Friendly Encounters: David Naughton and Jacques Baron

Friendly Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends who have met celebrities.

This is a really cool "Friendly Encounters" edition.  First, as my friend Jacques would say, he is featured in it.  Jacques is cool (it's always good to butter up the boss).  Seriously, Jacques is a good dude and has been one of the highlights of my years working with Resistance Pro.  He is one of the very first people I met within the company.
He also happens to have an extensive collection of memorabilia.  One of his most unique pieces can never be sold however.
He has a tattoo of David Naughton on his right forearm.  Serious, look at the picture.  There is the star from "American Werewolf in London" etched into his forearm.  That is passion for the film!
I'm not the only one impressed with that either.  David Naughton himself enjoyed seeing the tattoo at a recent Days of the Dead convention.  I can't say it was the only such tattoo he has ever seen, but you can bet there haven't been many (if any).  Leave it to Jacques.
As a sidenote, I had no luck talking Jacques into adding a Johngy tattoo to his other arm.

David Naughton and Jacques Baron in Schaumburg, IL-November 2015.

David Naughton WAS a Pepper

As has been well-documented in previous posts, I usually like the lesser-known roles of many of the actors I meet. Such is the case with David Naughton.

Naughton's most famous role is probably as David Kessler in An American Werewolf in London. While I really liked that movie, I remember Naughton more for his singing in the Dr. Pepper ads and for his hit record Makin' It (which also became a tv series, in which he starred).

When I met Naughton for the first time, I brought up the Dr. Pepper ads. Naughton seemed to try to gloss over my reference. Then I said I could have asked about Makin' It and he politely changed the subject to his other work, like the tv series My Sister Sam. I said I was very aware of his body of work, but I really liked him right from the start (namely the 'Be a Pepper' ads).
I don't know why celebs would downplay any of their work, especially at a Hollywood Collectors Convention. Naughton even had pictures from his Dr. Pepper ads which you could have him sign. Naughton has had a solid body of work, but none of it is great theater, so why frown on any of it? Strangely, in interviews, Naughton credits the Dr. Pepper ads with "putting him on the map".
I have since met Naughton a few more times and he seemed to have loosened his stance on his Pepper days. I think too many people mention this part of his career for him to try to ignore it. We actually had a laugh about this in Indianapolis (but I'll save that for another post).

David Naughton and me in Rosemont, IL-early 00's.