Interview with Luke Goss

Luke Goss is known for his role in “Hellboy II” and “Blade II”. He has two big action films being released this year, “Death Face: Frankenstein Lives” and “Tekken”. Movie Mikes had the chance to talk to Luke to discuss his amazing career and his busy future.

Click here to purchase Luke’s movies and CDS

Mike Gencarelli: How was it playing the villain, Prince Nuada in “Hellboy II”?
Luke Goss: I loved playing that character. I mean Guillermo (Del Toro) kind of handed that to me on a plate. I worked hard trying to make sure he was the villain. I wanted to make sure he was an element of the movie and somewhat thought provoking if I possibly could. It was a lot of work that included five to seven hours per day of getting ready to look like him and officially become that guy. The makeup was extensive, but only on my face and very thin. The painting was so delicate. The makeup guy couldn’t speed it up it was so intricate. Then there was forty minutes a day getting the costume on because there was more than one and since it was all authentic and leather work. It was a long process everyday for six months. I worked on the film actually nine months because I was training for many weeks. It was a real slice of my life to make that guy come to life for sure.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you enjoy playing the villain in “Blade II”? How was it working under that makeup?
Luke Goss: Yeah, Nomak, that guy was just a journey. On the page there is hardly anything there, but his presence in the film is massive. I wanted to create a man or mutant that was not just a bad guy but hugely funded by the pain and embarrassment from his father. Those kind of conversations were the reason Guillermo and I got along, that was our first meeting and working together. The makeup was more exhausting even though it was quick running about four and half hours. It was much thicker and heavier. Trying to give Nomak life through the makeup was a challenge. It was also my first role in prosthetics. Out of my twenty nine movies, I have only done three like that. It was hours in front of the mirror working out the psychics of how it works so when you make an emotion how much you should add or shouldn’t. It was a real learning curve for me as an actor. It was a baptism by fire. Jumping straight into the deep end and that character in the movie was very important.

Mike Gencarelli: How has it been working with Guillermo Del Toro on two projects?
Luke Goss: Working with Del Toro on “Hellboy” was like working with a friend. One reason why is that he gave me that role and the second reason is we had a chance to become friends along the way. I still regard him as a dear friend. I am in awe of his talent and his knowledge of film, his knowledge of life, how well read he is, what a big kid he is, and top of it all is that he is just a bloody great guy.

MG: How was it changing a comedic role in “The Man”? Was it fun working with Samuel L. Jackson?
LG: I am surprised firstly at how many people have seen that movie and secondly how many people actually dig the movie. I do not think anyone thinks it is amazing but a lot of people enjoyed it. I think Sam is a really cool guy. My experience with Sam Jackson is exactly the one you would want to have. He was just cool and he knows that he is Samuel “Bloody” Jackson. I remember doing this scene when we are kind of gun to gun and I had one of these moments when I was looking down the barrel and I was like “You are Samuel Jackson, aren’t you?” [laughs]. I couldn’t bloody believe I was starring down the barrel doing a scene with Sam Jackson, who was doing that stare of his. He was just a gentleman to me and really cool. He was always very supportive everyday we worked together.

MG: You star in the SyFy movie “Witchville” which premiered this month, tell us about that movie?
LG: It is about a guy named King Malachy. His father is dying and he sends one of his main generals to get me. He really didn’t have anything to do with me. I ride back to the castle anyway and he has passed away. I have to pick up the pieces, he has abused the kingdom massively. It turns out that it was actually caused by witches and spells which had tore the kingdom apart. There is a character called The Red Queen who basically wants the kingdom for herself and I am really not into that idea and I go up against them and try and save the day.

MG: Tell me about your role as Steve Fox in “Tekken”?
LG: I play Steve Fox in the mid-30’s of his life, where he was after he was the champion. In the Tekken story, there is the a place called the Anvil which is the under belly where the underground fighting goes on and all the people aspire to get into the Tekken tournament. There is one open slot per tournament that would allow an un-sponsored fighter to get into the ring. My character was asked to throw a fight and he had no interest in doing that. He runs these fights in the area called the Anvil trying to find the fighter who is able to go kick some Tekken-ass. He finds a fighter named Jin and I mentor him and get him to the tournament. I think people are going to dig it quite a bit more than the way they did “Street Fighter”. I didn’t see a great deal of connection to the game. We have definitely tried to create a movie that is associated with the game. It is not emulated, you cannot watch a movie entirely about a fight it doesn’t work. There is a lot of fighting. The fight I have is towards the end of the movie and takes place outside of the ring, I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to blow it for anyone.

MG: Tell me about the upcoming “Death Race: Frankenstein Lives”?
LG: I am playing the main character. It is the evolution of that great character, Frankenstein. It is the prequel to the last movie. It is directed by Roel Reiné. I saw some footage and I was literally blown away! I couldn’t believe how cool it looked. All of the original cars from the first movie were flown over to Africa. It basically has myself, Sean Bean, Danny Trejo and Ving Rames, it is a good cast. It has five cameras going at once, shooting amazing action packed. Again it has a lot more story than the first one. I think people are going to be really pleasantly surprised of how cool this movie is.

MG: I was told you are currently shooting a movie. can you talk about it?
LG: Yes of course, I actually haven’t spoke about it yet this would be the first time. I am doing a movie with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Val Kilmer called “Blood Out”. Val plays the nemesis in the movie and Curtis plays a great character as a sort-of bad cop. It is the story of my brother and I play a cop and the good guy which I actually do enjoy playing as long as it is not all squeaky. Basically it is the story of a young kid who gets killed by a gang in a situation I can’t say. My character, through lots of twists and turns, goes undercover and joins that world. I have to try and find out who was responsible. It is very much a drama as well as an action thriller. I have to kick some serious ass in the film but it is 100% driven by story. It is really a great film. Andy Cheng (who works with Jackie Chan) worked with us on stunt choreography for my character. We had a really good team and it is directed by Jason Hewitt. I am really proud of it. It looks really good from the footage I’ve seen. It is dark and cool and gritty and almost documentarian at times. If you know the opening scene from “Narc” it is related at times. We did a lot of elaborate stunts and one-takes.

MG: What else do you have planned for the future?
LG: I have a production company called G Productions. I am producing a movie called the “Chennai Heist’. It is basically a buddy/heist movie. It is really cool. I’ve got three movies I am producing; two of which I have also written. Another one I am doing, we just got an offer out to Gary Oldman to do a movie called “Eyes of the King”, which I am personally producing at G Productions and Universal Studios. It is an unbelievable Tarantino-esque movie.

Click here to purchase Luke’s movies and CDS

 

Related Content

Interview with Michael Gross

Michael Gross is known most for his role as Steve Keaton in “Family Ties” and Burt Gummer in the “Tremors” series. He was most recently featured in the TV series “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job” and currently finished filming the upcoming “Pizza Man”. Movie Mikes had the chance to talk to Michael and to discuss his role on “Family Ties” and his amazing career.

Click here to purchase Michael’s movies

Michael Gencarelli: You starred in the television series “Family Ties” from 1982-89. Did you enjoy playing the role of Steven Keaton?
Michael Gross: Actually, Mike, I’m not telling tales out of school because the producers know this…sometimes it was a love/hate relationship because, although I very much enjoyed the character, there were times before we all, and I’m including the writers and producers, found that character. Let me remind you that “Family Ties” was originally supposed to be a show about the parents and quickly became a show about the kids, most particularly Alex P. Keaton, played by Michael J. Fox. So the producers themselves had different ideas about the character going into it and had no idea that the show was going to take the turns that it did. So it really took them another couple of seasons before they found what they wanted for Steven. There was one other thing that was on my mind throughout and that is that I had come from a theater background. I was more accustomed to playing several characters in one year than one character for seven years. And because of that I felt like a farmer being subsidized NOT to grow wheat. They were paying me a lot of money, it was a high profile show…it was a wonderful show. But there were times that I wanted more challenges then Steven. Fortunately those were the days when they were still doing a lot of made for television movies…we were very fortunate in those days not to be surrounded by so many reality shows…so there was a lot of work for writers and actors and directors to do. The “average guy” was not getting on the screen. But even though I was working apart from “Family Ties,” I wanted more variety. So in the love/hate part, that was the hate part, even though hate is probably too strong a word. Overwhelmingly I knew I was a very fortunate man, but I must say even then I took some things for granted. Since I was basically a child of the theater and hadn’t done a lot of television before…I hadn’t even watched a lot of television before because every night I was on a stage somewhere. I didn’t watch a lot of television and I didn’t know how to program my VCR…this was before the days of TiVo (laughs). I didn’t have shows that I watched regularly and I didn’t know the general quality of television so I might have been a little bit of a snob, if you will, about television. So I took part of what we did for granted. I thought all television shows were that well written and that all casts got along very well and all shows ran as well. I was invincible because I didn’t know any better. It wasn’t until I started looking around several years into the run. I saw open warfare on some sets between actors and producers or directors on shows of not very exceptional quality. And that is when I began to appreciate “Family Ties” all the more. I mean it’s like anything…if your girl walks out on you, you start thinking about the good times you had that you took for granted. So when “Family Ties” came to an end, with each passing year I look back on it and think, “my goodness, wasn’t I fortunate to have done that…to have had that opportunity.”

Mike Gencarelli: So did everyone get along on the set?
Michael Gross: Everyone got along very well. Short answer, we all did very well. As a matter of fact Meredith (Baxter) and I are still very good friends. We’re actually due for a reunion. Last summer, Meredith and I put together a little reunion with four of the cast members. Meredith, myself, Justine Bateman and Tina Yothers all live in the Los Angeles area. Justine and Tina each have two young children and have been married for years. Michael lives on the east coast. We tried to get him to come to the dinner but he was otherwise engaged. So the short answer is that Meredith and I and Justine and Tina and all our partners got together and had ourselves a wonderful evening. And we’re still very good friends. Meredith is probably the one I talk to the most. We’re very close in age and in life history. We probably have more in common.

