We’ve all heard about the Purge Experience in movie theaters worldwide which has hit #1 at the box office.

Many of us have seen it, some of us are scared wusses, and a small few are waiting for it to come to a bootleg near your corner. So it’s been the talk of the town and has received raved reviews, but most importantly,  we’ve heard about the buzz surrounding the breakout star of the film.

No not that one

Getting closer

Oh forget it!

It’s Emmanuel Howell for freaking sake.

Okay, so he’s not necessarily the main actor nor is he even credited, IMDB I see you too! for his role as one of the Ghoul Purgers, but he’s been receiving a lot of attention Good and Bad through out all media resources. One mainly being TMZ . You might have remembered Harvey Levin and his team on TMZ Live interviewing (and even subliminally mocking) Emmanuel in regards to his rather wrongful situation.

(Laughs) Clearly, so wrongful that his face appears under the term in the dictionary. For a few minutes, Emmanuel was able to express his dismay with the lack of integrity coming from the productions end while his face continues to be the films ratings rocket at the cost of an additional $0. Yep, that’s right 0 so you wonder what seems more accurate the “City of Angels” or more like the City of Demons and Devils Advocates.

I was able to get an even thorough understanding of what actually occurred behind the scenes. As we all know the media likes to twist, turn then spit out their own versions of a story with a nice wod of loogie.  The worst insulting form of spit. Basically, he was snubbed.  It was a bold and yet deceitful move where he was cast to play a specific character type under the pretenses of being an extra…oh I’m sorry a “Featured extra”.

When I first saw the previews for the film, the Ghoul Purgers were initially what captured my attention. There was something demented yet exhilarating about those face painted masks that hid the true identities of the unruly ruffian characters; so it was only fair to say that with everything circling around Emmanuel it sparked my interest to contact him for an interview. Thank god I didn’t have to hear the over dramatic line of “Contact my Rep” just to have a one on one sit down.

I had Emmanuel meet me at a popular hot spot Five0Four for bottomless drinks and craw fish. I felt that most interviews are either cut too short or humdrum, so I wanted a more easy going vibe without any judgment or preconceived notion.

As we sat down, we mainly just let the conversation roll so I could get a feel for him as I’m sure he was doing the exact same.
Emmanuelle came across as a very casual guy, someone that doesn’t allow the little things in life to bother him, so I can see how the BlumHouse, Universal and Platinum Dunes production might have…or just blatantly did, disregard him and his work. If you’ve seen the film he wasn’t just a rock or tree as I typically refer to most extras (People who are literally planted in the background) he was considered to be a main purger just without lines.

Growing up in Los Angeles while also living in the outside countries of Denmark and Australia, Emmanuel has lived a very modest and ambitious lifestyle spontaneously going after what he wants. Many of times that spontaneous nature has worked in his favor. Coming from a background of skateboarding, he’s landed numerous jobs in Commercials, Tv and Film that fit his skills,  so don’t ignorantly discredit his sense of knowledge working in the industry. As I’ve said before, Black Don’t Crack where people might compare him to that of a young kid just working to buy a bag of Doritos, but contrary to belief he’s an educated adult whose made it very clear that this is his only source of income to support himself in this sheepish smoke and mirrored city. As a working Paid actor holding a “Normal” or regular job can become a little complicated at times so you can understand the struggle.

Not for long though.

After dealing with the scrutiny of the on set crew, production and media outlets who try to use a silly form of intimidation to prevent him from stating his case, he’s actually been contacted by many professionals (Including crazed fans) in the industry that are looking to represent him as well as offers to being featured and casted in two upcoming films. Blackballed? He’s past all the bullshit. Like myself, once you’ve experienced the ten year mark, you then see through that cloud of smoke that others tend to get lost in. He told me of the many incidents that unknowingly helped him to exceed against all the odds and I came to realize how special his situation was. Following some invisible manual book of how to make it in acting just all seems like a figment idea of how people feel it should be.

That’s where the term sheep comes in. Because you have mindless individuals that are so tunnel visioned in trying to make it in Hollywood that they fail to remember that sometimes things just happen without a strict course set into place. Lets be real, if we all followed the same backhanded advice of some of the professionals, we’d all be exactly where we wanted to be. (All too many of us including those boarding a plane right as I type) It just doesn’t work that way.

His aura was in his favor,  so lets just funnel down a bit. He was casted up against two other actors that also fit the description of needing to have been skilled motorcyclist and skateboarders. One was a no-show while the other took his job for granted and that’s where they casted Emmanuel.

Now its been a minute since I consistently worked as a feature on the shows Greek, Zoe 101 and the films 17 Again and Dance Flick. As a typical extra you got paid $60 for 8 hours while shooting an 8-15 hour day. With bump up penalties and SAG vouchers I was making anywhere from $150-$300 a day. So to hear he was only being paid $150 a day while other purgers were receiving a nice $700 check doing the exact same amount of work you’d be a little up in arms too. (The struggle is real) Lets not forget they cunningly used his face for their adds, billboards, and even a scare fest project The Purge Breakout Tour . (I’m not here to sell their tickets so Google it) to boost their earnings.

Not even being credited a Taft-Hartley or Day players rate for being in a Union film. When Harvey Levin said “He signed up for this” I thought, what a limp minded comment. In this situation, he signed up for what he thought fit a perfect description that they were looking for on LA Casting, but no one would have been able to foresee all of this. I understand when the economy leaves you to count your pennies but this is just one of the common 7 Deadly Sins called Greed . Once he manages to get solid representation that has his best interest at heart this time will soon pass, the movie will be on Blue-Ray and Emmanuel will be adding to his already impressive and credited resume.

Aside from acting, Emmanuel mentioned his love for charitable work at which he works with children only to inspire them to overcome the odds. As he prefers to be more hands on with his charitable work he strives to be a positive influence on the younger and misguided generation. A real cool down to earth guy that you have to give credit to. That’s admirable and goes to show that you just need to brush your shoulders off and flick off that unnecessary piece of lint; because at the end of the day you might just find that light in your tunnel. MORAL of the story…just give credit where it’s due. Props to Brian Kenny for the makeup!

And that’s a wrap!

“Keep It Social”