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Interview with M.C. Gainey

You may not known M.C. Gainey by name but you definitely know his face. M.C. has been in all sorts of roles from TV’s “Lost” to “Con Air” to working with Broken Lizard’s films and voicing a Disney character in its latest feature “Tangled”. Movie Mikes had a chance to talk with M.C. about his roles in his outstanding career.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your role in Disney’s newest animated feature “Tangled”?
M.C. Gainey: “Tangled” is the Rapunzel story. Disney re-branded it to attract little boys as well! They play up the young man part. I voice the Captain of the Guard and I’m constantly chasing this young man. He’s a scamp and I’m trying to reign him in. The thing I love best is how skinny they made my character look in the movie! I haven’t look that good in years. (laughs) It’s a really great feature. This is the first voice character I’ve ever done for an animated film and I’m really excited about it. I think a lot of kids are really going to love this picture. I caught a rough cut of it a couple of months ago and I enjoyed the hell out of it.

MG: This was your first voice acting job. How was it working with Disney?
MCG: Even though this was my first animated film I’ve done about a half dozen things with Disney, from “The Country Bears” to “The Mighty Ducks.” I’ve been on the Disney Channel and ABC…it was almost like filling in the last link of the chain. I’ve done everything at Disney except run the tour!

MG: How was it for you being a part of the “Lost” legacy?
MCG: I’m getting a better perspective on it now that it’s cooled off and gone to wherever they go when they leave television. It was the biggest television hit that I’ve ever been involved with. It was a special job because it was made in Hawaii. And it had a great cast. Just a really top notch cast. Great people…fun to be around. And it was a job where you really didn’t know what they were doing a lot of times. They kept a lot of secrets from you. In the second season I spent six episodes running through the jungle barefoot and in rags. And then in episode seven Kate finds my beard in a locker. And I’m like, “wait a minute…I have a locker? I have a fake beard?” You never really knew who you were or what you were about. It was a great experience doing that job and very satisfying to be in that big of a hit. The fans were unbelievably devoted. Fans of the “Dukes of Hazzard” and the different Broken Lizard things will come up to me and ask “aren’t you in” as a question? “Lost” fans don’t do that. They know! They study every frame of it. There is no question in their mind because they’re studying it very closely. They’re searching for clues in places where I didn’t know there were any clues. It was just a great experience. Another great experience last year was doing five or six episodes of “Justified” with Timothy Olyphant. A brilliant series based on a series of stories by Elmore Leonard. And the great thing about Elmore Leonard villains is that they talk a lot. His villains just talk and talk and talk and talk. The movie “Get Shorty” is a classic example. His characters never shut up. It was a very interesting exercise.

MG: You’ve worked with the comedy troupe Broken Lizard on three different films. How did you become involved with them?
MCG: I started with them on “Club Dread.” My wife and I wanted to take a vacation to Mexico and they were filming down there so it was a perfect fit! It was one of the greatest jobs ever…running around Mexico with those guys. It was an absolute blast. They are truly different kind of filmmakers, those guys. They’re an amazing bunch of guys who met up in college while trying to form an improv group. These five guys show up and they’re still best friends and still in business with each other 25 years later. In this business people rarely hang together, there are always forces pulling things apart, but not these guys

MG: You not only appear in the “Dukes of Hazzard” movie, you also had a role in an episode of the original series. Any connection?
MCG: It was an amazing connection. Because I had done an episode of the show I had great memories. It was the first hour long show I was on. But I was determined not to do an impression of what Jimmy Best did as Roscoe. He was the funniest guy and I wasn’t going to rip him off so I went completely in the other direction and played him as the meanest, fattest and ugliest cop in the world. I had an unbelievable time working with Burt Reynolds and Willie Nelson and Johnny Knoxville. If you can’t have a great time working with those guys you’re in the wrong business!

MG: We’ve interviewed Danny Trejo and he had great things to say about working on “Con Air.” Can you tell us about your experience?
MCG: It was an amazing experience. I had just finished doing a movie called “Breakdown.” It had a really small cast and there was nobody to hang out with. I was really happy when that movie was over. I flew straight in to do “Con Air” and when I get there I see all of my friends…all of the guys I’m usually competing with for jobs in movies as convicts, bikers and cowboys. All of a sudden we’re all working on the same movie! We had the feeling like we had really taken something over. You know a Jerry Bruckheimer (producer of the film) movie is going to be fun anyway. Jerry is a fun guy and he likes everybody to have fun and he takes care of everybody. He’s a great guy to work for. To have all of these people on one set was phenomenal. It was an amazing experience. For me it was a question of not doing too much in the movie. I wanted my character to fly the plane…be obsessed with flying the plane…I didn’t want him to shoot anybody or beat anybody up. I just wanted him to fly the plane and laugh and joke. I wanted him to be a “good time” guy. I was trying to pay tribute to Donald Sutherland in “Kelly’s Heroes.” Sutherland played a guy who drove a tank, wore a beard and laughed all of the time. So I wanted to go in that direction. Play someone who was having a good time and not giving anybody the “stink eye” too much. It was a big picture that continues to be seen on television almost every day! My wife says they may as well have a “Con Air” channel because the movie is literally on almost every day. And let me say that all of the guys on the movie are so proud of Danny Trejo! To come from where he came from and to make it to where he’s made it…only in America! Only in the movie business.

MG: Do you ever feel you’re being typecast into roles like tough guys, criminals etc?
MCG: Oh yeah. And thank God! There was about a ten year period when I really struggled with that. I wanted to do something different. But then I began to get an appreciation of just how lucky I am to be able to work in this industry so thank God I was typecast. And now I’m being typecast as a convict in his later years. I mean just because you’re an old man doesn’t mean you can’t murder people and rob shit!.

MG: What other projects are in the works for you?
MCG: I just finished work on a new HBO series called “Enlightened.” I don’t work as hard as I used to. I’ve got more things to be interested in than always being on a location somewhere. But I still love working with my friends!