Mike Gencarelli: OK, let’s switch gears to a favorite of mine. Have you enjoyed playing Burt Gummer in the “Tremors” movies?
Michael Gross: Oh boy! Burt has been very good to me. Burt was good to me from day one because I had been basically a theater and television baby for the most part. I had only done one feature film before that (the Lily Tomlin/Bette Midler comedy “Big Business”) because it took a pretty big commitment to do “Family Ties” and it wasn’t easy to get out and do other things. I didn’t know him at the time but Fred Ward was also in the movie as well and he went on to play one of the major characters in the first “Tremors” movie. I had barely crossed paths with him when we made “Big Business” in 1988 but the next year he and I worked together on “Tremors” along with Kevin Bacon. I was so fortunate…that role was a blessing because it was such a different character. For seven years people had been watching me do primarily one character and they come to know you as that character. And here was a director (Ron Underwood) and casting director who were willing to take a chance on me playing someone very different then the person they’d seen the past seven years on television. And that is a thrill for any actor. When somebody trusts you that much and takes a leap of faith in this way. “Because we think you’re a good actor we think you can do this.” To this day I don’t recall my audition for “Tremors” but the director claims to this day that I completely lost it as Burt…that at one point I was jumping on his desk defending my compound. I’ve told him that I swear I don’t remember that…the whole audition was a blur to me. Ron said he told the casting people, “this guy IS Burt.” They put their trust in me and thank God for that. Because to me it answered a very basic question: after “Family Ties” would I find work?” Because there’s that curse on people that have had successful series that never work again…or work only on series that fail…the “Seinfeld” curse they used to call it. So that question was answered for me right away. In fact, the day after the “Family Ties” wrap party I was on the set of “Tremors” playing Burt. I was very fortunate. I auditioned for it just as “Family Ties” was winding down and they gave me the role. I told them I just had to complete a few more episodes and they said “great, we’re not working until July.” “Family Ties” was winding down in late April. I decided to cut off my “Family Ties” beard the night after we wrapped. I shaved the beard, kept the mustache and became Burt. And Burt has been wonderful. Burt is, for me, what Alex P. Keaton was for Michael J. Fox. The writers fell in love with the character and when the writers fall in love with a character it’s heaven for the actor. They start writing for you…they start writing towards your strengths. There was nothing funnier to the writers on “Family Ties” then to have a teenager who walked around with an attache’ case and had a poster of Bill Buckley on his wall. And on “Tremors” the writers fell in love in the same way with Burt. They decided they had to feature the character more in the subsequent sequels. And once again, that was good fortune.

M. Gencarelli: Did you anticipate the character going on this long?
M. Gross: I know, it’s been 20 years. I think the story ended at “Tremors 4.” There are rumors on IMDB (Internet Movie Database) even now of a “Tremors 5” with the title “The Thunder from Down Under” but I haven’t heard a thing. In fact the producers of the films, the men who put their special stamp on the films, they have heard nothing about it. So it sounds to me like someone is having fun making things up. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen. The rights aren’t owned by me, they aren’t owned by the original producers, they’re owned by Universal. Everybody seems to be doing remakes these days so some day, five or seven years from now, you may see somebody else playing Burt Gummer. I, of course, can’t possibly imagine that sort of thing! (laughs) But it could happen.

M. Gencarelli: I recently caught you on “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job” You came on…I’m still laughing today. My parents are still laughing. My wife is still laughing. How did you get that gig?
M. Gross: They just happened to call me. They called me and they sent me this short script. And I have to be honest, I had never heard of the show but I’ve been told that several people have appeared on it…John C. Reilly has been on the show. My manager told me that. So I read the script and I thought, “man, is this weird.” I didn’t get it. So I sent it to my 40 year old son and I told him “you watch a lot more television then I.” Especially these shows on the web and on cable that are so far out. I told him I was going to send him a script. I want you to read it and tell me what you think of it. He called me within five minutes and said “do it!” I told him he hadn’t even had time to read it and he said “I don’t have to read it. It’s Tim and Eric. I watch the show all the time. My friends watch it all the time. Paul Rudd (who went to school with Mr. Gross’ son) watches it all the time. You’ve got to watch it.” Then, after I watched it he told me, “You’ve got to do it.” So I called my agent and I told him “I still don’t get it but I’ll do the show as a favor to my son.” (laughs loudly) As a matter of fact, I told Tim and Eric the same thing. I told them “you’re not going to believe this…I looked at the script and totally didn’t get it. But I’m doing the show because my son told me to do it.” And they thought that was a riot. They said, “that’s great…whatever got you here.” When I read the script I didn’t understand it…it sounded so goofy. But when it aired my wife, among other people, just howled. She said it was the goofiest, silliest thing she had ever seen. So it passed the wife test too. And the upshot is is that my son told me that they’ve been trying to get Paul Rudd to do the show and they couldn’t get him on. I was happy how it turned out and I did a favor for my son so it worked out well for me.

M. Gencarelli: You’ve pretty much split your career between television and film. Do you have a preference as to the work?
M. Gross: As a medium? No. What I look for is the script…a good piece of writing. And that can be on stage, on the small screen or the big screen. I would like to do more features for this reason, and this reason alone: it give you more credibility. I think the best work is done on television these days…things like the different HBO series…those recurring series are pretty darn good. Some of the stuff they did on “ER” (Mr. Gross had a recurring role as Noah Wylie’s father)…some of the things they did on “The West Wing”….I would have died to have been on “The West Wing.” I find a lot of things on television far more interesting than a blockbuster film. But, doing blockbuster films ups your paycheck and gives you more credibility. But all things being equal, I look for good writing. Wherever that good writing leads me, that’s where I tend to wander.

M. Gencarelli: I recently interviewed David H. Lawrence and he mentioned he was doing a movie called “Pizza Man,” a film you’re also starring in. Can you tell me a little about the film?
M. Gross: This is a perfect little piece. David plays a detective in the film. I don’t think we’re in any of the same scenes together. Shelly Long’s in it. And Frankie Muniz and Corbin Bernsen (another MovieMike interviewee). It’s a good cast. And it’s a nice example…I don’t know what’s going to happen with this film. Will it be a big success? Will it go straight to DVD? I don’t know but I was attracted by the writing. I was so attracted by the writing that I did a character who does not survive the length of the movie. At some point he’s killed in the course of the film. I mean, it’s not a cameo, he has a beginning, middle and end, but he doesn’t track through the whole film. But I liked the writing so much that I thought “I don’t have to be in the whole film.” I’d rather be on fewer pages and in fewer scenes then be in a long film where I’m just bored to death. He’s a nice character, a professor at a college who befriends Frankie Muniz. He’s kind of a father figure to Frankie’s character. And again, I said to the producers, you know I’ve played my share of nice fathers and I’m usually not interested in doing that but this is a testament to the writing that I did this. Because often I’m asked to play a guy that’s a father or father figure and I’m like “ho hum” because I’ve been there and I’ve done that. And the characters are not often well written. But this part was very well written. It’s a guy who has a strong personal story and is just a strong character in general. There’s nothing sentimental about it and I’m glad I did it. They just wrapped the film a few days ago and I wrapped a few days before that. It hasn’t been but a week since I finished.

M. Gencarelli: So what do you have planned for the future?
M. Gross: There’s nothing else I have planned for the moment. I’m up for a couple of things. There’s a movie I did called “Stay Cool” that was done by the Polish brothers (Mark and Michael). I don’t know what’s going to happen with it. It’s an interesting piece. Winona Ryder is in it…Hillary Duff. Chevy Chase. Frances Conroy. Right now they’re looking for distribution. I don’t know what’s going to happen with it. Last I heard they were going to see if they could find a distributor. I’m not sure if I like my work in that or not. There are some things where I look at myself and go “what were you thinking?” That’s true. And this is one of those movies where … you know you look at some things you do and go “Yeah” and you look at other things you do and think “this was a weird choice.” So that’s one of the things where I haven’t decided what I feel about my performance yet.

Click here to purchase Michael’s’ movies

 

Related Content

Interview with Kristina Klebe

Kristina Klebe is most known for her role in Rob Zombie’s Halloween playing the role of Lynda made originally played by P.J. Soles. Kristina recently was featured on an episode of “CSI: Miami”. Kristina currently has six movies either completed or in production, one called “BreadCrumbs” in which she is producing as well. Movie Mikes had the chance to ask Kristina a few questions about her career.

Click here to purchase Kristina’s movies

Mike Gencarelli: You speak four languages: English, German, French and Italian, how did you acquire that skill?
Kristina Klebe: My family is European – so I grew up with many languages around me. Then I decided to learn them in school as well and do exchanges that my college provided to help me learn them better =)

Mike Gencarelli: Can you tell me about your on-line interview series “Acting In Horror”?
Kristina Klebe: My friend and fellow actress Claire Winters and I re-connected about half a year ago – she was started a website called Brains of Minerva and I wanted to write an article for her about acting in horror because I felt horror is underrated among up and coming actors in the sense of how beneficial it can be to break into the industry… However, I have a background in documentary work and she and I decided it would actually be more fun to do a video piece and interview all these really cool people… So far we’ve interviewed Katt Shea, Paul Solet and Dileep Rao. A lot of actors and directors start in horror movies and prove themselves to the industry that way and then move on – and some don’t move on – we’re trying to show all the paths out there and how horror is a common denominator in them.

