Misha interview on USA Today about Random Acts! :O
BURBANK, Calif. - TV's Misha Collins, a co-star of the CW's Supernatural, has developed an outsized fan base online, where enthusiasts not only follow him but support his causes in big ways. His 438,000 Twitter followers have raised nearly $500,000 to help rebuild Haiti following a major earthquake in January 2010.
Talking Your Tech
Actor Misha Collins.
We met Collins, who plays the angel Castiel on Supernatural- which was just renewed for next season - at the CW Network here. He's set to return June 14 to Haiti with 22 Twitter fans, who each raised at least $5,000 via the online fundraising site Crowdrise.com to come along. Collins and his fans will pull out hammers and nails and help build buildings. The first time, they built a dental clinic.
Tweets converted to a cause
"When the Haiti earthquake happened, I registered with UNICEF to set up an account, and posted to Twitter for people to donate to it. In a matter of a couple of hours, $30,000 had been donated. That, to me, was eye-opening."
Random acts of kindness
On TV shows that appeal to horror and sci-fi viewers, fans respond to the stars in such ways as offering to send photos of themselves posing in character, or crocheting outfits with their image. Collins decided to channel that energy for good, with his non-profit, therandomact.org. "There's this large group of people who are very creative and interactive, and finding ways for them to identify charitable leads and crowd-source solutions" is the game plan.
Communication
"Technology has changed the fan/actor interaction quite a bit. Now it's really easy to communicate with a large group of people in a really short time, and that … opens a lot of possibilities. You can do a lot of things with it that you couldn't do before. It's kind of fun to figure out how that can be employed."
His random acts
He posts videos on YouTube and Facebook, shot with his iPhone. Recent videos featured a burial for a tree that was burned in a Los Angeles fire and a cautionary tale about children talking to strangers.
Having to be available to fans online
" For the most part, people are pretty understanding that I'm busy doing other things like pretending to be an angel on a TV show, and there's a big wide berth of forgiveness."
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