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Interview with Jerome Elston Scott

Jerome Elston Scott has been acting in front of the camera since 1998 . With the release of “Anderson’s Cross”, Jerome takes on a whole new role besides actor, as producer, writer and director of the film. MovieMikes’ had a chance to talk with Jerome about this recent experience.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us what it was like not only starring in the film, but also producing, writing and directing “Anderson’s Cross?”
Jerome Elston Scott: It was pretty hard, but once I got going with all of it, I was ok. I’m a classic overachiever, so there were definitely moments for me where I had to put my ego aside and depend on the people around me. I put together a really great crew and a good group of actors. So we kind of looked out for each other and made sure the atmosphere was one in which a person could speak up and say “I didn’t get it”. The thing that made me want to make the film to begin with was the lack of roles. The acting was the part that I thought I had in the bag, but that ended up being the hardest thing because your mind is in so many places and normally acting is the easiest, so it was very interesting. Surprisingly, directing was the easiest. By knowing how to speak to actors, having been one myself, made that easy for me and knowing that a lot of actors just want to be directed. However I don’t know if I would want to do it all again. (laughs)

AL: How did you go about choosing the cast for the film?
JES: I had a few friends, such as Sam Levine and Busy Phillips from “Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared”. Once we hired a casting director, Mark Sikes, we were able to complete the casting through a regular audition process. Although the casting process was long, we did something a little different by having the entire script available for the actors to read. I think that helped us get actors like Michael Warren and Joanna Cassidy. It was very different being on the other side of the table during these auditions being my first time doing so.

AL: Did you have a favorite part about the whole experience?
JES: Just directing the actors and helping them get to a place that I thought they could get to. I realized that I could really do this, and saw that the actors were receptive to me was the biggest thing for me. I really love directing.

AL: Your working on a prequel to “Anderson’s Cross” which is being developed for cable television, can you tell us about that?
JES: Yes. We have put together a kind of “Wonder Years” meets “Anderson’s Cross” type show with younger kids, and we are looking to start shooting hopefully early summer. “Anderson’s Cross” starts off with quite a situation with the friends, so the idea was developed as to how they got to that point. It was then decided to explore the characters more, but at a younger age prior to what’s in the movie.

AL: Do you have any other upcoming projects besides what you have mentioned already?
JES: I’m shooting another movie right now in Columbia called “Prep School” with Charlie McDermott. I am also shooting a film titled “Hostage Diner” later on this month about people who get stuck in a diner after a bank hold up. I have another film called “The Perfect Night” about kids who get stuck in an elevator on the night of their prom. I also have a much larger movie in the works called “The Untitled Project” which is kind of an “Independence Day” type movie which is slated to start shooting late summer. So quite a few things have come as a result of the work for “Anderson’s Cross”.

AL: Is your production company Illumination Pictures involved in your upcoming projects?
JES: No, Illumination Pictures is one of the partners in the movie we are doing, and there is another company called Alpha Select Productions that are out of Canada. They are doing the bulk of the production on “Prep School.” Illumination Pictures is doing the prequel, and we will probably partner up with someone else for that as well. I am a part of Illumination Pictures so when I am writing for any projects, the name kind of comes with me and is attached to other projects that I am a part of.

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Interview with Cris D’Annunzio

Cris D’Annunzio recently starred in the acclaimed short film “Clemency”, which showed at the 2010 Sundance Festival and won several awards from other film festivals. He wrote and co-starred in the Ray Liotta and Rory Culkin film “Chasing 3000”, which follows the real-life story of two brothers driving across country to see Baseball Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente get his 3,000 hit with the Pittsburgh Pirates. While the film was made in 2008, it will get its official release in Summer 2010. Movie Mikes had the chance to talk to Cris to discuss “Chasing 3000” and his flourishing career.

Click here to purchase “Chasing 3000” DVD

Mike Gencarelli: It has not been an easy road for “Chasing 3000.” How do you feel now that it is finally hitting the big screen?
Cris D’Annunzio: It’s interesting. Obviously I’m very excited that it’s finally coming out and hitting the big screen. And yet there’s also…I don’t know how to describe it, it’s not disappointing…I just feel a little bad that it’s taken the film so long to get out there because it’s a really sweet film. I mean, it premiered three years ago at the Tribeca Film Festival. I judge certain things by my wife and my kids’ reaction and they just loved it. I think it’s a nice family, kid oriented film. It’s too bad that it had to take the route it took to get here but, with that being said, I’m really thrilled that it’s going to get a release. Hopefully it will pick up some steam after people see it and it should do real well on home video.

Mike Gencarelli: You co-wrote the screenplay with Bill Mikita. How was that experience?
Cris D’Annunzio: Any creative/artistic endeavor has it’s challenges. Ultimately the story really came to me through Bill. It’s loosely based on his life and growing up with his brother, who is the oldest surviving person IN THE WORLD with MS. The story really touched me when he first told it to me and my experiences with my own sister who, unfortunately, passed away a year and a half ago…she had a disease called Lupus…the experiences that I had growing up. My parents divorced and my mom basically took my sister and I and left. It’s a lot like the story in “Chasing 3000.” Oddly enough, what brought my sister and I closer together was baseball. We both shared a fondness for baseball. The Mets were our favorite team. The experience of writing it with Bill…with both of us bringing our personal situations and our personal histories into it…it’s interesting that we’re talking about this over the 4th of July weekend. It was nine years ago, over the 4th of July weekend, that we locked ourselves in an office at Warner Brothers and wrote the script over a long three day weekend. It’s kind of interesting when you have two grown men sitting in a room crying a lot and writing. It was a good experience.

Mike Gencarelli: You play Principal Motley in the film. Tell us about your character?
Cris D’Annunzio: What happens in the film is that the two boys, played by Trevor Morgan and Rory Culkin, move with their mom to California. They grew up in Pittsburgh and moved to California primarily because the younger brother has this disease and the warmer weather is better for his lungs. Of course the older brother becomes despondent and misses his friends and has a lot of teen angst. He starts to not do well in school and get in trouble and I’m kind of the principal who…not necessarily sets him on the right course but…disciplines him, puts an ultimatum to him. He kind of makes him realize that California is not the place he needs to be in at this moment. So he and his brother “borrow” their mother’s car and head across the country to see Roberto Clemente get his 3000th hit. Hopefully you’ll see it…hopefully a lot of people will see it. The casting director did a fantastic job of assembling a pretty well known cast. It has Ray Liotta and Lauren Holly and Ricardo Chivara from “Desperate Housewives.” The story, I think, touched a lot of people and that really touches me. I think that’s why a lot of people got involved in this project.

