- To me, walking upside down on all fours
is as easy as walking on two feet.
It's not scary or frightening to me in the least.
I've always been flexible.
But not just a little bit flexible, I'm really flexible.
Little did I know that this ability was, in fact,
the talent that would change my life completely.
I'm Troy James, and I'm a creature actor.
I play creatures on TV and movies
that move in ways that make the audience squirm.
My talent is that all of my joints-
my legs, my arms, my shoulders, my fingers-
they just bend however I want them to.
So if you need an alien, a demon, or a nonhuman creature
that doesn't move in the ways that normal human people do,
that's when you call me.
It looks like what I do is extremely painful.
Really, it doesn't hurt at all.
I don't know why I am as flexible as I am.
It's just something I was born with.
I'm the only one in my family
who can bend his arms and legs the way I do.
I didn't think it was that strange
until other kids told me it was,
but they weren't very nice about it.
And I remember being very embarrassed and I hid it away
because what makes you different when you're growing up
isn't something to be proud of.
I hid it for a long time.
But that all changed when I got a job
as an amusement park ride operator.
It was a hot day,
the ride was down for some reason or another,
the guests were getting kind of ornery,
and I thought, why don't I show them what I can do?
And I went up and down the line
making really cool shapes with my body, and it was a hit.
And that was the first time
I'd gotten that sort of positive reaction from other people,
showcasing my talent.
I never thought my ability
was anything more than a really cool party trick.
My friend put his camera up to me and said,
"Show me something cool."
Then he posted it on the internet,
and all of a sudden, my phone started ringing.
I started getting calls to be cast in TV shows,
and I didn't look back.
If you had told me a year ago, I was going to be an actor,
I would've laughed at you.
But after some of my performances,
people have told me that it's not just the way
I move my body that's effective, it's the acting behind it.
I bring a reaction to the audience.
I can thrill them, so to speak.
Coming from a place where you were ostracized
as I was as a child, I can bring that out as a creature.
It's interesting that something that I hid for so long
is now taking me places that I never imagined I would go.
I believe everyone has a super power.
And you may not know it's a super power,
but if it's something
that you're passionate about that makes you happy,
I think sharing it with the world
may not be such a bad idea after all.