Hearting Huckabees: Sudan native uses experience in role

Ger Duany was first surrounded by the drama of a civil war-torn country and then fate led him to the drama of the American silver screen. Duany is originally from Sudan, but considers Bloomington home. He came to the United States as a refugee when he was only 16. Not only was he a real refugee, but he plays one in the new movie "I (Heart) Huckabees."\nAfter coming to the United States, Duany found a home in Bloomington with the aid of The Lost Boys Foundation, an organization that works to help unaccompanied refugee minors. He graduated from Bloomington North High School in 1998. Now at 25, he attends the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.\nMary Williams, the founder of the Lost Boys Foundation, helped Duany discover auditions for "I (Heart) Huckabees." It was a widely taped audition, but he got the part.\nDuany plays the role of Mr. Nimieri, "a tall African doorman." The movie revolves around his role. Mr. Nimieri is continually spotted at odd places and times by Jason Schwartzman's character, Albert. Albert believes that these encounters cannot possibly be random and he seeks to find meaning in the coincidences.\nAs it turns out, Mr. Nimieri fled violence to come to the United States and live with a new family. Director David O. Russell said he wanted someone who had endured the real life experience of being a refugee to play the role. \n"I wanted to have someone who was actually a Sudanese lost boy," Russell said.\nDuany has only taken one acting class in his entire life. It was a gamble to cast someone with essentially no acting experience. \n"You're always taking a risk when you do that," Russell said, "You never know what you're going to get."\nRussell was lucky enough to strike gold when he cast Duany.\nThe director couldn't stop listing off his positive qualities. He was able to take direction easily, remembered his lines, had really good instincts and his natural ability transcended the lack of experience. \n"On a scale of one to ten in that area, he's an eight or a nine," Russell said.\nBesides the wealth of talent, Russell found working with the former refugee to be a dream just from his truly genuine personality.\n"He had this sweetness about him," Russell said, "He makes you feel good to be around him." \nRussell wouldn't hesitate to call up any director to recommend Duany's talent. He considers him a friend and said he would love to work with him again.\n"He's a beautiful person; really gentle and creative," Russell said.\nRussell isn't the only one in Hollywood who wants to do another project with Duany. Actor Mark Wahlberg, who played the part of Tommy Corn in "Huckabees," said he hopes Duany will be cast in an upcoming movie he's working on, though he would not divulge any details about the project.\nOver the course of filming together Duany and Wahlberg became good friends.\n"We connected immediately," Wahlberg said.\nA great sense of humor is one of the qualities Wahlberg appreciates in his friend. He said they have similar outlooks on the world despite their drastically different backgrounds. When the two get together, they don't talk about acting. They talk about life.\n"Whenever I go to New York or New England I give him a call and we try to hangout," Wahlberg said.\nAs much as Wahlberg seems to admire Duany, he literally looks up to him. \n"He's a giant. He can be pretty imposing, but he's very gentle," Wahlberg said.\nAt 6-feet-5-inches Duany is not exactly the world's tallest man, but he's nearly a foot taller than Wahlberg.\nDuany joked that the other actors looked like midgets compared to his height. \nHis tall stature aids in one of his favorite hobbies -- basketball. He played in high school and for a short time at the University of Bridgeport. The sport has helped him overcome other challenges, such as working with an entire cast of big name actors in a feature film.\n"Like basketball, you can't let anybody intimidate you when you come into the court," Duany said about working with celebrities.\nDuany said when he first started working on the movie, he was a little bit starstruck being around the likes of Jude Law, Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman, Naomi Watts and others. He had seen them in the movies and on television, and the next thing he knew he was eating with them and talking with them in person.\n"They're just normal people like you and me," Duany said.\nHis experience with "Huckabees" has opened the door to another rare opportunity. At a screening of the movie in Los Angeles, Duany met male supermodel Tyson Beckford. \nBeckford saw modeling potential.\n"He thought I had some talent or something," he said.\nIt's not every day a supermodel spots someone out of a crowd and opens the door to a modeling career, but Duany remains humble in spite of the attention. He doesn't allow walking the runway to go to his head. It's merely a form of income.\n"I just need a job; a little fashion show here and there," Duany said.\nNow his primary focus is being a college student. If he has any spare time at all he lifts weights. He took time off of school to shoot the movie, but now he's back on track.\n"Right now all I do is I study," Duany said.\nWhen asked what was the best part of working in the movie he shyly laughed.\n"Everything was good," he said, "But the best part ... I just enjoy being around people."\nDuany is a people person to the core. He is currently working on a degree in human services. He wants to continue acting, but it is a volatile trade.\n"Acting, it comes in and then goes away," Duany said.\nIf he's not acting, he wants to be a social worker or a counselor.\nHe was inspired to study human services because of the help he received from The Lost Boys Foundation when he came to the United States. The organization aided in getting him through immigration, teaching him how to speak English, providing food and supplies, and getting him into high school.\n"I learned why people would want to help other people," Duany said.\nHe remains humble and emphasizes that he hasn't changed in any way. His fresh acting career has taken him to a lot of places, but his heart remains in his hometown where his family lives. Whenever he's away he looks forward to visiting during breaks from school.\n"I can't wait to come to Bloomington for Christmas," Duany said.\n"I (heart) Huckabees" is currently in theaters.\n-- Contact staff writer Joanna Borns at jborns@indiana.edu.