Back in January 2026, we photographed a headshot session with actor Orion Lay-Sleeper. At the time, Orion was preparing for his role as the Jackie Gleason character in City Lit Theatre Company’s production of John Reeger’s play Changing Channels, which opened in February 2026 and closed in mid-April.
Orion expressed interest in an Old-Hollywood-style look for his Jackie Gleason, so we incorporated him into Distant Era’s ongoing project, Golden Age of the Silver Screen, which celebrates the glamor of Hollywood’s heyday.
Beginning, Middle, and End
Golden Age of the Silver Screen began as a creative experiment, evolved into a headshot session add-on, and eventually its own individual “package” that clients can order from Distant Era. Typically, Silver Screen sessions happen at the end of a headshots or personal brand session, but in Orion’s case the Silver Screen session happened at the beginning, middle, and end of Orion’s time with us and probably encompassed the most disparate looks of any Silver Screen session so far. This had everything to do with a beard and lack thereof.
The Hemmingway
Orion wanted to have his headshots done in stages as he shaved down from full beard to clean-shaven. He based his Silver Screen ideas around the varying states of his gradually diminishing facial hair throughout the session. Therefore, we had to begin our session with Orion’s full beard Silver Screen look—this before we even started headshots.
Photographer Yousuf Karsh’s famous 1957 photograph of Ernest Hemmingway served as Orion’s inspiration for his first Silver Screen look.
Our lighting in this shot came somewhat close to the inspiration, with some notable differences. The subjects’ differening complexions and the differences in the photographic medium upon which both were shot create a few more differences. And yet, we didn’t aim to create a facsimilie but rather a new portrait inspired by a photograph from the period.
As we listened to Stan Rogers and discussed folk music, Orion showed off a pipe prop he’d brought. One wouldn’t necessarily expect to find pipe tobacco at the Distant Era studio, but it’s only one among many curiosities that exist in this world between worlds. We had achieved some great smoke effects in our first Silver Screen shoots with Gary Henderson and Charissa Johnson a year prior, so it seemed like it might be fun to have some smoke coming from Orion’s pipe. As they say on the internet, I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
Orion seems to possesses as many talents as he has faces. Actor, leatherworker, bagpiper… As soon as he has the pipe in hand, he’s creating smoke rings like Gandalf the Grey. Take a look at these pictures and imagine yourself at a pub in Halifax with Stan Rogers singing in the background and this old salt leaning in to spin ye a yarn.
The Dali
Mid-way through our session, Orion had evolved through several looks, from beard to short beard to muttonchops, and finally the mustache, which he waxed and curled, taking inspiration from the famous portrait of Dali by photographer Philippe Halsman.
We didn’t attempt to match the light or background for our Dali homage, but played around within the theme. Here are a few others from our session.
The Honeymooner
Finally, at the end of the session, once Orion had gone completely clean shaven, we photographed the Jackie Gleason look he’d use to promote Changing Channels at City Lit.
Orion referenced Jackie Gleason photos and poses for his Silver Screen looks. He wore a costume very much like a suit Gleason wore, with a red carnation. None of what we made can compare to the tremendous performance he gave playing Gleason in Changing Channels at City Lit, however.
In Conclusion…
Between Orion’s headshots and his Silver Screen looks, we made a whole lot of pictures that frigid day in January. The folk and Celtic music and the good company kept us warm, however. I’m grateful to Orion Lay-Sleeper for an amazing creative session. Thanks as well to makeup artist Jacque Bischoff for keeping Orion looking spectacular. Stay tuned for more Silver Screen looks coming soon to The All Worlds Traveller…
