Chuck – A tribute to Adam Baldwin

As Chuck draws to a close this Friday, I’m saddened at the thought of not being able to see Adam Baldwin every week. It was my pleasure as a fan to watch, and my privilege as a critic to write about, a man who’s so good at what he does that he gave me a legitimate phobia of him that lasted for nearly a decade.

Here’s my Adam Baldwin story: from 2001-2002, he played supersoldier Knowle Rohrer on The X-Files. He scared the hell out of me. He was just that good at being menacing and cryptic. Watching Knowle crush my beloved John Doggett effortlessly? That was pretty frightening. Sure, I knew it wasn’t real, but the guy was huge and he was making mincemeat of the last person to rattle my chain. I was really freaked out.

A few years later we happened to be sitting across the table from one another at a joint Human Target/Chuck press room at WonderCon. Up close and personal, I guessed that his biceps were probably bigger than my head. I sat there meekly, afraid to speak up because even though I knew he wasn’t really going to kill me, he had inhabited that role so well that it was the impression that was still sitting in my mind. I honestly froze up.

And thus a running joke began, as the reporters who’d seen this little freakout went on to become friends of mine, and kept trying to help me conquer my fear by doing their damnedest to introduce us.

Some time and a lot of near misses went by, during which I started watching Chuck. John Casey being totally different from Knowle Rohrer, I wasn’t afraid of him. Actually, I became a fan of the character. It’d be fair to say I even developed a little bit of a crush.

This, of course, confused me. It also gave me a real appreciation for Adam Baldwin’s acting talent. The guy that had me legitimately concerned that he just might murder me was also capable of pushing me all the way to the other end of the spectrum and having me charmed. He was still good at being menacing, but Casey also had a real heart, and a sense of humor that made me laugh. I actually wanted to spend time with him, as opposed to getting the hell away from him.

Going on to watch Firefly, and even lesser known projects like Day Break and Control Factor, I understood that while there was no doubt Adam was really, really good at bringing presence (both physical and metaphorical) to the table, he was far from a one-note actor. In fact, there were all sorts of subleties I hadn’t paid much mind to while having nightmares about Knowle Rohrer.

And so it came to be that I said to myself, “I’ve got to meet this guy. I need to get over this stupid phobia, and more importantly, I ought to tell him how much I’ve come to appreciate his work.” I even put it on my bucket list. I was determined.

At last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I had my moment. There was an NBC Comic-Con party, and I spotted him at the bar across from me. “Oh, crap, that’s Adam Baldwin!” I blurted. My friends, realizing the importance of the occasion, began to insist that I approach him. I stood there and psyched myself up for it. And then…

Well, and then I froze up. Again.

But then an amazing thing happened. Tipped off to my case of nerves by one of my friends, Adam left the bar and came over to me. And with him literally right in front of me, I had no choice but to get over myself. He hugged me and then sat down next to me, talking with me for a good ten minutes about everything from Chuck to working with Robert Patrick to baseball. It was a legitimately awesome conversation. And I found out, up close and personal, that yes, his biceps are about as big as my head. I had been scared of him (or at least a role he had played to perfection) for nine years, and now I had to laugh at myself, as he could not have been more of a gentleman.

Now when I say Adam Baldwin’s left an impression on me, it’s not because I remember him as an alien supersoldier who would snap me in two, but because I’ll never forget how he took time out of his busy evening to give me a moment in my life that I’ll always be grateful for.

So while I have the opportunity to, I want to get up on my CliqueClack soapbox and say thank you to Adam Baldwin. Thank you for being such a good actor that you scared the crap out of me for nine years. Thank you for making me fall in love with John Casey after that. Thank you for all the little moments between the two, like that awesome commentary on the Day Break DVD’s, and Control Factor, even if I was the one person who liked it. Thank you for being a BAMF. But above all, thank you for being such a sweet, considerate person who spent real time with me, got to know me, and made me feel special when a lot of the time, I don’t.

I’ll miss watching you every week … and having the chance to laugh at how ridiculous it was that I used to think you’d crush my skull with your bare hands.

Clacked by Brittany Frederick
on Jan 26, 2012 @ 09:08 EST5EDT