What we have here is a minor celebrity. Throughout the year there is a constant stream of movie makers, cinematographers, independents, and big names like Nat Geo and the boys from the BBC coming through the park filming, shooting stills, making commercials and generally utilizing the parks resources. Consequently they are in constant need of local talent to act as stand-ins, character actors, background, minor featured subjects, color and anything else that might come to mind.
They’re kind of picky as to who they choose and the casting people are always looking for that fresh new face. You have to have a certain charisma to be chosen plus be photogenic of course. Two Horns has become the go to player if you want that quintessential buffalo look. Here’s a headshot he provided us where he’s in a commercial for a hair conditioner product. Unfortunately due to issues with a snotty New York Advertising Agency we can’t release the products name but you’ll know it when you see it. Always sought after he’s kind of like the Marlboro Man of buffalos. Rugged, laid back, cool, he looks like you’d want to look if you wanted to be a buffalo.
He has another string to his bow that makes him even more in demand. He is also a stunt buffalo. If you need a shot where a buffalo is running in the herd and gets shot and falls spectacularly, like ass over tea kettle as my grandma used to say, this is your man, or bull as it were. His specialty is the nose into the dirt with the slow slide and then almost in slow motion his hindquarters rise into the air and arc completely over his head until he lands on his back in a colossal cloud of dust and flops over dead on his side. Whoa, it is bitchin’. He can also keep his eyes open in the middle of all that action and dust flying around for the close-up they need to show he really looks dead. It’s pretty incredible. They say he is a natural. That shot was used in the hunting scene in ‘Dances With Wolves’. Costner flew him all the way out to the Dakotas in his private jet just for that stunt.
He ‘s been in steady demand lately and has built up a rep for being punctual, knowing his lines and being willing to reshoot the falling scene until they get it right. As a result he has built up a substantial supply of new cut grass hay which is kept in a fenced off area that only he and the occasional cow that may accompany him has access to. Since the park makes money by collecting their cut in the way of commercial permits that they require from the film makers they want to keep him happy as well. He doesn’t have to worry about having to leave the park in the winter when the snow gets up to his hangy down parts like the other guys, he has his own quarters just off Old Faithful and can be seen standing next to the fountain posing for tourists once in a while. If you’re really lucky he will put a hoof print in your autograph book, if you’re a jerk and try to set your kid on his back for a picture he will put it between your shoulder blades. He’s still a wild buffalo after all.
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