From stages to stunts, Shane Davidson, general studies senior, has stepped into film and onto the set of “The Dark Knight Rises,” the next Batman movie.
His parents enrolled him in acting and music lessons when he was 7, and he performed in “Hello Dolly” five years later.
Because of the influence his parents had on him, he continued to perform while attending Charlestown High School.
After graduating, he decided to attend IU Southeast because he enjoyed the smaller class size and the student to teacher ratio but didn’t consider himself good enough for college theater.
He finally had another chance to put his voice to work in 2003 with an internship at a local radio station.
“It all started when I did an internship at DJX,” Davidson said. “They hired me on part-time when Peter B. was there as their stunt boy.”
After his internship, he was promoted to marketing director for the radio station. He continued to work there for eight years but decided to leave the station to branch out.
“I decided to go into business for myself and do voice-overs,” Davidson said. “I do voice-overs for different commercials. I kind of just put my own studio together in my own house. The things you hear in-between songs, those are the things I record.”
He has also appeared in several television commercials, including the Crusade for Children.
Tony Hall, former athletic director and varsity girl’s basketball coach at Charlestown High School, knew Davidson from his years in high school but also when he came back to put his voice to work.
“He didn’t play basketball,” Hall said. “He wasn’t what I guess you call a jock. He was in the band — in school plays. When he came back to offer the voice that he had, he took it and ran with it.”
Hall, who hired Davidson to be the voice for the pirates, said he agreed that he would make a great entertainer.
“Not only is he the announcer, but he’s part of the program,” Hall said.
It was at a Derby party in 2009 where Davidson met up with the writer and director of “Country Strong.”
She had heard him on air and asked if he wanted to be in the movie.
“I said, ‘I guess I’ll try,’” Davidson said. “I’ll give it a shot.”
“Country Strong,” a film that starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw, was Davidson’s first experience. A five-month-long project, filming was something that opened his eyes to what actors go through to create entertainment.
“There were days when I had to be on set 18 hours a day,” he said. “Then there were days where I only had a two- or three-hour shoot, then I would come home [to Charlestown]. A lot of the shots were 18-hour days, and [it] was maybe five minutes of the movie.”
Even though he’s in the movie for 45 minutes and gets royalties off DVD sales, he learned there’s a lot of people that get into it that don’t like it, because of the long hours .
He said he knows filming is scheduled to begin in Chicago in June but wasn’t able to divulge any other secrets.
“I have no idea what part I’m going to be,” he said. “They’re keeping everything closed lipped about it. I can say that Johnny Depp is not going to be in it.”
Bob Hall, Charlestown mayor, spoke about Davidson.
“I did do a proclamation to honor his role in a recent movie,” Hall said. “We declared Feb. 18 as Raising Star Day in honor of Shane’s accomplishment.”
Apart from using his voice and learning all he can from the film industry, Davidson also said he enjoys the past.
“That’s my other passion — history,” he said. “The Revolutionary War is probably my favorite one to study just because it took a lot of people to band together to beat an army of tens of thousands — farmers with pitchforks trying to fight off the British.”
By JENNIFER SCHONSCHACK
Staff
jschonsc@ius.edu
