Christopher Atkins. Photo Credit: Glenn Francis
Veteran actor Christopher Atkins (“The Blue Lagoon” and “Dallas”) chatted about his latest endeavors in the entertainment industry.
American poet and playwright Langston Hughes once said: “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” This quote applies to Christopher Atkins.
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, Atkins said, “It certainly opens up a lot of broader horizons for a lot of different things. I think they are still trying to figure things out, especially since everything involves a subscription these days.”
“The digital age is also good because people will want more content, and I am moving in that area these days, and I am looking forward to that,” he added.
‘Ladies of the ‘80s: A Divas Christmas’
For Atkins, it was a fun experience to do the holiday film “Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas,” directed by Christie Will Wolf, for Lifetime, which afforded him the opportunity to reunite with Linda Gray from “Dallas.”
“It was fun,” he admitted. “It was great to see everybody and catch up after those years. Working with Linda Gray again was fantastic. Unfortunately, I didn’t do much more than a phone call, but it was supposed to be for the ‘Dallas’ fans.”
“It was a basic play on ‘Dallas’ where I am now married to Linda Gray, and my name was Peter in that show. They did that on purpose in the film for fun,” he said.
Atkins had great words about young actress Taylor Ann Thompson and executive producer Larry Thompson. “Taylor is adorable, and Larry is a great guy,” he said.
“I really liked working with Christie Will Wolf. I would love to work with her again sometime,” he added.
Future plans
Regarding his future plans, Atkins shared, “For 40 years, I’ve acting in over 100 television credits and movies, and the only thing I haven’t done yet is make my own content, so that’s my plan for the future.”
“I have a couple of projects that are out there right now. It is just about securing funding to make some really good movies,” he acknowledged.
‘The Blue Lagoon’
Atkins recalled his time filming “The Blue Lagoon,” which turned him into a household name.
“That movie changed my entire life,” he said. “It was a far cry from anything I would have experienced. I was just a kid from Rye, New York, and I wanted to go into playing baseball. I ended up having all these knee operations.”
Atkins continued, “When my son was 12 years old, I met a guy who was a hitting coach for the Dodgers and said to me ‘the Phillies wanted to draft me’ and I told my son, ‘Now, I can die a happy guy’.”
“My son ended up becoming a monster baseball player, and he got recruited to play in Charlotte, North Carolina in Division 1, so that was pretty exciting,” he admitted.
“I was working with Ford Modeling when I auditioned for this movie,” he said. “Never in a million years did I ever imagine that I was going to get picked for the role. I was one of 4,000 kids that went in for that movie, which I had no idea about either.
“They picked me, but I initially said ‘no’ because I had no idea about the acting and what being in front of a camera looked like. I was more into sports and going into sports medicine,” he elaborated.
“They called me back up and said ‘we wouldn’t have cast you if we didn’t think you could do it,’ and they really wanted me to do it,” he said.
“I agreed to do this movie, and they flew me out to California, and from there, a couple of days later, I was off to Fiji Islands, and there I was for 4.5 months on a deserted island,” he explained.
“It was a life experience,” he admitted. “This movie was very, very special to me.”
Working with Brooke Shields
On working with Brooke Shields, he said, “Brooke was 14 years old when we started filming, and she turned 15 on the island. We were both kind of young, but she was obviously younger. She was super wise back then. She had so much advice, and her mom helped a lot too.”
“Also, she has a really good sport with what we had to deal with on that deserted island,” he said. “Brooke has always been a very nice person.”
International fan-base
Thanks to “The Blue Lagoon” and “Dallas,” Atkins has had a worldwide fan-base, which he is very appreciative and humbled for.
“I have a lot of fans in Greece and Brazil,” he noted. “It is fascinating. I wanted to go to Greece for my honeymoon and we never made it. I haven’t been there yet. That is one of the places that I have been dying to go. Greece is just stunningly beautiful.”
“If anybody in Greece wants to make a movie, have them give me a call,” he said with a sweet laugh.
Advice for young and emerging actors
For young and aspiring actors, he said, “While I am not good at advice, the bottom line is if you have a dream, then go and chase after your dreams.”
“At least chase your dreams because you don’t want to look back over your shoulder years later, and regret not going after them,” he added.
Career-defining moments
Atkins listed “The Blue Lagoon” as a major career-defining moment.
“After that, they kept curling my hair, and then, Columbia Pictures put me under contract for four years,” he said.
“That was the first time since the old MGM days that an actor was put under a specific contract with a studio. That was a big deal at the time,” he explained.
“Another thing that seemed to define my career was my butt,” he said with a sweet laugh, thus implying all the times he had to show his posterior onscreen. “It seemed that in every single movie I did, I had to show my butt.”
“So, I told my agents that ‘there is going to be a day when they will tell me that they are going to pay me to keep my clothes on.’ I think that day is finally here, thank God,” Atkins jokingly laughed.
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Atkins revealed, “Checking the last box.”
“Everybody has the bucket list box, and I have the last box in this career,” he noted. “I’ve done everything else in this career except make my own picture.”
“I am excited about that, and I am pushing that movie forward; it is all about finding the funding,” he added.
Success
Regarding his definition of success, Atkins said, “Success means serenity to me. There is so much out there that is going to attack you or fall on you or obstacles in the way.
He continued, “The whole trick is when you hit those obstacles, you can either fall apart, or you can take a step back, breathe for a day or so, and then go over the hurdle. There are all sorts of different ways to still try to achieve your goal.”
“My favorite saying in the world is ‘it is what it is,’ and that will help you get serenity. I just learned to accept things, and I’ve learned to forgive. This way, it is impossible not to grow again,” he elaborated.
Message for his fans and supporters
For his dedicated fans and followers, he said, “First of all, thank you to everyone for wishing me a ‘Happy Birthday,’ which was a couple of days ago on the 21st of February.”
“Thank you, thank you! I can’t tell you how fascinating it is that I still have fans,” he acknowledged.
“Everybody has been so wonderful and so nice, and it really melts my heart. The fact that I have fans from all over the world is just absolutely incredible. That is really beautiful and special; it really is,” he said effusively.
“It’s because of all these fans that things keep on moving,” he concluded.
American track and field sprint legend Jesse Owens once said: “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” Christopher Atkins is an individual that embodies this wise quote by the late four-time Olympic gold medalist.
To learn more about Christopher Atkins, follow him on Instagram.