Michelle Danner directed, produced and has a role in the upcoming film “Hello Herman” staring Norman Reedus. Michelle took a few minutes away from editing the film to talk with Movie Mikes about the project as well as some of her other projects.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us how you got into the film business?
Michelle Danner: I think it is something in my genes. My dad was a producer and was responsible for opening the William Morris Agency in Paris quite some time ago. I always loved movies and theater so it was something I was just destine for.

AL: Can you tell us about your new film “Hello Herman”?
MD: “Hello Herman” is a film that I think is very socially relevant right now. Norman Reedus plays a journalist that is sent to interview a teenager sentenced to death for a massacre at his high school. The teen’s execution is to slated to be televised live. I think the film is a very powerful social commentary about how and why these types of incidents occur.

AL: How did you come up with the idea for the film?
MD: I found this script from John Buffalo Mahler and just felt it was a very powerful story. I decided I would mount the film on stage with three screens using multi-media and live feeds. This sparked some really great debates. I had also taken the script and done a read through with one of my acting classes. Afterwards one of my students came up to me and said she could see light in my eyes. I thought then that the script would make a great movie. So it all really started from that first read through.

AL: Do you have a release date yet for the film?
MD: I actually just stepped out of the editing room, so I am working on it as we speak. I am hoping to be done by the end of the summer. We have offers from a few distributors as well as a website so there is quite a buzz right now. We may hold off on distribution and take it to some festivals.

AL: You also have a role in the film correct?
MD: Yes. I play the Herman’s mother. When I staged the play I also played the same role. I really wanted to give that character a voice and show her point of view. The parents are always the ones that seem to take the blame, so I wanted to show that sometimes that might not always be the case.

AL: From acting, directing or producing do you have one that’s a favorite?
MD: I love to direct but I did start out as an actress, so I love that too! I think acting is a great way to express yourself creatively and artistically. I also really enjoy teaching acting. I am fortunate that I get to do all of those things.

AL: “Hello Herman” was actually your second film where you both acted and directed, correct?
MD: Yes. The first film I did was called “How to Go Out on a Date in Queens” which was the Memorial Day movie of the week on ABC. I am really proud of that film as I think the subject matter is something that really needs to be discussed.

AL: Do you find it hard to juggle both acting and directing?
MD: Not so much as I never usually give myself a lead role. I generally just do a few scenes. I also have some very trusted people who help out when I have a scene and they tell me if the shot works or not.

AL: Can you tell us about your appearance on “Late Night with Conan O’Brian”?
MD: (Laughs) that was great. That segment aired during the first month of Conan’s show and at first it was supposed to be only a couple minutes or so. I played this very straight character to Andy Richter who was coming to learn how to be an announcer. The people from the show ended up liking so much of what was being shot that the segment turned into almost 10 minutes. I really had a good time and it was fun to improv with Andy.

AL: Do you have any other projects you can tell us about?
MD: I have a movie titled “The Bandit Hound”, which is a family movie and something very different from “Hello Herman”. This movie will be something my eight year old son will be able to watch. Right now I have a portfolio full of some really interesting projects that I plan on doing.

Bruce Boxleitner is known best for his role in 1982’s “TRON”, playing the role of Alan Bradley and Tron.  Bruce recently reprised his roles 28 years later in “TRON: Legacy”.  He is also known for his role in the sci-fi television series “Babylon 5”.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat about “TRON” with Bruce and discuss what’s to come for the future.

Mike Gencarelli: It’s 1981 and you’re making “TRON.”  At the time did it seem like just another project?
Bruce Boxleitner: We made it in ’81 and it was literally months before it was ready because they had to do all of the effects painstakingly.  There were a lot of Chinese and Taiwanese names in the end credits (laughs).  That’s where they went then to find that much manpower to do that much film.  I’ve been asked this question many times.  Yes, it was just another job.  I was a very busy young actor in those days.  I was in my early 30’s.  I had already done a western series with James Arness called “How the West Was Won” and this was just prior to “Scarecrow and Mrs. King.”  I hadn’t done a lot of feature films.  I was in a small film with James Coburn called “The Baltimore Bullet.”  I did “The Gambler” with Kenny Rogers for television.  I had done a lot of television and it was mostly very good television.  “TRON” came along as a total surprise.  To tell the truth the sci fi genre’ was very new to me.  It did appeal to me but there was one side that said “no…stick to what you do best.” But the other side won out.  When I got to Los Angeles I went to the Disney Studios and met everybody.  And I also have to say, as an actor, that they flattered the heck out of me.  They wanted me for this movie.  Also, Jeff Bridges was associated with it.  He was somebody I had always kept my eye on because he was doing…you’re always aware of your contemporaries…the actors in your age range.  He was mainly doing features so I have to say that there was a little bit of envy there.  I thought “gosh, maybe I can get into movies now too,” since I’d been doing TV. for a number of years.  And the project was interesting.  You may laugh at this but I thought the film was kind of like “Star Wars.”  Yes, it was about a big video game, but it kind of had that feel to it.  It resonated in a lot of the science fiction books I had read over the years.  So it had those worlds too…but in a brand new way.  It intrigued me.  And once they started showing me some of the story boards I was instantly IN! Being a TV guy I’m used to a faster pace.  But features, especially technical ones, often have a very slow pace.  We only shot a little bit each day.  Only a couple of shots each day because to set up the shots took most of a day’s work.  Let’s just say I read a lot of books (laughs).  And of course I played a lot of video games.  They had to take the games away from us we were having so much fun.  One day they kept calling “Jeff…Jeff we need you,” and Jeff yelled back “I’m doing research on my part!”  What was interesting in shooting the film was that Jeff was so concerned with the games.  He was the “pinball wizard” so to speak, to use the parlance of the day.  He was terrific at it where I was out with the stunt guysthrowing the discs.  Yes, they were Frisbies, but there are a lot of guys out there that can’t throw a Frisbie.  Most people are pretty awkward at it.  But I had to be able to throw it like an expert.  So I worked with experts.  Much different then for “TRON: Legacy.”  I didn’t have to learn any martial arts for that one.

MG: Looking back do you consider it a positive experience?
BB: Oh my gosh yes!  I think the only disappointment was that the film didn’t do better.  There were a lot of different sci fi epics out that year (among them “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “Blade Runner” and “E.T.”).  I mean, if you look back at 1982 there were a lot of groundbreaking films in the science fiction/fantasy genre.  But I’m very proud of it.  Yes it didn’t gain huge notoriety.  It wasn’t “Star Wars.”  But then nothing was.  “E.T.” sucked the life out of everything that year.  But I tell you, TRON would have just destroyed him!  I want my aliens to be bad ass and trying to kill us all. That’s how I want my aliens.  Not a cuddly little thing you take to bed with you.  I hated that movie…sentimental crap(laughs)!  But I should note..as Mr. Spielberg has noted…28 years later there is no sequel to “E.T.”  But yes, it was a very positive experience.  I still had a lot of television projects to do.  I didn’t think I was going to become a movie star off of “TRON” but it was a great opportunity.  I took it and I enjoyed every bit of it.  It was an exhausting shoot. But I went back to the fast paced world of television.  And I had a short lived television series of my own (“Bring ‘Em Back Alive”).  But that came about because of “TRON.”  It was kind of an Indiana Jones type character.  That lasted for a season and then I went on to “Scarecrow and Mrs. King,” which lasted four seasons.  But I didn’t get to the science fiction genre again until “Babylon 5.”

MG: How did you feel stepping back into the role 28 years later?
BB: I have to tell you it was such an amazing surprise when I got the phone call.  I was very excited when I saw the footage from ComicCon several years ago.  I couldn’t believe it.  There had been rumors over the years, of course.  But rumors are life in this industry.  Suddenly somebody was making good on them.  Then I got a call to come down to Disney Studios.  And when I did it was like deja vu’ all over again.  People tell me I should have been in it more, but not really.  It wasn’t about me.  And I understand Jeff.  He’s gone on to become an Academy Award winning actor.  He was the name guy they needed to get this tent pole up.  He was the name that could bring in people that maybe hadn’t seen “TRON.”  That was a big concern.  Could they get people who had never heard of it?  And the expectations for the new film were just so over the top.  But I played my part and I enjoyed it.  I was reunited with Jeff.  Even though we didn’t get to work on camera together we hung out in Vancouver (where the film was shot).  I also screentested with all of the young actors and actresses that were up for Sam and Quorra.  And there were a number of them.  There were some big names and some lessor names.  Disney hired me to do the scene with Sam.  And by the time it finally made the film I bet I had done it 150 times.  For the girls we didn’t have any scenes written so we did scenes from “Blade Runner.”  So I got to finally do “Blade Runner.”  I love that movie!  And I did the “Sam” scene with five or six different actors.  And I think that maybe the people at Disney had seen my work or hadn’t seen “TRON” in a while so maybe that was also my screen test as well.  I kind of liken Alan Bradley to Sam Flynn as Alfred to his Batman.  We created a new young hero, but a hero that will always need Alan around to remind him who he is…where he came from…what his principles are.  And that’s what Alfred was to Bruce Wayne.

MG: With “Tron: The Next Day” hinting for the future, do you think “Tron 3” will see the light of day?
BB: I think we can only hope.  I think the intention is there.  I haven’t heard anything or even if I would be in it.  I do know that Garrett (Hedlund) and Olivia (Wilde) were signed for two pictures. Of course that means absolutely nothing. It’s great contractually but now both of them are extremely busy.  It was great to work with these two young people right before they started hitting it.  Which is very much the same way Jeff and I were back then.  So to answer your question, it could very well be.  I think it should be.  There’s a huge audience for it.  I know it’s not everybody’s cup oftea but still…

MG: Even if they don’t do another feature film, the legacy is continuing with the animated series “TRON: Uprising”, what can you tell us about this?
BB: It’s beautiful.  The animation is really super.  It stickes to the TRON world as we know it.  I’ve done
seven or eight episodes already.  It takes time, the animation.  I did five episodes last week.  I had been
away doing a film and I missed it when the scripts started coming in.  I think the series is due to come out
early next year.  It’s going to be good.  We’ve got Elijah Wood…Lance Henriksen…all kinds of people are in it.
And I’m playing Tron.  I’m purely playing Tron in this.  There’s no Alan Bradley in this.