MG: Tell us about your one man play “Digging Up Dad”? Any plans to return to the stage?
CD: I just completed the run about a month ago…we ran for about three months. The play was an autobiographical solo show about my relationship with my father and his mysterious death at an early age…he died when he was 48 under very mysterious circumstances. The story is really about me trying to come to terms with that and also the fact that my mother left him when I was 12. At that age I was still developing my knowledge and my opinions about my father and it wasn’t until after he passed
that a lot of his life and what he did and was involved with…it wasn’t until then that I became aware of them. I grew up with it and I was aware of it. And I’ll use the word “mafia” but today I can’t whole heartedly tell you or anybody with any certainty that there is such a thing as the mafia, at least not in the way we think it should be based on what we see on television and in the movies. Maybe that was what my father was involved in but my father certainly wasn’t John Gotti. If anything he was…I would liken him to Paulie Walnuts from “The Sopranos” which was about the level of involvement that he was at.

MG: Your short film, “Clemency” has been hitting the festival circuit. Tell us about it?
CD: It’s a little project that I’m very excited about. It’s an interesting piece. It’s been playing the festival circuit but it’s kind of been categorized as a horror film but it’s really more of a mystery/suspense thriller. The way it’s shot and edited is a lot like the film “Se7en.” It’s about a sociopath in the mountains of West Virginia that abducts and murders some girls. One sister actually escapes and comes back many years later. The guy has spent many years in prison on death row and right before he’s scheduled to be executed he receives clemency from the governor who rules him insane. The sister who survived comes back and poses as a reporter. She gets in to interview him and ends up killing him. I play the murderer, which is a 180 degree turn from the character I play in “Chasing 3000.”

MG: Tell us about your upcoming web series, “Vampire Mob”?
CD: The first episode aired this past week and it runs six episodes. It’s done by some people I got involved with when I did my one man show, the Ruskin Group Theater. Every month they do what they call a “cafe” play. Five writers come in on Friday morning and they’re given a theme and two head shots and are told to write a ten minute play based on the theme and based on the two actors they’ve been given the pictures of. They write the play in the morning, give the play to the actors at noon. They rehearse it from noon until six and then they have the opening night performance at seven and the closing night performance at nine that evening. One of the writers, Joe Wilson, had written a play loosely based on a vampire hit man for the mob and that gave him the idea to do the web series. It’s about a mob hit man who gets shot and makes a deal with the devil not to die. But in choosing to live forever he also has to choose to be a vampire. He figures that since most of the work he does is at night anyway this would be perfect for him!

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Interview with Paris Themmen

Paris Themmen played Mike TeeVee in 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”. Paris took time out on his birthday to talk to OnlineCasinosSpelen and discuss how it was working on the film, what he has done since and how he is hoping for a 40th anniversary cast reunion.

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Mike Gencarelli: How did you originally get the role of Mike TeeVee in “Willy Wonka”?
Paris Themmen: I started acting when I was six. My mother brought me into an agent and I went up for a commercial. The first commercial I ever went up for was for Jiff Peanut Butter where I had to sit on top of a mountain of peanuts. Of course it was just an angled chicken wire creation. I hooked the first commercial I went up for and then the second commercial was for a product called “Crazy Bubbles.” I was the only six year old who could say “Crazy Bubbles Bubble Blowing Bubble Bath.” I could say it three times fast so they hired me. In those days there weren’t many child actors in New York. So I kept doing commercials. Eventually I booked a Broadway show called “Mame” with Ann Miller as Auntie Mame. So I was doing a lot of commercials and theater in New York…I did Circle in the Square…and when I was around eleven years old I auditioned for the film. As I recall there was at least one call back…not a lot. As I said, there weren’t really a million child actors in New York…maybe me and a few others. I had a call back and I remember being in a phone booth with my mother and getting the news and both of us being very excited that we were both going to go to Munich, Germany to film the movie.

Mike Gencarelli: What was your most memorable moment on the set of “Willy Wonka”
Paris Themmen: My most fondest memory was the chocolate room. Unlike Julie who didn’t like it because, strangely, she doesn’t like chocolate, I loved the Pure Imagination room. As you may have heard elsewhere, the reaction shot that they took of us from the top of the stairs was a true reaction shot. It was a closed set and we had never seen the room before. So when they opened the doors…unlike today where they digitize things or build them in portions…it was all laid out for us. We were probably 30 or 40 feet above it looking down at the whole room…the river flowing, the waterfall flowing, the boat moving. I think that was the first day we saw the Oompa Loompas. It was such an amazing feeling to be looking down at what the crew had been laboring on. To see the fruits of their labors was amazing. That was probably my favorite moment on shooting the film.

Mike Gencarelli: Do you still keep in touch with the cast and crew?
Paris Themmen: Mostly by email, but yes. Here are the people I’ve seen in the last 20 years: I’ve seen each of the four other kids, I’ve seen Diana Sole, who played Charlie’s mom. I’ve seen Rusty Goff, who played the lead Oompa Loompa. I’ve seen Mel Stuart, who directed the film. I’ve seen Frawley Becker, who was the script consultant. I think for people that were directly associated with the movie…that’s it. No wait! I saw Leonard Stone one day. I was doing commercial counseling sessions and he came in as a commercial actor for me. And that’s it. I know a lot of them have passed…like Jack Albertson. Oh, and I did see Gene (Wilder) once. I saw him about a year ago at a Barnes and Noble signing for his book. And the thing about being Gene is…I was eleven, the other kids were thirteen. People ask me who was nice and who was mean. Julie, surprisingly, was a very well mannered, well behaved British young woman. Peter, true to form, was a very gentle and well behaved young man. Michael didn’t speak a lot of English and Denise was a lot like me…sort of a hardened child actor. But I was two years younger…and I was trouble. I was rambunctious and precocious everywhere on the set and Gene remembered this. He tells a story about being asked about a part in the additional footage on the DVD when someone asks “what about me” and he replies “oh, he was definitely a brat.” Then he pauses, looks into the camera and says, “But Paris…You know I love you now,” in a very Gene Wilder sort of way. And another one that I love…Gene was asked what he thought about working with the kids and he said, “four of them are great and one of them I’m going to kill tomorrow!” Wait a minute, my girlfriend is correcting me. He says “Four of them are fantastic, one of them I’m going to shoot in the head tomorrow!” (laughs). So years later I go to this book signing and I say, “Hi Gene, I’m Paris, I played Mike TeeVee” and he says, sure as rain, “Oh…you grew a brat.” So that’s his recollection of me. And I told him that I’d like to think I’ve had time to change and he said, “yes, of course…I’m sure you have.” But like I say I was sorta precocious…much like my character.

