The Tuesday De-Briefing: Daniel Petronijevic

The way this feature goes, it may very well be retitled "Tuesday Talent." The initial post had to do with Alec Musser's photo shoot for an undergear catalogue. The opportunity was used to make another pitch to see more of him as an actor and, of course, in the meantime, the praise of many a male actor have been sung in these posts with the fondest of hopes being that someone important would take notice. There were a few other fond hopes as well and too obvious to merit discussion.




Column of Life does its best to laud as well as leer and ogle. It may not be its precise raison d'etre, but it's a large part of it. Brian Rodgers, the intelligent fuel behind BGR Design was a source of inspiration in the great work accomplished for Christopher Meloni's official site. His help was enlisted and Column was born.




Worshipping at the altar of male beauty is not a very difficult thing to do. It is important to understand that becoming a worthy object of that idolatry is very difficult. It is very satisfying to help those who work hard to achieve perfection in their chosen field, because that's what fuels creativity on both sides of the pedestal.

Throughout a fun filled relationship Mr. Rodgers and some folks around here have started up more than a few websites for those hardworking individuals that have caught notice. They are nicknamed the 'mooseketeers' after one of this site's mascots, Pookie the Gay Canadian Moose. Many of the sites are listed to the right and contain a good deal of creative focus. In the following weeks the Tuesday feature will be devoted to those whose sites have been constructed.

First up is Brian's fellow Canadian, Daniel Petronijevic, whose site merits a visit.

Two years right here, Brian wrote this:

"A name most of you will be unfamiliar with, but, trust me, one you should get to know. Daniel is only in his early twenties, but he has been in the business a while. Probably best described as a journeyman, he hasn't had many big roles – except a standout as Thad Guerwitcz in Playmakers, the one-season football drama that ran on ESPN in 2003.




The Guerwitcz character is in many ways a precursor to Battaglia's "Drew" on QAF. In the closet, dating women, sleeping with guys. But Playmakers takes you deeper into the macho, generally-homophobic world of professional sports. Petronijevic makes Thad Guerwitcz tough yet vulnerable, tender yet vicious, self-assured yet completely lost. After struggling through trying to come to terms with himself, being outed to his team-mates and realising how much he has to lose, he has a magnificent moment of triumph that Petronijevic plays perfectly. But, as in real life, a moment of triumph is just that and Petronijevic skilfully takes Thad from exhilaration to glum resignation.




Ultimately, how an actor gives a memorable performance is by finding a way to attune the character to his audience. The most successful portrayals don't leave you wondering how it was done. And that's where Daniel Petronijevic has succeeded. Gueriwitcz is a character you can love because he's gay, hate because he's knowingly self-deceiving, admire because he has guts, pity because he's never happy. Petronijevic makes him all that and more – he makes him completely believable. What else can you ask for. I only hope he gets future roles deserving of his talent so that he can delight me again."