The Wonderful Christopher Atkins

I met Christopher Atkins in 2001 on an airplane trip between Los Angeles and Dallas.  Because he is a genuinely kind person, we became instant friends.  I pestered him on the plane trip to let me take photos of him when we got to Dallas and he obliged.  Luckily I shoot very fast and in about ten minutes we were finished.  The shots turned out great and we’ve never looked back.  I have since taken Chris’s photos many times.  I look forward to any time I can spend with Chris as he keeps himself very busy and travels frequently.  


In high school, Chris was a lifeguard and sailing instructor, where he was discovered for ‘The Blue Lagoon.’  He had no previous interest or experience in acting, but an agent he knew persuaded him to audition for ‘The Blue Lagoon,’ a role he won over 4,000 other actors. In the film, he and co-star Brooke Shields played two teenage cousins who have lived alone together since they were marooned as children in a tropical paradise, eventually falling in love.  The film was a huge box office success, grossing over $58 million with a production cost of $4.5 million.


Chris went on to star with Kristy McNichol in 'The Pirate Movie’ in 1982.  He hit the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with the song ‘How Can I Live Without Her?’, which appeared in ‘The Pirate Movie.’ Chris again appeared shirtless in this film, which was to become a recurring theme in his acting career.


In 'A Night In Heaven’ in 1983, also starring Lesley Ann Warren, Chris played Rick Monroe, an outspoken and overconfident student working his way through college as a male stripper. For one season in 1983–1984, Chris had a recurring role on the hit CBS prime time soap opera, ‘Dallas’as a young man who has an affair with Sue Ellen Ewing.


Chris has turned into a real 80’s Icon and he retains a large and loyal fan base as evidenced in 2009 when he appeared on VH1's ‘Confessions of a Teen Idol,’ a reality show in which former teen idols attempt to revitalize their entertainment careers.  He's ranked #76 on VH1's 100 Greatest Teen Stars.  


More than any career accomplishment, what sets Christopher Atkins apart from the rest is his humble personality and his magnificent heart.  I have seen him be a loving father to his two adult children since they were in their early teens.  Chris is real and blessed with a natural ability to accept change with grace and dignity.  He is filled with a passion for living and loving. 





AM:  What are you up to these days Chris?


CA:  I’ve been going back and forth to North Carolina a lot.


AM:  What’s in North Carolina?


CA:  My son got a scholarship to play short stop at UNC Charlotte.  He decided he wanted to go to school there because every other girl was hot! (laughter) Also my best friend Jimmy Parks lives there.  He’s got 52 acres and a gold mine.  I’ve gone back and forth over the years.  I have a lot of buddies there.  Jimmy has 500 million dollars worth of gold on his property and we all try to find it.


AM:  How’s that going for you?


CA:  We dig nuggets out of the ground. It’s just fun.  It’s being outdoors with the mosquitos, snakes and poison ivy.


AM:  That sounds like you.


CA:  I love outdoor stuff.  There is a real serious possibility of finding some gold.  The problem is you get gold fever and you have to dig tons and tons of dirt to get anything so it’s hard to do.  We’ve never made a living off it at all.  Anyway my son did real good with baseball but he didn’t get drafted.


AM:  But he liked and wanted to stay in that area too?


CA:  He met a girl and he came to me one day and said, “Dad, I want you to get ordained and marry us.”


AM:  How wonderful is that?


CA:  For my son to ask me that was so flattering.  It really blew me away.  I’ve always had a special relationship with both of my kids.  I was married for twenty years to a wonderful Australian girl and she just decided one day she didn’t want to be married anymore.


AM:  That happens sometimes.


CA:  We got married so young.  I didn’t want to force anyone to love me.


AM:  I remember how difficult that time was for you.


CA:  It was tough.  I think what ruined the relationship was I wasn’t earning the same kind of money I earned when we were first married.


AM:  I can understand how that can add stress to any relationship.  


CA:  When I was sixteen years old and teaching sailing in New York, I put a dollar away from every paycheck for someday when I had kids.  I was putting my kids college funds together.


AM:  Kids you didn’t have yet?


CA:  That’s how bad I wanted kids.  All of a sudden when I was twenty-four I had both my kids.  I just wanted to be a Dad more than anything so I stopped chasing the business.  I didn’t want to miss any of my sons baseball games or my daughters plays.


AM:  That’s what life is really about.


CA:  I think so too. I wouldn’t change it for the world.  I do wish I was working now more than I do.  I don’t know why I’m not.  I don’t understand but I guess there is a reason for everything.


AM:  Part of the problem is there aren’t as many scripted shows anymore.


CA:  Yes reality versus scripted...that’s going to change one day too.


