Deb, I have now seen enough of his work (although the tic code is one I still haven't seen, it is on my netflix list), to know he doesn't just forget how he played a part.  I also don't think he just makes sure he plays a part differently.  He looks into his character and decides how that character would do things, and that makes his performances different.  You are probably right that he is a method actor.  Although my experience has been that method actors are very different now, from what we all associate with method actors.  If you ask him about this stuff, I would love to hear the answer.

Have you seen The Tic Code yet?  He did that movie when he was just a kid, maybe 13 or so.  He plays a piano prodigy with Tourette's Syndrome.  He was absolutely amazing in that movie.  It's still the one thing he's most proud of in his entire career.  Well, a few years after he did that film, he was cast in a guest role on schmaltzy old Touched By An Angel, playing another kid with Tourette's --- an older kid, with young siblings who's dad was sent to prison for assaulting a man who made fun of the kid in a store.

This kid, Cody is completely different from the character in TTC, Miles.  His Tourette's tics are not the same at all.  It's really quite fascinating to see how Chris managed to make them so different.  Like you said, he did not just reach into some actorly bag of tricks.  And I also don't think it was that he simply forgot how he played Miles and so he just didn't play Cody the same way.  We'd have to ask him about this, but I know in my gut that it was a conscious thing with him.  He chose to playing him as differently as possible.  And it was beautiful.  That performance is so gutwrenching.  It shreds me everytime I see it.  Now, granted, part of it is the ham and cheese TBAA formula of writing scenes that are supposed to tug on your heart strings.  But it's really more about the emotion Chris drags out of you in his climactic scene.

Over the course of this adventure in CM fandom, I've come to the conclusion that Chris is very much a Method actor.  The way he has described his process, it's very plain to see.  It might interest you to know Rick, that he is very much a fan of the maverick actors of the 1950's.  If he'd been born to that era, he would've fit right in.  Interestingly, in a review of The Invisible, someone compared him to Sal Mineo.  That really gave me a smile.

I'm trying to think of the two most alike characters that Chris has played, and I'm having a hard time coming up with anything. Pretty much everything I've seen him do was done differently, every character had something to him that you wouldn't find in any of the other characters Chris has played. I never really thought of it that way. (Would you mind if we sent your feedback to Chris himself some time? I think he'd be really pleased to hear it.)

I guess you also have a point when you say Miracles was a little like X-Files, and you might have that impression especially when you've only seen this episode. If you watch the show from the beginning, I think you'll realize that while the premise is similar, it's still different. The show centers very much around Paul (Skeet Ulrich) and the visions and premonitions that he has, it is not simply a group of three investigating paranormal phenomena (and it's also not at all about aliens or alien/government conspiracies). It's also more connected to the religious aspect, but not in an in-your-face way. (And I'm not trying to convince you to watch the show, I just wanted to point this out.)

-TeeJay

As to the show, someone else mentioned X-files, and that is what I spent most of the show thinking.  It wasn't a bad show, but I didn't feel the need to watch any of the other episodes on the dvd.

Team Arrives In Michigan For Bigfoot Hunt

The weirdest thing is that the location of this hunt is... drumroll please...

Marquette, Michigan.  LOL!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2 … %2C00.html

I'd like to get started watching Miracles too, but I really wanna watch all of JoA S2 again first.  Could take a while.

Deb

It's not even Christmas, and I already have a huge backlog of stuff to watch!  Not that I'm complaining, I just wish I had enough hours in the day to keep up with all my fandoms.

I agree that Touched is worth seeing.  It's been a few years, so I should refresh my memory on that one, but I remember I liked it, though it's very strange.

I haven't listened to any of the Chris soundslips yet; see above.  It should be fun to hear, though!  I'm working 7 hours a day now, and should start working 8 in January, but possibly before that.  I need the money, and I still enjoy the job, though it's getting more stressful all the time.  It's really cut down on my fannish time, which is annoying, but necessary.

Deb

-TeeJay