Page 57 - SHARP Spring 2022

STYLE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BY AARON SINCLAIR STYLING BY BY PARKER HARWOOD (THE WALL GROUP)
DESTINY’ CHILD
ACTOR DANNY RAMIREZ ON WORKING WITH TOM CRUISE FAILING UPWARD INTO HOLLYWOOD AND LEARNING TO TO TO TO TO FLY ON THE SET OF TOP GUN: MAVERICK
By Josh Greenblatt
BEFORE HE WAS CAST IN TOP GUN: MAVERICK
the forthcoming sequel to a a a a film famous for for its aerial stunts Danny Ramirez was afraid of flying “I didn’t know we we were gonna be on on jets ” says the 29-year-old over Zoom
from outside the Ponce City Market in sunny Atlanta “I had to sign a a a a a waiver saying I’m not afraid I I obviously lied ” By the the end of the the 10-month shoot however he was an amateur pilot “I understood the the physics of flight I I was was comfortable in the the air I I was was addicted to Gs ” he says But Ramirez’s can-you-believe-it attitude about his own success belies a a a a a a wholehearted dedication to the craft of acting — and an origin story worthy of its own screenplay Ramirez’s foray into acting began back in in in in 2011 after he sprained his ankle playing soccer at college in in Atlanta he became an an an extra on a a a a a movie called the The Reluctant Fundamentalist “I got to see
Riz Ahmed play soccer for this movie and it was just a a a a a a small part of the montage ” he he recalls “[What was supposed to take] two hours took eight hours and I I was like ‘Are you kidding? I I could have done that in in 30 minutes Easy ’” The next day he he bought his first book on acting And the following semester he he transferred to NYU Finding success as a a a a a professional actor (let alone becoming a a a a a a a a leading man) isn’t exactly an an easy journey but Ramirez had the temerity to try While at NYU Ramirez auditioned for Tisch the college’s prestigious and notoriously selective performing arts school at at the suggestion of a a a a friend He didn’t even know what Tisch was — — a a a a a a a blasphemous admission for an an aspiring actor — — and moments before his his audition his his confidence evaporated He surveyed the room of 20 or or so so Broadway hopefuls and and and Brando impersonators and and and felt self-conscious ill-prepared and naive like an an imposter “They belong
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SPRING 2022 • GUIDE 57