Meet Eddie.

Celeb blog!

Hello everyone. My name is Jonathan Dantzler. You've probably already heard of me by now thanks to Daniel's love of cross-promotion, which is greatly appreciated. Like him I'm also heading up a film this fall called "Our Story." I'm in a producer sort of role for "Eyes on Me" as well as a co-writer of sorts (though I feel that I only co-deserve that title) and Daniel is also a producer for "Our Story."

So what the hell am I doing here, anyway?

Well, Daniel, unlike me, is talented enough to act in his own film. He will be playing the role of Eddie Doyle, and approached me with a dilemma: how do you fairly write a blog about yourself, playing your role, in your movie?

Simple. You let me do it.

Eddie Doyle, though he is Chris' brother, stands in stark contrast. Chris is a successful, upright individual: he is a respected teacher at his hometown's high school, reasonably skilled socially, and generally has his shit together.

Eddie is not any of these things. Somewhere along the line, something went wrong and he made a very, very bad decision.

The thing I find most interesting about Eddie Doyle in "Eyes on Me" is that, in a way, he exists not as an individual character but as a physical manifestation of Chris' anxiety. Eddie is not Eddie: Eddie is a problem, a curse, a burden. But unlike many burdens, despite his horrific crime you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. But why? Why could we feel any pity for someone that, to be quite frank, is a child molester?

We can because Eddie tries. He tries to not be a burden to Chris, he tries to lay low so that the town can forget his past. He tries to be a normal human being, to apologize, to repent, and we want so badly to root for him...yet we also hate him. There is so much pain in Eddie, so much regret and remorse...and he is still a monster in many ways. There is an element to him of mystery as well: what happened to this guy while he was away? To his town? To his brother? And more importantly, how does he feel about it all?

We don't know. And that's why it's perfect for Daniel to play this role.


Eddie can be a difficult character to understand because there's so much going on that we never see. He is Daniel's creation, and while Daniel insists "Eyes on Me" is about Chris Doyle, who is no doubt an extremely complex character, this ambiguity makes Eddie far more complex. It takes a greater understanding to play him, one that extends beyond the actor-director relationship. Since this is Daniel's baby, he probably knows Eddie better than anyone.

I can attest that Daniel is not a pedophile, so we can go ahead and get that one out of the way. However, as a writer, I know that sometimes more than we're comfortable with comes out on the page; this happened even when I was writing the purposely uncomfortable "Our Story." There's something in this film that Daniel will simply "get" more than any of us will. That something, that theme, that color, that essence...this is what makes Eddie Doyle's character.

We've got the perfect man for the job.

Signing off,
-JD