Link to the d*cks
I was interested in profiling Jackson Kelly, who played one of the dying Civil War soldiers in Righteous Gemstones Season 4. He was somewhat difficult to research, since there are a lot of Jackson Kellys out there, including a female adult video actor, but I finally I found some newspaper articles and podcasts from our Jackson's home town.
Jackson Kelly grew up in Waco, Texas, the heart of the homophobic Bible Belt, and had trouble pursuing his dream: the nearest acting class was two hours away, and for auditions, his parents had to drive him six hours to Austin. There are three theaters in Waco.
In April 2020, COVID hit, and the Vanguard College Preparatory School went online. They have a Latin Club, but no GSA, and no mention of LGBT non-discrimination. So he packed his stuff and moved to L.A., with the full support of his parents. If I liked to wear evening gowns, I'd be getting the heck out of Waco regardless.
Jackson's first industry job was a production assistant for a company making commercials -- a lot of manual labor, moving stuff from here to there. Then he began appearing in commercials and "zero-budget" independent films:
My Year of D*cks, 2022: he has one that the girl tries to get.
Splinters, 2022: after the death of his father....f*k the Sadness
Witch Mountain, 2022: Two teens, male and female, develop psychic powers. You see where this is heading.
Portrait of a Young Man, 2022: Jackson, the Young Man, is struggling with "his identity." Sounds like a coming out story, but in the trailer he kisses a girl.
Hard Miles, 2023: Matthew Modine plays a social worker who organizes a 1,000 mile bicycle trip to the Grand Canyon for a group of teen convicts, including Smink, played by Jackson.
Left: Matthew Modine jumps rope in Vision Quest.
The Western The Warrant: Breaker's Law, 2023, with Dermot Mulroney as the villain. Jackson plays someone named Brig Farkus. At least he has some interesting character names.
Five episodes of Lucky Hank, 2023, a quickly-cancelled series about college English/creative writing professor Bob Odenkirk having a midlife crisis/meltdown.
Jackson plays an aspiring novelist named Barstow Williams-Stevens. In the trailer, he throws shade at the prof during class: "You haven't said anything for an hour and a half. Would you please say something? Your only novel isn't even available in your own campus bookstore." The prof responds in kind, and gets in big trouble.
More after the break