MG: After “Willy Wonka”, you didn’t do a lot of other films. Why?
PT: The real question is, “Paris, what have you done since?” There are a couple of answers. One: After the film I went back to Broadway in a play called “The Rothchilds.” I also did the first national tour of the show. I did a couple more commercials. I basically worked from six to sixteen. Then I got my degree in theater at NYU and they didn’t want you to work at that time. They wanted you to be process oriented, not results oriented. So they really didn’t want you to work. Then I got out of college, got distracted and discovered other things. I did a few commercials in my thirties and I was in the background of some films, mostly because I was working in film production. The other side of that question is what have I done NOT as an actor and…that is a lot. I’ve travelled all over the world…I backpacked through sixty different countries on six continents. Particularly in some very exotic locations like Borneo, the Sahara Desert, the Amazon, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal. Just try to imagine the cool adventurous things you’d want to do in your life…I’ve done many of them. Swimming with sharks…piranhas. I’ve done some sky diving. I’ve also had some great business experiences…managing money with Smith-Barney…being a real estate broker…film production, like I said. I worked in casting for awhile. I was what they call a Walt Disney Imagineer, during when they were building Euro Disney. I’ve started two or three businesses. So I haven’t been just sitting in my room contemplating my navel. I’ve been out doing things. In terms of major motion pictures that people will remember…that’s it…one film, “Willy Wonka”. One good film.

MG: With next year being the 40th anniversary of the film, how do you feel about its impact over the years?
PT: I agree with you that the film has had a life of its own. And it’s been passed down from parents to children throughout the years. The script that Roald Dahl wrote appeals not only to children but also to adults, with many adult references, so the parents don’t mind watching it with the kids. And they are in fact excited about bestowing it upon their children. And as the film has grown there are very old Wonka fans now and there are very young Wonka fans now. So in terms of my reaction to that I think it’s great. I think it deserves to be where it is. Obviously at the time none of us expected that it would be that way. But watching the film I understand its enduring popularity.

MG: Ok, the dreaded question, have you seen the remake from 2005? Your feelings?
PT: Here’s my experience with the new film…there was a time right after it came out when people would ask me “what do you think of the new film” and I would say, “Oh, I think it’s great!” I don’t remember exactly what I said but I know I was positive. But as the years go by and I speak to fans who tell me that they prefer the old one I feel more and more comfortable expressing my opinion which is that the new one had some things about it that I liked…things like the squirrels. And by that I mean Veruca getting eaten by squirrels, which was true to the book. I liked the pink Seahorse boat. I thought the chocolate looked more authentic in the river then ours. But I thought that there were many ways that they missed in the new one. Chief among them is the relationship between Wonka and Charlie. I felt that, although the new movie is called “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” the focus in fact was more on Willy Wonka, while the old movie was called “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” but the emphasis was more on Charlie. In terms of the relationship with Wonka, I think that one of the key moments in the old film was in the end when Gene says “My boy you’ve won,” and there’s this great moment that happens between him and Charlie. To me that’s the heart of the problem in the center of the film. The choices Johnny Depp made, and far be it from me to judge Johnny Depp…he’s one of our finest actors…created such a neurotic persona so that there was no relationship between Wonka and Charlie. I thought that was the biggest problem.

MG: Do you ever think we will see another cast reunion any time soon? Perhaps for the 40th anniversary?
PT: There is some talk of doing something but I really can’t give specifics until things are nailed down. But, yes, we’re definitely talking about doing that, either at the end of this year, which technically be 40 years since we shot the film or in 2011.

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Interview with Tiller Russell

Tiller Russell started his career as a documentary film maker. His documentary cover vast subjects from cockfighting to prison baseball and he has since went on to direct his first feature film “The Last Rites on Ransom Pride”. Movie Mikes had the opportunity to talk to Tiller to discuss his documentaries and his transition from documentary to feature film and what’s in store for the future.

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Mike Gencarelli: You started your career with documentaries, about cockfighting, arm wrestling and baseball, can you tell us about some of subjects you’ve covered?
Tiller Russell: The way it started out, the first film I did was “Cockfight” about underground rooster fighting. I basically did that because I didn’t have any dough to do too much more than sort of borrow a video camera and try and find a fascinating subject that I never seen anyone do a film on before. I got tipped into the cockfighting world and once I got plugged in I knew visual, controversial, violent and full of fascinating characters. With documentary, one access breeds more access. One subject leads on to the next. When someone has vouched for me and they pulled me in and I found myself at some crazy underground cockfights in the states. I was with cartel members in Mexico, whatever the case might be. That film played at a bunch of festivals and aired on TBS. From there basically subjects in a way started coming to me. Sometimes it would be “Hey that is the cockfighting guy, maybe he would be interested in arm wrestling? Or maybe he would be interested in doing something in a prison?” Sometimes it would be from reading a subject in the newspaper or my wife would find something and turn us on to a new subject. It came from a bunch of different ways but one subject sort of lead on to the next in some way. It was a path that I only saw when I looked back in retrospect.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you find the transition from documentary to feature film for “The Last Rites on Ransom Pride”?
Tiller Russell: It is a fascinating transition really, at the end of the day it is all about story, right? It is a sort of visual story telling. All of the skills I learned as a documentary filmmaker where immediately relative and applicable to this. How do you find drama? How do you find tension? How do you find cast or create fascinating characters? At the same time the scale and spectacle about it is much bigger. When we were making the documentaries, it was basically a couple of guys, a couple of cameras and a sound guy. You were a small mobile crew. This was huge sets and construction. There were stunt coordinators and a massive army of people that are required to do a feature film. In a way you are surrounded by people that are all experts in what they do, in whatever capacity. What I did was surround myself with the smartest most talented people I could find and trust them guide me through the things I didn’t know how to do. I articulated to them a vision of what I wanted it to feel like, look like or be like. Luckily I had an amazing group of collaborators that were able to shepherd me through that process.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell me about “The Last Rites on Ransom Pride”, what is it about?
Tiller Russell: I like to say that “it is a tale of bad-bitches and despicable bastards who cuss and kill each other”. That is a one liner I ripped off from my writing partner. He said that and I busted out laughing and I said I think that is exactly what it is. It all turns when Juliette Flowers swears to bring the body of Ransom Pride home to Texas after he is gunned down in the streets of Mexico. In order to do so, she has to battle a murderous reverent, a wicked outlaw, two savage bounty hunters and a vicious Mexican brouhaha. She gets helps from an opium smoking Siamese-twin, a shotgun toting dwarf and Ransom’s crack shot younger brother. She ends up spilling blood on the border to honor hear oath to Ransom Pride.