Mike Gencarelli: How was it working on the remake of “Halloween”, did you feel any pressure about remake such a classic film?
Kristina Klebe: I loved working on Halloween – it was one of my best experiences in the business to date… So many talented people. But truly working with Rob was the biggest gift. I didn’t feel any pressure because I had no idea about the original Halloween series (yes, you can hate me, call me stupid, ignorant etc) =) But I never watched horror movies and had no idea about this incredible underground fan base that exists for the genre. I’m glad, however, that I didn’t know about it because I just did what I thought was right for the character and what I would have done on any other job: figure out who my character is, what her role in the piece is, what music she listens to (slayer of course!) and be in the moment.

MG: How was it working with Rob Zombie? Do you keep in touch with any of the cast?
KK: I loved working with Rob – he’s a very smart guy who weighs his words, which makes him enigmatic and therefore interesting =) he’s also a great director who knows what he wants but also let’s his actors play, which is genius… to find that balance. I saw Malcolm recently on the set of CSI:Miami and Scout at a convention in Germany… and I keep in touch with Ken Foree because we worked on another film together.

MG: What have been the most difficult production you have worked on?
KK: There was only one production (a play in NYC) in my entire career that was slightly difficult because the director was a complete jerk and would constantly berate me and pick on me in front of the cast. That was the one and only bad experience I’ve ever had doing what I love… And I have stuck to my guns about never working with that director again even though I was asked to… He can go #$(*# himself 😉

MG: How was it working with Spike Lee in “She Hate Me”? Did you get to meet the late Ossie Davis?
KK: I got to meet Spike and hug Spike and say a few words to him — but other than that, I wouldn’t say it was much of a “working” experience. She Hate Me was the first movie I was ever cast in and the part was pretty small and eventually ended up on the cutting room floor. And although I was in the scene where Ossie Davis played the judge, I never got to meet him. I do remember he was an incredible actor to watch though. And that was years before knowing he played Jack/JFK in Bubba Hotep. Actually the best part of working on that film was meeting and hanging with Anthony Mackie and QTip on set.

MG: We recently just interviewed Michael Berryman and he mentioned about “Stingy Jack”, tell me about the film and what it was like working we so many famous actors?
KK: Hmmm.. we haven’t shot the film yet so I didn’t get to work with anyone yet! I’m attached to it though and excited to get going =)

MG: Tell me about what else you have planned for the future?
KK: I just shot an awesome film – it’s difficult to explain because it’s a secret for now — you’ll know when it comes out though, believe me… it’s gonna be ridiculous… one hint: I play a historical character … and it’s slapstick comedy

Click here to purchase Kristina’s movies

 

Related Content

Interview with David Deluise

David Deluise is the son of legendary comedian Dom Deluise. He is currently starring in Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”. The show is currently finishing its third season and already has a TV movie in the bag. Movie Mikes had the chance to talk to David about growing up in the business, how he likes working on “Wizards” and what’s coming up next for this talented actor.

Click here to purchase David’s movies

Mike Gencarelli: How was it growing up surrounded by family members in the movie business, did you always want to go into that career?
David Deluise: I was around the business a lot. We would go to the sets and visit my dad on “The Cannonball Run”. There was a lot of watching what my parents did and what my dad did was fun and great. I did do a TV movie with my dad when I was in sixth grade. What my dad always said to me and my brothers was you can always be in this business but you can only have a childhood once. He encouraged us to be kids before we entered the business. Evenings around my house, my dad would always have people over like Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Anne Bancroft. They were always hanging out and I always made it a point to make these people laugh. When you make Mel Brooks laugh you are doing something good. There was one time [laughs] when Mel came over and my dad said “I will give you a dollar if you can fart on cue”. He counted…1…2…and I farted and Mel laughed so hard. I was in training at a young age if I knew it or not.

Mike Gencarelli: What has it been like working with your family on many projects, such as the film “Happy” and the “CSI” franchise?
David Deluise: We all did “Seaquest” together. We all did a movie that my brother Michael produced and directed and my brother Peter starred in and wrote called “Between the Sheets”. We also did an episode of “3rd Rock from the Sun”. It is always great and fun [laughs]. It is funny because you say “My brother got a job, maybe I will get a job”. Michael was on “Gilmore Girls” and I played his brother on that for two episodes. My brother Peter writes, produces and directs “Stargate” TV series and I was able to do four or five episodes of that. You are never guaranteed a job if your brother gets a job, but it doesn’t hurt.

Mike Gencarelli: You currently play the dad, Jerry Russo, in “Wizards of Waverly Place”, do you enjoying working on the show?
David Deluise: I love it. It is a dream job. Everyone is really fun to work with and great. I actually directed three episodes, so I had to make friends with all the technicians and technical aspects of the show. There are not a lot of vehicle places rather than Disney that you are given that kind of opportunity. Prior to this, I have never directed before, but thanks to the show I was able to. That was great. Bottom-line is, I have never said this to anybody I was debating whether I was doing the show or not. I was unsure. I called my brother Peter and he said “Ok all of that aside do you like the part” and I said “Yeah, it was written for me, a crazy kooky dad that teaches his kids how to properly use magic, it’s perfect”. He said “I think you just answered your question”. It was the beginning of the pilot season and I didn’t know if I wanted to do a Disney Channel show but I am very very glad that I ended up doing the show!

MG: You mentioned you directed three episodes of “Wizards”, how did you enjoy acting and directing?
DD: I found it fun and challenging. What was hard is to be the actor. You have three or four scenes while you are rehearsing other scenes. I would go and watch while they were rehearsing other stuff. As the director you are in charge, you make decisions and sometimes it is a little overwhelming but you are in every aspect of what is going on. What color do you want this? What size do you want that? When should people come in? You can add some jokes and try and make it better. It’s fun. I really had a good time and I hope I can do more.

MG: What is it like working with such a great cast?
DD: Everyone is so fun. The kids are very professional. Selena (Gomez) I have no idea how, at 14 when we started, she had such impeccable timing as a comedian. That just happens you can’t teach that. She did admit to me that she has watched every episode of “Friends”. She has a lot of lines and she learns her lines quickly. She is always on her game. We do a thing at the end of every episode with the audience. They come down and we all take pictures with everyone and sign autographs. In the beginning I was like [laughs] there is no way this is going to last but every single episode with the exception of two we have done that.

MG: How was it working on the “Wizards” movie versus the TV series?
DD: There were new people that we were working with. We have been doing our characters for sometime now and we kind of know how we are going to act. We want to keep it through-line. There was a lot of “Yeah David, that’s the TV show and this is the movie” and I was like “How is it different”? I think there was a little bit of us fighting for the integrity of the characters. I really think the movie ended up being great. In the movie, Selena makes a wish that comes true, “I wish my parents had never met” and then I never had given up my powers. I was a single man and I had magic. So I got to do magic in the movie which was great.

MG: Do you have a favorite episode?
DD: There are so many that I like. If I would have to pick out one it would be the quinceañera episode. Selena and I have this moment where it is the father/daughter dance. It was just really sweet. A lot of times on sitcoms you don’t get those sweet moments.

MG: What is in store for the future of the show? Is there a Season 4 planned?
DD: I think we are going to do a fourth season and we are going to do another TV movie. It is being discussed, there is nothing set in stone but I think that would wrap it up. Selena is in Europe doing a movie right now. David Henrie and everyone else is ready to go on and do their other projects. The fourth season and the movie would mean I have a job for the next year so I am happy about that.

MG: What do you have planned in the future besides “Wizards”?
DD: Well I am toying with and working with a friend of mine on writing a book. We did a signing in NY and all these kids came up to me and said “I wish you were my dad”. I was like maybe I kind of talk to the kids and the tweens and in a fun anecdotal way, I can explain to them where their parents are coming from. I am working on that. I just did a spoof movie but I can not talk about it at all so I can’t give anymore details. I might also be doing another movie before we start shooting “Wizards” again. Got a lot of great things coming up.

Click here to purchase David’s movies

 

Related Content

Interview with Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer is starring in this summer’s “MacGruber” starring Will Forte, Kristen Wig and Ryan Phillippe. The film is directed by first-timer Jorma Taccone. Val recently sat down and answered a few questions about his role in the movie and how funny it is.

Q: How much fun did you have working with this group of people?
A: Well, when you read a script like this it is actually a little nerve wrecking because you never know. You hope the elements come together. You have a great producer, screenwriter and cast, but you never know. With this movie it is so dumb and so particularly dumb but you see stuff that is clearly great writing, great comedy. So when read it and appreciate it. It wasn’t until we got to the read-through and Will (Forte) started unleashing his MacGruber fury, did I really know that I was in for. I was a big fan of Will’s and Jorma’s (Taccone) stuff with his gang and The Lonely Island band. I think that this movie exceeded all of there expectations. There are a lot of big jokes in the movie that get lost because people are laughing from a minute ago and miss it.

Q: Was it fun to be able to see them really push the envelope from TV into film?
A: Yeah, I read the script and the only thing I had to offer was what if you weren’t familiar with the show and what we were riffing on and the writers said it wasn’t an issue and they were right. It is so extreme. MacGruber is just a buffoon from the second you see him and he just rocks from there.

Q: Tell us about who you play in the movie?
A: It is weird to be proud of something this dumb. I am the bad guy, that is all you need to know. I got the dumb hair. I have the black sort of cape-like overcoat and I have a grudge. That is all you need. I do get a good slow-motion laugh though.

Q: When you saw it with the audience in Austin, where you laughing?
A: I did laugh quite a bit, I am embarrassed to say. I felt that I haven’t laughed at something that gross since I was twelve, but there I was.