MG:  What other projects do you have upcoming?
BB: I just finished a mini series called “Blackout.”  I don’t know when it’s going to air.  I also just did an epidode of a new series called “Chaos” and it’s already been taken off the air!  It used to air on CBS on Friday night…sort of a C.I.A. comedy/adventure.  I had a great role in it.  I shot the ninth episode.  I’m hoping they run it sometime…somewhere.  I’m just trying to get a job like everybody else.

Noah Wyle is known best for his role of Dr. John Truman Carter III in “ER”. Noah is taking the lead about in TNT’s new show “Falling Skies”. Movie Mikes had a chance to attend a conference call with Noah to discuss the his new show “Falling Skies” and what we can expect from it.

Mike Gencarelli: I have been hearing a lot of talk saying that “Falling Skies” feels like so epic in the pilot, that it almost feels like a feature film. Can you reflect on that?
Noah Wyle: Yes, sure. Well, it wasn’t intended to be sandwiched together. The pilot was a standalone hour and it’s being married to the first episode which we shot as a first episode for the season to build it into a two-hour block. So it was never scripted to feel like a movie but I think anytime Mr. Spielberg’s name is above the marquee you can’t help but to make a cinema comparison. It’s got a lot of rich production value. The budget on the pilot was pretty extensive. So we had a lot of bang for our buck and that wasn’t necessarily the case in every episode. I think getting a sense of what the series is going to be like comes probably more accurately from the second half, second hour, than the first. But, yes, it’s got a very cinematic feel to it.

MG: The show it’s clocking in at ten episodes for the first season. Do you think that the show has like enough room to spread its wings in season one?
NW: Well, I had lunch with Michael Wright who’s Head of TNT and we discussed if this came to a second season whether he would be interested in picking it up for more episodes.  His philosophy, which I tend to agree with is, that if you’re writing for ten episodes you can really write to a focused point and make sure that all of your T’s have been crossed and your eyes have been dotted. If you’re trying to slug it out through 15, 17 or on a network 22 to 24 you run the risk of dissipating the potency of your story telling and falling back on sort of clichés. He really didn’t want to do that. He really is very proud and pleased with the show and should a second season come to pass it for it to have the same kind of punch that the first season did. I think you really only get from shooting a truncated season of 10, 12 maximum.

Q: Talk about that aspect of the show where we go right to the meat of the story instead of having a season or two of build-up?
A: Yes, it’s sort of a typical story telling in the sense that we don’t start with everyday life going on business as usual and then suddenly everybody’s eyes turn to the heavens and say, what’s that coming in towards our planet. We do pick up six months into what has been a devastating alien invasion and meet our characters already in a pretty high state of disarray. It is kind of exciting storytelling because it allows you the opportunity to fill in the back story through episodic storytelling. It also opens up the possibility of being able to track back in time down the road if it seems dramatically appropriate.

Q: How involved is Steven Spielberg in the production of this show?
A: He’s pretty damn involved. His fingerprints are all over it. He was instrumental in helping craft the original pilot script and certainly in casting the pilot. He came out and was on set when we were shooting the pilot. He even drew some storyboards for the re-shoots on the pilot and then helped craft the overreaching story arks for the season.  He watched all the daily’s and made lots of editorial suggestions all along the way in bringing those shows to their final cut. So I would say he’s instrumentally involved.

Q: If you were in the position of your character, what do you think you’d miss the most in the new world and also what do you think would be the most exciting opportunity about a civilization to sort of start over?
A: I’m guessing a variety of diet would be the thing I’d miss the most…and hot food. We sort of tried to pepper each episode with exactly that. What are the cons and disadvantages to the state we have been thrown into, but what are the sort of more subtle pros.  Whether it’s seeing a group of kids having to exercise their imaginations at play and actually relishing in the opportunity to do so or the quality of relationships between families being that much enriched without all the other distractions.  There’s a sequence that comes midway through the season where a women who’s among our ranks is pregnant and is throwing a baby shower. Having been to quite a few baby showers, this was unlike any event I had experienced in the sense that it wasn’t so much about the gifts, the swag and the stuff for the impending birth as it was really more about the spiritual aspects of bringing a new life into the world.  It makes you think about your responsibilities are as a parent and what are our collective responsibilities for this new life?  I find those very rewarding aspects to the storytelling because it allows us an opportunity to kind of pick and choose between separate the weak and chafed from what’s important and what’s not.

Q: I really enjoy the family dynamic from the show, tell us about how you approached keeping your family together in this broken world?
A: Well, dramatically I think that was probably the theme that was most interesting to me. I haven’t had a lot of experience working in the science fiction genre, so that had a certain appeal. I went into this with the confidence of knowing that the spaceships and the aliens were going to be just fine with Mr. Spielberg designing them. So my responsibilities really fell to making sure the human aspects of the show were as compelling as they could be. I found that dual conflict that we set up in the pilot to be really provocative of a guy just trying to keep his family intact and alive being given the larger responsibility of having to care for 300 veritable strangers.  The conflict between the two is very interesting. What is at the core of the show is once the reset button on humanities been pushed and these characters, should they survive, are going to become the next founding fathers for the next civilization. What are the best aspects of the previous civilization that you would want to retain and what are the more superfluous or ascerteric ones that you wouldn’t mind dropping? ? Certainly the notion of family and the quality of human relationships comes to the floor and that’s what I think we pretty successfully explored through the first half of the season.

Q: What do you think distinguishes Tom as a leader as opposed to films like “Battle: Los Angeles” which have automatically show the militaristic personalities step to the foreground to take charge?
A: That’s an interesting question. I would say that when you traditionally have a character whose has a military career like Captain Weaver, their strong suit is leading men who have been trained and focused for the battle and mission enhanced. Whereas in this particular scenario most of our military has been eradicated already and it’s a civilian militia that is being trained. It’s exactly Tom Mason’s back-story as having been a teacher that puts him in a little bit better situation to teach mostly kids how to arm themselves and defend themselves than it is for Weaver to fall back on the military paradigm. It is looking at the realm of academia and saying that’s a little dry for what we need right now and looking at the role of military and saying that’s a little dogmatic for what we need right now.  Then we try to find a synthesis between the two that I think makes my character a leader of a different strength.

Q: Having to be the leader of the group, are we going to see in the first season Tom’s breaking point?
A: He comes damn close to it. He comes very, very close to it. Yes, I would say in the fourth or fifth episode that’s where he starts to wear a little thin. Although, you know, there was a saying that we used to say a lot on my other show where you really didn’t have time to feel sorry for yourself during the course of the day because you had another patient to treat or two or three. So you really had to earn whatever private moments you allowed yourself to reveal, whatever inner life was going on. The same holds true for this show is that there’s such a constant and eminent threat underneath each and every scene that these characters who probably if they had a week off would develop all sorts of the hallmarks of PTSD and go through all sorts of debilitating briefs don’t have the luxury of doing so because there’s just too many other things that need to be done.  So I would say that the big breakdown is still coming but we definitely show glimpses of it.

Q: Besides “The Librarian” series you haven’t done much action, what did you have to do to prepare for the action involved in the show compared to the previous work that you’ve done?
A: Oh, I probably should have done a lot more [laughs]. I showed up and we all had a couple of days of running around the sound stage and learning gun safety. But in terms of physical preparation I found myself at a disadvantage trying to keep up with Drew Roy whose part spring-box. He plays my oldest son and very early on in the pilot we had to sort of run and jump and dive and whirl and roll and do all these crazy things. All of which, eventually, I got more comfortable at. But it’s certainly not wearing the white coat everyday.

Q: Did you find that you were able to do a lot of your own stunts or was a lot of it done by a stunt team?
A: Kind of both. I mean, there’s stunts but they’re not real stunts. I mean, running and jumping and sliding and diving all that stuff looks so much better when the actors doing it. So I did a lot of that kind of thing. Then whenever there was one sequence where I’m fighting one of the aliens in a steam tunnel and I did all of that fight with the exception of one throw where the alien sort of chucks me.  That required some wire work to get thrown high up against a wall.

Q: Are you consciously aware of being able to spend time with these characters before you go in to just doing action sequences?
A: Well, you have to be careful about it even just from a production standpoint because obviously action sequences require the most money of an episode budget. If you’re going to give a little action sequence in every show you’ll get a little action sequence in every show.  But if you can buy yourself a couple of episodes by saving on your post-production budget and focusing the drama on interpersonal and character conflict then suddenly on the fourth episode you’ve got quite a large bank to work with and you can stage something pretty epic. So there’s a financial necessity that goes into it. But also it’s much more compelling to have the threat come, not as a constant, but in waves. To have it start off as a huge wave and then be able to get a low and reflect a little bit and synthesize some information and then to have another wave come and also the anticipation of that wave coming is great dramatic tension. What are the lessons learned after an encounter before the next wave comes? I think that for this particular show it works much better than having it be a constant threat.

Moon Bloodgood is playing Anne Glass in TNT’s new show “Falling Skies”. Moon is known best for her role as Lt. Blair Williams in the film “Terminator: Salvation”. Movie Mikes had a chance to attend a conference call with Moon to discuss the her new show “Falling Skies” and what we can expect from it.

Mike Gencarelli: What do you like most about your character Anne Glass on “Falling Skies”?
Moon Bloodgood: I really enjoy the fact that she is a doctor.  She was a pediatrician.  I think that she’s very admirable, that she doesn’t often talk about herself, extremely selfless, always calm and rational, always being fair and with reason. I think I admired her because I feel sometimes I’m not always that way and she was always selfless and always very maternal towards everyone.

MG: What stands out for you as the most difficult part working on the series?
MB: Sometimes the subject matter is heavy and there’s lot of depth and weight and you have to take yourself to that place where you’re supposed to be hungry, scared, you’ve lost your family and sometimes you want levity. I can find the subject matter to weigh on me at times when I was working and all I wanted to do was just go home and just put some comedy on and have a beer because I just needed some sort of change. I think no matter how much I can resist it, I gravitate towards these kinds of subject matters and I like the drama. That’s where I feel the most comfortable and probably that’s why that’s what I do the most.