MG: How was it working with such an amazing cast on the film?
TR: It was absolutely amazing. These guys had such range of talents. It was great having the chance to sort of work with icons, like Kris Kristofferson, and Dwight Yoakam and talented young actors like Jon Foster and Lizzy Caplan. It was just amazing. I was able to take Jason Priestly and put him in a weird ass role and a light you have never seen him before. Peter Dinklage was great. It was inspiring and fantastic. I hope to have the opportunity to work with any or all of them again.

MG: What was your biggest challenge while filming “The Last Rites on Ransom Pride”?
TR: Well I would say just the sheer scale and spectacle of it. All of people when they do their first film pick something small and on a small canvas to work on. Like the walkie-talkie in New York kind of vibe. This was a big sprawling gnarly comic book western and just going from page to screen it was an epic scale. It was a massive jump. But like I said I was very fortunate to have an amazing group of people from producers and co-writers to every department head and all the actors helped me bring it to life. I was just very lucky to have brilliant and luck people surrounding me and helping me through it.

MG: What do you have planned next? More documentaries? More features?
TR: I will definitely end up doing both. There is something about non-fiction storytelling that is in my blood and in my bones. I actually have a project that I have been shooting for close to ten years, which coming close to being finished. At the same time the joy and freedom and making a feature film is one of the most exhilarating things in the world. I’ve got a small comedy that we’re in development on. Like I said, I’ve got the ten year documentary. I have a sort-of supernatural thriller that I am working on too. We will see what catches traction and ends up taking the top priority spot. I definitely want to do both.

MG: Tiller, Tell us when we can see the film?
TR: If you’re in Scotland, you can catch it this week at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Here in the States, it will be released in the fall. We urge you to go to the website (http://lastritesfilm.com/) and let us know where you live, and we’ll ask our distributor to see if we can bring it to theaters in your town.

MG: Are you excited that the film is being show at Edinburgh?
TR: John Huston once said “the only film festival that’s worth a damn is Edinburgh.” And given that John Huston did pretty much everything a body could dream of — both on the silver screen and in life, I’d have to say unequivocally, “Hell yeah.” We are incredibly stoked it’s playing in Edinburgh. And we are grateful to be bringing it into the world and seeing it premiere at the festival in Edinburgh.

MG: Thanks again and good luck with the film Tiller! Look forward to seeing it!
TR: Thanks again Mike, I appreciate you taking the time and best of luck with the site.

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Interview with Brooke Lewis

Making her presence known in Philly, New York and Los Angeles, renowned actress and Hollywood “scream queen” Brooke Lewis has proven her multi-faceted abilities in the entertainment industry as an actress, writer and producer. Recently nominated for two Golden Cob Awards for her performance in the 2009 cult horror hit “Slime City Massacre” and won the award for Scream Queen of the Year. Brooke has become one of the premiere actresses in the horror genre. Movie Mikes had a chance to ask Brooke a few questions about her recent nominations and her upcoming films.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell me about how you felt when you were recently nominated for two Golden Cob Awards for your performance in the 2009 cult horror hit “Slime City Massacre”?
Brooke Lewis: OMG!!! I was (still am) freakin’ out! I honestly could not believe it…the nominations and honor came out of nowhere. I actually got scared, because I woke up that morning, turned on my blackberry and the “dings” sounded off like crazy. I thought something bad had happened. I checked my email and received a bunch of “Congratulations” and I didn’t know why. Then, I read an email from my super and unique director of “Slime City Massacre”, Greg Lamberson, explaining the good news in detail. I started to cry (I am tough on the outside, but mush on the inside. I felt like the luckiest gal ever, as this “little horror/sci-fi/action sequel that could” created this unbelievable career opportunity for me! I am forever grateful to Greg and the cast and crew of “Slime City Massacre”. I am nominated for both RISING B MOVIE ACTRESS 2009 and SCREAM QUEEN OF THE YEAR 2009 and whether I “win” or not, simply to have my hard work acknowledged, already feels like a huge win to me!

