Fangirl Fridays – Misha Collins

By Jaym Hunter Edgington - May 17, 2013

Misha's Minions, Unite!

"Our core message is that you can make a difference in people's lives with even small contributions; it's an effort to get people to be less apathetic and a little bit more involved. People don't have to dramatically change the course of their lives to make a change in someone else's life. I grew up with a single mom on welfare and there were some instances in my childhood where the kindness of strangers made a huge difference in our lives and made a lasting impact on me. We were homeless at one point and living in a tent and someone gave us a gift certificate so we could go and have breakfast in a restaurant, and it was such a lovely morning for us and for someone else it was $14, like nothing. So, the core mission is to carry that spirit forward, encouraging people to make small contributions that make a big difference." ~ Misha Collins

This is just a taste of what you can expect from Mr. Collins. Here he's talking about his charity, Random Acts, which is a non-profit organization that was formed by some fans and others looking to make a difference, one small act at a time. Here's a link for anyone interested or just for curiosity.
The following pics are from the AMOK (Annual Melee of Kindness) event in April in Las Vegas.

Source: lasvegasmagazine.com

If you ask me, I think these "small" acts are in no way small. They can evolve into bigger things that make a huge impact. There's nothing small about that to me.

Continue reading after the jump to find out why Misha Collins is featured in this Fangirl Fridays!

From humble beginnings, to a White House intern, to Angel of the Lord on TV's Supernatural, I'm going to fangirl over one of the most energetic, quirky and compassionate actors in today's world.

Source: randompassion.file.wordpress.com

I mean, how can anybody not fan girl over this guy? He's super nice to everyone he meets, he's always interacting with his fans, both in social media and real life, and he trolls the Supernatural fandom, much to the delight of many Supernatural fans. He's not bad to look at, either. ;-)

He also founded GISHWHES, which stands for "Greatest International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Seen," which coincides with Random Acts. Here's a brief description:

GISHWHES is a global community of individuals (94 countries and growing!) that “gather” online once a year, form international teams, and then go out into the real world and create “art” the likes of which the world has never seen. This content is captured as videos or images to memorialize the annual Gishwhes experience. Art pieces range from the touching: “Take a picture of you hugging a war veteran” or “Create a video of you visiting a children’s hospital and giving a puppet show” to the weirdly sublime: “an image of a formal tea party replete with parasols, silverware and a string quartet situated in a junkyard or garbage dump” or “a fully dressed storm trooper cleaning a pool next to a sunbather."

You can read the rest of it at the GISHWHES blog.

They even entered the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest scavenger hunt. How cool is that?

Source: fc03.deviantart.net

Born Dmitri Tippens Krushnik, he interned at the White House for four months during the Clinton Administration after studying Social Theory at the University of Chicago, and worked for "National Public Radio (NPR) headquarters" for six months. It was then he decided he didn't want to be a politician. Can't say I blame you there, Misha! He also worked as a carpenter to put himself through college and built his own house, plus almost all the furniture inside!

He even started a software company before acting as well, taking acting and modeling jobs as a way to support it. He decided he enjoyed acting more and pursued it full time.

Did I mention he's also a published poet? His works are in "The Columbia Poetry Review," "The California Quarterly," and other literary journals. He also produced the film "Loot," which won Best Documentary at the LA Film Festival in 2008. HBO aired it in 2009.

Oh, he also spent time in a monestary in Nepal. He's a Buddhist and goes on a 10 day retreat once a year. Pa-retty awesome.

Whew. I'm getting tired just reading this. What hasn't this man done?

Source: fuckyeahreactions.tumblr.com

In 2002 he married Victoria Vantoch, his high school sweetheart, and has a son, West, and daughter, Maison. They renewed their vows in a supermarket, with Misha as the bride and Victoria as the groom. She even had a vegetable bouquet as her accessory. Ah, love.

Source: strangepicturesofmishacollins.tumblr.com

He recently posted a series of YouTube videos called "Cooking Fast and Fresh with West." In it, Misha takes West around town, picking up the ingredients they'll need to make their delicious dishes. It pretty much made me and lots of other mothers out there feel like the worst parents ever. Just add being an A+ daddy to the list of many things he accomplishes.
Here are the vids!
Episode 1
Episode 2

And... he won Shorty Awards! Both for best actor in social media and for his charity, Random Acts. Here are his acceptance speeches.

On April 1st, 2013, users of Tumblr changed their icons to the same picture of Misha and referred to it as the "Mishapocalypse."

He's the best at Supernatural conventions. He interacts with the fans constantly and I'd say he's pretty comfortable with his fellow costars, don't you think?