By: Ryan Bowling
XPress editor
Published:
Friday, April 10, 2009 11:28 AM CDT
Cody Brown dreams of the day he packs his bags, tells his parents he’ll call when he gets there and gazes out on the Pacific Ocean. He insists he’s moving to Hollywood—not this week, maybe not even this year—but he’s going, and his ticket is “Winter’s Bone.”
“It’s possible to make it in this business,” Brown, a 2003 Nixa High School graduate, said, “but you have to add something to your career every day.”
Brown’s career got a big boost last month when he was cast as Floyd in a supporting role for the independent feature film “Winter’s Bone”, a critically-acclaimed fiction novel by Ozarks author Daniel Woodrell.
Kentucky native Jennifer Lawrence is Ree Dolly, a 16-year-old poverty-stricken Ozarkian. Lawrence already boasts an impressive resume, with several movies to the 18-year-old’s credit as well as appearances on “The Bill Engvall Show” and “Monk.” Brown hopes “Winter’s Bone” can do the same for him.
“I gained the experience of working with true professionals, people who do this for a living,” Brown said of his two days of principal shooting near Forsyth.
“Winter’s Bone” is Brown’s first paid gig, he said. But the acting credit gets his foot in the door, having joined the Screen Actor’s Guild for the role. One more SAG-accredited film and he’ll be a vested member.
“It was exhilarating working with people from the business,” he said of his time on the film’s set. “There’s not a lot of film opportunity in this area. It was amazing that something like this came here. An unbelievable opportunity.”
The film follows Ree, who’s forced to raise her two younger brothers in the absence of her parents. Ree’s father is arrested for running a meth lab and has skipped his bail. In the process, the family home is given up as bail collateral.
To avoid becoming homeless at the onset of winter, Ree sets out to find her father. Her own estranged family, as well as families who’ve feuded with the Dollys for generations, make the journey rough, but finding her father stands between her and her Army enlistment, which is her last hope to escape the rural dregs.
“Floyd is a good ole boy,” Brown said of his character, who’s married to Ree’s best friend Gayle. “He loves NASCAR and hunting and fishing.”
Floyd and Gayle are an intriguing subplot, he said. Pregnant at an early age, Gayle and Floyd married not for love, but because it seemed like they should.
“The love is gone,” Brown said, “but the kid is there.”
“Winter’s Bone” is directed by Debra Granik, who last directed “Down to the Bone” in 2004. That film captured seven awards, including the Dramatic Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival that year.
Brown is still biding his time, attending the Creative Actors Workshop in Springfield and theater work until he’s saved enough movie for the trip. But soon, maybe by next summer, he said, he’ll be in Hollywood doing what he loves. Like Ree Dolly, he too longs to escape the film-devoid Ozarks.
The film is set for release in 2010 with plans to enter most major film festivals.