In a world where people struggle with fame over and over again with reference to the physical appearance, here is how one man has transformed weights into wings. Billy Owen, a man that not only had his eye and half of his face cut out due to cancer is a man that has transformed himself in the most unimaginable ways possible. Not only did he come out from one of life’s most difficult experiences, but he was able to utilize his difference for a profession based on the entertainment industry, as a zombie.
Billy Owen’s story is not only one of changing the body but the soul, of courage, persevere and hopefulness of making lemons from lemonade. His life story is now a testament of how one can take full benefit of having flaws in a bid to overcoming a adversity.
The Fight with Cancer: A Life-Altering Battle
Billy Owen lead a normal life until he was diagnosed of a rare and more aggressive form of cancer in 2007. At this point, he did not realize, the magnitude with which his life would turn from this diagnosis. He was 35, a father, a husband, and, on the face of it, a man leading a normal life. He was a blue-collar man, a construction worker who had no idea that he would shortly be one of the lucky survivors of a serious illness.
He first developed the disease in his face and soon, the doctors later realised that it had spread. His appearance was greatly affected by the disease; at one point, he required several operations. In fact, he just lost the right side of his face and the right eye in particular. These kind of surgeries were needed to save his life but the physical examination it did give to him was enormous. The physical transformations were too considerable and in front of him Owen had to deal with serious life issues, such as fatal disease and complete change of identity.
The process of getting back on one’s feet and a long way for Owen with many moments of hopelessness and doubt. He despairing, not the physical appearance but the pain, and the controversies that surrounded his treatment process. People do not understand that cancer is an emotional experience as well; for a man who used to have a normal face, the experience of becoming a stranger in the street was tough.
But Billy Owen was not a man you could sum up in an illness. When all the external signs of suffering went away, Owen changed the way he looked at things in his life. He was not merely dreaming of surviving cancer but was thinking of making it a plus out of the deal. He understood that what was the source of so much suffering changed appearance is what can turn the page in his life. Little did he know, his path forward was to take him into the genre of the horror movies, and special effects.
A New Identity: The Birth of a Zombie Actor
During recovery Owen started feeling a tad confident, and this is when he found himself. While many a man would face away from the light, or from visibility, in exposing his scare, Owen saw a chance. He began to consider the notion of becoming an actor—an actor for the walking dead. With his disfigured face and his unique appearance, he realized he could fit perfectly into the roles of characters often seen in horror films: zombies and other monsters, the peculiar, and the horrific.
Owen’s decision to pursue acting wasn’t about seeking pity or capitalizing on his condition; rather, it was a way to embrace the new version of himself. He had been through hell and back, and now he wanted to use his story and appearance to entertain others. It was a way of taking control of his situation, reclaiming his identity, and finding empowerment in a career that allowed him to transform his perceived “weakness” into something celebrated.
The process of getting back on one’s feet and a long way for Owen with many moments of hopelessness and doubt. He despairing, not the physical appearance but the pain, and the controversies that surrounded his treatment process. People do not understand that cancer is an emotional experience as well; for a man who used to have a normal face, the experience of becoming a stranger in the street was tough.
But Billy Owen was not a man you could sum up in an illness. When all the external signs of suffering went away, Owen changed the way he looked at things in his life. He was not merely dreaming of surviving cancer but was thinking of making it a plus out of the deal. He understood that what was the source of so much suffering = changed appearance is what can turn the page in his life. Little did he know, his path forward was to take him into the genre of the horror movies, and special effects.
A New Identity: The Birth of a Zombie Actor
During recovery Owen started feeling a tad confident, and this is when he found himself. While many a man would face away from the light, or from visibility, in exposing his scare, Owen saw a chance. He began to consider the notion of becoming an actor—an actor for the walking dead. With his disfigured face and his unique appearance, he realized he could fit perfectly into the roles of characters often seen in horror films: zombies and other monsters, the peculiar, and the horrific.
The common feature of the zombie is that it has risen from the dead, or as it were, Owen has been through the resurrection process himself. His zombie characters are his real life—that he survived from the ‘death’ of his earlier life as a healthy man.
The Zombie Genre: Owen’s Story is A Perfect Fit
That is why the horror genre, and specifically the subgenre of zombie films, has been interested in the human body in decomposition for a long time. That is why, as walking corpses technically not quite alive but still not completely dead zombies are usually associated with concepts such as suffering, change, and precarity. To most performers the chance to portray zombie is an opportunity to delve into the creative side of despair and revival of life.
For Billy Owen this could not have been a better plan. In doing so he was able to bring personal experience with illness loss and survival directly into alignment with the topics of the genre. As a symbol of a suffering creature who keeps on living, moving through the life of a zombie was something Owen could always empathize. To some extent, he found his life as one of the walking dead to be much more than just a career—it was a calling, and an outlet for him to reach out to others like him.
Also, zombie films put ego aside and provide freedom for those artists who want to be ugly. In a theatre style here shape-shifting is what reigns supreme, Owen’s ‘‘abnormality’’— the half-missing face and a prosthetic eye became quite the ticket and not the hindrance . It helped him to express himself in the context of very traditional cinematic tropes with his uniqueness, something that in many current circumstances is valued more than the individual person. He thereby turned into a role model of self-sufficiency to show that what a man could not do was precisely his assets.
The common feature of the zombie is that it has risen from the dead, or as it were, Owen has been through the resurrection process himself. His zombie characters are his real life—that he survived from the ‘death’ of his earlier life as a healthy man.
The Zombie Genre: Owen’s Story is A Perfect Fit
That is why the horror genre, and specifically the subgenre of zombie films, has been interested in the human body in decomposition for a long time. That is why, as walking corpses technically not quite alive but still not completely dead zombies are usually associated with concepts such as suffering, change, and precarity. To most performers the chance to portray zombie is an opportunity to delve into the creative side of despair and revival of life.
For Billy Owen this could not have been a better plan. In doing so he was able to bring personal experience with illness loss and survival directly into alignment with the topics of the genre. As a symbol of a suffering creature who keeps on living, moving through the life of a zombie was something Owen could always empathize. To some extent, he found his life as one of the walking dead to be much more than just a career—it was a calling, and an outlet for him to reach out to others like him.
Also, zombie films put ego aside and provide freedom for those artists who want to be ugly. In a theatre style here shape-shifting is what reigns supreme, Owen’s ‘‘abnormality’’— the half-missing face and a prosthetic eye became quite the ticket and not the hindrance . It helped him to express himself in the context of very traditional cinematic tropes with his uniqueness, something that in many current circumstances is valued more than the individual person. He thereby turned into a role model of self-sufficiency to show that what a man could not do was precisely his assets.
What his experience was, the survival against all odds, the fight for hope and the hope of a tomorrow is proof of the spirit in man, the sparkle of life, and the love of the odd. The whole life of Billy Owen is an inspiring example of the fact that nobody is helpless no matter what he has on his way he can always start a new.
