Famous Character – Leon Blackwell

Leon Blackwell -  Maria and Frank’s father

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN

LEON BLACKWELL (CHARACTER): Maria and Frank’s father.

He came from a tough, competitive family and isn’t afraid to strong arm people to get what he wants. He is a single parent, divorced from his wife for about five years now. He is well off. When he divorced, he kept the kids because he was more financially stable than his wife.
Leon is an only child. His father and uncle were prominent businessmen in harvesting oysters off the coast to sell to local restaurants and frozen food companies. Any time another independent company got into the harvesting business, his family would set them up to fail. Once, when a competing company retaliated by tainting Leon’s Father’s oyster harvest which cost them over a million dollars in lost profits, the family killed the competing business owner. The true facts surrounding this murder have never actually come to light. Although, Leon was young at the time, he had a major involvement in the murder, which only his deceased father and his close friend, Tom’s father, were aware of.
Tom’s father had helped manage the day-to-day business dealings for Blackwell Foods. He reported directly to Leon’s father. Leon’s father hired Tom’s father when Leon was finishing high school. Tom’s father was ten years older than Leon and soon became like a big brother to him.
Tom’s parents died during an explosion that he and Leon set to kill Leon’s father’s retaliating business competitor 17+ years ago.
After the two had set a bomb up and were escaping the scene, the competitor saw them and shot Tom’s father. Leon escaped unharmed, but didn’t have time to rescue Tom’s father before the explosion killed him and the competitor. The police found components for making the bomb in the competitor’s building and falsely concluded that the competitor had been the one that made it, that the competitor had killed Tom’s father, and that the bomb must have accidentally went off during the murder. Because of the police’s conclusions, the case was laid to rest. Leon has always felt guilty that he wasn’t able to rescue Tom’s father, even though he was lucky to save himself.
Tom’s mother came back into the picture at this time and took Tom to raise. She mainly did this so she could qualify for more welfare money, which she spent on herself, frequently leaving Tom home along to take care of himself. Leon gave her money to help a few times, but she would waste it on having a good time. None of it ever went to responsibilities or Tom. This was a source of contention between Leon and Tom’s Mother so much so that Leon insisted she think of Tom more. She told him that unless he was going to give her money he should stay the fuck out of her life. This was the end of the road between the two and Leon cut off any additional financial assistance. Tom’s Mother always put herself first and by the time Tom was 12, she was tired of having him as extra baggage in her life so she dumped him at Leon’s house and took off with a new boyfriend. Tom and Leon’s family have never seen her since. Leon was married by this point and had two children, Maria and Frank, who were about the same age as Tom. Leon was glad to have Tom finally in his care and hoped to make up for how he had failed Tom’s father all those years ago by caring for Tom.
Leon’s family was and still is well respected by local restaurateurs for consistently supplying the best quality product in the business. His family controls the pricing of all oyster sales in the area. After graduating high school, Leon’s father and Tom’s father groomed Leon to become the head of the family empire. Any honest morals or idealism he may have had as a younger man, were numbed out as he took on more and more family responsibility. Today, Leon is an amoral man, governed by a thirst for power and control, and a grim determination to get his own way in all things. He continues in the family business, continues to strong arm the competition and extort money as needed.
Leon has made several donations to businesses within the community, especially to those in which he knows he can use to his benefit later. These include making several sizeable donations to the PA Academy, including a recent one, which saved the school from going through a temporary shut down. Because of his assistance during this crucial time, Leon expects that his children will be accepted into the school. However, after Frank and Tom are asked to leave the school, for what amounts in Leon’s eyes to be an unjustified act on William’s part, Leon is livid. He tells William that this is unacceptable. William refuses to budge. With this, William has found himself a new enemy in Leon.
Leon is anxious for his daughter Maria to make a good marriage with a man she loves, particularly if it’s Tom Johnson. He has loved Tom like his own son for many years, partly out of guilt and obligation over the death of Tom’s father, who was a close friend and business associate. Leon sees the marriage of Tom to Maria as a perfect completion to his family circle and is eager to see it happen. That is, until Johnny Joseph arrives on the scene, which shakes things up…

You may write your own monologue -

* Firstly you will do your performance piece with a brief introduction (in character – first names only when introducing your characters in your audition. ) Perform a solo musical number, dance or any performance piece – no more than 2 minutes long. Musical instruments allowed.
* Then you will talk directly to camera in the character you have chosen – its like a personal video blog – speak in any language or accent you choose.
* You can write the monologue to suit the character you have develoSee all Auditions for Leon Blackwell on YouTube by clicking here