Q: How did you get involved with the show?
A: I have vague memories of I think it but Spielberg and Michael Wright came up with it together and then kind of brought Robert Rodat into it,  who is a real great writer and did the film “Saving Private Ryan”.  By the time it found its way to me it was probably a year after it and Noah was already on board. I think other people had already been cast and I think originally I was supposed to be like an art dealer or some sort of artist. I wasn’t the primary focus in the first episode, it was about the Mason family and I was someone who was going to connect with Noah Wyle’s character, maybe a romantic twist was going to happen. So I saw just, a basic show that had really good people involved but I think it was something that Spielberg obviously initiated and then it kind of came into fruition.

Q: Aliens parking over cities has been kind of a common theme recently with shows like “District 9”, “Skyline”, “Battle: Los Angeles” and of course “V”. In your opinion what do you think separates this series from the other recent alien invasion franchises?
A: I mean we’re all kind of dealing with the same subject matter, I think what’s going to be different is certainly our approach. The science fiction aspect of it is going to vary but if you like the story, the human story behind it, you will want to follow the characters and that’s what’s going to bring you to it. We’re much more drama and more of a human element than like a “District 9”, one of my favorite science fiction films, which I think is primarily has a more science fiction element than I think we have. I think we have the marriage of a good family story with the science fiction element.

Q: You have dealt with post apocalyptic before with “Terminator: Salvation”, you’re starting to carve a little niche in this genre, what’s the draw for you?
A: I think I’ve been drawn to science fiction because I’m a fan of science fiction. I think when you like something, I like to think you’re generally better at it and when you’re auditioning for something, maybe that resonates. But because I love it, I tend to want to do those kind of projects. You start to do them and that kind of becomes your thing which is not a bad thing because it’s still a genre I deeply appreciate.

Q: How was it getting work with with Noah Wyle and the rest of the cast?
A: Listen Noah’s a veteran, I play a doctor, trust me he gave me lots of pointers.  I was so happy to receive his advice. He’s been around and he knows the industry. He is just such a diligent professional. I learned a lot from him and Will Patton. I think you learn something from everyone that you work with but he gave a different perspective.  I thought he was really good at being our leader and – in the show and also off, as in a friend and a colleague.

Q: I was wondering what inspiration did you draw from, if any, coming into this?
A: Good question. I sometimes think it’s probably not good to use your own life circumstances because that can kind of get tiring, but I did. I kind of dove – not dove into it but I conjured up or — what’s the word I’m looking for — I looked into myself and my own pain and tried to use that as a cathartic thing when I was doing the role.  I just also try to use my imagination of what it felt like to live in a world where suddenly I lost my family and to lose a child which I – you know, must be the most horrendous thing to ever go through is to lose a child. So I tried to use myself and my imagination. The journey is interesting because there’s a couple times when I breakdown; I breakdown emotionally about my family, and there’s another time when I am fighting to, you know, keep the alien alive with another doctor and I’m very stoic in that fight, and there’s a time when I’m more romantically involved with Noah. What was the most compelling part is when I had to actually pick up a gun at one point because I get hurt, I get attacked and I suddenly need to defend myself against other humans and that’s a position that Anne Glass never thought she would be in. And for her that’s when the world – the first biggest pain was her husband and her child and the next was just loosing that innocence against violence.

Q: So I’m wondering from your end how much did you know in advance as episodes were going on, and how much did you want to know?
A: Well with TV things are happening where you’re getting the scripts and you don’t know – you don’t have a long time to digest the changes and changes happen. You know, when you’re working on a movie you get the script, you know the whole outline before you start. So that part’s a little disconcerting at times but also really keeps you on your game and on point. So I would prefer to know sometimes but maybe it’s good that we find out; we don’t try to put too much of ourselves in it, we just do what we’re told to do, you know? Like we’re there to fulfill a story and not try to like, you know, like wet the screen with our interpretation of it.

Q: There’s a little something for everybody in this show, it’s not exactly a sci-fi film, it’s a drama, it’s a love story, it’s a family show. What was some of the things that really, really attracted you to it?
A: Doing something that is not just one dimensional. It’s science fiction but it’s human tragedy. It’s different diverse characters interwoven together and trying it kind of find their humanity and live any kind of normalcy and readjust to the new world that’s changed completely from the world that they know. I was also drawn to playing a doctor and it’s something I’d never done. I had played a nurse but I had to have to have a gun on my leg and be running around and doing stunts, though which I loved to death. I wanted to do something more cerebral and that I got to be a little softer and I thought that was a more fun place for me to be in this in this time in my life.

Q: What kind of things does the shoot do to make sure that the family drama doesn’t get overshadowed by the aliens and the special effects?
A: I think primarily when Rob Rodat wrote this, he’s from Boston, it was always a human drama and not a simple story about a family.  It was supposed to be the paramount story and then the science fiction kind of secondary. The reason I don’t think we get overshadowed by the science fiction is because it sort of goes on and off. Where we go family story, and that stay.  The second episode will be filled with science fiction, then we take a break and we get away from all that — the guns and action and go back to a love of the dialogue and the interpersonal relationships. I really truly believe we did succeed in always keeping the family structure and the human element of it in the forefront and the science fiction secondary because I do think sometimes science fiction, if you don’t have a good story behind it, it can become one dimensional.

Q: I think with this premise there are going to be a lot of expectations. How are you and the rest of the cast and the crew dealing with the pressure?
A: I’m wondering why I don’t feel more pressure [laughing]. I don’t know if I’m just kind of disconnected because I need normalcy in my life.  I don’t feel any pressure, I don’t. I feel like at this point like, let the chips fall where they fall. I’ve done the work and I feel confident in the content. I don’t think we’re trying to make a revolutionary like novel stance on aliens, we’re just trying to make a simple family show about human survival and that takes precedent and this science fiction element I think is secondary. It’s not just an action show.  Do you want to go on this journey with these people?, do you understand what they’re going through? I can’t say I’m not going to be disappointed if it’s not well received.  I’m also not a veteran but I think I’ve learned to try to not get caught up in the expectation game because that can be so easy to do when you’re an actor and I think it’s not healthy. So I’m trying to stay very adult-like about it.

Drew Roy is co-starring as Hal Mason in TNT’s “Falling Skies”.  He is playing the oldest son of Noah Wyle in the show.  Drew has also appeared in TV series like “Hannah Montana & “iCarly” but he is most excited about his newest role.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Drew about “Falling Skies” and working on the show.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your character Hal Mason in “Falling Skies”?
Drew Roy: He is a 17 year old kid. He is the oldest of three. He is a little bit of a rebel. In high school, he thought he was the cool kid and was doing the sports things. His dad is a professor and more of an intellectual. Hal likes to fight those barriers and those retractions. One of the great things about playing this character throughout the series was that Noah (Wyle)’s character Tom and mine, work together a lot going on missions. We are a good mix for each other because Hal is more of a heart-thinker. He thinks on the first impulse and goes with it. Where Tom is more of a head-thinker and he wants to come up with a plan and a strategy and thinks things out. On their own I do not think either one of them is the perfect fighter but together they would push each other. I pulled him along a little quicker and he would slow me down sometimes. We would get a little irritated with each other and have it out from time to time and throw each other around. But all in all its will make for some good TV.

MG: Tell us about working with your fantastic cast for this show?
DR: Oh man, you can’t ask for anything better. They show up on set and makes you want to bring your A-game. For whatever reason you did not have the motivation in the first place, this definitely makes you bring it. Working with Will Patton and getting to go toe to toe with Will Patton in a couple of scenes it was great. He is just such a lovely guy anyway off camera. Same with Noah, he is a fantastic actor. All you have to do is sit back and listen and pay attention. The scene just comes alive, you don’t have to force anything. You never have to worry about showing up on set with this one particular actor and dreading working with them. You just have a great time. We ended up with a tons of scenes that had more in them then was scripted. We would just find these little moments and it really was some good stuff.

MG: Besides being a show about aliens, does this show focus on the human relationships as well?
DR: That is probably my favorite part of the show. Aliens are cool but if it is all about the aliens all the time there is a disconnect here. You can’t quite wrap your mind around it. It is fun in a movie setting where you have an hour and a half to two hours of that and then you are out. But if it is a TV series, you have to have something that is going to bring you back to the next week that you haven’t already seen. Blowing up an alien 10 weeks in a row, you have a good idea what that is going to look like. Whereas why this show is so cool is because it is about this human drama. We have this family that suffered these two great loses. The middle kid, Ben, has been taken by the aliens and we do not even know what that all entails. Then the mom was killed back during the invasion. We have all these different people dealing with the aliens in these different way. We have Tom who is more looking from a civilian point of view. Then you have someone like Captain Weaver who is strictly military. He thinks that civilians slow people down. One of the great themes of this show is the fact that it is all about people who usually don’t see eye to eye and normally would not even talk to each other. But they are being but in this situation where they have go after this common goal of survival and therefore listen to each other, worth through issues and see where they can get. Which is like a said a great universal theme in the world, it wouldn’t hurt for more people to live that way. To listen to each other, take others into consideration and listen to what someone else has to say.

MG: What is the most difficult part of working on the show?
DR: The most difficult thing would have to be the weather. We are shooting in Toronto. We started in July and finished in November. I am not sure how much you know about Toronto but in the summer is incredibly hot and humid and we are dressed like it is winter time or at least fall. I would have like a shirt on, a button-down on top of that and then a jacket and wearing jeans while I am running from aliens. You work up quite a sweat and its gets pretty hot. Then by the end of the series, in November, it is freezing cold. You are putting those hot shots all over your back, in your gloves and your shoes. Just trying to keep warm. So I would have to say that was probably the hardest thing. At the end of the day though, I kind of enjoyed that as well because it was bringing in those elements and really making it real. It is a whole lot easier to be cold and to play a scene in the cold then it is to pretend like it is cold and fake it. I felt like it brought a sense of reality to the show. But there were definitely times on the set when we were dying to turning heater on or the AC on [laughs].

MG: Do you have an episode that stands out as your favorite?
DR: I have two particular ones that I had a very large role in. I get the numbers wrong because the way we numbered them is a little funny. But I want to say the 5th episode and maybe the 7th episode. Hal has to step up and go out on a limb. He has to put his neck out there and make some things happen. I think the 7th episode, he actually has to step into Tom’s shoes to some degree and look over some kids and be the decision maker. That was very interested and fun to play in the fact that I got to look at things from my dad’s point of view. I had to make these decisions. People come up with ideas and now I am not just an idea maker, I am the kid who has to sift through the ideas and discover what works.  There is a lot of action in there. There honestly was not an episode I didn’t enjoy but those two really stick out.

