Tales from
THE NEVERENDING STORY

EDWARD YANKIE
as
"GMORK" and "MR. BLANK"

Gmork is a Fantasian character, evil, complex and fascinating. His wolf-like appearance is terrifying. Gmork is the right-hand man of Xayide the Dark Princess, despotic ruler of Dark City. Whenever Xayide has a dirty job to be done - such as capturing, enslaving or eliminating some helpless inhabitant of Fantasia, she sends Gmork to do it. And if he fails, she torments him by threatening to turn him into a brainwashed Drone.

But Gmork is more than just an evildoer. He is also a spooky shape-shifter, able to transform himself into someone different. He appears as a wolf, a horse, as Osemone (a beautiful but deadly young woman), and could even present himself as Atreyu. But his favourite real world incarnation is the malevolent Mr. Blank. Jumping from Fantasia to modern day through The Neverending Story book, which mysteriously connects the two worlds, Mr. Blank becomes a sadistic and sarcastic substitute teacher at Bastian's school. He devotes himself to making Bastian miserable, overloading him with homework, punishments and extra assignments, in order to keep him from reading The Neverending Story.

Actor Edward Yankie, who plays Gmork and Mr. Blank in The Neverending Story (and is anything but wolf-like with his twinkling eyes and friendly demeanour) says he has Gmork all figured out: "He's like Satan. He torments others for enjoyment. But he bullies others because Xayide abuses him. He's just continuing the chain of pain."

And because Gmork enjoys tormenting people, Mr. Blank enjoys the same. Says Yankie: "Mr. Blank is the teacher from hell, everyone's nightmare. He turns the classroom topsy-turvy, rewarding the lazy kids and punishing the good ones. He encourages kids to pick on each other and compliments them on their meanness, jealousies and lies."

Mr. Blank spreads the Nothing in the real world by propagating conformity and crushing kids' imaginations.

As beast-man and shape-shifter, Gmork/Mr.Blank is a universal archetype, a recurring motif found in painting, sculpture, music and literature across the world.

Edward Yankie began his career in New York City, playing mostly in classical theatre. His favourite roles were in Richard III and The Misanthrope. After moving to Canada to perform at the National Arts Centre, he began appearing regularly in film and television. Some of his credits are Dead Awake, The Sign of Four, The Stork Derby, Cause of Death, Lassie and Are You Afraid of the Dark.

Edward is an avid reader and a great fan of silent movies, jazz, museums and all things medieval. When not acting, he is busy writing a historical fantasy novel.