Q: Can you talk about working with Jorma (Taccone) and this being his directorial debut?
A: I wouldn’t call it working…slogging, struggling, limping maybe [laughs]. You are always concerned with a first time director but I left my head inside of the first hour. He has worked a lot with his group and he dad is a director so it is in the blood. He is really wonderful. I would like to see him to serious movies, but I am not sure he ever will. They all have enormous energy. I just love them all.

 

Related Content

Interview with Jasper Cole

Jasper Cole has been in the movie business for since the early 80’s. He has done everything to movies to television. He is recently featured in the upcoming SNL sketch action comedy “MacGruber”. MovieMikes has the pleasure to talk with Jasper about his career and his upcoming movies:

Click here to purchase Jasper’s movies

Mike Gencarelli: Tell me about your character you play in the upcoming “MacGruber” movie?
Jasper Cole: Zeke Pleshette is his name and he is one of the evil henchmen sidekick for Val Kilmer’s character in the movie. We are on this mission to take over a nuclear submarine mission that could destroy the earth. There is a history with MacGruber and Val’s character, whose name is Cunht. There’s myself, the character Hoss (Andy Mackenzie) & Constantine (Timothy V. Murphy), and we are the three henchmen sidekicks for Val Kilmer’s character.

Mike Gencarelli: Are you familiar with the original SNL sketch?
Jasper Cole: I am a fan and have been watching it throughout the years. I thought it was funny. I was dying to read the script because I was curious how they were going to make it into a feature.

Mike Gencarelli: How do you think the “MacGruber” SNL sketch translates to the big screen?
Jasper Cole: I think it is great, director Jorma (Taccone) made it sort of like a montage to 80’s action movies. You’ve got real drama and action, plus the Vicki and MacGruber comedic stuff, it plays out real well.

Mike Gencarelli: How does it feel to be established as Hollywood’s bad guy?
Jasper Cole: Well the truth is it’s been a long journey and it’s been a great 25 years. I have gone through different phases. It’s all about hanging in there and the longevity of the career. I hope to keep plugging away and playing these characters, that would be fantastic.

MG: You were featured in an episode of the “Friday the 13th” TV show and “Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan” movie, was this planned? Any connection?
JC:I think it is a total coincidence, the film was not the same director. If it did help me get the part I didn’t know anything about it. There is a real big fan base for those “Friday the 13th” movies that go on forever.

MG: Do you have a following from your role in the “Friday the 13th Part VIII”?
JC: I get letters and stuff from horror fans from that genre.

MG: Have you ever done any conventions and met any of your fans?
JC: As of now I haven’t, I had a couple of chances and it just didn’t work out with scheduling. I totally would, I would love to. I have a horror film I did called “Road Kill” and hopefully it will soon see the light of day. It is in the whole horror genre. It would be cool to attend the shows after that comes out.

MG: You worked on many TV shows, “Prom Queen”, “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Forgotten”, what has been your favorite show to work on?
JC: I would say more recently “Prom Queen” is one of my most recent favorites, only because it was in the beginning of me playing these character parts. It has kick started a lot of these character work I have been getting. Years before, I was younger and played more boyish boring characters. “Prom Queen” gave me a nice boost. It is seen worldwide and have Michael Eisner behind it. It was a great character to play.

MG: How do you compare working on TV to making movies?
JC: Other that the pay and the time you put in, most one hour shows are shot almost exactly like a film. It’s just with film you generally have much more time so you are shooting, half the number of pages a day. Put in terms of the process for me, its seems pretty much the same. The only difference is sitcom which is a three camera shoot with an audience. The one hour jobs are like a film and that is what I love about them.

MG: Do you more plans for TV shows?
JC: I have more recently doing comedy sketches on Jay Leno’s “The Tonight Show”. There are a couple of pilots in the works and hopefully more guest spots to come.

MG: How about movies, besides “Road Kill”?
JC: I am attached to a feature that unfortunately I am unable to even talk about yet. It has been one of those that is on and off for a while but should be announced soon.

Click here to purchase Jasper’s movies

Interview with Chris Showerman

Chris Showerman is know for his role in “George of the Jungle 2”. He is featured in the upcoming “Complacent” co-starring Cerina Vincent. Chris is also a writer and director and co-partner of a production company with Clint Morris called Shorris Film. Movie Mikes had the chance to ask Chris a few questions about his career and his very busy future.

Click here to purchase “George of the Jungle 2”

Mike Gencarelli: How was it working on “George of the Jungle 2”?
Chris Showerman: Incredible. The cast was fun, the crew was amazing, and the apes had gas for most of the shoot.

Mike Gencarelli: Did you feel any pressure taking over the role first played by Brendan Fraser?
Chris Showerman: Of course! He left a big loin cloth to fill. Everyone on the project was so supportive of me being the new guy. And the line they put in the script about me being the new George was a big bonus – helped everyone get past the fact that I wasn’t Brendan. Incidentally, I met Brendan about a year after we shot the movie. Great guy! He was real supportive of me as well – though I don’t know if he ever watched my movie – he never said.

Mike Gencarelli: In addition to acting you’re also now writing and directing your own films. Is it easy wearing so many hats?
Chris Showerman: Writing is really cerebral. It’s a pretty lonely art form. It’s great for me because I can go into hermit mode pretty easily so it’s a nice energetic change from my acting side. It’s more of an introverted exercise where you’re going within for the answers. Directing is a natural outcropping of writing for me. It’s just following through on the ideas I had already formulated when I was writing. They always say that a good writer doesn’t direct from the typewriter. That is true, but I can’t help but “Watch” the movie in my mind as I’m writing it so I can go into the directing part with a good preview of roughly how I want the scene to look. Now producing, on the other hand, is a heart attack waiting to happen. My blood pressure goes up about 200 points when I have to juggle all of the details that concern the producer. I have such a renewed respect for producers of low budget projects that take on such a load. It might be different with bigger projects where everybody gets an assistant. And the assistants get assistants. And their assistants go get coffee for everyone.

Mike Gencarelli: We recently just interviewed Cerina Vincent last month, tell us about your recent role in the film “Complacent”?
Chris Showerman: Complacent is a beautifully told movie written and directed by Steven Monroe. It’s a pretty heavy drama about what happens under the surface of our psyches when we allow ourselves to get too comfortable – thus “Complacent”.

MG: When and why did you and Clint Morris decide to form Shorris Film?
CS: Clint and I had been pals for a while and he was the one who had the great idea to team up our strengths. I think we made it official on January 1st – I just don’t remember the year. Perhaps 2006? Our first project was a werewolf film – that’s currently on pause due to the passing of one of it’s attached cast members – with Clint’s good friends Eric Stoltz and Stephen Tobolowsky. Then a western. We’re currently filming a top-secret project in L.A.

MG: Your most recent film is “Big Game”. Can you tell us about it and your working relationship with C. Thomas Howell?
CS: This is one of my favorite projects I have had the pleasure of acting in. I got to play completely against type and play a red neck murderer rapist…with a heart. It was a great challenge and I always looked forward to every day on set. I laughed so hard working with Tommy and John Deignan I thought I’d have a hernia right there on set. I also worked with Tommy on a remake of “The Land That Time Forgot” for SyFy and the upcoming comedy “Commander and Chief”.

MG: Tell me about some of your future projects, for example “Vauxhall Crossed” and “Death Keeps Coming”, if you can?
CS: Well those projects are developing as we speak, so I’ll know more once I’m officially brought into them, but “Vauxhall Crossed” is a British spy thriller about an MI6 agent. I believe Tanit Phoenix, from the upcoming “Death Race 2”, is the star. The other is a western that my good friend Dee Wallace is also involved in.

MG: According to the IMDB, You’re playing a character named Dr Hamilton Manning in two films, “Parfection” and “Beach Bar: The Movie”. What are they?
CS: “Parfection” is a goofy frat mentality comedy about a golfer who loses a bet and get’s breast implants put in. I had a great time working with Dean Cameron on that one. I think the next one, which is somewhat of a spin-off, is starting to get rolling soon.
Thanks to Clint Morris to setting up the interview and providing the images.

Click here to purchase “George of the Jungle 2”

Interview with Darren Gordon Smith

Darren Gordon Smith is a composer who is most known for his “Repo! The Genetic Opera”. The film started as a Ten-Minute Opera that Darren created with Terrance Zdunich and since then it has become a cult phenomenon spawning a huge fan base and weekly midnight screenings. MovieMikes has the opportunity to talk to Darren about the process of bringing “Repo” from the beginning to its present cult form.

Click here to purchase “Repo! The Genetic Opera”

Mike Gencarelli: Darren, You Co-Created “Repo! The Genetic Opera”, how did you come up with the story? What inspired it?
Darren Smith: The idea was based on a friend of mine, who had a dental practice and he was getting all of his equipment repossessed. I started thinking it was sort of absurd, like people were going to sitting in the dentist office in the middle of a procedure and they just come and take their equipment. I started then thinking about what if you had bought body organs on credit. The health care system got so bad that you couldn’t even buy a heart unless you made payments on it. That was the genesis of the idea. At the time Terrance Zdunich, my partner, and I were doing Ten-Minute Opera performing all over LA. He had an idea about a grave robber and his idea was taking back into the 19th century. I said we should combine this with my idea and make it set in 2056. We made a Ten-Minute Opera called “Necromerchant’s Debt”. We would do this mini rock opera performed by the both of us and it turned out that it was the one that people loved the best. We decided to make it into a full scale show. From that “Repo” was born.

Mike Gencarelli: What was your process for coming up the music for the film?
Darren Smith: That is a great question, I do have a background in classical music and compositions and a music degree from NYU. Having said that I definitely play a lot of different kinds of music. The Ten-Minute Operas we did ranged from 18th century harpsichord music to Nine Inch Nails to Led Zepplin. We did whatever. When it came to “Repo”, we loved the idea of the obscurity of the main guys and the over the top nature of the Italian opera. So when we were writing “Repo” that is when I started doing more research in opera. I focused on trying to use the right light composition and how to structure an opera both musically and story-wise.

