Review of The Delta

I am Shayne Gray and I think that Ira (the Director) did a good job with this film...the problems came up when he had to switch editors at the last minute. The character "John" felt that he was not liked by African Americans (for being Vietnamese), Vietnamese (for being African American), or Society in general (for being gay). The anger and confusion of all that happened came to an amalgamation of emotions on the boat. If you listen closely to the beach scene..."john" says that his father was a black U.S. solder in the Vietnam War. The movie was made to look "grainy" and "dark" because that is the effect that living in "the south" and feeling like an outsider can sometimes make you feel. I am not gay, but I would like to consider myself an actor (we all are actors if you really think about it). Before the movie I was in a band called Techno-Squid Eats Parliament. I played the drums. I was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. I became an Eagle Scout at age 14. I have been in the Army National Guard (as a helicopter medic) and an Officer in the Naval Reserve (as an ICU Nurse). I meet the director when I stopped at a bar in Memphis to take a pee on my way back to Little Rock one night (in 2005). It just so happened to be a gay bar called J-Wags...I think. The lady that checked my ID at the door was a little drunk and she said "there's a guy in here that wants you to be in his film" and I said, "Yeah right...do I have to wear a little pink bunny costume" and I walked away. The girl I was with gave a guy (Ira) her number and he called when I was at her apartment the very next day. I had just seen "My Own Private Idaho" and after reading the script I thought..."This is something that I think I could do, heck River Phoenix was brave enough to do it." Plus I needed money as I was planning on going back to college to finish my pre-requisites for Nursing School. It was fun doing the movie and the character that played "john" was actually very cool. For about 6 weeks I lived in Memphis with Tang, Ira, and the producer Margot (who also produced: Arresting Gena, Sidewalks of New York, Jesus' Son, and Ira's new film Forty Shade of Blue). I went to Sundance, San Francisco, and Boston for various film openings in 1996...I had also started nursing school at that time, and got married. I read for a few movies after The Delta. I tried out for A thin Red Line and I Know What You Did Last Summer. I got several offers to do other "gay films" that I turned down. A "big time" casting agent and another person from "New Line" showed some interest, too. I just had to focus on getting through nursing school. In 1999 I graduated with a BSN, RN from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2000 while working as an ICU nurse. In 2000 I took my (ex) wife to Paris, London, and Amsterdam on a three week vacation. The singer from my first band (Clay Bell) was living in Paris with his girlfriend at the time. After five years of marriage I got a divorce in 2001. I applied for Nurse Anesthesia School in Texas, but didn't get in. I went through some depression and got my nursing license placed on probation for 18 months (and got a General discharged from the Naval Reserve for being positive for marijuana on a random urine test). I played guitar, drums, and sang in various bands around Little Rock and went into Psych/Mental Health adolescent nursing (until I got my hand broken by a patient). In 2002 I started working in the E.R. and later switched over to being an Interventional Radiology nurse...where I eventually became the Nurse Manager of Radiology at UAMS. I got re-married on Halloween of 2002 to girl named Ginger (she too had been married once before and she was finishing up in Pharmacy School @ UAMS). I now have baby girl named Natalie and she is 2 years and 7 months old. We also have another baby girl that is due February 5, 2006 that we will name Sophie. We are having a new house built in a very nice neighborhood in Little Rock and it should be finished by February as well. I turned 33 years old on April 7, 2005. My new house will have a "music room" where I will write and record music. I also have several books of "random" writing that I plan on typing up and editing (I guess it would be considered modern contemporary poetry). My wife and I have been to New York twice this year and we took Natalie to see Niagara Falls in October. I would love to act in another movie or even do soundtracks for movies. I actually wrote a song called "forty Shades of Blue" for Ira's latest movie, but I never played it for him. I haven't even seen the movie yet. I do, however, have a steady job and a loving family...so who could ask for anything more? Thanks for all of the compliments...