In the spring semester of high school, something interesting happened. I don’t know where I heard this, maybe it was on the radio, but somewhere I heard that there was an actor named Neve Campbell. This was in either the spring of 1992 or the spring of 1993.
Hearing that name got my attention. Right away I started wondering if that was the same girl I knew in grade school. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it had to be. Campbell is a common last name, but Neve? Neve is just way too unique. It had to be the same girl.
I thought about her a lot that week. This was only two years after I quit drinking and the memory of why I quit was still fresh in my mind.
I started to wonder if this would become a reoccurring nightmare that I would have to relive for the rest of my life. I relived the memories of her for years after grade 4. I relived them again after my 17th birthday. I relived them again a year later when I had my ignorance of depression and mental illness wiped clean. Now another year has gone by and I learn there is an actor by the same name. When will it end?
The same week I heard that, I was in geography class. Our geography teacher’s name was Mr. Shryer. He was up at the front of the class teaching a lesson.
I had a friend named Adam that sat on my left in that class. We were not close friends, I only knew him that one semester, but we did hang out together outside of school the odd time. He was one of the few people in high school I could relate to. Adam had a girlfriend in that class. Her name was Danielle.
I never felt very connected to the people I went to school with at Daniel McIntyre. Here I was a teenage runaway. I moved to Winnipeg from Mississauga, so that I had no family or friends when I arrived. I transferred into that school not knowing anyone. I’m living on my own. I’ve got a job to pay the bills. I’m just trying to graduate so that I can make something of my life. I didn’t complain or take things too seriously, but I was cognizant of what was going on in the real world outside of school.
My friend Adam was in a similar situation. He was living on his own. Both his parents had died. He moved to Winnipeg from rural Manitoba and transferred into that school not knowing anyone either. He was always positive and outgoing. You would never know he had all this adversity in his life unless he told you. He never complained about his problems either. He was just determined to make something of his life.
In fact, I took some comfort knowing that my situation wasn’t all that bad given that I made the choice to walk away from my family and his parents were taken from him. In a lot of ways he had it worse.
When Mr. Shryer finished teaching his lesson he gave us a homework assignment to work on and then he sat down.
As soon as the teacher sat down, Adam said, “finally.” Then he put his head down on his desk and started to go to sleep. I thought that was funny.
I’m sure we’ve all heard either a parent or a teacher give that, “Oh you’re such a bad student. What are you going to do with your life” speech.
When Adam did that, I jokingly said to him, “Oh Adam, you’re such a bad student. What are you going to do with your life?”
When I said that, he sat up in his chair. He turned to me. He looked me dead in the eyes and he said, “I’m going to be a big Hollywood movie star.”
I cracked up laughing when he said that. I thought he was just trying to be funny. But he just smiled at me with all the confidence in the world and put his head back down on his desk and went back to sleep.
Still laughing, I turned and looked at Danielle. She just smiled at me and looked away. At that point I stopped laughing and I felt really uncomfortable. I felt like I had somehow insulted him by not sharing in his optimism.
The next morning Danielle stopped by my house and we walked to school together. She lived on Bannatyne Avenue, just off Tecumseh St., which was one block over from my place on McDermot. As we were walking to school that morning I asked her, “What was all that stuff yesterday about Adam becoming a Hollywood movie star?”
I didn’t realize this, because I was living on my own and I didn’t own a television, but she told me that Adam had been on an episode of North of 60. North of 60 is a CBC show about life on a reserve. She went on to explain that he had been told by his agents, or someone, to go back to high school and graduate. They said it didn’t have to be pretty. He could just skim by with 50s if he had to, but they told him if he got his grade 12, they would guarantee him a future in acting.
All of a sudden it made sense. I went from thinking that he was just being funny to thinking that he had some kind of naïve optimism. Now I’m realizing that he already knows his career path is mapped out in advance. It made sense now why he was so serious when he said that.
When we got back to class I mentioned to Adam that Danielle had been filling me in on his career choice. I was quick to apologize for laughing in his face. He already knew the story about how I moved to Winnipeg from Ontario. I explained that I didn’t have a television and I didn’t watch movies so I had no idea what was going on in the world of entertainment. I just thought he was trying to be funny.
After we got that out of the way I said, “It’s an interesting coincidence that I should hear about you becoming an actor. I heard just this week that there is an actor named Neve Campbell. I’m pretty sure I went to school with her.”
He said, “Really? Where did you go to school with her?”
“Well, Toronto, where I’m from. Mississauga to be exact.”
At that point he looked at me and laughed. He said, “You’re full of shit. You couldn’t possibly know her. Neve Campbell is an American actor.”
“Are you sure?”
At that point Adam broke into this big song and dance about how he was this expert on all things Hollywood. He said he watches all the movies. He told me he reads all the magazines. He assured me that he was a foremost authority on the subject of Hollywood movies and actors and he was certain that Neve Campbell was an American actor.
I was inclined to believe him, but I was still skeptical.
“I don’t know. I mean sure, Campbell is a common last name. It’s right up there with Jones and Smith, but Neve? How many girls do you know named Neve? I’ve known one and it was this girl.”
But Adam was adamant. He said, “Put it out of your mind. It’s not the same girl.”
If anyone else on God’s green Earth had told me that Neve Campbell was an American actor and I couldn’t possibly know her, I never would have believed them. Neve is just too unique of a name for it not to have been the same girl.
But because it was Adam. And because I had so much respect for the guy. And because he seemed like he would be in a position to know. And because I didn’t own a television. And because I didn’t watch movies. And because there really was no internet back then for me to Google it and figure it out for myself, I believed him.