Mike Gencarelli: Tell Me about your web series “Ms. Vampy”, you produced, directed and starred? Is it true it is being developed for feature film?
Brooke Lewis: Well, I would love to introduce your readers to “Ms. Vampy”. “Ms. Vampy is America’s funniest, sexiest, sassiest and most high maintenance vampire! Her personality is as big as her hair and is often described as Betty Boop meets Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny. She loves leather and fur and wouldn’t be caught “dead” without high heels! But, there’s much more to this lovable vampiress. While she looks young and vibrant, “Ms. Vampy” is one of the oldest gals on earth. At 111-years-old, she was born in 1899 in Transylvania. She was a shy and innocent child, but after a few too many shots of Lauder’s Scotch Whiskey on her 18th birthday, she jumped on the bike of a tattooed mate and sealed her fate! Moments after being bitten, she grew wildly thick hair, fangs, plump lips, bodacious tatas, and an insatiable sex drive. As she puts it, “I went from being a brainy bookworm to a blood-loving, vampire sexpot in just minutes.” In the 1920s, Ms. Vampy’s travels took her to New York and she fell in love with Brooklyn. It was there where she developed her attitude, sarcastic sense of humor, and ridiculous accent. She spent most of her time in the big apple filming movies and seeing Broadway shows, but she has a secret many don’t know: Ms. Vampy went crazy for Philadelphia Eagles football and soon became an assistant coach, but was fired after one month for not showing up to any day games. She moved back to New York for a short time, but a torrid love affair with a very jealous and young Wall Street vampire went bad, so she headed west to seek out new friends and victims.These days, Ms. Vampy lives in her Hollywood Villa and is often seen on night shoots, shopping in Beverly Hills for Dior or hanging out at Lakers’ games with her horror friends. She loves 80s rock and disco, her favorite band is Vampire Weekend and she never misses American Idol or Millionaire Matchmaker on TV. Her secret dream is to join the cast of HBO’s True Blood (of course, she thinks it’s a “reality” show)! She enjoys Godiva Chocolates and Bloody Marys and she loves to play Xbox when she’s feeling feisty. While she has yet to marry or have children, she freely admits to being boy crazy and hopes to someday make-out with Robert Pattinson. Ms. Vampy is forever sexy, funny, young, and obnoxious, but her heart is as big as her mouth. If she ever bites you, it’ll be with love.” – Editor, Vampity Fair

The web series was a fun way to introduce the world to one of my favorite characters and I still cannot believe how well she was received! I pinch myself all the time! It was such a wonderful little project, in which I created, produced, co-directed and starred under the expertise of my Executive Producer, Todd Tucker of Illusion Industries. Yes, I am proud to announce that we are in the development stage of creating a feature film for “Ms. Vampy”. I am blessed to have a co-production deal with Illusion Industries, in which I will star and produce, Todd Tucker will direct, Jim Pacitti will star and produce and Tamar Halpern has written based on my original story. The feature is a Halloween Family Comedy titled “Vamp It Out” and will be in the vain of “The Nanny” meets Elvira meets “The House Bunny”. I am following my heart and soul with this piece and my goal is to inspire teenage girls and women to embrace their inner beauty, follow their dreams and when faced with fear, dig deep inside, find their inner vamp and “Vamp It Out”!!!

Mike Gencarelli: We recently just interviewed Felissa Rose, tell us about the movie and your role in “Dahmer vs. Gacy”?
Brooke Lewis: I am a big Felissa Rose fan. Do you know she and I acted in “Tony n’ Tiny’s Wedding” Off-Broadway together in New York many moons ago? “Dahmer vs. Gacy” is another low budget horror/sci-fi/action/comedy Lil’ gem! It merges serial killers and government science experiences in a campy, but smart kind of way. If you can understand the subtext of the script, you will see how clever it actually is. I play the role of Tammy Hart who is a Southern Televangelist based on Tammy Faye Baker. How our brilliant actor/director, Ford Austin, channeled that through me, I will never know. Acting in that scene with Ford directing me is one of those “moments” that actors cherish throughout their careers. The film has recently hit the festival circuit and is winning Audience Choice Awards!

MG: You starred in “Tony n’ Tiny’s Wedding” Off-Broadway, did you enjoy that experience?
BL: Wow! Performing in “Tony n’ Tiny’s Wedding” Off-Broadway was the greatest “acting class” I could ever have taken! Acting in a live show that incorporates a lot of improv teaches you things about the craft, people and yourself that you can never learn in a class and you can take with you forever! You have to be on your toes and on top of your game in every moment. It was like playing with your big, dysfunctional family every night! Sometimes our personal moods/feelings were brought into the professional experience and it got crazy…where else can that happen and actually work? I did the show for almost 3 years, 7 shows a week under an Equity contract and was able to make a decent living acting right out of college. I will say that I made some of my best friends for life from that experience!

MG: Tell us about how/why you created Philly Chick Pictures?
BL: In 2002, I created Philly Chick Pictures to “produce entertainment with an attitude”. My movie career started as an actress in low budget independent films in NYC. I was always the actress with a ton of energy and a business brain, who would call in a favor to attach talent, crew, locations or think fast enough to do damage control on a set. After doing this work for other people’s companies or projects and not being credited or compensated properly, I finally realized that I had been “producing” all along! I learned that I have a creative soul and a business mind. I have never been the type to sit back and wait for things to happen, so I started Philly Chick Pictures to further my acting and producing career, make films with an edge and find and develop strong roles for women! Almost 8 years later, I am still learning and growing every day and with each project I choose. I have made a lot of mistakes in my career, but am very committed to learning from them and moving forward!

MG: What was the hardest production you have worked on so far?
BL: I plead the fifth!!! They are all “hard” in different ways. Big budgets, small budgets…it doesn’t matter! They all have their challenges. This is a business that attracts people who are emotional, erratic, hungry and who’s souls need to create…we are all bound to butt heads at some point. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it!

MG: What other projects do you have planned for the future?
BL: I feel really fortunate today, after working my butt off for many years, so I’d love to pimp out a few more! Along with the films mentioned above, I have a few others being released this year, including Marc Clebanoff’s dark comedy “Gerald”, Sal Polisi’s mobster drama directed by James Quattrochi called “Sinatra Club”, Fabian Carillo’s action flick “Double Tap” directed by Ryan Combs and a short film “Sprinkles”, directed by Roger A. Scheck, in which I play the lead Maura and is probably my most challenging and showcase performance to date! I am attached to play Laura in “Mondo Holocausto!” directed by Anthony Sant’Anselmo and as both an actress and producer will be working on an intense drama/thriller “Untold In West Texas” with my dear friends and business associates Parrish Randall and Roger Scheck. Again, please pinch me, so I know this is all real!!!

MG: It was a pleasure, thanks again and we wish you the best of luck
BL: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me and a special thanks to my supportive team: Bohemia Group Management, Bridge and Tunnel Communications Publicist and CoolWaters Productions Booking Agent! Love, Brooke Lewis

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Interview with Daniel Roebuck

Daniel Roebuck is well known from his role of Dr. Artz in the “Lost” universe. He has worked with Rob Zombie on numerous films. He is currently appearing in the new web series “Crafty” as a director who can’t leave his house so he directs from his living room. Movie Mikes had the chance to talk to Daniel and discuss his amazing career thus far and what is to come in the future.