MG: Why do you think people should tune in to this show this summer?
DR: Here is what I have to say about that, With TNT, you are getting this for free and it is going to look awesome, like a movie. It has a great storyline. Then on top of all of that the story that is being told isn’t set in one genre. If you are a huge science fiction fan, then you can get your fill of this and be satisfied and have a great time. If you are family, a mom and dad and some kids, you can watch this and have a great time as well and learn some family values. If you are just with some buddies, if you are guys or girls, this show has something for everybody. I am sure that everyone plugs that but I really feel like our show does.

MG: How does it feel going from television like “Hannah Montana” & “iCarly” to “Falling Skies”?
DR: I wouldn’t change a thing. Everything that has come along that has gotten me to this point I feel like happened for a reason. The episode I did on Nickelodeon for “iCarly” and then Disney with “Hannah Montana” were huge hits for that show…for both shows. They were some of the highest viewed shows that they had. I had a great time working with all those actors and actresses. But most definitely I am glad to be moving on to something like this. This is more along the lines of what I ultimately want to do. What guy doesn’t want to do an action something and then even more importantly than that it has a great story behind it as well. I really look forward to doing more things like that. We had some great scenes to be able to act and characters to live in. The whole Disney thing was great but I feel I am very fortunate to jump into there…reap those benefits and then be able to get out. Unfortunately so often you get typecast into Disney and Nickelodeon and they are great actors but they can’t get out because they are known for that show. I feel like I got the best of both worlds.

MG: No pun intended right [laughs]?
DR: Exactly, I didn’t know if you were going to pick up on that one [laughs].

Dale Dye is currently playing the role of Porter in TNT’s new show “Falling Skies”. Dale is also co-starring in this summer’s “Larry Crowne”, directed by Tom Hanks.  If you have seen a movie in the war genre, it is most likely that he has worked on the film as the Military Technical Advisor.  He supervised such films as “Platoon” to “Saving Private Ryan”.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Dale about “Falling Skies” and working in the business.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your role as Porter in TNT’s “Falling Skies”?
Dale Dye: Porter is a recently retired professional military officer.  He is a native of Boston. He has been called on to be the professional head of a resistance group that has formed around the Boston area.  He has organized a of guys together into a milita group. It is like volunteers who arm themselves and undergo a little training and attempt to get some resistance going against the alien invaders.

MG: What drew you to the role?
DD: I guess it is typecasting at its best [laughs]. I am a former professional military guy for almost all my adult life, before I got into the weirdness that is show business.  Of course I know Steven Speilberg very well from previous projects that I worked with him on.  It just seemed like the the right role.  It was an opportunity to be the steady guy in this absolute mess of aliens invading the earth. I thought here is a hero shot, it is a chance to be the old, wise and sage professional mentor to a bunch of guys who are doing there best to resist against this situation.  I don’t want to say it was a no-brainer but I can definitely say it appealed to me.  I could see myself for real in that role.

MG: Even though the show is about alien invasion, do you feel the show is realistic and focuses on the character development?
DD: It really does.  Anytime you are talking about science fiction of this calibur with guys like Steven Speilberg and his team.  There is always the tempation of just making a jaw dropper and make it all about the spectical and to hell with the story and the characters.  I am not too interested in those types of projects.  When you have Steven Speilberg producing, I can guarantee you that is not doing to be the deal.  He is a consumate storyteller and I knew that coming on.  For this project, I saw he was going after those human emotions or elements that make the story so appealing. It was all there in the scripts.  Even though, I knew it was going to be a hell of a spectacle…the human story was still there.

MG: Tell us how has bit been working with the rest of the cast?
DD: It is always great to walk on the set and see a mixture of seasoned pros along with really anxious and talent younger actors.  That is what makes this project so appealing. You got guys like Noah Wyle, he has been around for a while and is a really good actor.  Will (Patton) also along with Noah were really pros.  You have people like Moon (Bloodstone) and some of the other younger actors, I think their best performances are brought out when they are working with old pros. Everyone was excited about working on this show.  We were shooting in Toronto.  I could sense that excitement while walking on the set.  This was a set in which there was a syngery going between both the veterans and the new actors, who were really trying to make their mark.  That is the way that film business should be by my perspective.

MG: You have taken on the role of Military Technical Advisor on many projects, do you enjoy this task?
DD: That is a awful long story [laughs]. It was among my believe that Hollywood wasn’t treating military characters and war in general in an appropriate impactful way.  You can do a lot of things when you are ignorant that people tell you can’t do.  I came out and said I wanted to find a fix it.  I was able to convince people how to get these things done.  We succeeded very well in my first project which was with Oliver Stone in the film “Platoon”. Oliver let me do it my way and we won four Academy Awards including Best Picture. In Hollywood, nothing succeeds like success.  I began to have people watching me train actors. They began saying “He is pretty convincing.  Maybe if we put him in front of the camera, then he can do it on film”  I guess they found some hidden talent in me somewhere.  It is kind of like Oliver told me when I appeared as Captain Harris in “Platoon”, he told me “If you ever take an acting lesson, I will never hire you again”. So there must be something there, I guess I have been a performer in my life in one way or another.

MG: Do you have a favorite film in that genre?
DD: There are couple that stand out for me, “Platoon” will always have have a soft spot in my heart.  This is due to the film success and the way I discovered to train actors and bring a certain performance to the screen.  It was also my big break.  I also love “Saving Private Ryan”.  In the television world, I love “Bands of Brothers” and “The Pacific”.  I think those films definitely stand out for me.

MG: You are featured in this summer’s “Larry Crowne” with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, tell us about working on that film?
DD: Tom has been a good personal film as well as a professional colleague. He kind of admires what I do.  I am always whinning to him how typecast I am.  I tell him “I can be a doctor, lawyer, or a politican…why am I always able to be stuck playing the military officer”.  I think Tom listened to it for a while and said “Hey listen, you get those roles because you are good at it”. I said “Yeah Yeah but…Yeah Yeah but…”  Eventually it came around that Tom wanted to see if I could do other things.  So when “Larry Crowne” came around I got a call and he said “Listen I got something for you” and I said “Ok, what uniform do I have to wear now”.  But in the film, I play his boss and I get to fire him in a wonderful little scene. It is ironic because he was hiring me.  “Larry Crowne” is probably one of the best written romantic comedies that I have ever seen and Tom is a tour de force in it.  I am glad to have a little shot at it.

MG: You are currently writting and directing your first film “No Better Place to Die”, what can you tell us about that?
DD: We are able to start shooting.  I am making my feature directorial debut. It is, naturally, a WWII D-Day film about the fight that the 82nd Airborne Division had at a very critical bridge in La Fiere. I am looking forward to it. I have done a lot of second unit directing.  I am also usually staging and choreographing combat.  This is a story I wrote and everyone is very excited about the script, so I guess it is good [laughs]. We will see whether or not I have learned over last 20 years from guys like Steven Speilberg, Tom Hanks, Oliver Stone, Robert Robert Zemeckis and many others.  If you are going to go to school, you definitely want those guys as your teachers.

Freddie Highmore is known best his roles in “Charlie in the Chocolate Factory” and Finding Neverland”, both with Johnny Depp.  Next up, he is starring with Emma Roberts in the upcoming romantic comedy “The Art of Getting By”.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Freddie about his new film and discussed about his career to date.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your most recent film “The Art of Getting By”? What drew you to this project?
Freddie Highmore: It was a fantastic film. New York was a joy to be in.  What really attracted me to the film was the honesty of it.  It doesn’t present the sort of stylized version of high school that you often get with some of these movies.  It is incredibly real and it is actually quite refreshing. People will go and see the film and have it actually represent the feeling of growing up…feeling of that first love…feeling of that wanting to succeed and the pressure to succeed. The film encompasses all though things and in a real way.

MG: How was it working with Emma Roberts?
FH: Emma Roberts was fantastic.  It was a real joy to get to work with her. The fact we got a long so well right from the start was incredibly helpful.  It is great to get along with someone that you are working with especially with the more intimate moments, they felt more real

MG: Are you generally a fan of the romance genre?
FH: Yeah I am.  I am, obviously.  But some of them perhaps what they are lacking is the way the actor portrays it.  They sometimes need to overdue it emotionally and make it too obvious to people.  I think people really will enjoy our film and see that start they think George is a bit depressed and a bit deluished in life. But actually by the end they will find out who he is.  I think people enjoy seeing that kind of movie.

MG: You’ve worked with so many A-list directors, Tim Burton and Ridley Scott for example, how was it working with first time director Gavin Wiesen?
FH: It was great. One thing that all directors seems to have in common is an amazing amount of energy.  For Gavin, despite the film being somewhat based on real events and in fact on him, he is incredible open.  He is open to the fact that it will be a movie and people will have various interpations of the story.  It was really rewarding that he was able to give up a certain part of something felt attached to him.

MG: After working on the very large production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, how does working on a film like this compare to indie “The Art of Getting By”?
FH: I think on the independent film, each day was definitely more filled up.  You definitely get through more in the day oppose to just doing one massive shot, which will take the whole day shooting.  There is just something nice about working on the independent film.  You are with a smaller crew and get to know everyonestraight away. Everyone is really willing to be there, excited and looking at the same goal.  It makes it a really excited project to be apart of. We were just running around New York and grabbing shots on the go.  Perhaps New York represents the aim for the film, not just going for the postcard picture of Manhattan.  It is sort of the real New York and the people that live and work in it.

MG: What would you say has been your most challenging film to date?
FH: I think they have all been different.  I am not sure if one has been more challenging than an other one.  I have been lucky in that way.  I have been able to play different character for different genres and not get tied up in one thing in particular. Every film should be a challenge and it keeps you popping and really focused about doing it.

MG: “Arthur and the Invisibles 2 & 3″ were just recently released, how was it working on those films not only acting but also voice acting?
FH: It was fun doing a voiceover in the film oppose to just acting.  I think the people think it is always easier to do a voice but for me I thought it was more challenging.  Since you are never really working with the people.  You just sort of go off and make it up on your own.  There is definitely a lot of preparation for a role like that.

