Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘Find Me Falling,’ a rockstar’s life changes after he moves to an island in Cyprus and tries to reinvent himself in solitude. The role is played by actor and singer Harry Connick Jr, who brings his perspective to John Allman, the protagonist going through a midlife crisis as his career crumbles right in front of him. While he contemplates a comeback, several other things come into focus and change his perspective about love and life. As the narrative unfolds, details matter in the story because a lot in the movie is left unsaid. For John, his emotions are reflected in everything that he does. It could be his songs or even his tattoos. The actor sports some intricate designs on his body while playing John. How many of those tattoos are real? SPOILERS AHEAD
Harry Connick Jr Doesn’t Have Tattoos
When writer-director Stelana Kliris came up with the character of John Allman, she needed someone who embodied his personality and emotions from every perspective. When Emmy and Grammy-winning Harry Connick Jr came on board, Kliris knew she had found the perfect person to bring John to life. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Connick Jr has many similarities with John, including the tattoos.
While John sports several tattoos on his chest and arm, Connick Jr. hasn’t been seen with any tattoos on his body. The actor might share his passion for music with the character, but he doesn’t have the same love for tattoos that John does. However, because tattoos are an important part of John’s character, it was necessary to keep them, and so Connick Jr. spent time in the makeup chair to have the fake tattoos applied to his body.
For the director, Kliris, this was one way in which the actor was separated from the character. She revealed that while Connick Jr. did a great job of getting into John’s skin, he isn’t like the character at all in real life. While John is brooding and a bit melancholy in the film, Connick Jr. is completely opposite. Still, he found some common ground with John and connected well enough to bring him to life on the screen.
Kliris wanted John to have tattoos to give the audience some perspective of his background without going into his past too much. The tattoos are a representation of his life as a rockstar and a reminder to him of the life he used to live. But that’s not the only thing they represent. One of John’s tattoos is hidden from view and is only visible to someone who notices. It isn’t until Anna points it out in the film’s latter half that we discover that John has Sia’s full name, Athanasía, tattooed on the inner part of his arm.
If there is any doubt about John’s feelings for Sia, it is cleared away in this scene because the tattoo confirms that he has loved her all this while. He never forgot about her; the time he spent with her brought him back to Cyprus when he was looking for some peace. This shows that a lot of thought has gone into John’s tattoos, and they are deeply meaningful to him.
Read More: Find Me Falling: Is John Allman Based on a Real Rockstar?