Click here to purchase “Lost” DVDs or Blu-Rays

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us a little bit about your experiences working on “Lost.” Any secrets from the set you want to reveal?
Daniel Roebuck: “Lost” was about the best gift I’ve had in the last ten years in my life. They created a character and realized that I could be the guy for it. They just called one day and said “you’re going to Hawaii to do the show.” I hadn’t seen the show yet but once I went to Hawaii and started working on it I was, of course, like everyone else…hooked. The people were very nice. Here’s the biggest secret I can tell you from the set: Everyone was nice! I do a lot of shows. I’ve become the William Windom (popular character actor probably best remembered as Commodore Decker from “The Doomsday Machine” episode of the original “Star Trek” series) of my day. He was a guy you saw in every show and you always thought he was a regular guy. That’s me. And sometimes you go to be a guest star on a show and you think “these people have no idea how blessed they are in their life.” They don’t learn their lines. They act like “oh, it’s such drudgery to be making $55 thousand a week.” It’s hard to tolerate. I’ve had a couple of series in my lifetime and there was never a moment when I took it for granted. Never a moment where I didn’t think, “wow, this is as close to the lottery then most people will ever get.” Anyway, they created the character and he and Carlton Cuse wrote it with an EXTREMELY talented crew of writers…the best writers in television absolutely, bar none. And every episode I’d do I would always find another nugget of the Dr. Artz character…he was so crazy. I also did a show Carlton wrote called “Nash Bridges” and he wrote a character for me called Bettina. And every time I got a script it was always the best stuff I’d get to do. Bettina was like Artz. Stupid, arrogant. Believing beyond his own capacity. They always wrote well for me. The other big secret is that there wasn’t really a monster…it was all special effects. I will say this. The first time I went to the set and saw Evangaline Lilly and Matt Fox I thought, “wow, they sure do look good.” And then they started putting all of that shit on me….layer after layer of shit. Shit on shit on shit. Until I looked like shit on a shingle. The crazy man. They all get to be beautiful but Dr. Artz actually looks liked he really lived on an island.

I’d like to use your site as a soapbox and ask “Why don’t those guys who do the makeup on “Lost” have an Emmy?” They had to match the actors. Somedays they’d match a character to five years earlier. They had to match cuts and scars and hair. As much as I appreciate “Mad Men”…I shouldn’t make fun of that…it’s just that “Lost”….now I sound like I’m a mad man. I just don’t understand why they couldn’t win an Emmy for makeup and hair, gosh darnit!

Mike Gencarelli: We at MovieMikes will take up the cause. Maybe this year. Besides “Lost,” of course, you’ve obviously done a lot of television. Do you have a favorite show besides “Lost?”
Daniel Roebuck: I have a thousand favorites for a thousand different reasons. I was on “Matlock” for three years and I got to work alongside one of the icons of entertainment, Andy Griffith. I mean who wouldn’t want to go to work and work with Andy Griffith? We had a wonderful, collaborative experience on that show. I’d love having the opportunity to have my own show. That way I’d get to be the guy that the other people are to me. I would call guest stars when they came to Wilmington and welcome them to town. I’d give them restaurant ideas. “Matlock” was great. I’ve been watching the re-runs with my son, Buster. Our nightly tradition is that we sit down and watch an “Odd Couple” We’ve been watching Tony Randall shows. And we watched an episode of “A Minute With Stan Hooper,” which ran on FOX television with Norm McDonald. And that was also a great time. I played a gay guy. It was a great character. And it was great because they portrayed us (the gay couple) as just two regular dudes. We weren’t the smartest guys in the room or the best dressed guys but we were more like any gay couple that I know in my life. The whole show was a great, wonderful experience.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your appearance in the new web series “Crafty.”
Daniel Roebuck: I love how we went from “Lost” to “Nash Bridges” to “Matlock” to the web! I see you’re a journalist of great integrity. (laughs) The one great gift I have that I can give is me. I don’t have a lot of talent. My kid (Buster) plays every sport. He is the son my father never had. I can’t coach his baseball team. How the hell do I know how to hit a ball? I was usually the one ducking from it when I played Little League. I was the one in the outfield. If they wanted to hit it that way I’d try to catch it but I’d tell them don’t count on it. I can’t fix a car. My computer is something else I can’t fix. All I wanted to do is look at lesbians and look what happened (laughs). But acting is something I CAN do so when a friend like Jon Donahue calls and asks “can you be in this” unless I have a reason I can’t do it I usually try to pay that forward and do what I can. They have a very crazy, funny idea there that’s a little inside because it’s about craft services and you have to spend a lot of time trying to explain what craft services is. I’d say your regular ditch digger doesn’t know but my dad, who was a ditch digger, does know who the craft service guy is because that’s the first place he goes every time he visits me on the set. He goes over to the table and then complains to me “why am I eating all of this stuff?” I tell him it’s because that’s what we do.

MG: On the series you play a director who has agoraphobia right?
DR: I play a director who can’t leave his house so he directs from his living room. Jon and his partner (Mark Haapala) are talented guys. I hope something good comes out of this. It’s an interesting time for actors because…this is the first time that actors get to be on the same creative level as the owners. I mean, think of all the series you’ve seen. “Highway to Heaven” was filmed and created by Michael Landon. Kelsey Grammar did “Frasier” and owned a portion of it. Generally actors don’t get to own their work. They have to work for someone else. But in this new age of web series actors can create and imprint their own comic stylings or dramatic interpretations on a story that they own. I kind of like the excitement of working like that. Being part of something new.