“Falling Skies” is a new sci-fi drama series that was created by Robert Rodat and Steven Spielberg. The series will be premiering on TNT on Sunday, June 19, 2011, with a two-hour premiere. The series will consist of 10 episodes.

The story behind the show deals with the aftermath of an alien invasion. It follows a group of survivors who come together to fight back against the invading aliens. The cast for the show Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Dale Dye, Drew Roy and Peter Shinkoda.

I have had the pleasure of watching the first five episodes in advance and let me tell you this is a show you will not want to miss this summer. The show mixes sci-fi with really great human drama which leads to a great show. I was also lucky enough to interview most of the primary cast from the show. They were able to chat with me about their experiences on the show and what we can expect from it.

We will be posting new interviews each day leading up to the premiere of the show on Sunday. Hope you enjoy them and feel free to leave comments.

FALLING SKIES CAST INTERVIEWS:

Jason Lee is currently starring in the TNT’s “Memphis Beat”, which is begins season two starting June 14th. Prior to this Jason has worked on the TV series “My Name is Earl”. In film,. Jason is known for his roles in Kevin Smith’s films “Mallrats”, “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma”. He has also played Dave in the “Alvin in the Chipmunks” series, with its second sequel being released this Fall, “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked”. Movie Mikes had a chance to attend a conference call with Jason Lee to discuss the new season of “Memphis Beat” and what we can expect from it.

Mike Gencarelli: Do you find it difficult for you combining the comedy with the drama for this show?
Jason Lee: This season it’s easier because that was more of the direction we wanted to take this season because we felt that that was lacking a little bit last season in retrospect. I think with anything you do characters have to be believable, acceptable, likeable that’s always sort of my stance like even with a guy like Earl.  With just a massive list of wrongs you still like the guy, you know what I mean? I felt like we needed with “Memphis Beat” and have Dwight feel even more tangible real likeable, accessible, approachable and less of the character or a sort of a iconic thing that we were trying to have him be in the first season. Strangely, I thought a lot about Burt Reynolds back in the 70’s, that strong kind of jokes every man just that kind of humor from that and the camaraderie with like those movies like “Cannonball Run” and “Smokey and the Bandit”. I guess trying to incorporate that into this show and making it have more of that old school kind of Southern flair, that energy and you see more of that coming out and that’s balanced with the more dramatic stuff of I’ve seen them today these guys are cops and people are being murdered and no shit there’s a lot of stuff happening here. But I think it was a little to precious the first season.

MG: What would you consider is the most challenging part working on the show?
JL: I would have to say the lip-syncing and the performances. I try to be as genuine with those and make that feel as heartfelt as possible and make it look as good as I can. That’s sometimes a difficult thing learning those songs and…putting my heart into it and making it feel right. I want to do justice to that. Also always being conscious of walking that balance between reality and fiction and trying to keep it real and not cheesy or forced but as believable as possible.

Q: Well you’ve got a great show. Were you surprised how well the show went over last season?
A: I mean yes, I thought it was interesting enough as the start to something potentially better…and we’ve made it better this season in my opinion.  Sometimes you do something with one formula and then you look at it and you go, well you know what it didn’t quite feel what it – the way it should have felt and then so you reconvene you look at it all and you start fresh with the strengths from last season and then having sort of gotten rid of the weaknesses. I think the show is more fun this season Dwight is a little bit more identifiable he’s less of a character and more of just a guy. It’s less of a sacred kind of Elvis thing and more of just a Southern dude who loves music and he happens to be a musician and a performer. This season there’s less of country Elvis thing and more of just Dwight performing music. Certainly Elvis is his idol but you know what really kind of didn’t help in our favor at the beginning of the first season was that people have this ideal that the show is like cop by day Elvis impersonator by night and that kind of screwed us up a little bit. Because it was not that and then when we presented the show as something else it was difficult to work our way around that. Now we just sort of shed all of that and it’s just more about Dwight loving the South and being just a guy who loves everything from Elvis to Johnny Cash to Muddy Waters to probably Simon and (freakin’) Garfunkle.  He’s just a guy who loves music and he’s a performer. So it was really important this season that we made Dwight more of a just a dude and less of this kind of character or this icon or something. We just have a more fun kind of lighter, looser kind of old school cop show with more car chases and shoot outs and more more joking and having fun and more camaraderie among among us, there’s a gang. We needed to go through season one to see all this stuff and make this season more fun.

Q: Okay you were talking about a minute ago about Dwight and he’s one of the coolest cops in recent TV history. What you did to bring that cool swagger to this role?
A: Oh man, well it’s I think it was the boots, some of the wardrobe, the car, the music, the old guitars. It’s sort of like there’s a little bit of a modern day kind of cowboy vibe to the guy, which I think is really interesting. But that could get real cheesy real fast. So I just try to be aware of the importance of this guy’s job and making it as much about how much he cares as it is about how “cool” the guy might be and how fun it is to play this guy. It’s kind of walking a little bit more of a line between character and realities than we did I think last season. So I learned – we all sort of learned a lot from last season.

Q: All the music on this show is incredible. Can you talk a little bit about that the barrage of great songs that crop up throughout each episode?
A: Well that’s the beauty of the show it’s taken straight from the South.  It’s like you’re going to get those flavors of blues, R&B, Elvis.  It’s like the backdrop to the show because it takes place in Memphis and we all know how important music is to the Memphis to the South. So it’s like it’s kind of – it’s the character to the show just as much as Dwight’s car is.  We get away with a lot of stuff that I don’t think we’d get away with it if the show took place somewhere else because in the South your town is like you’re very prideful of it. There’s such a sense of camaraderie and community here because everybody shares everything and that’s very much a Southern thing I found. So with that comes a real sense of pride and Dwight carries that pride with him. There’s a pride of “hey we do things differently around here”, which I think is really cool.

Q: What is the City of Memphis think of Dwight in the show When you go to Memphis,even if it’s just to shoot exterior scenes, do they greet you like you’re a local hero?
A: It speaks volumes of about how awesome Memphians are.  The biggest disappointment that we’ve heard is Memphians saying that they have seen quite a bit of New Orleans in the show and saying that they totally understand that we really wanted to shoot in Memphis but they still embrace the show.  They understand that it’s a bunch of red tape sort of logistical kind of governmental tax incentive stuff all this stuff.  They’re usually kind to us. This season we have a fantastic production designer and she is very anal and we’ve tried even harder this season to make it even more authentic. Overall though the Memphians are they like the show. I’ve done press there locally in Memphis and and they say, “We like the show and we’re certainly happy that it has just the title Memphis in it and we understand why you can’t film here. It’s disappointing but we don’t hate the show” so of course that’s nice to hear.

Q: Have you ever been much of an armchair detective in real life? When it comes to crime dramas and mysteries do you watch them? Do you read them? And if so who are some of your favorites?
A: I’m a product of the 70’s.  My favorite stuff is like “Streets of San Francisco”, “Rockford Files”, “Dukes of Hazards”, “C.H.I.P.S”, you know what I mean? Like “Smokey and the Bandits”…that’s my vibe.  Something that I bought to the table for this season is like that we needed to make it feel a little bit more fun and action packed than kind of just old school like these other shows. We tried to do that season one but we didn’t quite nail it. I feel like that energy that you see on shows like “Rockford Files”. Just that fun camaraderie and that’s just like energy…just the style of it.  I feel like we’ve tapped into that more because to me it’s just cool aesthetic and it fits this Southern Dwight thing…the old car that he drives, the music, the energy.  There’s more laughs this season. It’s a little lighter and it feels a little bit more just down home.

Q: What do you think of Sam Hennings as an actor and as a person?
A: Oh Sam is amazing he has really found his thing this season even more so I think. Just because overall the energy has shifted and there’s more room to have fun and just be real and not be so serious all the time. Quite a few scenes this season, I’m not in this time around because we’ve tried to balance out the work load.  We are trying to put more focus on the other characters.  Sam’s had some great story lines so far and he’s really gotten the shine. He’s a great fit for this show. He’s from Macon, Georgia and he’s just like he’s an old school.  He’s the perfect old school kind of cross city cop.

Q: Last season ended on kind of an emotional cliffhanger with Dwight finding out that his dad might have been a dirty cop. Is that storyline going to be followed up at all?
A: Yes sir we’ve already filmed that episode.

Q: Does your schedule allow you to do any films on your hiatus?
A: Yes I really want to get back into doing some film work.  Hopefully this year later this fall. I miss that, I miss it and I’m really looking to find something that I can do for this year.

Sam Hennings stars alongside Jason Lee in the TNT series “Memphis Beat” which will start airing its second season in June. Sam took time out of his busy schedule to talk with us at Movie Mikes about the upcoming season of “Memphis Beat” as well as his recent appearance as Samuel Colt on the television series “Supernatural”.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us how you first got involved with “Memphis Beat”?
Sam Hennings: Clark Johnson who directed the pilots for shows such as “The Wire” and “The Shield” contacted me after he received a copy of the pilot script for “Memphis Beat”. He was so impressed with the script that he called me directly and asked me to be a part of the pilot. The original title for the project was called “Delta Blues” and as time went on it change into what it is now. I read through the script and thought it was a terrific piece. I then found out Jason Lee was involved as well as Alfre Woodard. We shot the pilot in December of 2009 and it was picked up by TNT in the early part of 2010. Season one premiered in June of 2010 and got some really good ratings which resulted in TNT picking the show up for a second season which we are currently in the process of shooting.

AL: Can you tell us anything about the upcoming season?
SH: We have new writers this season which has brought some fresh energy to the project. We have also widened the musical palette as well. Season 1 was predominately focused on Jason Lee’s character and his love of Elvis. Season 2 will still have that element but it has been expanded to include some other musical genres. The writers have also decided to delve into more of the individual personalities of each character and we get to learn their ups and downs as well as some other details which make them who they are. The premier for season 2 is set for Tuesday, June 14^th at 9 pm EST.

AL: What is it like working with Jason Lee?
SH: Jason is just terrific. I have been blessed by the TV gods! The entire cast and crew is great. We don’t have one bad egg. Jason and I came together on the pilot and on screen our characters are best friends and that has led into us being friends off camera as well. With us being friends working 12 and 16 hour days is just a blast because we get along so well.

