The Parsons Project

[May 16th, 2007] Gus Van Sant unveils his Portland-made Paranoid Park in a lineup of 21 competition titles at the 60th Cannes Film Festival in Southern France on Monday, May 21. It's likely the director's latest film will garner a lot of attention. His Elephant won the Palme d'Or in 2003. But another, shorter Van Sant project will also be showcased at the fest. The just over three-minute film, First Kiss, tells the story of a projectionist who crosses the thin line between film and real life.

This metaphor could easily apply to the gent who plays the projectionist. His name is Paul Parson, and he grew up in a family of Sauvie Island surfers.

Named after Bible folk, the Parson boys—David, 23, John, 21, Paul, 18, and Peter, 15—are the offspring of Mary and Brian Parson, who own the Parson Berry Farm, one of Oregon's biggest berry operations.

As a group, the boys possess youthful bravado and old-fashioned good looks and charm, an appeal that does not go unnoticed by those who come in contact with them—including famous directors known for kick-starting young men's film careers.

The Parsons already have an "almost" famous neighbor. Pennie Trumbull owns a farm a mile up the road from the Parsons' family home. Better known as Pennie Lane, she's the famous rock groupie who was immortalized on film by Academy Award-nominated Kate Hudson in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.

"I'd met them at [Pennie's] house when they were building a fire pit for a party," says Van Sant. "One of the things you notice about them is that, with four boys, the Parson family resembles the Stamper family in Ken Kesey's novel Sometimes a Great Notion. They resemble them in both an idealized way and a practical way. I assume Kesey drew on his own family when writing that book; most of them were involved in the family dairy business, but also in his 'Prankster' activities. The Parsons...wouldn't pull a prank, I don't think. They seem too virtuous."

"He seemed like a regular guy," says Paul about meeting Van Sant. "When I found out who he was I said, 'Oh, wow.'"

After getting to know the Parsons, Van Sant asked high-school senior Paul to audition for a role in Paranoid Park. "Just by coincidence, his dad, Brian, was auditioning for a John Deere advertisement. They both got the parts," Van Sant remembers. "Paul was in our movie, and Brian shot the John Deere ad, but neither were in the business. They just were asked to do it."

Later Paul turned down the big part in Paranoid Park for a bit part in that film.

Paul admits he was scared. "I'd never done anything like that before." Let's just say acting is not in the Parson brothers' blood. They're more interested in surfing, dirt bikes and their education. His brother David is one semester shy from graduating from college with a triple major, and John is currently studying medicine as an undergrad at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. Paul and Pete still live at home.

Gus still cast Paul in First Kiss. He paired him with leggy legend Viva Las Vegas (a local stripper and writer). It was Paul's first real experience in front of a camera. "Gus told me I was the only one [in the audition] willing to do a kiss," says Paul. "It was the first time I kissed an woman older than me that wasn't my mom."

So what does Van Sant think Paul and his brothers can teach people?

"That it is OK to care about other people," says Van Sant. "They're all members of the volunteer fire department. That's teamwork. They don't give up easily. Whether it's trying to clear some blackberry vines or a tree from a pasture to whether they can find a way to a surf location, they usually keep going at the problem until it's solved. And they usually solve things under their own steam."

That teamwork might serve them well, as David and Paul have decided to leave the nest. Although Sauvie Island is only 10 miles from Portland, it's light years from the boys' next destination. The pair is moving to Los Angeles sometime in late summer.

"We'll live on the beach, and I plan on going to school for construction management," says Paul. "I would also like to take acting classes."

According to Van Sant, Paul was a natural. "He played the part of a projectionist in a theater, and he did a great job," Van Sant adds. "He ran the projector as if he knew it well. We told him to run it like it was the berry-picking machine."

The four boys left for Cannes on Sunday—sans parents. They plan to rent tuxes for the red carpet somewhere in France.

Note: Move cursor off thumbnail menu to read all captions.