MG: You were the writer/director/producer on the “Monsterama” series. Tell us about it.
DR: “Monsterama” came about from a good friend of mine, Kevin Burns, who was an extremely talented documentarian. Some of the best biographies on the Biography channel Kevin created. I was doing “Stan Hooper” at the time and Kevin as if myself and my friend Taylor White could kind of get together to do something for a new “Monsters” channel that was coming out on the Boom network. And if someone tells you that you can make little documentaries about the things that make you happy you do it. And that’s essentially what we did. If your readers take the time to go to DanielRoebuck.com they can see another side of me. I mean, Sean Penn is busy hugging Hugo Chavez but Dan Roebuck is busy buying Frankenstein masks. I have this love and basically we just made docs about the things I love. And what Ron Hampton loved. And what Kevin and Taylor White loved. It was great fun but it was tedious because we were shooting in high def and we had to see how the product looked. How did the monster models look? If I can brag about one other thing I was smart enough to do in my life, I was smart enough to have the right sister who married the right guy. Because my brother in law Cory, who’s a gaffer in Hollywood, was generally the one shooting for me. So it was kind of a collaborative family effort which was really great. He’s a great guy. I always joke that if he and my sister got a divorce I’d really miss my sister! (laughs)

MG: You worked on several Rob Zombie projects (“Devils Rejects,” “Halloween”). How did you get involved with him?
DR: I was actually at a screening with Kevin Burns for the Elvira movie “Elvira’s Haunted Hills.” I had actually met Rob once before at a model store in Hollywood. My friend had said “Hello, Mr. Zombie.” And my friend was obviously so much hipper than I was because I was thinking, “wait a minute…did he just call this fellow Mr. Zombie?” We met for a few seconds. So at this premiere I went up to him before the film started just to say hello and tell him I thought it was cool that he liked the same stuff that I did. And that was the beginning of a very nice friendship. I have to tell you…he is one of the most talented directors I’ve ever worked with. He is fluid and he is open and he is firm. You can love or hate his movies but you’ve got to look at the performances. The acting is GREAT! There’s a scene in “Devils Rejects” with Shari and Geoff Lewis that is some of the best acting I’ve seen in the last decade. Rob is a great guy. I grew up loving make up. I grew up loving monster movies. So the first thing they do on “Halloween 2” is to age my character 20 years. And they decided they would put together a great Frankenstein get up for me. And of course, since Michael Myers killed me I had to wear three different make ups in the movie, which was a big deal for me. Some actors hate it. They hate the process of it…they hate sitting still. Where I love the whole event.

MG: What draws you to acting? Were there ever any roles you wanted but missed out on?
DR: Well, the purpose of each job is that you’re trying to get the NEXT job. Some people must think that they bring movies to Al Pacino. An actor tends to invest too much into the MOMENT. But if I don’t get a part then they don’t get my money. Especially if it’s a big movie. I don’t get the part, I don’t go see the movie. They didn’t believe in me so they don’t get my cash. There’s a famous story…at least it’s a famous to me. I had just finished my first television series and was cast in a movie off of a tape. It was kind of a surprise. It was weird that I didn’t get to meet the director. They just cast me off of a tape. And when I went to do the movie everyone was cold to me. The producer. The director, who had a reputation of being a great guy, was a little cold. Even the co-star was a little odd, even though I was a big fan of his. So after two days of this they called me in and said “we’re firing you because we don’t think there’s any chemistry between you guys.” We hadn’t even shot anything. We had just been sitting in rooms and talking so I don’t know what the chemistry level could have been. That was the only job in my life that I’ve been let go from. Or at least replaced because sometimes in a series they write the character out. I was essentially fired and replaced. A few years later I go out to lunch with a girl who doesn’t know the story because it’s kind of a private story. I don’t go around saying, “Hey, let me tell you about the time I got fired!” So the girl asks me “are you the Dan Roebuck who was in this movie?” and I said, “well…I was. How do you know that?” And she says that she used to date one of the lawyers who worked on the project who had told her that it was already decided before I got to the set that they were going to fire me after a few days because the studio didn’t want to use their first choice for the role because I cost less than their first choice. But nobody wanted to say “Hey Dan, you’re not doing anything wrong. We just wanted this other guy but they forced us to hire you. So we’re going to fire you and get that other guy.” But nobody did that…nobody gave me that courtesy. And then I had to watch that movie become a huge hit. The movie was called “Home Alone.” Daniel Stern was the actor who replaced me…who they wanted in the first place. Here is the main thing that keeps me sane. “Home Alone” was a huge hit and it was a major blow to my ego that I could not be part of it. Now it’s more then 20 years later and…what difference has it really made in Daniel Stern’s career? I’ve literally had a hundred more opportunities then he did because perhaps people define him from that movie. Joe Pesci, who is one of the great actors of Hollywood, he doesn’t hardly work at all anymore. And he is a great actor…I could watch that guy all day. And when the thing happened he was kind of bragging that he had had something to do with that. I was a little disappointed. 22 years ago it was the worse thing that had ever happened to me and 22 years later it is such a little blip of unimportance. The only thing I take with me is that people weren’t honest and honorable with me. That would have made that time easier. I remember that they had to pay me off and I put a down payment on my first house with the money. But sometimes Hollywood is so evil. It wasn’t so much that they humiliated me at my own expense but they wanted to make it that I couldn’t take another job until after the time they were shooting or I couldn’t have the money. Weird, petty evilness. But again, 22 years later…would I have the same life I have now if I had been in that movie? Would my life be any different? What could have happened didn’t happen and I’ve got the best life. I’ve got the best kid. I’ve got the best friends. I’ve got the best life.

MG: What have you got planned for the future?
DR: The future is kind of exciting because we’re planning a web series that will allow me to do the things I want to do. I love America. I think it’s the greatest country on earth. I’ve never understood why people say we have a lot of problems. We’re not caning people for being homosexual. We’re not shooting people in the streets. We’re not keeping people from expressing their free will. I love this country and we’re going to go out and do a show about how great this country is. Hopefully if it comes to fruition we can get with your site and we can promote it.

MG: Absolutely!
DR: I’m at this new phase as I approach 50. I’d better shit or get off the pot in terms of what’s important. And when I die, which hopefully won’t be for awhile, I’d like to say “this is what I contributed.” And although the “Monsterama” series is very exciting I’d like to be remembered for creating more than that. It doesn’t really matter what I have planned…there are countless roles in front of me that I haven’t played yet. And we’ll see what God has in store for me.

MG: What’s the new web series called?
DR: No official title yet. Let’s just call it “Danny Roebuck Discovers America!”

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