Burning Bush - Shrub Impersonator - VIDEO

http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/elsewhere/2006/03/01/roast/index.html

Salon comments: Actor Steve Bridges, who appeared at a roast for Jeff Foxworthy, may be the best Bush impersonator we've ever seen.

Sorry if this has been posted before, I just saw it today. This guy really has Shrub's body language, mannerisms, and speech patterns nailed.

I really enjoyed it.

Any night I know he's gonna be on Leno I stay up late just to catch him.

hadn't seen this one!

they were missing a great opportunity in not hiring him for the show. My guess is he lives here in CA and doesn't want to live in NY, but that's my opinion only. He's even better at doing Bush than Bush is.

I viewed the stupid commercial to get to the program, and it requires plugins my computer says aren't there. Guess I'll just have to rely on your comments that it was good.

But I had to go to Microsoft and not use Firefox. That fellow had Bush's mannerisms down pat-but if you looked into his eyes, you saw intelligence......

I didn't have a problem using Firefox, though.

Bridges is more than a decade younger than Bush, and doesn't actually resemble him in real life (comparison shot below -- Bush asked him, "is this me?", which would have made more sense if Bridges had been in character at the time). But he's really good at acting ... probably the best performer of the Bush impersonators out there, and doing that in a full set of latex prosthetics and a hairpiece deserves major props. (There are others who bear a stronger physical resemblance, but who haven't had the professional training and experience.)



More clips here:
http://www.stevebridges.com/

The makeup process:
http://www.ppi.cc/ppi_players/kevin_haney2.htm


I have to look closely to tell them apart! Bridges has a slightly different facial structure, and his eyes are further apart ... not something that he or Kevin Haney, the makeup guy, can totally conceal. But they try. I've noticed that on Leno's show, Bridges frequently tilts his head forward -- I think he's doing this on purpose, because it foreshortens his face and strengthens the resemblance to Bush.

I knew nothing of Bridges until I saw the video. Your comments are most enlightening.

Do you work in the makeup/entertainment industry?

I don't work in Hollywood, but one of my cousins does. He does latex sculpting and character design, but more on the animatronic side than on the human (makeup) side.

When I found out that Bridges was a Bush supporter (and is supposedly in the same evangelical/political crowd, so he had no trouble getting an Oval Office invitation), I couldn't help wishing that they could put that makeup on someone like Tim Robbins, for example -- just to see what would happen. Admittedly he is pretty easy on Bush -- even Bush's mom thought it was "respectful", and she's pretty touchy! He plays up the affable/dumb side of Bush, which I don't think shows the whole range of the guy's personality -- Timothy Bottoms (on that Comedy Central series), Will Ferrell on SNL, and even Jon Stewart's impression (no makeup, just voice and gestures) manage to convey the less-pleasant side of him.

But after finding out how much work goes into the impression, I admire the professionalism that Bridges shows. For the corporate gigs, he and the makeup guy get on a plane, lugging all their supplies ... it takes at least 2 hours to get ready, and he has to stay in character the whole evening. And trying to appear normal enough to pass inspection from a couple of feet away, when virtually all of your face has a layer of foam rubber glued to it, can be tricky. (They put it on in pieces, so it's more flexible, but still ....) One actor said that getting your eyebrows to move is as difficult as picking stuff up with your forehead! The latex is supposed to breathe, but a coating of multiple coats of flesh-colored paint doesn't help -- it can get hot under all that. And at least performers onstage are further away from the audience, and don't have to worry about people coming up and pulling on their ears to see if they're real. (Actors in the movies or TV have close-ups, but not for their entire time onscreen.)

p.s. Bridges makes more money per hour of an appearance than Bush does (I think he charges at least $10k for a performance, with some of that going to the makeup guy), but he definitely works harder.

he really had his mannerisms down!
he could even do that weird forehead thing Bush does
:rofl:

:hi: