Wesley: “I'm Wesley, 23 years old, my favorite things are mom and dad, my two big brothers and my perfect sister. And acting, that's totally my thing! I really want to be famous.” Feline: “That is also the name of his Instagram account: Wesley becomes famous.”
Hans: “Although nowadays it would be better to say: Wesley is famous.”
Martine: “Wesley has loved to entertain since she was a child. Whether at the Flower Parade here in the village, during Sinterklaas or at the campsite in Italy: Wesley always steals the show. When he got a job coach after school at the age of eighteen to see what kind of work he wanted to do, he said…
Wesley: “Act!”
Martine: “That's how he ended up at Domino in Leiden, a theater group for people with disabilities. He then got his first role in the TV series Downtown received, and later a small role in it Mother mafia. Finally the movie came Yippie no more! just on our path”
Wesley: “I have the leading role, from Jippie, that is the name of my role.”
Martine: “It has been quite a project, but it felt really good from the start. For example, the recordings took place near Zaltbommel; quite a drive for us. Then the production company arranged for us to get a house nearby.”
Hans: “It took some getting used to when they were away, because we were given additional tasks that mothers normally take care of: cooking, vacuuming. But we managed just fine.”
Peacock feathers
Martine: “The film was the opening film at the Cinekid festival. And tell me, Wesley, what did you have made while on holiday? What did you want so badly?”
Wesley: “Oh yes, I had a nice suit made. Dark blue, with a white shirt and a bow tie, made of fabric with peacock feathers on it.”
Martine: “He was absolutely the man! And the film is tailor-made for him. The way you see him there, that's how he is at home.”
Hans: “We heard from the other actors that acting with Wesley is something special. He's so natural; as an actor you are drawn into that. Everyone ran away with him.”
Martine: “The premiere in October was a busy day. Wesley had to practice for the turnout moment, he had an interview for it Youth news. But when we sat in a row in the cinema with our family, including supporters, and the film started, yes, that was just great. So funny!”
Feline: “Many of my friends would also like to see it. They keep asking about it.”
Martine: “Premieres are of course not normal for us. A normal day here starts around six in the morning.”
Jelle: “We often go out ahead of the traffic jam. We rent out steam boilers.”
Hans: “When most people think of steam, they think of machines from a hundred years ago. But industry still uses steam a lot on a daily basis. For example, to pasteurize milk, liquefy oil or disinfect horticultural soil. We rent boilers if companies temporarily need extra capacity, or if a steam boiler is broken. My father started it once. We now have eleven staff, including the oldest two boys: Jelle and Calvin.”
Jelle: “Now that it is getting cold, the busy period of the year begins for us. Then you sometimes work more than forty hours. Fifty hours too.”
Martine: “I was always at home looking after the children. Together with the housework and all the driving work, I had my hands full. We live quite outside and all the children skated enthusiastically. So I made a lot of kilometers to the ice rink in The Hague, competitions all over the country. Wesley can cycle, but he is not roadworthy. So together with Hans I take him everywhere.”
Uniform Day
Feline: “I am training to become a flight attendant in Hoofddorp. Monday is uniform day and I can't cycle to the bus stop myself, wearing a skirt like that. So then mom takes me.”
Martine: “Sometimes it's quite a lot.”
Feline: “You also go to grandma's every day.”
Martine: “Well, a few times a week. Fortunately, things are different now that the children are older. A project like that YippieThat would not have been possible ten years ago.”
Hans: “There are few moments of nothing. But we're used to it. This is how we live.”
Martine: “We don't have much extra care for Wesley. There are different degrees of down and Wesley has a fairly mild variant. Fortunately, he can do many things himself: washing, dressing. He had a lot of colds during the first three years of his life, but after that he always played a part in the family.”
Jelle: “It's not that we had to hold back or anything. It is normal.”
Feline: “Wesley makes contact with people very easily. He really has a gun factor. We make videos together for TikTok, which are viewed a lot. Some more than 500,000 times.”
Martine: “He is always himself, spontaneous. Like at the premiere of Yippie no more!, when the presenter asked if anyone wanted to say a word. Well, Wesley of course, eh! He walked downstairs, grabbed the microphone and started the song with which he also ends in the film: 'All bottoms dance, from left to right.' And everyone participated. It's the unexpected. Sometimes you think: oh no, don't do that.”
Feline: “But I like that you did it anyway, Wesley.”
Reading list
#39At #home #moments #nothing39