Actor, director, and Commack High School class of 2000 alum Craig Jordan reached out to The Courant to discuss Commack, the film industry, and his new movie, “Reveille.”
“From the time I was very young I was obsessed with film and the filmmaking process. I got my start doing regional and community theater on Long Island. Throw yourself into [the film industry] and learn as much as you can. Pursue every avenue, and learn … about the acting side and the technical side of things,” said Jordan.
Jordan’s film, “Reveille,” released on August 4, 2023, and follows a group of wounded American soldiers struggling to survive in the midst of World War II. In it, he has a featured role as Private Vert Enis, based on a real veteran.
“When it’s a real life character, that changes the game for sure. It’s one thing to look like and embody someone, but I find that nailing someone’s voice is so important to an authentic portrayal. I went to his hometown’s chamber of commerce and they put me in touch with two of his four children, who gave me a wealth of information. I’ve got pages and pages of notes about him and what he was going through at that moment in time,” said Jordan
Compared to fictional roles, the type of work that goes into portraying a real figure is far more investigative, at which Jordan excels. This prowess for tracking down people and information may be attributed to his time on Commack’s own student newspaper, The Courant. Most notably, he wrote a story about the high school reunion of famous Commack alum and actor, Rosie O’Donnell.
“Talking with some of Rosie’s classmates and advisers, I learned that they had advised her to be a lawyer, because she had strong opinions and was very vocal. There is certainly value in listening to your guidance counselor but it’s also important to get multiple opinions and to think outside the box sometimes,” said Jordan
More recently, the writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023 have deeply affected all of those who work in the film industry. The strikes put Jordan and his livelihood in a difficult position. He is apprehensive about the possibility of artificial intelligence replacing human screenwriters.
“This has been a rough couple of months. It’s been very daunting to see and hear some of the things from the negotiators and studio heads. It’s amazing what tech has done in the past few decades but it’s also kind of frightening; All this talk of artificial intelligence, I just think it would be such a tragedy for creative minds to be replaced by algorithms. When you think about the greatest movies of all time that we still quote today, those were written by humans,” said Jordan.
Jordan also discussed his intentions to get behind the camera, directing instead of acting. He’s been working on his own passion project, a short film titled “Chasing the Dragon.”
“About a year and a half ago, an accomplished independent film director and personal acquaintance named Charlie Vaughn proved to be an absolute godsend. He took on the Herculean task of being my producer and helping me run the set as an assistant director. The best piece of advice I’ve ever gleaned from the filmmaking industry is to surround yourself with people who know more than you. In the world of independent filmmaking, you have to wear many hats,” said Jordan.
Craig Jordan is proof that dreams are worth pursuing, regardless of where one comes from. He continues to pursue his aspirations in both acting and directing, and is extremely grateful to his time at Commack High School for starting him on that journey.◼️