Mike Gencarelli: How was it like working which such an amazing cast?
Darren Smith: We had THE best cast ever for the movie. That really helped us to expand our music. When you are you are writing for someone like Sarah Brightman, you can expand the music because since she can sing almost anything. Darren Bousman deserves a lot of credit as the director. Darren, Terrance and myself had a hand in every aspect of the production, from the visual, costuming, props, and music. It was a really great experience.

MG: “Repo” was the first feature film you wrote, how did you find the process of bringing the music to the big screen?
DS:
We did the Ten-Minute Opera first, then in 2002 we did a full scale opera on stage. We had experience doing the whole process on stage. Then we did it off-broadway at the Wings Theatre in NYC in 2005. When we got the go ahead green light from Lionsgate for the film, on the one hand it wasn’t a huge leap and the other hand it was. When I say that it is because Terrance and I have always envision “Repo” would be a film. We wanted to have total control over the visual element and things you just can’t do when you are doing stage with 99 seats. Unlike a lot of films, we work-shopped the music and the story over the course of almost ten years. We had a good feeling of what was going to work with the audience and what was not.

MG: How do you affected by the responses the film has got so far, some are comparing it to Rocky Horror Picture Show?
DS: Yeah, certainly. We are humbled by that since “Rocky Horror” is brilliant. We are on the shoulders of giants. It is gratifying, honestly over the years we have developed a cult following. I knew that “Repo” was going to find its audience and will be kind of “Rocky Horror” phenomena. I didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it has. We had this $8.5 million dollar budget but Lionsgate only gave us $200,000 dollars for publicity, which is almost nothing. The film was almost buried from the start. I thought it would be like “Rocky Horror” where it would be years before we even make profit. We beat that already plus more. It is amazing that we have these 45 or more groups in the world who Shadowcast and act out the whole film. These groups know every nuance to the music and the story. Here we are less than a year and a half since the film was released. On a daily basis, I get emails and at least ten new people on Facebook every day asking me questions about the film.

MG: Would you ever consider bringing back it to the stage with all its new popularity?
DS: Yeah great question, absolutely! We would like to do it on a large scale and kind of leaving the options open. I actually want to do this as a permanent stage show in Las Vegas. It will be like Cirque De Solei meets Blue Man Group meets Deep Throat [laughs]. Just really push the envelope for what you can see in Vegas. I would also want to be able to tour with some live musicians from the soundtrack and have me perform with them along with some cast members and do a road tour.

MG: What other projects do you have in the works?
DS: First, we are working on sequel idea for “Repo” and we think we are definitely planning another movie. I am already working on the story and music with Terrance. The other things is I do have another rock opera that I have been writing. Without going into too much detail it is like the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” but in reverse. Rather than the protagonist realizing if they weren’t born things would be worse off. It is reverse and due to a series of bad decisions, it tells how the world would have been a better place without them being born. That is what I am working on right now.

Click here to purchase “Repo! The Genetic Opera”

 

Related Content

Interview with Kanin Howell

Kanin Howell has been in the business since the age of 5, following in the footsteps of his father who has over 30 years in it. Kanin has previously appeared in the TV series “True Blood” and is currently featured in “The Young and the Restless”. Kanin has appeared in movies like “Dances with Wolves” and “Pearl Harbor” and has worked with actors like Robert Duvall in “Secondhand Lions” and Ernest Borgnine in “Aces ‘N’ Eights”. MovieMikes had the chance to talk to Kanin and he discuss his passion for movies and how he is planning on taking over Hollywood.

Click here to purchase “True Blood” merchandise

Mike Gencarelli: Your father has been working in stunts for over 30 years and you have worked as many films doing stunts. When did you know that you wanted to follow in his path?
Kanin Howell: When I was younger, my dad doubled Murdock on “The A-Team”. I was running around on the set hanging out with Mr. T. All I knew was movie sets. When I turned 5, my dad got me in a little movie called, “Vice Versa”. That is when I got my SAG card. From then I doubled a few movies and did stunts. I doubled for an Indian in “Dances with Wolves” and I fell off the back of the horse during the movie. It was kind of more following in my dad’s footsteps. I wanted to do everything that he was doing. When I got to be a little older in high school, I got too big to double the kids. I started thinking about other avenues of the business. I really wanted to direct. I got into an acting class to learn how to direct people. I worked with Dee Wallace Stone and I ended up falling in love with the craft. I said this is what I want to do.

Mike Gencarelli: You mentioned directing, do you have any plans?
Kanin Howell: No, I completely did a 180. I used to watch movies from a director’s point of view and now it doesn’t even cross my mind. All I’ve been thinking about is acting. I am immersed completely in the acting world.

Mike Gencarelli: Which do you enjoy more being behind the screen doing stunts or in front of the screen acting?
Kanin Howell: I prefer the acting. I have kind of fell away from the stunts, it is how I started and it is my background. It helped me open a lot of doors and I embrace it and I am proud of it. I am kind of moving on to the next part of my life.

MG: How was it working on “True Blood” as the character Chuck?
KH: Yeah Chuck! [laughs]. It was fun. I got to go to Louisiana. Alan Ball actually directed one of the episodes. It was freaking great. Everyone in the cast was so great and welcoming. We went out and partied and it was like a big family. I wish I was back on it, I really miss everyone there. It was also fun in the episode where we burned down the vampire’s house. It was the episode that Alan Ball actually directed. They found this old house it was there for 150 years and was actually an old whore house. The city of New Orleans could not get rid of this house so the company bought this house for like a $100 dollars or something like that and they burned the thing to the ground and the city couldn’t be happier.

MG: You are recently starring in “The Young and the Restless”? Tell us about that and your character Frank?
KH: I am actually shooting another episode this week. It’s good. I can not say too much but in my first three episodes, I am in jail messing around with Nick Newman. I honestly do not know where the story is going but I am excited. Anything I do know I really can’t say. Frank is a character who is looking out for himself and who will manipulate whoever he needs to. We shoot one episode a day. It is like a machine. The process is great for my technique from Dee Wallace Stone. I get to practice a lot, it works out good. It is fun everyone is really nice and asking me when I am coming back.

MG: What has been some of your favorite projects that you have worked with so far?
KH: I mean I have worked with so many great people. “Secondhand Lions” was a blast with Robert Duvall, just to have him kick my ass was great. Seeing Robert work was great even when he wasn’t on screen he had things prepared. Just to be around someone like that it was amazing. Working with Ernest Borgnine in “Aces ‘N’ Eights”, I play his killer and its is oh my God amazing. I am like the guy that killed John Wayne in “The Cowboys”. I get to work with a lot of great people and directors.

MG: What else do you have planned for the future?
KH: Got a lot of stuff cooking. I read for a feature last week. I also read “Sons of Anarchy” for a guest starring role yesterday. I am attached to a feature called “The Willow and the Bee”, that is coming up. That is my next big project but I am definitely reading for stuff in between then.

Click here to purchase “True Blood” merchandise

Interview with Tom Noonan

Tom Noonan is known for his role in “Manhunter” as The Tooth Fairy and Frankenstein in “The Monster Squad”. Besides acting Tom also is a writer, producer and director. He even does writes plays and owns a theatre in New York City. MovieMikes had the chance to talk to Tom to discuss his career.

Click here to purchase Tom’s movies

Mike Gencarelli: How did you prepare for such an intense role of “The Tooth Fairy” in Manhunter?
Tom Noonan: I really do not prepare much when I act. I actually never read the book either. I knew very little about it besides the key elements. When I act, I just try to be present and I try and bring as much as I can to the table. Michael Mann did a lot to create a lot of tension on the set. He made it very easy for everyone on the set to be scared of me. Which was fun. He had me flying on different airlines. I never saw anyone else from the cast or crew. I only spoke to the makeup department and the assistant director. I never met any of the other actors prior to filming. I also did a lot of bodybuilding to get ready for the role. I really didn’t think what the story was about, I just tried to make sense of who I am and how I was feeling in each scene.

Mike Gencarelli: You play “Frankenstein” in “The Monster Squad, how do you feel about the popularity and how this film has latest over the years?
Tom Noonan: What happened with that movie was it was amiss of me doing a lot of work through a very intense period of my life. I had a great time doing it. When it came out I never saw it. About two years ago they released it on DVD and they invited me to some convention to watch it. I was asked there “When did I realize that this movie has a cult following?” and I said “about 15 minutes ago.” I still have only seen parts of it. I remember liking the part in the movie because they let me play it that way I wanted. The whole experience was rather pleasant and sweet. If you watch the interview on the DVD, it is one of my favorite things I have ever done. It depicted sort of who I am because I never get to talk much.

Mike Gencarelli: Besides playing the villain, you also write and direct, can you tell me about that?
Tom Noonan: Well, I started acting in 1978 or so. I’ve been a musician then for six or seven years. I used to practice a lot. With acting you sort of learn by doing it. When I am not acting, I wanted to figure out a way to understand the business better. So I started writing. I would look through the trades and find play auditions. One of the auditions, they asked you to bring 90 seconds from a play. So instead of reading a bunch of plays, I would instead just write a 90 second play. That is how I started writing. I love doing it. I wrote screenplays all through the 80’s. Toward the end of the 80’s I went into a new agency and gave them a script I was working on. They gave it to (Bernardo) Bertolucci and he wanted to make it into a movie. After that, I started writing a lot and I sold a bunch of scripts. In the early 90’s, I got sick of acting for hire and went back to plays. I have a theatre in New York that I founded in 1983 or 1984. I took time off and wrote this play called “What Happened Was”, which is a two character play. I sort of wrote in the style of a movie and it was directed in a very low-key and naturalistic way. We then went and shot it as a movie. I cut it together and it went to Sundance and won Best Movie and Best Screenplay. That started my official career as a director.

