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Arts & Culture

Dropout pops up in hit film

By Jessie Stones

If David Christo had been on-screen just a little longer in his feature film debut The Skulls, maybe the thriller wouldn’t have been so terrible.

As it is, the 23-year-old Ryerson near-grad is visible for about five seconds, and the film, set in an Ivy League college where a secret society’s moral wrong-doings are uncovered by young hero Joshua Jackson, sucks.

Christo plays one of the better-looking Skulls initiates and doesn’t say one word throughout the whole film, which doesn’t bother him too much.

“I got paid probably $6,000 a second,” he says with a manic grin. “They cut out all my lines.”

In real life, you can’t shut the guy up.

Tall, lanky and blonde, Christo sits in the sun by Lake Devo, pondering life, his cell phone and why he hates Ryerson theatre school.

He was a student at Ryerson for just under three years, but left in 199 before graduating. He had planned on leaving after second year, but parental pressures led him to reconsider. He returned for a third year, but left after a disagreement with his teachers about the production of his class’ third-year show.

“They brought in these guest directors from Sheridan College who had never directed before and told us we were bad people and unprofessional when we or I tried to discuss certain issues,” says Christo on the show. “I couldn’t handle the masturbation of emotion.

He is loud and opinionated, but it’s endearing in a charming boyish kind of way. His stories accompany wild gestures as he recreates his last moments on a Ryerson stage.

After leaving school, he returned for one last hurrah, surprising faculty by appearing onstage for a tableau at the end of his class’ final performance.

“After the show, the techies chased me around the theatre and through backstage,” he recalls. “This one guy acted like he wanted to kick my ass. It was insane how big a deal they made of the whole thing.”

In addition to his star turn, he recently appeared in an episode of celebrated Canadian filmmakers Don McKellar and Bruce McDonald’s sitcom Twitch City, playing McKellar’s new Nazi roommate, and a T.V. movie called Love Letters.

Not bad for a kid from Bramelear.

“I’d like to be a well-respected character actor one day,” he says, pushing around with his boots. “It would give me the opportunity to play so many roles.”

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