Blythe in Sullivan Films blockbuster Anne of Green Gables and the Sequel, Crombie launched an acting career that was only a casual interest three years ago. Now, he's living in Montreal, studying his first year in English Literature at McGill University and with some understanding professors, he's been flying between Montreal, Toronto and Paris to shoot a season's worth of episodes in Mount Royale, a TV series about a Montreal playboy (Crombie) and his adventures. At the same time, he's enjoying an apartment provided to him by the show's producers, and yearns to get his driver's license so he can spin about in the 1987 Porsche that's in his parking garage. "Clutch," he asks, "I know nothing about a clutch."
Gilbert Blythe, a Montreal playboy? It's hard sometimes to see a wholesome character like Gilbert and imagine that its' actor could be anybody else.
Portraying any character is a tremendous challenge, says Crombie. "On film, an editor can make me look awful. I've got to make choices about the part of the character I'm going to show. I've got to understand the character and contribute one element of it. You can't get too multi-dimensional."
As with the Gilbert Blythe character, Crombie feels his role on Mount Royale needs revamping. Overhaul sessions with the series' writers gave him the chance to express his concerns about his Mount Royale character.
"They've tempered my role in Mount Royale because of the Gilbert Blythe image, I think," says Crombie. "They say they felt the playboy image was too limiting. I think they've made it too dimensional. It could be many dimensional and still macho. They could use this character to look behind the glitz and see what makes a playboy incapable of commitment, explore the limits of his own personality, the reasons behind his actions. I don't think that would be limiting at all."
Crombie was just as critical of the development of his character in Anne of Green Gables. He felt Gilbert Blythe wasn't developed in depth to the extent that he could have been, that he appeared as a shadow person.
For Jonathon Crombie, the real challenge, though, is achieving what he sets out for himself. He carries a strict exercise regimen, follows a diet (to curtail the 'Crombie cheeks') and tries to complete a daily log of activities.
"I try to give myself time off, one day a week, but the rest of the week I'm really disciplined. I put on weight easily, I have to watch my diet. I have a list of 10 projects a day I want to get done."
What future is Crombie making in projects for tomorrow...dance, drama, song, musicals, a movie..."I'm afraid of regrets. I don't want to be afraid to do more. I don't want to any 'could haves' when I look back. I want to try to overlap my plate, I don't want to leave stuff undone," he says.
©1999 TG Magazine/Le Magazine TG
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