MG: You wrote, directed and acted in the TV show “Monsters”, most notably in the episode “The Moving Finger”, how was it working on that show?
TN: It started when I was cast in the third or fourth episode they ever did of “Tales from the Darkside”. I have also written some music for them. I ended up getting to known the guys at Laurel Entertainment. I started writing for them after that. Then a guy named Ken Fink called me up and said he got this script called “The Moving Finger”. It was based on a Stephen King story. I felt it was a little silly when we were filming it, but I had fun.

MG: Tell me about working on the the TV series “Damages”, how is it working with Glenn Close and the rest of the cast?
TN: The guys who write it, Glenn and Todd Kessler and Daniel Zelman, they are really great people and wonderful writers. They only tend to work with people that they really dig. Everything in the show is geared toward what you bring to it. The sort of wrote the part for me. Beyond that they were excited to see what I would do with it, they didn’t have a big picture planned. That is way that I really like to work. I like discovering what the role is about as you do it. Even when I really only have a two line scene it really feels great. It is rare that a TV show is produced and written by the same group of people. “The X-Files” is also like that. It makes the show really great to do because there is not a lot of “Oh the studio said this” or “The network thinks this”. That show is great though and I am hoping I get to work with those guys more. I haven’t seen the show either though, only one episode I think [laughs].

MG: You’ve starred in “The Roost” and “The House of the Devil” both directed by Ti West, how did you get involved with those project?
TN: I met a friend of mine Larry Fessenden during Sundance when “What Happened Was” was there. He produced “The Roost”. They were trying to find out who was going to play the horror host. Larry called me up and said “Would you be interested in this, it is like two hours work?” So I went down to Jersey shore to an old amusement park and it was shot on high 8 film. I got to know Ti a little bit through that and then the movie sold. I got paid pretty well. When they did “The House of the Devil”, they made the role to fit me really well. They called and asked if I would want to do another movie with Ti and I said “Sure”. I like working with him. He really knows what he is doing and very simple and down to earth.

MG: “The House of the Devil” was critically acclaimed due to to gritty 80’s feel to it and is already a cult classic, how do you feel about that?
TN: I actually went to see that one and I was actually pretty scared. It is rare that you are in something when you say it was really good all the way through. There are so many movies that they are doing remakes or planning remakes and it doesn’t seem so great. They’ve done “Manhunter” over and they are talking about doing “The Monster Squad” over. It is nice that it is an original good movie and people seem to like it.

MG: What do you have planned for the future? Any exciting projects?
TN: I wrote a couple of scary things that Larry Fessenden is trying to get off the ground. The three or four movies I’ve done I have done, I have all paid for them myself and raised the money directly. I don’t have the experience of waiting for someone to agree to something. So I feel that it will probably not happen and if it does it is cool. I have my theatre which I still write for. It is located on East 4th street between Bowery and 2nd Avenue, it called the Paradise Factory. I also hope that “Damages” gets pick up again.

Click here to purchase Tom’s movies

Interview with Norman Reedus

Norman Reedus is most known for his role as Murphy McManus in “The Boondock Saints” series. He is also a director and is very involved with art and photography. He recently was featured in “Meskada” which just premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. MovieMikes had the chance to talk to Norman about his career and what he has planned for the future.

Click here to purchase Norman’s movies
Click here to purchase “Boondock Saints” merchandise

Mike Gencarelli: Do you enjoy playing the character Murphy McManus in “The Boondock Saints” series?
Norman Reedus: Oh man, I would do ten “Boondock Saints”. They are the most fun you can imagine. You head to the airport with your bags and go straight to a gun range. It was like doing a movie with all my friends, it was a blast.

Mike Gencarelli: Out of both films in the series, any cool stories that happened on set?
Norman Reedus: In the first film, in the police station when we are being interrogated by (Willem) Dafoe. The camera goes around in 360 degrees around all of our backs, in a continual motion. I had to do Russian, German, Spanish and all these things but with an Irish accent. I kept messing up my lines. Every time the camera would go behind Willem’s head he would make these funny faces at me and screw me up on purpose. He thought it was hysterical. We were there forever. If you look really closely you can see during one of my lines, I glance up at the ceiling when I am talking. That is because I was reading the line on a cue card above the wall on his head. It was a blast. Billy (Connelly) was hysterical. Sean (Patrick Flanery) was a total crack up. Everyday is fun. There are many stories.

Mike Gencarelli: How have you been affected by the films success? Are you surprised by the fan base following?
Norman Reedus: It blows me away all the time. I get stopped everyday from at least ten people screaming “Boondock Saints” quotes from across the street. People have my face tattooed on them. It’s wild. I am mostly excited for Troy (Duffy), he got the blunt end of the stick. We all worked very hard on this film. I know a lot of people wanted to do this film in the beginning and we got a lot of backlash. It is nice to have a kind of sweet revenge in the end.

MG: We recently interviewed Troy Duffy and he mentioned he wanted to continue the “Boondock” series, are you excited to play the role again?
NR: Of course, absolutely! I will be there with bells on.

MG: What was your most challenging production that you have worked on?
NR: Actually when we were doing “Boondock II”, I was doing “Pandorum” at the same time. I tore a ligament in my right shoulder. I was flying from Berlin back to Toronto doing both films simultaneously. One movie, I am upside down covered in oil and the other one I am screaming and shooting guns, which weighed like thirty pounds a piece. I was in a lot of pain on both sets. It was pretty grueling. “Six Ways to Sunday” was more psychologically challenging. You are going back and forth everyday shooting out of sequence. One minute your are acting like a little kid and then the next minute you are savagely slashing people with machetes. “Floating” was my first movie. My dad became really sick and wheelchair bound during that film. That holds a pretty special place in my heart. Some are harder than others for different reasons. “Boondock” is tough but fun. It is like going to camp, you can have fun but you are still making a movie.

MG: You started your career with “Mimic” and were featured in various horror genre movies (“The Messengers 2”, “Blade II”, “Masters of Horror: Cigarette Burns”), would you consider this one of your favorite genres?
NR: There is this scene in Jim Jarmusch’s “Mystery Train”, when the Japanese couple are sitting there and the guy is smoking and the girl is putting lipstick on him. He is starring forward and she goes “Why do you look so sad?”, he just goes “I am not, it is just how my face is”. I think I just have a face for that genre, playing killers or something. I think I am actually kind of funny [laughs]. My mom has said “Can’t you just do something nice and sweet; like a love story on a beach?” I would love to but people do not see me in those films. I just have the face for it.

MG: Can you tell us about your interest in photography and art?
NR: I have a website, http://www.bigbaldhead.com. I sell photographs on there. I also sell “3 Films”, which includes shorts that I wrote and directed. I had made about $2,500 dollars recently for Haiti because I posted I was doing that. There is a film I am directing later this year called “I Was a White Slave in Harlem”, based on the book of the same name. It is by Margo Howard-Howard. It is about a person that is kept as a sex slave in Harlem. It is a wild story. I also do photo shows through Europe and New York. I recently had a show in Los Angeles. I mostly do portrait photography. I’ve done shows with my paintings also. The last sculpture show was here in New York. I did a statue of myself out of eight pounds of polyurethane foam. I put it in a giant plexiglass box and filled it full of rats. I am always doing some kind of weird crap like that. With movies you are always going to great places and meeting all these different people. Photography has developed into something I really got into. I have a lady in Germany that has become sort of a benefactor and she organizes shows for me in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Berlin.

MG: Tell us about the film that you are directing a segment of, “Promiscuous Stories”?
NR: The writer Jonathan Lethem who did “Motherless Brooklyn”, is a really great writer. He did these series of short stories and sold them to a company called Ovie Entertainment. They got a bunch of different directors to do each story. The story I am doing is called “Forever, Said The Duck”. It is a weird sort of mind trip where people are taking hallucinogenics and seeing things coming in and out of different worlds. There is a character that turns into a duck, and one that turns into a deputy dog. There is a sexual but intelligent way that this group is thrown together. It is pretty wild. I am trying to get Udo Kier to play the main guy, who is the curator of the party.

MG: What else do you have planned for the future?
NR: I just had a film at Tribeca Film Festival called “Meskada”. It is sort of a dark thriller about two towns competing for work and covering up a murder. I also just wrapped on Robert Redford’s newest film “The Conspirator”. I am just working and doing my thing!

Click here to purchase Norman’s movies
Click here to purchase “Boondock Saints” merchandise

Interview with J. LaRose

J. LaRose made his Hollywood film debut as a victim of Jigsaw, known as Troy in “Saw III”. Including “Saw III”, J. LaRose has worked with Darren Lynn Bousman on three feature films, TV and a few shorts: “Repo! The Genetic Opera”, “Fear Itself” episode “New Year’s Day”, the upcoming “Mother’s Day”. Movie Mikes has the chance to ask J. LaRose a few questions about his career and how quickly is skyrocketing.

Click here to purchase J’s movies

Mike Gencarelli: Tell me about your role as “Troy” in “Saw III”, did you find it hard to play such a role?
J. LaRose: Troy was quite the gift for me…To be the opening kill in a SAW franchise film brought a lot of (wanted) attention. The SAW fans are a dedicated bunch and have since followed me to other projects, for which I’m very grateful. The role was a challenge in that there’s a fine line between something looking (and feeling) authentic or just looking like an act. My goal was to make the viewing audience feel the pain.

