For this entire week, Teenplicity will be posting exclusive interviews with the cast of Amazon’s Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street as a celebration of the series, as the final episodes go up on Amazon this Friday, July 15th. Each cast member provided exclusive stories and heartfelt commentary about their time on Normal Street.
Check out what David Bloom has to say below!
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When viewers of Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street are first introduced to Stanley, their heart immediately goes out to him. He’s the literal definition of anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Cursed with bad luck after giving his good luck to his mother, Stanley is now friendless and doomed to experience bad luck for the rest of his life. However, it’s when he is approached by Gortimer Gibbon [Sloane Morgan Siegel] that his life turns around.
With the idea to have Stanley join their Road Rocket Race team, Gortimer sets into motion a friendship that will grow and turn the tide for many adventures, as well as Stanley’s bad luck.
David Bloom, the actor behind Stanley, loves to play this character who is at times funny but can also have dramatic scenes.
“I also love playing the role of Stanley because I enjoy seeing and being a part of this journey that he has gone through on Normal Street,” David says. “He started as this kid with bad luck, with absolutely no friends. But [Stanley] has grown through the help of the other kids and has really become a good friend.”
However, unlike other characters, Stanley’s adventures aren’t always ones that has the actors jumping to go on if they could. With a mobile of misfortune, haunting ghosts, and absurd lies coming true only to backfire on a friend, David is not going to be signing up for any real life Stanley adventures in the near future.
The young actor is able to pick out a favorite episode in the series, which happens to also be a huge episode for Stanley’s growth. “It is part of the second season (Part A) and is called ‘Stanley and the Tattoo of Tall Tales’. It is a wonderful episode where my character Stanley wants to overcome this feeling that he is just a joke and that everything he does is just a joke,” David explains. “He finds that he wants people to take him seriously. Eventually he gets a tattoo that makes everyone believe everything he says and in Stanley fashion, ends up finding that he has made some huge mistakes.”
Reading the script for the episode definitely left an impression on David as he says, “While reading the script, I was impacted the most by how this comedic character of Stanley has these moments where he really feels for the person he hurt and how he owns up to his actions in front of the entire school.”
Like his character, David describes himself as a funny, lighthearted person, but he’s also someone who isn’t always just a joke. There are many things that David doesn’t share with his character though.
“For instance,” says David, “Stanley is very outgoing and now that he has friends, is more of an extrovert. I, on the other hand, would not consider myself as outgoing as Stanley is and not as prone to making bad decisions like Stanley.”
As for what bad decisions Stanley might be making in the second half of season two, as well as a possible romance (via chemical reaction) between Stanley and Catherine (Chandler Kinney), the young actor is tight-lipped. “You will just have to wait until it comes out,” he teases.
One major thing that viewers were made aware of in the trailer for 2B of Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street is that the main character Gortimer is set to move away from the street and town he knows and loves so much.
When asked how Gortimer’s impending departure will affect Stanley, David responded that he believes it will affect his character a good amount. He goes further by saying, “If Gortimer had not made sure that Stanley was on his team in the second episode, then Stanley would not have any friends. Gortimer is the only reason that Stanley has these friends so it will be hard seeing him leave.”
Gortimer’s friendship has really helped Stanley come out of his shell. Viewers have seen him as a magician as well as display his skills as a drummer. One of these might just be in Stanley’s future, David imagined.
“If I could see into Stanley’s future, he would probably be doing something that he loves. I don’t see Stanley as the type of person to be working at a big office. I could see Stanley as a rock drummer. But, I could also see Stanley maybe doing something that involves comedy, acting, or writing. Who knows, maybe Stanley will be a motivational speaker.”
When speaking with the cast, there were three questions that every cast member was asked. Here are David’s answers to those questions.
Teenplicity: What is something you’ve learned about yourself from being on the show? Have you gained anything?
“Being on this show, I have learned a lot about myself. For starters, I learned a lot about myself as an actor. I also learned a lot about myself through the storylines of the show. There are many episodes that have important messages and I have found that some of those have applied to my own life.”
Teenplicity: Finish the sentence – ‘If I lived on Normal Street…’
“If I lived on Normal Street, I would try to be friends with Gortimer and his friends, or at least acquaintances.”
Teenplicity: The show received a lot of audience and critical praise for its accurate portrayal of childhood and growing up. Having grown up a bit while on the show, what will you miss most about ‘Normal Street’?
“What I will miss most about ‘Normal Street’ is the friendships I have made with the cast and crew. While I will probably be able to see them all again, I will miss being able to come into work and see all of them on a weekly basis. I have made such lasting friendships on this show and I will miss being around to be a part of this show with them.”
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The final episodes of Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street go up on Amazon this Friday, July 15th.
Keep up to date with David Bloom and what he is up to next by following his Twitter!