AM:  When you did the VH1 reality show a couple years ago, you were the one people wanted to see on television again.


CA:  It’s nice that all that happened but it still doesn’t translate into the business.


AM:  It is confusing.


CA:  That’s a good word to describe it.  Anyway I got ordained and I went to North Carolina and married my son.


AM:  I bet you loved every minute of that!


CA:  It was a wonderful experience.  It was the best wedding ever.  I dressed up as a gorilla at the end of the dance.  I had to do something.  Part of the reason to have children is for your own personal entertainment.  Now I’m dating a girl there who is just a dream girl.  She is a wonderful girl I met in a bar of all places, because I don’t drink.  So I met Theresa and now it’s been five years down the road.


AM:  I’m so happy for you.


CA:  One of the best things about Theresa is, and this is an Atkins philosophy, “I don’t just want to be wanted, I want to be needed.”  I don’t ever want to be invisible in a relationship and I don’t want to be second to a dollar bill.  If it’s going to be all about the money, I’m not the guy.  I want to be special to someone.  If you, once in a while, tell me you love me and want to hold my hand, that means something to me.  It doesn’t have to be everyday.  I need to feel that I’m important to you and special in your life.


AM:  So you’re a romantic.


CA:  I’m a total romantic.  I’m also always moving.  I have to have adventure in my life.  I like to go hiking down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  I always have to have someone to share these activities with.  I don’t like doing things alone.  Theresa goes on all these adventures with me.




AM:  You also like baseball and wanted to play professionally didn’t you?


CA:  I always wanted to play pro baseball.  I would have given anything to be paid just one dollar to play baseball.  My son inherited that passion but he went beyond anything I could have ever done.  Baseball and sports in general have always been a big deal for me but I had all these knee operations when I was a kid so that took me out of baseball.  I’ve been pretty banged up over the years.  I have three screws in one shoulder and metal plates in my back, but I just keep going!  I love to travel.


AM:  Do you get recognized in public a lot?


CA:  Not as much anymore, but yes I still do.  I find it amazing.


AM:  You made such a giant entrance into show business.


CA:  ‘Blue Lagoon’ was beyond anyone’s expectations.  How many people enter show business and get that giant brass ring the first time out.


AM:  It’s been over thirty years and it’s still just as known.


CA:  It was a life changer when it came out.  All of a sudden there was no place on the planet I could go and not get my hair pulled and my shirt ripped.


AM:  Is there a part of you that’s glad that time is over?


CA:  Well there’s a big difference between then and now as far as age groups go.


AM:  So you enjoyed it back then?


CA:  Sure, to have all these teeny boppers in the world chasing after you!


AM:  How did you control your ego at the time?


CA:  I think everything comes from parenting and I had great parents.  I have always been very grateful for anything I got and I wanted to share everything.  I always wanted to be a Dad more than anything else.




AM:  You came up in the Eighties when the world was really changing.


CA:  There were some big changes going on in the Eighties and one of the results of these changes was I ended up with a huge gay following.  I did an interview with the Advocate once and they asked me why I had such a big gay following.  I told them I had no idea.  They told me it was a time in history when there were a lot of gay men coming out.  It became a big movement that included my nudity in the movie.   I became a poster child for the gay movement because of the timing.  


AM: Don’t forget the fact that you are attractive and appealing.


CA:  I guess that’s part of it.  Don’t forget the setting in the movie with two young people running around naked.  It just hit everybodies fantasy in a big way.  It is literally a timeless story.  It’s been remade several times now.


AM:  We are much more conservative now.


CA:  I agree 100%.  This country has it all backwards.  You can’t show nudity but you can have countless guns in a movie.


AM:  You don’t make violent films do you?


CA:  I’ve done Westerns and I’ve played a killer, but I’ve never made a really violent film, not yet.


AM:  Do you still hate auditioning?


CA:  This is how I make my living and I go up against thousands of actors all the time.  I’ve been doing this over thirty years and I still have to go to auditions.  Can’t they just look at some of the footage I’ve done.  They know I can do it because I keep getting hired.  I enjoy auditioning on tape better than in person.  Really, I can’t stand auditions.  I’m lame, but I still get hired to do the work.  


AM:  At least you are still going strong Chris!


CA:  You gotta keep plugging away, but you also have to diversify.  I’ve been writing and everything I’ve written has been optioned so I’ve been pretty lucky doing that.  I’m getting more into directing and producing.  I’m in this business because it’s the only thing I’ve known since I was eighteen years old.


AM:  What is your dream job in 2012?


CA:  I still enjoy acting.  I’d like to make another beautiful love story, but what I’d like more than anything is to make my own films.  I’d love to meet someone who had the money and believed in me and make a real film.