Mike Gencarelli: You co-starred in “Repo! The Genetic Opera”, how was it working on that film?
J. LaRose: It was amazing. We recorded everything in a studio and then had to lip-sync during the actual filming, both of which I’ve had limited experience. I also got to hang out and watch while the other actors and musicians recorded their parts, which was a great learning experience and also very entertaining. The film is filled with a very talented group of individuals. It also allowed me to work and hang with director Darren (Lynn Bousman) again. He and I have a friendship that goes way back, and it’s always a treat to work with him. (I say work, but it’s really play…;)

Mike Gencarelli: You also starred with a short of “Repo” back in 2006? Can you tell us about that?
J. LaRose: Darren directed a stage play version of “Repo” many years ago. He had always wanted to bring it to the big screen, so he shot a short with the intent to show the studios his vision for the film. Soon after “Saw III” was wrapped, they assembled a cast and crew and shot a few scenes/songs from the story. It’s very cool.

MG: You star in the upcoming film, “The Tenant”, can you tell us about that role and movie?
JL: I play the role of Jeff who is an ex-con, who feels it’s him against the world. As part of his “paying back his debt to society” he’s forced to drive a busload of deaf teens and counselors. Unforeseen circumstances result in them being forced to deal with an unknown monster of sorts. I had a blast working on it, and it turned out great. We shot “The Tenant” in Florida, with just about everybody involved being local to Florida and the southeast. One of the producers (Melissa Gruver) is a good friend of mine and it was great to get to work on her project. I also got a chance to work with my daughter Christine, who was cast in a role, which was very cool.

MG: Tell us about you involvement with the upcoming remake of “Mother’s Day”?
JL: “Mother’s Day” gave me the opportunity to work with Rebecca De Mornay, whom I’m sure a majority of every guy from my generation has had a crush on at some point. She is AMAZING. I got to screen the movie just after post-production and I was blown away. I expected it to be a good film, but it far exceeded my expectations. While the original film was more campy, this version is much more dramatic and tense. I love it !

MG: How was it working with Darren Lynn Bousman again?
JL: Working with Darren again was great…We get to hang out, and do what we LOVE to do. He never ceases to amaze me with how well he can handle all that goes with directing a film…I could never do it.

MG: What else do you have planned for the future?
JL: I worked on a few other films last year that will be released sometime this year. “The Tortured”, in which I got to work with Erika Christensen and Jesse Metcalfe, “Unearthed” where I worked with Max Martini and Betsy Russell and “The Arcadian’, where I got to work with Lance Hendrickson. I just recently worked with Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne on a project called “Insidious”, that is being directed by James Wan. (original “Saw”). Otherwise, I have a few projects lined up that don’t have specific start dates just yet, and until they do, I usually don’t like to talk about them. I mention all the “names” I worked with because I’m a HUGE fan of this business and I get giddy just thinking that I able to work with all these amazing actors that I look up too…I’m very lucky.

“If anyone has any interest, they can check out my webpage, or friend me on  Facebook, and Twitter. (Note: I’m not up to speed on twitter just yet, but eventually I’ll join in on the fun…;)

Click here to purchase J’s movies

Interview with The Chiodo Bros.

Stephen, Charles & Edward Chiodo make up the The Chiodo Bros., they are most known for their work on “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” but have also worked on many other projects that you have seen like “Elf” and “Team America: World Police”. Movie Mikes spoke to the brothers about their career and of course the long awaited sequel to “Killer Klowns”.

Click here to purchase “Killer Klowns” merchandise

Mike Gencarelli: How did you guys end up starting working together and starting Chiodo Bros. Productions? Have you always wanted to do it?
Charlie Chiodo: Before we had a movie camera, we used to watch monster movies from the 50’s. As brothers we always played together. We used to play with our toy dinosaurs, and spent all of our time playing with puppets, doing puppet shows and planning monster movies. There were no production manuals on how to do it. We read through Famous Monsters magazine and found out about people like Ray Harryhausen and Willis O’Brien and how they did animation. We figured out they filmed it one frame at a time but the 8mm camera our parents bought us didn’t have a one frame adjustment. We used that to make our first movies. We were basically self taught and learned through trial and error. When we moved to Los Angeles we built our facility and had a real shop to work in. Our passion was to build things, create characters and tell new and exciting stories. That’s what we’ve been doing for nearly 30 years.

Mike Gencarelli: Where did you guys get the idea for “Killer Klowns from Outer Space”?
Stephen Chiodo: We were driving the car at night down a long dark road and I was trying to come up with the scariest thing I could imagine. I thought about looking out the window and seeing a car pull up along side us with a smiling clown leering at me. I thought that was the most terrifying image. Then we thought, what if the clown wasn’t in a car? If it was floating along with us and wasn’t in a car, then the clown must be from outer space.

Mike Gencarelli: I recently spoke with Grant Cramer and he discussed “Killer Klowns 2” with me, what can you tell us about it?
Edward Chiodo: They let him out of prison? [Laughs]
Stephen Chiodo: What he said is true. We have all put together a screenplay and we are out there shopping it right now. After all these years we have been trying to decide whether to make a sequel or a remake. We settled on a combination of both.
Edward Chiodo: It is a “re-quel”.

MG: How do you feel about the fans devotion to the “Killer Klowns” after over 20 years?
Charlie: I didn’t know that there was such a large a fan base out there and that the film would have the effect that it has had. We had no idea that little film we made would reach such a large audience.
Stephen: I am really surprised. I think we tapped in to some kind of nerve within the audience. I am really pleased that we created a new monster icon. You have Frankenstein, Wolf Man and the classic monsters. We forever have changed the image of clowns. We made them scary and from out of this world.

MG: Stephen, after “Killer Klowns” what was the reason why you haven’t directed another feature film?
Stephen: Yeah, my career really went into the toilet after that movie. [Laughs] We had a couple of projects in the works after Klowns but none of them took off. Since then I have directed some pilots for Showtime, CNN and a lot of television. I directed some episodes for “Land of the Lost” and produced and directed our “Sea Monkeys” TV show. I am afraid most of the feature films concepts we came up with haven’t been able to get off the ground.
Charlie: That is really what is interesting about the industry it doesn’t matter how large your fan base is. What matters is how well it did at the box office and how well the merchandising did. Financing the next project is based on how much money was generated by the last project.
Stephen: I think if Transworld was behind the property and marketed it better we would have seen a “Killer Klowns 2” and a much more vibrant producing/directing career from the Chiodo Bros. We gave them a great franchise and they blew it.
Edward: We were still happy we were able to make our first movie. It put us on the map and helped start our own production company.

MG: Tell me about some of the other projects you have worked on?
Edward: One my favorites was “Team America: World Police,” working with Matt and Trey was a great experience. It was a great film.
Stephen: We also really enjoyed our experience with Jon Favreau on “Elf.” It was fun creating the stop-motion characters and being part of a “classic” holiday feature.

MG: Out of all the areas you focus? on, stop-motion, puppetry and props & miniatures, do each of you guys have a favorite role?
Stephen: We don’t really focus on one technique in particular. We create characters bring them to life with whatever means are best. Sometimes we use stop-motion, sometimes masks, make-up, puppets or animatronic costumes. Sometimes it might even be CGI. We chose the best technique to make a character come alive.

MG: How do you feel about how CGI has taken over in films?
Charlie: We work with it. We take our traditional techniques, add the digital to it and have the best of both worlds.
Stephen: The computer is a great tool. We shoot our animation digitally now and use computers to put it all together in post. For us it’s all about traditional stop motion done with some of the new tools. I think audiences are now leaning toward the more tangible look and feel of traditional puppet and classic rubber effects.
Edward: If you really embrace the technology, it is a good way to bring characters to life. We still prefer something tangible on set, which the actors can interact with.

MG: Tell me about your work on the upcoming film “Dinner with Schmucks”?
Stephen: Yep, we worked with Jay Roach on “Dinner with Schmucks” which comes out in July. We are doing specialty props, dioramas and set pieces.

Click here to purchase “Killer Klowns” merchandise

Interview with Tom Woodruff Jr.

Tom Woodruff Jr. is one of the founding members of Amalgamated Dynamics along with Alec Gillis. He is an Academy Award Winner for Best Visual Effects in 1992’s “Death Becomes Her”. He has worked films ranging from “Aliens” to “The Santa Clause” to “Spider-Man” and pretty much every other movie made in the last 25 years. Movie Mikes has the chance to talk to Tom to discuss his career and what is in store for the future.

Click here to purchase Tom’s movies

Mike Gencarelli: Your first movie was with Charles Band’s Full Moon, called Metalstorm 3D? Tell me about that experience?
Tom Woodruff Jr.: Yes that is right.  Everything about it was great for me because it was my first film.  I was finally able to do what I set out to do since I was a kid.  I moved across country from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles.  It was a lot of hard work but it was so cool, finally being able to work in an effects shop.  Back then everything we did in this field was all encompassing.   There wasn’t the degree of specialization that we have today for example.  I went in and by the end of “Metalstorm”, I was able to do mold work, sculpting, apply prosthetic makeup, foam work, on set color application work and puppetry.  In that short period of time, I was turned on to so many different aspects of what we do in this field.  It was an incredible working experience packed into a very short period of time.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you actually get involved with SFX and makeup?
Tom Woodruff Jr.: When I moved to Los Angeles, I had a small portfolio of things I had done on my own like some masks, models, and sculptures.  When I got out to Los Angeles, I knew a couple of people.  I had corresponded quite a bit with John Chambers back when I was a kid.  I was such a “Planet of the Apes” fan.  During High School, in the summer I would travel out to Los Angeles and meet people.  John Chambers would take me around to meet people like Stan Winston and Tom Burman and a bunch of other established makeup artists.  I was at least armed with a few names and numbers who I could show my work and try and get work.  I just kept at it for a better part of six months.