I was convinced Neve Campbell was an American actor. I couldn’t possibly know her.
Hearing that name got my attention. Right away I started wondering if that was the same girl I knew in grade school. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it had to be. Campbell is a common last name, but Neve? Neve is just way too unique. It had to be the same girl.
I thought about her a lot that week. This was only two years after I quit drinking and the memory of why I quit was still fresh in my mind.
I started to wonder if this would become a reoccurring nightmare that I would have to relive for the rest of my life. I relived the memories of her for years after grade 4. I relived them again after my 17th birthday. I relived them again a year later when I had my ignorance of depression and mental illness wiped clean. Now another year has gone by and I learn there is an actor by the same name. When will it end?
The same week I heard that, I was in geography class. Our geography teacher’s name was Mr. Shryer. He was up at the front of the class teaching a lesson.
I had a friend named Adam that sat on my left in that class. We were not close friends, I only knew him that one semester, but we did hang out together outside of school the odd time. He was one of the few people in high school I could relate to. Adam had a girlfriend in that class. Her name was Danielle.
I never felt very connected to the people I went to school with at Daniel McIntyre. Here I was a teenage runaway. I moved to Winnipeg from Mississauga, so that I had no family or friends when I arrived. I transferred into that school not knowing anyone. I’m living on my own. I’ve got a job to pay the bills. I’m just trying to graduate so that I can make something of my life. I didn’t complain or take things too seriously, but I was cognizant of what was going on in the real world outside of school.
My friend Adam was in a similar situation. He was living on his own. Both his parents had died. He moved to Winnipeg from rural Manitoba and transferred into that school not knowing anyone either. He was always positive and outgoing. You would never know he had all this adversity in his life unless he told you. He never complained about his problems either. He was just determined to make something of his life.
In fact, I took some comfort knowing that my situation wasn’t all that bad given that I made the choice to walk away from my family and his parents were taken from him. In a lot of ways he had it worse.
When Mr. Shryer finished teaching his lesson he gave us a homework assignment to work on and then he sat down.
As soon as the teacher sat down, Adam said, “finally.” Then he put his head down on his desk and started to go to sleep. I thought that was funny.
I’m sure we’ve all heard either a parent or a teacher give that, “Oh you’re such a bad student. What are you going to do with your life” speech.
When Adam did that, I jokingly said to him, “Oh Adam, you’re such a bad student. What are you going to do with your life?”
When I said that, he sat up in his chair. He turned to me. He looked me dead in the eyes and he said, “I’m going to be a big Hollywood movie star.”
I cracked up laughing when he said that. I thought he was just trying to be funny. But he just smiled at me with all the confidence in the world and put his head back down on his desk and went back to sleep.
Still laughing, I turned and looked at Danielle. She just smiled at me and looked away. At that point I stopped laughing and I felt really uncomfortable. I felt like I had somehow insulted him by not sharing in his optimism.
The next morning Danielle stopped by my house and we walked to school together. She lived on Bannatyne Avenue, just off Tecumseh St., which was one block over from my place on McDermot. As we were walking to school that morning I asked her, “What was all that stuff yesterday about Adam becoming a Hollywood movie star?”
I didn’t realize this, because I was living on my own and I didn’t own a television, but she told me that Adam had been on an episode of North of 60. North of 60 is a CBC show about life on a reserve. She went on to explain that he had been told by his agents, or someone, to go back to high school and graduate. They said it didn’t have to be pretty. He could just skim by with 50s if he had to, but they told him if he got his grade 12, they would guarantee him a future in acting.
All of a sudden it made sense. I went from thinking that he was just being funny to thinking that he had some kind of naïve optimism. Now I’m realizing that he already knows his career path is mapped out in advance. It made sense now why he was so serious when he said that.
When we got back to class I mentioned to Adam that Danielle had been filling me in on his career choice. I was quick to apologize for laughing in his face. He already knew the story about how I moved to Winnipeg from Ontario. I explained that I didn’t have a television and I didn’t watch movies so I had no idea what was going on in the world of entertainment. I just thought he was trying to be funny.
After we got that out of the way I said, “It’s an interesting coincidence that I should hear about you becoming an actor. I heard just this week that there is an actor named Neve Campbell. I’m pretty sure I went to school with her.”
He said, “Really? Where did you go to school with her?”
“Well, Toronto, where I’m from. Mississauga to be exact.”
At that point he looked at me and laughed. He said, “You’re full of shit. You couldn’t possibly know her. Neve Campbell is an American actor.”
“Are you sure?”
At that point Adam broke into this big song and dance about how he was this expert on all things Hollywood. He said he watches all the movies. He told me he reads all the magazines. He assured me that he was a foremost authority on the subject of Hollywood movies and actors and he was certain that Neve Campbell was an American actor.
I was inclined to believe him, but I was still skeptical.
“I don’t know. I mean sure, Campbell is a common last name. It’s right up there with Jones and Smith, but Neve? How many girls do you know named Neve? I’ve known one and it was this girl.”
But Adam was adamant. He said, “Put it out of your mind. It’s not the same girl.”
If anyone else on God’s green Earth had told me that Neve Campbell was an American actor and I couldn’t possibly know her, I never would have believed them. Neve is just too unique of a name for it not to have been the same girl.
But because it was Adam. And because I had so much respect for the guy. And because he seemed like he would be in a position to know. And because I didn’t own a television. And because I didn’t watch movies. And because there really was no internet back then for me to Google it and figure it out for myself, I believed him.
I was convinced Neve Campbell was an American actor. I couldn’t possibly know her.
