There’s a very good chance you haven’t heard of Christopher Thornton, and there’s a very good chance that’s going to change.
Thornton has been working his craft as an actor since he was a teenager, until a tragic rock climbing accident at the age of 25 left him paralyzed from the waist down. Yet Thornton was going to pursue his dreams no matter what, and after a highly acclaimed turn as the lead in stage production of Waiting for Godot (done entirely in his wheelchair), larger film opportunities came knocking, and after securing steady work in television (appearing in shows like My Name Is Earl and Alias), he also began working on screenplays. One — Sympathy for Vengence, about a DJ who discovers his powers as faith healer before turning away from his gifts to pursue his career in rock music — caught the eye of Mark Ruffalo, and, well, the rest is history.
PopMatters got a chance to ask a question to any of the stars of Sympathy for Vengence (which also features the likes of Orlando Bloom, Juliette Lewis, and Laura Linney), and decided to ask a question to Christopher himself: “Although much of the movie is based on your own experiences, did you find it difficult to recreate certain parts of your life?” You can view his response below …