From a childhood spent in Corsicana to Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Guy Chapman is sailing along to a busy career as an actor. In fact, since his 29th birthday in September 2004, Chapman has found the roles to be coming fast and furiously.

Born Sept. 29, 1975, at the old Navarro Memorial Hospital to Jim and Ann Chapman, Guy had a pretty Leave it to Beaver upbringing. His father has been a government teacher at Navarro College for many years, and his mother was a stay-at-home mom. She passed away from cancer in 1996. Guy's older sister, Judith, now resides in Plano with her family.

"My friends and I would normally play video games, do artwork, cruise Deep Ellum in Dallas, play hackey-sack at the tennis courts or in the Wal-Mart parking lot, or make home movies with my camcorder to pass the time", Chapman said. "We also would do improv skits for fun, and play jokes on each other, just to keep us entertained."

At Corsicana High School, Chapman was on student council several times, helped paint sets for plays, and was on the yearbook staff his senior year. He kept the same group of friends growing up, and is still in touch with all of them.

"I loved movies, especially Star Wars, which I blame for my current love of films", he said. "Lord of the Rings is also influential, as my Dad used to read me those stories as a child before I went to bed at night."

"I used to play video games, had a clubhouse in the backyard where lived during the summers, and drew a lot of cartoons."

Guy graduated from CHS in 1994, and enrolled at Navarro College, pursuing commercial art. A part-time student, Chapman worked for Midway Entertainment as a video game tester and marketing assistant, as well.

"At 23, I finally moved from Corsicana to attend college at the University of North Texas in Denton", he said. "There, I majored in film, and began to get into the local film scene in Dallas."

Chapman blended his love of film and acting with the Deep Ellum Film Festival's goal of raising money to help people and their families affected by cancer when he served as a volunteer coordinator in 2000 and 2001. "To me, this served two purposes, as it also made me feel like I was helping to lessen the chance for people to go through what I did with my mother", he said.

Doing a few promotional ads for the film festival was Chapman's first time in front of the camera. A move to San Diego came in 2001, along with Chapman resuming his role with Midway.

"I worked mostly, but got more of a chance to cut my teeth in acting, doing voice-over work for a video game called Legion: The Legend of Excalibur for Playstation 2", he said. "In the Hollywood area, I noticed an ad to be in a movie, so I filled out the form. My first role was a race fan in Seabiscuit."

Chapman's friends from the Deep Ellum Film Festival launched the Santa Monica Film Festival in 2003, and Chapman once again assisted them in their endeavor. He decided he had enough of the video gaming industry, and did a small role in Fat Albert.

Acting gigs were scarce through 2004, until Chapman landed his first paid acting gig in a film called Max Havoc: Curse of the Dragon, where he spent his 29th birthday.

"Work has come pretty steadily since then, and has been how I support myself now", Chapman said. "My two bigger breaks were getting commissioned as Nick Stahl's photo double in HBO's Carnivale, and also had a role as a zombie in the film All Soul's Day."

Chapman was on the set several weeks, wearing anything from bodysuits to pull-over masks, and spent two and a half hours in the makeup chair each time his zombie makeup was applied. "The crew really liked my thin frame, so I ended up getting featured a lot", he said.

He played a CSI photographer for a scene in USA's Monk which aired in January 2005. A role as an airline passenger in Wes Craven's Red-Eye, with Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, had Chapman going from an airport in Ontario to an airplane set in a soundstage. When the movie is released, Chapman may be seen sitting two rows in front of the principal actors.

Chapman attended an open casting call in December 2004 for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3.

"This was a huge event in Hollywood, attracting up to 7,000 hopefuls", he said. "I wasn't sure what to expect, other than they needed tall, thin males to play the roles of pirates."

Seeing Chapman's size, the casting agents seemed very enthusiastic, took some shots of him with his shirt off, and said they would definitely call. In the meantime, Chapman has played a prospector on HBO's Deadwood. He got the call from Disney in late January.

"They wanted me to come audition at the Disney Studios in Burbank for Gore Verbinski", he said. "I went, and had to do an improv audition with four other guys, where we were searching for the last rum bottle on the ship. I was the one who found the rum bottle, and the four other guys, as pirates, jumped me. Or actually, I jumped them."

Chapman believes that because he took on four guys at once regardless of his small frame, and was bleeding by the end of the audition must have impressed somebody. Two weeks later, he called the casting hotline, and found his name listed as a potential pirate crew member for the Black Pearl.

"Since Pirates is on hiatus until September, I am keeping myself busy the best I can", Chapman said. "I just wrapped a drama/crime show called Guilty or Innocent for the Discovery Channel, where I had my first real character name. Anthony Longo was a minor witness to a crime, and I'm doing a body scan to be in a video game with Electronic Arts."

Chapman is not sure regarding his return to HBO's Deadwood or Carnivale, and won't know until they announce shooting for next season. He believes HBO treats people very well, and would like to return to either, or both. He made many unique friends while involved with the HBO series.

"I consider myself blessed every time I find myself on a sound stage", he said. "This is a very hard industry, and as Shakespeare said, 'It's either feast or famine' when it comes to the life of an actor."

Chapman believes he has been very fortunate and lucky so far, and hopes his good fortune will hold out for a very long time. "I'm prepared to take whatever comes my way", he said.

Deanna Plemons may be contacted via e-mail at deannap@corsicanadailysun.com