AL: Has he tried to take you skateboarding yet?
SH: (Laughs) Yes as a matter of fact to which I quickly declined. We did buy bicycles however. New Orleans where we shoot is such a great city to bike around. Jason and I were out riding one Sunday with Giovanni Ribisi who was on the show last season. Jason can ride a bike like he’s walking and can do all these tricks and such. I thought that he makes it look so easy I asked him how to do a wheelie. He kind of explained how to do one I did a little baby wheelie and thought it was kind of cool. Jason then tells me to pull harder and I will go higher. I pulled it and did almost a complete 360 and landed on my ass! Giovanni and Jason got a real kick out of that.

AL: Can you tell us about your role on “Supernatural”?
SH: I have a friend who has directed a number of those shows and he called me one day to ask if I would play the character of Samuel Colt in an upcoming episode he was directing. I asked him if it was a western and he started to tell me that the main characters travel back in time to meet my character. I love playing western type characters so he sent me the material and I flew to Vancouver where we shot the episode and it was a real kick in the ass! I really enjoyed the project. The people involved with that show are really in tune and the cast is very nice and professional. To be honest with you I had no idea that the episode was going to get the response it did. I wasn’t really aware of the cult following the show had. Before I even made it back to Los Angeles I was receiving emails and stuff about me being on the show. The audience is really excited about the possibility of Samuel Colt returning be it in the year 2011 or being visited again in the 1860’s. We will have to see what the producers are going to do.

AL: Out of all the great projects you have been involved in is there one that stands out as a favorite?
SH: I have been asked that a few times over my career and I feel that I really have been blessed throughout my career. I kind of feel as though each project I do is like a kid. You can have four or five of them that are so different from each other but they are each so special and you love them equally however in different ways. Each project has its own special place in my make up both as a person and as an actor. I think it would be hypocritical or dishonest of me if I picked one project as a favorite. Every project I have been a part of has been special. I can tell you while I am sitting here working on “Memphis Beat” that there have been a lot of projects that have equaled it but none of them out do the high I have gotten from working with this group on “Memphis Beat”. The enthusiasm across the board has been great. I have been getting emails from people non-stop telling me how great it is to see someone in my age bracket be a part of a show like “Memphis Beat”.

AL: Other than season 2 of “Memphis Beat” do you have any other upcoming projects?
SH: Right now I am committed to “Memphis Beat” as far as a series concerns. I have had talks with a few people who are looking to start some projects however nothing has been set in stone just yet.

American McGee is the man behind the game ‘American McGee’s Alice” and its follow-up “Alice: Madness Returns”. American currently runs his own game development company, Spicy Horse, which is based in Shanghai, China. Movie Mikes had a chance to pick American’s brain about the new games as well as other projects he is currently working on.

Click here to read our review of “Alice: Madness Returns”
Click here to enter for a chance to win a copy of the game on Playstation 3.

Mike Gencarell: So why the 11 year wait between “American McGee’s Alice” and “Alice: Madness Returns”?
American McGee: There wasn’t really anything magic of the time between the new game and the last game.  The truth is that it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, which was also the case when we made the first game.  But this time around…I had left EA after the first game and lived in Los Angeles for a while.  Then I moved to Hong Kong, then to Shanghai.  I had to move to Shanghai and start a studio here before I thought we had the development capabilities to tackle doing a sequel.  So I called up EA and let them know what I had in mind.  They thought it sounded good so we got it started.  It really just came down to “right place, right time.”

MG: What inspired you to take the wacky world of “Alice” and turn it into a very dark psychotic world?
AM: Basically EA asked me to come up with the game concept.  I spent the years prior to working at EA working at id software, where we did all the “Dune” and “Quake” games.  I was actually tired of the whole “space marine/big brown worlds and guns” games and I had a feeling that I wanted to come up with something that would really push both the technology and the story telling.  I was driving in my car one day and this song by the Crystal Method came on.  It was called “Trip Like I Do.”  The song opens up with a guy doing sort of a monologue talking about a world of wonder.  And those words hit my brain and I started thinking “wonder….wonder….wonderland.”  I thought we could do something really fantastic with “Alice in Wonderland.”  So when I got back to my office I sat down and started thinking about the characters and Alice’s world and how it could be adapted to appeal to gamers but also maintain the appeal that the books have to such a wide audience around the world.  So out of that was born this world and this story and this take on it which a lot of people seem to think feels like a good direction.

MG: Tell us about the development for the CGI cut-scenes in the new game?
AM: We still kept it kind of old school.  We use a lot of storytelling in the environment.  It’s a lot of passive stuff so that we don’t take the player out of the game playing experience.  Then we also have the cut-scenes in game, like a lot of games do, where we’re using the characters in the world to tell some of the story.  The only thing we have that is sort of pre-rendered are the 2 ½ D motion graphic cinematics.  We just recently released one of those, which is the opening to the game.  It’s a two and a half minute long animation showing the opening of the game.  We actually ended up doing over 30 minutes of animated content like that.  It’s really cool because it suits the game really well.  It tells the story really well.  It really fits into her world.

MG: If you had to choose one thing, what did you enjoy most about doing the new game?
AM: I’d say that it’s the overall sense of pride the studio has in having delivered the game because it’s actually quite historic to see a full blown cross-console/cross-platformplay Triple A western game concept get developed from start to finish in China.  For gaming China has historically been a place that’s mainly used for outsourcing.  Even when you have companies like EA and other big studios here a lot of the creative direction…a lot of the development…is actually being done off shore, outside of China.  They’re giving a lot of the core production work to the team here.  This is the first time that, from start to finish, we built a game of this size and this caliber in China.  The whole team is quite proud of that.

MG: What was the biggest challenge in bringing “American McGee’s Alice” to Xbox Live and PlayStation Network?
AM: There were a lot of little obstacles and hurdles for the tech team to get over.  That was almost purely a tech job.  Basically on our side we had two guys, Jake and Milo, doing all the coding.  We also had a company on the west coast of the U.S.  It’s kind of ironic.  We’re in China and we outsourced the work for some of the technology to a company in California.  They did have to jump over some hurdles to get the game to fit to memory and for the interface  to come up to the standards that are required by the platforms.  But so much time has passed.  The power that is now available on the consoles is definitely up to the task of playing the game.  And it looks great.  If you play the old game now, on a console and a big screen, it’s absolute gorgeous.  The original “Alice” was envisioned as a console title early on.  There was meant to be a console version – a PS 2 version – when we finished the PC version.  It actually comes over very nicely.  At its core the soul of the game is really a console  platformed action game. It came over quite nicely.

MG: The music composed by Chris Vrenna in the first game was fantastic.  Tell us about the score for “Madness Returns”?
AM: Chris came out early on and actually consulted with our composers and sound designers here in Shanghai.  He ended up contributing one track but the bulk of the music was done by Jason Tai.  We also had a guy named Marshall Crutcher in San Francisco that did a lot of the more classical pieces that were traditionalist instruments like cello and violin.  So if you listen to the main theme of the song that was something that Marshall contributed.  But the bulk of the audio done in China was done under Jason’s direction.  Jason is Malaysian but went to school in England so he brought with him a really wide range of ability and an exposure to music from around the world.  So when you play the game and you move through the world you get a really good sense of that.  There’s a lot of diversity…a lot of variety in the music.

MG: Was it different making a multi-platform game vs. just a PC game?
AM: I’d like to say that there was something really different about it but the truth is that so many people on the team, myself included, had prior experience in console development and the technology these days allowed us to create a game that is automatically cross-platform right out of the box.  It really makes it pretty straight forward as long as you put your planning together the right way early on.  Something as a studio that we really pride ourselves on is being really good at the planning for these long term projects.  And as a result we’ve actually developed a pretty sane development process and schedule.

MG: There have been talks since 2004 about a film adaptation of”Alice.”  Now that it is back in the spotlight, do you think those ideas will be revisited?
AM: It’s largely out of my hands.  There’s a film producer in Hollywood that is in control of the rights.  That’s the destiny of the project.  But I know that he’s trying many ways to get it set up and made.  I decided a long time ago not to hold my breath when it comes to the ways and moves of Hollywood.  Sometimes things can happen ridiculously fast and sometimes it can take decades for stuff to get made.  I think we’ll all just have to wait and see if maybe the new game has an impact on getting the film to move forward.

MG: Why was the game production on “American McGee’s Oz” canceled and do you ever plan to revisit that project?
AM: It was really sad.  When I left EA we had all of this momentum because of the success of “Alice.”  I figured I’d done “Alice in Wonderland” so I decided to tackle “The Wizard of Oz.”  So we came up with some story lines and some art and started building the concept.  We had toys made, had a book deal in place, got the game deal set up…had the film rights sold.  Everything was moving along and feeling really great.  Then one year into production on the game the publisher ran into pretty significant financial troubles.  And they killed, across the board, all of the their games except for one.  They were just finishing up the MMO for “The Matrix.”  They had run out of money and they cut out work on all games except for the one they thought would make them some money back.  So we were a victim of their financial woes.  And once the game fell a lot of the other stuff also started to fall by the wayside.  When the film guys saw that the game wasn’t going to get made they cooled on the film idea.  And so forth and so on.

MG: Is that something you can now proceed on with your own studio, Spicy Horse?
AM: Right now that project is so messy in terms of the rights.  The game rights are owned by Atari still.  The film rights are sitting at Disney with Jerry Bruckheimer.  Somebody has the toy rights, somebody has the book rights.  I think today to get the momentum back and get the project moving again would just be so much work and trouble.  I think, in fact, should we decide to ever revisit “Oz” we would just start from scratch.  Because it is a public domain story we could come up with a whole new take on it and just relaunch completely from scratch.  We may do that someday but for now we have a lot of other stuff that we’re working on that’s keeping us occupied.