Mike Gencarelli: You’ve worked on the Alien series, what was your favorite film to work on?
Tom Woodruff Jr.: I think my favorite was “Alien 3” for a combination of reasons.  That was an early film that Alec (Gillis) and I did on own.  On “Aliens”, the Cameron movie, we were part of Stan Winston’s team.  Stan was amazing and inspiring to work with but with “Alien 3” it was our own show.  It was also the first time I wore the Alien costume.  We really had a chance to work on screen a lot and work quite a bit with Sigourney (Weaver) in the scenes.  Just being around David Fincher was a huge experience just to see that level of filmmaking from a guy that young.  It was also a bit intimidating because David was way ahead of the curve and if anyone was going to find something that wasn’t working it would be him.

MG: What do you enjoy more working in the film or on the film?
TW: I honestly do not separate it too much because to me it is one continuous process.  Alex and I really take pride in that we design and build these characters.  We also follow them through to the very end in which we are on set, either me inside of the creature and Alex outside puppeteering or both of us outside.  It becomes a very personal statement in these characters that we build that we hold on so much of them until the very end.

MG: You played some of the most memorable creatures, The Gilman in “The Monster Squad”, “Pumpkinhead” to name a few, what has been your favorite?
TW: I go back and forth, I love the Alien but it really wasn’t my character.  Pumpkinhead was great because that was a whole new thing.  We got to design and create “Pumpkinhead” and Stan was directing.  We were on set and it was on the best experiences I’ve ever had.  We were so integrated with the project.  I still think though my favorite is the Gilman from “The Monster Squad”.  As a kid, I was always such a fan of the old Universal creature movies.  Even the lousy ones like “The Creature Walks Among Us”, it is still cool.  The only thing that would have made it better was if we did a 1:1 copy of what the original creature looked like in the 50’s for “The Monster Squad”.  The creature we had was so cool though.  It was such a great character to play.  The scenes of me coming out of the water and the ones in the middle of town were great.

MGi: How do you feel with all the CGI taking over?  Do you think creatures will be around forever?
TW: That is a question that has been going on since the early 90’s, mostly around the time of the first “Jurassic Park”.  I feel like the question has been answered many times over the years.  The birth of the CG realm had the effect of bringing us more work for quite a few years.  It was making possible the idea of being able to do movies like “Jurassic Park” or “Starship Troopers”.  Not that it couldn’t be done without CGI but the advent of CGI (and good CGI) made it more of a good consideration for studios to embark on big projects like these.  But ironically, I am not slamming CG in any way I am trying to restore balance.  So many people think that, “Oh CGI, that is what made “Jurassic Park” come to life”.  That is not entirely true, if you look at the screen time between digital dinosaurs and Stan Winston’s animatronic dinosaurs.  The animatronic dinosaurs have more screen time.  They also have as much of an impact as the CGI.  The CGI was new, sweet and sexy.  It shows up on the cover of Newsweek and became the buzz word.  Hollywood functions as an industry on very short term descriptive phrases for what people do in movies.  We have to make sure that people do not forget how important practical effects are.  What we have seen most recently is a much wider embrace and return to old school effects or some people say organic effects.

MG: Tell me about the upcoming remake of “The Thing” and your involvement?
TW: The only thing I can tell you is, YES we are involved.  We get to do some great creature still and it is a huge challenge.  John Carpenter’s movie was such a groundbreaking film in the world of creature effects.  At the time practical creature effects was really all there was.  It is a huge act to follow and it is a really challenging.  It is further magnified that we have so precious little time to be able to design and create what needs to get done for the screen.  We looked it up and Rob (Bottin) from the original had a year and a half to conceive and create the effects.  We have about four and a half months in comparison.  It has been non-stop, going crazy in the shop.

MG: What else do you have planned for the future?
TW: “The Thing” is our main priority right now but like I said it has been non-stop since we started.  We are concentrating all of our energy in this project.  It is keeping us hustling.

Click here to purchase Tom’s movies

Interview with Doug Jones

Doug Jones is one of the busiest actor’s in Hollywood. He has played so many amazing characters just over the last few years such as Abe Sabien in “Hellboy” series, Silver Surfer in “Fantastic Four 2”, Fauno/Pale Guy in “Pan Labyrinth”. Movie Mikes was able to ask Doug a few questions, thanks to Derek Maki at Coolwaters Productions for setting that up.

Click here to purchase Doug’s movies

Mike Gencarelli: Your characters are usually covered in makeup or costume, i.e. Abe Sapien in the “Hellboy” series or as Fauno/Pale Man in “Pan’s Labryinth”, what is the most challenging part of that?
Doug Jones: Exactly what you might think it would be …. Extra heat, weight, and a long time in the make-up application every day, making my days very long and something special to endure as an athlete as well as an actor. But the happy side of all this is that I have worked with the most brilliant and talented make-up artists in the world, and I’ve been able to play such beautiful characters from other worlds that I could never portray with my own face.

Mike Gencarelli: Throughout all the characters you have played, which one is your favorite?
Doug Jones: I love all my characters, as I get to know them very well before the camera rolls. Pan, the Faun from “Pan’s Labyrinth” is right up there at the top, along with the stoic and powerful Silver Surfer, but I’d have to say my very favorite character thus far is Abe Sapien from the “Hellboy” movies. I love him with all of his intellect, his innocent charm, his clairvoyant power, and his fantasy fish-man hybrid beauty.

Mike Gencarelli: You’ve done a bit of television work and scored an Emmy nomination for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, how do you feel TV differs from movies? Which do you enjoy more?
Doug Jones: Both are fun and challenging in their own ways, but I think I prefer feature films, simply because they usually have more time and money than the shorter production schedules of a TV episode. This gives the director and actors a little more freedom to create, even though Joss Whedon pulled off an enormous creative feat with that ‘Hush’ episode of “Buffy.”

MG: When playing all these great characters, do you ever find yourself improving your role, or do you just go with the flow?
DJ: It is any actor’s job to search out every possibility in playing a character. Just coasting with the flow would do your character a mis-service. So yes, especially if something doesn’t feel quite right, I find myself often wanting one more take when filming, just to uncover what’s been missing. A good director always helps us find these moments, too, and I have been so blessed to work with some of the top directors in the movie business.

MG: Tell me a little about your upcoming French film, “Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)”, What type of character do you play?
DJ: I play a fantasy character in this real-life biography of famous French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. I am his alter-ego named ‘La Gueule’ (Ugly Face) that only Serge can see and talk to in the film. Calling him an alter ego or thinking about him and the real Serge as sort of a “Jeckle & Hyde” team were ways to get me close to the right space. But the best motivation for me was to think of ‘La Gueule’ as an extension of Gainsbourg’s personality. That other personality we are all capable of having that carries us to our extremes. ‘La Gueule’ was the extreme creativity of Gainsbourg, the extreme business smarts, the extreme anger, the extreme playful boy within. I had the privilege of playing all the facets of Gainsbourg that made him famous and beloved by millions, yet also corrupted his morals. I was his artistic muse, yet at the same time, I was everything he hated about himself. The same love / hate relationship I have with myself in real life.

MG: As an actor, when did you say to yourself “Wow I think I hit it big”?
DJ: Thank you so much for thinking I would have a reason to say that to myself, but those are words I have never spoken. Sometimes I still feel like an insecure little boy from Indiana who just wants people to like him. Disappearing into all my characters is such an escape from those insecurities. I have so much to learn and more years of filmmaking in me, so I never want to feel like I’ve hit it big until I’m retired or dead. Then I will have a chance to look back and thank God for blessing me with a very interesting career that many dream of …. including me.

MG: What would be your dream project to work on or make?
DJ: I have already done many dream jobs, so I wouldn’t feel at all cheated out of my dream job if it all ended today. However, I would jump at the chance to play a benevolent white-winged angel …. who sings …. how’s that for specific!?

MG: These might be rumors but I read that you might be involved with a few high profile movies over the next few years: “The Dark Knight” sequel as Riddler, “The Hobbit Pt.1 & 2”, “Silver Surfer” spinoff and “Frankenstein” remake. Any of these true?
DJ: The Riddler was purely rumor on my IMDB page that has since been taken down, but if and when they do get to casting for this movie, and if the Riddler is indeed in it, I wouldn’t hate the idea of playing him. As for “The Hobbit” movies, no actors have been contracted yet, as Peter Jackson said in a recent interview. I have been rumored for two years now, and no one has ever denied these rumors, nor has anyone confirmed them. So we wait patiently together on this one. A “Silver Surfer” movie has been talked about, but enough time has passed that I’m not holding my breath on this one, even though my option for two more movies as the Silver Surfer still has another year and a half. Another call I wouldn’t hate to get. And lastly …. Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein.” This film would fit into that “dream role” category, especially with Guillermo writing and directing. He has told the press in other interviews that this would not be a remake, but his own adaptation of Mary Shelley’s novel, with the illustrated version’s artwork by Bernie Wrightson inspiring his desire to have me play the monster. Of course Guillermo is tied up with the “Hobbit” films for the next few years, so “Frankenstein” will be waiting for at least five years. Let’s hope this comes true!

Thanks again to Coolwaters Productions for setting up this interview, check them out they have one of the best client lists around.

Click here to purchase Doug’s movies

Copyright: MediaMikes.com © 2010 · Powered by: nGeneYes, Inc. · Login

All logos and images used on this website are registered trademarks of their respective companies. All Rights Reserved. Some of the content presented on our sites has been provided by contributors, other unofficial websites or online news sources, and is the sole responsibility of the source from which it was obtained. MediaMikes.com is not liable for inaccuracies, errors, or omissions found herein. For removal of copyrighted images, trademarks, or other issues, Contact Us.