MG: What’s next from Spicy Horse?
AM: We just announced some news.  Actually, “Alice,” for us, was a bit of a distraction from our core business strategy, which has a lot to do with why I came to China in the first place.  And that was to be in the on-line game space.  Our first project was strictly on-line, an episodic project called “Grim.”  We just announced that we’ve secured financing that we’re going to use to self-fund a lot of original IP.  And we also just signed a deal with a company in which we’re going to take one of their existing IPs  and transform it into a 3-D free-to-play game.  So from this point forward all of our focus is going to be on making on-line multi-player free-to-play games.  These will be in 3-D.  A lot of your Facebook games are in 2-D and we want to help transition the market to 3-D.  So that’s where a lot of our energy will be going as we move forward.

MovieMikes has prided itself in speaking with some of the great voice talent behind many of Walt Disney’s beloved characters. From Winnie the Pooh to many of the classic Disney Princesses, our readers have asked and we’ve delivered. And if you’re talking about beloved Disney characters, there is none bigger or more known around the world then the one that started it all, Mickey Mouse.

Mickey Mouse has been voiced by four different men. Walt Disney himself provided the voice from the character’s introduction in 1928’s “Steamboat Willie” through 1947. He also provided Mickey’s voice during the 1955-59 series run of the original “Mickey Mouse Club.” Jimmy McDonald succeeded Disney and voiced the character until 1977 when he was replaced by Wayne Allwine. When Mr. Allwine passed away in 2009 he was replaced by Bret Iwan who, like Disney and McDonald before him, dreamed of being an animator long before he discovered his vocal talent. Born in September 1982, Iwan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Ringling College or Art and Drawing in 2004. Shortly after graduation he sent off his portfolio, hoping for a job with the Walt Disney Company. While he was offered an internship at Walt Disney Imagineering he also received an offer of a full time position at Hallmark Cards. He took the Hallmark offer and soon found himself moving to Kansas City, coincidentally the city that stood home to Walt Disney’s first animation studio. As he approached his fifth year with Hallmark he learned from a friend that phone auditions were being accepted to voice Mickey Mouse. After several days of practice, Iwan called in, recorded his audition and waited for a phone call. Several weeks later, that call came and, after a few more auditions, Iwan was named the fourth official voice of Mickey Mouse.

While back in Kansas City to attend a fund raiser for the “Thank You, Walt Disney,” an organization created to help save the building that housed Disney’s original “Laugh O’ Gram” studios,” Iwan took some time out to talk with MovieMikes about his career and his unique opportunity.

Mike Smith: Since you used to live here I guess I can say “welcome back” to Kansas City.
Bret Iwan: Thank you. It’s great to be here.

MS: You studied to become an artist. What made you choose that path as a career?
BI: Early on what inspired me was watching the old classic Disney cartoons. My parents were always putting them on for me, everything from Mickey Mouse to Pinocchio. And while watching them they really caught my attention…how the drawings were coming to life. And so as early as I can remember I wanted to be an artist…more specifically I wanted to be an animator. So from grade school through high school through college that was my goal. That’s what I focused on. I didn’t quite make it there in the capacity I dreamed of but I did make it to Disney, which was a major part of that dream.

MS: How did it work at Hallmark? Would they give you the written copy for a card and ask you to design it?
BI: It worked a couple of different ways. That was one way. Other times the creator would have a specific card and a specific image in mind that they would come to us and ask us to create. And other times we would have an open brainstorm free for all! The illustrators would come up with concepts on their own or with concepts for whatever upcoming holiday they were working on at the time and then submit them to the designers for them to pick and choose from. So there never really was oneconsistent way of working. They always kept us on our toes. It was a lot of fun.

MS: What was the oddest or most memorable card you designed?
BI: It wasn’t one that I designed. I got to pose. I modeled for a card one time. I was holding two glasses of wine so it was just my hands. It was for Hallmarks’ “RED” card line (NOTE: the company’s RED card line was created to raise money. The proceeds from the cards were spent to combat AIDS in Africa.Mr. Iwan’s card caused some notoriety when a Delaware woman tried to have it pulled from shelves, claiming it promoted promiscuity). They went around the room and they chose me. I guess I had the nicest hands at the time. That was my one and only modeling job ever.

MS: What did your audition consist of to become the voice of Mickey Mouse? Did you have scenes to read, or did they just say “do Mickey happy…do Mickey sad?” Not that Mickey Mouse is ever sad.
BI: He could be. (laughs) The audition was basically a voice match. They provided an MP3 of clips from a couple of Walt’s cartoons and a couple of Wayne’s cartoons. And the audition was to do the best you could to match those voices. Walt’s clips included lines from “The Brave Little Tailor” and Wayne’s had clips from “The Three Musketeers” and also some stuff from the intro to the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” that was currently on the air. So there was a great variety from where Walt had started and where Wayne had taken Mickey.

MS: Did you ever meet Wayne Allwine?
BI: No, sadly, I did not. When I auditioned they were looking for somebody to serve as an understudy for Wayne. So I auditioned thinking I was going to get to meet him and to learn from him. Get some good tips and techniques from him. Unfortunately that didn’t happen because in the midst of the process of finding an understudy he passed away. It was somewhat unexpected. I took over about twoweeks after he passed away.

MS: I know you’ve voiced Mickey on several video games. Is there any talk of bringing Mickey back in a full length feature film?
BI: I would love for that to happen. And I know a lot of the other voice cast members would as well. I haven’t heard anything official. I have heard from my fans on Twitter that there was an interview with one of the story men at the Walt Disney Studios where he mentioned that he had pitched a feature length 2-D animated movie featuring Mickey, Donald and Goofy. I don’t know what the future is for that but I would love for it to come to fruition so I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I think that would be great.

MS: In your short time doing this, what is the most unusual or strangest thing you’ve ever had to voice as Mickey Mouse?
BI: Hmmmmmm….well I don’t know if it’s the strangest but voicing for the “Epic Mickey” video game was interesting because there’s NO dialogue in the entire game. It’s all noises and reactions. So it was strange trying to communicate a plethora of emotions and actions just by little noises. That’s probably the oddest and most challenging that I can think of.

MS: Let’s say the proposed upcoming Mickey Mouse feature comes along and they’re going to do the animation the old fashioned way. If they offered you a job as an animator would you do it?
BI: I would love to. I would love that. That would be a complete dream come true. I’d have a lot to learn…I’m by no means an expert at animation. But with that being the driving force behind my initial dream I would love to be a part of that process.

For information on how you can get involved with the “Thank You Walt Disney” organization please click here.

Monte Hellman is returning to the role of director with his latest film “Road to Nowhere” which is being released in theaters on June 10th. This will mark his first feature film in over 20 years. He has directed Jack Nicholson in four films over the years and is known best for his film “Two-Lane Blacktop”. Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Monte about his new films and his career overall.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you become attached to direct “Road to Nowhere”, your first feature in over 20 years?
Monte Hellman: Well it started with Steve Gaydos coming to me with this idea. He claims it was the first of his ideas I liked in 40 years [laughs]. He got excited by just that fact. He quickly wrote and script. We then sat down and did a little brainstorming with a couple of other friends. He came back with a second draft which successful became the basis for the beginning of the film. It did get altered along that way a little bit after that but we pretty much shot what he wrote then.

MG: Was it a difficult transition returning to the director chair? Tell us about the production?
MH: It was so easy because my daughter literally got me to work by saying “Let’s stop waiting for other people to give us permission to make movies”. She went out and raised most of the money. We thought we had enough money to make it. She sort of stumbled through after we ran out of the money and managed to at least finish the shooting part of it. Then raised more money as we went along in the post-production process. It was really all about my daughter Melissa and her getting tired of seeing “Two-Lane Blacktop” over and over again. She wanted to see another movie.

MG: How long was the shoot and where was it shot?
MH: We shot for a total of 30 days. 18 days in North Carolina. About a day or two in London. About 4 days in Italy. And about a week in Los Angeles.

MG: Did you have any involvement in the casting process for the film?
MH: Pretty much Steve Gaydos also inadvertently became the casting director. He discovered Shannyn Sossamon rehearsing a script in a restaurant. He had been in England for five years.  He was unfamiliar with her and thought she was just a student. He gave her his card and asked to have her agent to contact him. I did know who she was from “The Rules of Attraction”. I actually wanted her for a picture I was attempting to producing at that time. Steve just felt that she looked like a Monte Hellman heroine and that she also looked like the character in the movie. I did too and I thought she was good. But I had no idea how good in fact she was. I did not look at any other of her work. Every day was just a revelation.

MG: We recently spoke with Waylon Payne and he mentioned tried to explain the film’s plot, can you give us some background on it?
MH: The script was way easier than the movie. The script gave you clues to the timeline by prefacing each scene with a year date. It would either be 2008, 2009 or 2010. So that was a clue to it all. Shannyn really was able to follow that and she used that. She sort of supervised her own costumes and needed that to know where she was time wise from one scene to another. She was pretty good at it. Some of the other actors because it was not written in continuity just kind of gave up and just went along with it. That is actually a good way to do it as well because any scene is basically in terms of time is today. It is a present tense thing in that moment. When actors deal with it that way it is like the easiest way to handle it.

MG: Tell us about working with Jack Nicholson on projects like “The Shooting” and “Ride in the Whirlwind”?
MH: They were both in 1965. We shot them back to back with only a weekend in between them. Well Jack and I had just come back from the Philippines at that time. We had just done two pictures together. We were in the groove. We actually shot four movies together in the space of 12 months. It was an pretty intense time. Of course he is just so fantastic to work with. We both were going through a really intense and creative learning process. I think we both really developed tremendously during that year.

MG: “Two-Lane Blacktop” is your most critically acclaimed film, but would you consider it your favorite?
MH: Well I love “Two-Lane” and some of the other ones. I really feel that in many ways that the “Road to Nowhere” is kind of a breakthrough. I say that I feel like it is my first movie because you don’t stop learning just because you are not actually shooting. During my hiatus I think I went through a tremendous development. i feel like it is starting from the beginning.

MG: Tell us about your experience directing and writing the horror film “Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out!”?
MH: Oh “Silent Night” [laughs]. We looked at it as a way to just have a lot of fun. I actually liked the work I did. I think crucified me for making that movie [laughs] but I do not see why. I just had a great time shooting it.

MG: Do you have plans to direct again in the near future? If so what?
MH: Well I have two projects. One is another Steve Gaydos script. It is an adaptation, I do not want to say much because he is just beginning on it. There is another picture called “Love or Die”, which is a supernatural romantic thriller. It is a kind of time-bomb ticking clock movie and it is very exciting. Melissa is out right now just raising the money. Once we have a little money in the bank we will be off on another road.

Ashley Eckstein is best known for voicing the role of Ahsoka Tano in the TV series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.  The show is hitting warp speed and it enters its fourth season this Fall.  Ashley is also the celebrity host, along with James Arnold Taylor, this year at Walt Disney World’s “Star Wars” Weekend.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat about “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” with Ashley as well as her hosting for “Star Wars” Weekend and even her own clothing line “Her Universe” which is also inspired by “Star Wars”.

Check back this weekend for an exclusive giveaway of an autographed shirt from Ashley’s ‘Her Universe’ clothing line

Mike Gencarelli: So lets start at the beginning, any idea you will be where you are today when you took the role of Ahsoka Tano in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”?
Ashley Eckstein: [laughs] No, actually I had no idea. I would have called myself more of a casual “Star Wars” fan before I got the “Clone Wars” job. I watched the movies when I was a little kid but it didn’t really go beyond that. I did understand the power of “Star Wars”. I thought knew just how iconic it was. But when I once I was cast on the show. I guess I didn’t quite comprehend JUST how powerful it was and how popular it was worldwide. So, obviously after working on the show and working with Dave Filoni you just become just a hardcore fan. We really have to understand “Star Wars” to be able to do the show. I think in order really to perform our roles to the best we can. Dave really helps us with that. Dave is such a huge “Star Wars” fan. He really knows it all and we get to learn from him. We have been working on the show now close to six year and have really become much more knowledgeable and passionate fans due to that. So I definitely never imagined the position I would be in today and how “Star Wars” has also affected my life and what it means to me. It really has changed my life.

MG: What do you like most about playing Ahsoka ?
AE: I think my favorite part of playing Ahsoka is how powerful of a character she is and a role model for young girls. That has really been a dream come true for me. I worked a lot of the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon before “Clone Wars”, mostly on-camera work. I really fell in love with children and family programming. First hand I saw the impact you can have on a child’s life by doing a children/family show. So, I really tried to gear my career in that direction. “The Clone Wars” came along and I wasn’t even trying for it. Literally, my agent got a call and I was asked to come in and read. So to get the role of Ahsoka who is such a strong and powerful character for young girls to look up to to and to even be a part of it is just such an honor for me. I am not one of these actresses that say I don’t want to be a role model or I never asked for this. I do feel that a child’s role model should be somebody that is in their life on a daily basis. But I also understand that by default as someone in the public eye you are going to be a role model whether you life it or not. So it is something I take very seriously. I want to be a positive influence and through Ahsoka I can do that. I am very honored to be given the opportunity to do that.

MG: Having this character really opened up the “Star Wars” franchise to a more female audience, can you reflect on that for us?
AE: When I was growing up, I was a bit of a tom-boy. The only girl on the baseball team. I didn’t want to wear a dress. Had my hat on backwards [laughs]. Having a character like Ahsoka, I wish I would have had Ahsoka to look up to. Not every girl wants to be a princess or wear a dress. Some girls want to carry a lightsaber and pretend to be a jedi. I think it is really cool to have her character. “The Clone Wars” has kind of become the watercooler show for kids on the playground. Whether you like “Star Wars” or not, it is the show that everyone talks about. Even the girls are starting to watch it just so they are in the know. Now when the kids play it on the playground, the girls have someone they can be. They do not have to pretend to be Anakin, Captain Rex or Obi-Wan. I have so many little girls coming up to be saying “Yeah I am Ahsoka and my brother is Anakin and we play “Clone Wars” all the time”. I think that is so cool that their is a character that the girls can be. Not even just Ahsoka, there is Asajj Ventress, Padmé Amidala, Sha’ak Ti and just so many powerful females in “The Clone Wars”.

MG: What has been your favorite part of hosting Star Wars Weekend in Walt Disney Resort this year?
AE: I think it is the ability to interact with the fans, especially the kids. “The Clone Wars” sort of introduced “Star Wars” to a new generation. It is funny because “Star Wars” is the “The Clone Wars” to many kids today. Many kids haven’t seen the other movies yet. They have only seen “The Clone Wars. To have that impact on a new generation of kids to me…I can’t even fantom it. To see some of the expressions from their faces and I get a chance to meet them. It has really been an honor [laughs], I really don’t have another word for it.

MG: Tell us about your show you are hosting “Behind the Force”?
AE: Of course, I think it is a fun show. “Behind the Force” takes you on a behind the scenes look at our job as voice over artists and recording the show. The first part of the show we have a special guest, in our upcoming last weekend we have Tom Kane, who is the voice of Yoda, the narrator of the show and many others from the show. So we introduce our audience to him and I ask him a couple of questions and then our audience get a chance to ask him some questions as well. Then we go into a live demonstration of us going into the studio recording an episode. Then we audition people from our audience to be an honorary cast member of “The Clone Wars”. The person that is chosen gets to come up on stage and do a scene live with us on stage. It is really exciting and puts the audience in the studio with us and get a chance to see what it is like.

MG: How many times have you rode the new “Star Tours” this month since its opening?
AE: That is a great question [laughing]. I think I have rode it eight or nine times…I think nine times by now. It is such an amazing ride. They did such a fantastic job on it and it is almost like a completely new ride. They revamped the entire thing. I also got to do a series of videos with Disney showing the behind the scenes look on the making of Star Tours. It just awesome. If you ride with me the chances are you will get Hoth [laughs], that is the one planet I keep getting over and over. I have only gotten Naboo twice and to me that is definitely my favorite. I even got picked as the secret spy one time, which was fun.

MG: Tell us about your “Star Wars” inspired clothing line, Her Universe?
AE: Thanks for asking about that. I created Her Universe and we launched about a year ago this June. It is the first “Star Wars” / sci-fi line JUST for women. We are only for the female fans. Close to half of all sci-fi and “Star Wars” fans are women. “Star Wars” is the story of hope and that transcends gender. I got the idea a little over three year ago. Actually when I first got cast for “Clone Wars”, I did a search for merchandise for women because I wanted to buy stuff. But I really came up empty handed. I was able to find one shirt and the rest was either on backorder or sold out. There was very little for women and NOTHING for little girls. It just didn’t make sense to me. I go to all the events and “Star Wars” weekends and there are women everywhere. I was thinking “Why are you giving us nothing to buy when 85% of the consumer market is women?” I have to give LucasFilm credit because they were the first company to give me a shot. They really want to recognize their female fans. They gave me the license and trusted me [laughs]. I have always been into fashion decision, so they trusted me to design clothes and accessories for the female fans. So I am really excited about that. Disney, again, I have to give them credit that they gave us the opportunity to sell it during “Star Wars” Weekends and we have been selling five different shirts in the merchandise tent, Jabba’s Hut. I have been doing signings there also every day. It has been great. One more thing, I have to thank SyFy because we just closed a deal with them and starting in July we are coming out with SyFy merchandise for the brand and also its properties. We are starting with “Battlestar Galactica” and “Warehouse 13”.

MG: What can we expect from season 4 in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” this Fall?
AE: Sure, I can definitely tell you it is actually called Season 4: Battle Lines. It is going to take you right into the heart of the battles of the Clone Wars. They have been going on for over two years now. The war is really taking its toll on its characters. There are going to be epic battles that are going to be bigger than anything we have seen to date on the series. There is also the return of some classic characters from the “Star Wars” movies including some bad guys but also some good guys. So also look for that trend to continue and look for some really epic battles. They are really raising the bar.

Waylon Payne is the son of guitarist Jody Payne and Grammy Award-winning country singer Sammi Smith. Waylon has grown up in the music business but is also known for his working in films. Waylon played Jerry Lee Lewis in “Walk the Line”. Waylon is co-star in Monte Hellman’s first film in over 20 years “Road to Nowhere”.  Movie Mikes had a chance to chat with Waylon about his film in the film as well as his film and music career.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you tell us about your role in “Road to Nowhere”?
Waylon Payne: I play a guy by the name of Bruno Brotherton who is an insurance investigator that stumbles onto a mystery that I still haven’t quite figured out yet. (Laughs) I don’t quite understand it but I will tell you it’s brilliant. I can’t really tell you too much about the film but, you have to go see it! I do a little bit of everything in the film.

MG: How did you become involved with the projects?
WP: My friend Connie Nelson who was married to Willie called me at home and told me Monte Hellman was looking to get a hold of me. I called him and he told me about the project and the role he had for me and asked if I would do it. I told him “Yes sir” and that’s really where it started. The rest is shrouded in secrecy. (Laughs) I drove my car up to North Carolina and we shot the film in about 28 days which was something I had never done before. It was really amazing as the film was shot with such speed and precision.

MG: How was it working with Monte Hellman since this was his first feature in over 20 years?
WP: I was very enthralled and intrigued by Mr. Hellman. I hadn’t heard much about him until I got to North Carolina. After I got there I started to learn how extensive his career was and how long he has been in the business. Now I am a rabid fan and I really enjoy the things he did with Warren Oates as well as his work on some of the Jack Nicholson films. I am a big fan of old movies and I really just dig cool shots.

MG: Tell us about working with such a great cast?
WP: They were all great! I like being an actor and getting to be a part of these things because I get to know people on an extremely intimate level. When you’re throwing yourself out there it’s real easy to get a lot of attitudes flowing around. Fortunately ever cast I have been a part of so far has been great.

MG: You first film role was playing Jerry Lee Lewis in “Walk the Line”, tell us about that experience?
WP: It was incredible! We were in Memphis for about three months and I had primarily been a song writer and a country singer. I then was thrust into the cool world of all my heroes. Everyone was very embracing and encouraging.

MG: Besides acting, tell us about your singer-songwriting career?
WP: I have been working on a few projects over the past few years. Nothing has really become solid yet as I like to let things roll around in my head until they are ready to be born. I am getting ready to start a tribute album for my mother who did an album titled “The Day I Started Loving You” back n 1974. We are going to recreate that as a tribute for my mommy.

MG: Since you come from a music background, would you always choose that over films?
WP: Right now primarily I am focusing strictly on films. I am ok from taking some time away from singing and song writing for awhile. I love doing that stuff but right now it’s not at the top of my list. It’s something I am never going to quit because I want to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry!