RJ Mitte talks the final season of AMC’s “Breaking Bad”

RJ Mitte plays the role of Walter Jr. on the hit AMC television series “Breaking Bad”. The show is currently in production on its final season and RJ took some time out of his busy shooting schedule to talk about his involvement with the show and how it has progressed over the last 5 seasons.

Adam Lawton: How did you originally get involved with playing the role of Walter Jr.?
RJ Mitte: I went through the audition process which consisted of 5 separate auditions. I did 4 in Los Angeles and then went out to Albuquerque where I had a screen test and an audition. All of this happened within a couple of weeks. I was at the auditions in Los Angeles while they were telling me to get ready to go to New Mexico. The next day I was on a plane and I had my audition in the morning. From there things just took off and I have been working on the show ever since.

AL: What was your first day on set like?
RJ: It was amazing! Before “Breaking Bad” I wasn’t really doing anything substantial. I was doing background work actually as I was learning at the time how to work on a set. I was still learning how everything worked, what a set does and what it takes to be on a set. I was just sort of thrown in and started seeing how everything worked first hand as a lead actor.

AL: What has it been like working with such a diverse and great cast?
RJ: It’s really awesome. We have a great cast and crew. I can only imagine how differently things would be if we shot the show in Los Angeles. A lot of what I know about acting comes from working on “Breaking Bad”. Brian, Anna and everybody have taught me so much. Just by watching them is so interesting as everyone has their own style of acting. It’s been an honor to practically grow up watching the show and getting to see how it all comes together.

AL: What has been your experience with the notoriety you have received since the show took off?

RJ: I never thought a show about methamphetamine would get so big. Being recognized is something that has definitely changed. It’s interesting because I never thought people would be coming up to me telling me they love my work. It’s really cool!

AL: What do you think has been the biggest change in your character over the course of the show?
RJ: The views Walter Jr. has of his parents have changed several times. That is something he has been back and forth on. Just the transition of his parents is a big thing. Walter Jr. is in a completely different world. He is your typical kid that is trying to go through life as normally as possible. It’s interesting to see how the writers write his transition from his parents because there have been so many ups and downs.

AL: Have you been able to provide input on the character?
RJ: Yes. For every script we always have input. The writers are pretty open about asking us as to how we feel about certain things. We have been really lucky to be able to do that and to be able to take our characters in to the direction we want them to go.

AL: Can you give us any updates on the upcoming season?
RJ: We are currently shooting as we speak. I just got done shooting the first episode and I have the script for the second. Things are going and it’s insane! There is just so much going on in the first episode that I am anxious to see the fans reactions.

AL: How soon do you get the scripts prior to shooting an episode?
RJ: Usually it’s anywhere from a couple of days to a week. It depends a lot on the shooting schedule. The scripts have become very tight because people have tried stealing them. The scripts are water marked now and at times I have to sign them in and out. So many people are trying to get scripts from the show. Ultimately that just ruins it for everybody when something like that happens. I can tell everyone that this season will be worth the wait.

AL: Do you have a favorite episode from the series?
RJ: I love everything that we have done. Weather I am in the scene or not I love what we have done. I am hoping to have a new personal favorite very soon. We shall see. I have certainly enjoyed my scenes with Brian. It’s been fun.

AL: What other projects have you recently completed or are currently working on?
RJ: I have a movie that was filmed awhile back coming out titled “House of Last Things”. I also just shot a small spot on “Vegas” with Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis. That was an amazing set to shoot on and it is really well done. I wasn’t killed off so I could possibly be coming back. I also am scheduled to shoot a film in France as well as Abu Dhabi. I am keeping busy and also looking for more work.

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Dylan McDermott talks about his dark return in “American Horror Story: Asylum”

Connecticut born, Dylan McDermott was encouraged by his playwright step-mother to pursue acting as a career. He began his career on stage, doing both Regional Theater and Broadway, and made his film debut in the Vietnam War film “Hamburger Hill.” His first major role was that of Jackson Latcherie, husband to the doomed Shelby in “Steel Magnolias.” In 1993 he got his first major role, that of Clint Eastwood’s partner in the Secret Service themed film “In the Line of Fire.” Starring roles in films such as “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Home for the Holidays” and “Wonderland” followed. In 1997 he began a long run on the Emmy Award winning series “The Practice,” winning a Golden Globe for his work on the show as well as an Emmy nomination. He also headlined series like “Big Shots” and “Dark Blue” and now, after appearing last year, he re-appears on the critically acclaimed “American Horror Story: Asylum.” While preparing for a new story arc on the show McDermott took the time to speak with Media Mikes about his work on the show, what scares him and the difference between appearing in a remake or a sequel.

Mike Smith: What is the strangest thing that has happened to you on set, or personally, from doing this show.
Dylan McDermott: Well, I mean if you watched all the episodes, you know that I’ve had to do some strange things clearly, but that was part of the ride when I talked to Ryan [creator Ryan Murphy] about this show. Obviously the cry baiting and walking around naked, and now I’m playing a serial killer, is all in terms of doing American Horror Story, this is what comes with the dinner. So you just have to be up for it.

MS: As a show that not only really stretches your acting abilities but part of your personal fear factor is there any one fear that you would like to try to conquer by doing this show?
DM: Well, I think if you had any fears , you’d better not have them walking into this show because all your personal things are public. So I think that you really have to be not too shy to do a show like this, let me just put it that way.

MS: Can you tell us a little bit about your character and where you hope he ends up at the end of the season.
DM: Well, he’s obviously a troubled man, so where I hope he goes and where he goes are two different places But I think he’s got a sole purpose in life and really that is, he feels so scorned by his mother. Everything is about his mother. The reason he’s doing all these horrible things is because he was rejected so harshly by his mother, obviously aborted. His father was a serial killer. His mother aborted him and he still lives. So his whole trajectory in life is really about her.

MS: Can you give us a breakdown as to how you got involved in this show again? Were you looking to come back and what happened? Did Ryan give you a call and say, listen, I’ve got this sick, twisted character that I want you to play?
DM: Yes, we talked in the summer and he said he was looking for something for me to come back. I wanted to come back and we weren’t sure in what capacity. Then the day the show aired, he called me and said he wanted me to come back as the son of ‘Bloody Face,’ the modern day ‘Bloody Face.’ He just told me; I hadn’t read any of the script, so I knew nothing about it. It was sort of a blind call. When he told me the story of it, I was just like flabbergasted. I mean, I couldn’t get—because it was just so horrendous how this guy would survive and what he would become and who he was. I was just fascinated by him. It was so different from, obviously, ‘Ben Harmon,’ to come back to this same show with a different character. I just thought it was a great way to make television completely different from anything you see on television, because when do you get to play different characters on the same show.?

MS: Without giving too much away, can you tell us how many more episodes you’re going to be appearing in?
DM: I will be, I believe, in the next three out of four.

MS: I realize it’s early yet, but could you see yourself coming back for the third series, if Ryan came up with another big idea for you?
DM: Yes, I mean I love this show. I just think it’s just really—if I wasn’t on the show, I’d be watching it; so I’m a fan of this show as much as an actor on the show. So whatever—like I said before, I really trust Ryan and he has a great instinct with me. If he asks me to come back on, of course.

MS: Do you have a favorite type of horror story?
DM: I do like the Polanski stuff more than anything else. I mean, “Rosemary’s Baby” is still one of my favorite movies of all time. The idea of her being impregnated with the devil and all that stuff is just like so frightening and being in New York at The Dakota, it’s so scary. I’m going to work on a movie, actually, in February, called “Mercy from Jason” and there is a similar theme to “Rosemary’s Baby” in the movie. So somewhere I am attracted to that in a strange way, so that does scare me; the sort of demon baby, more than anything else. Like we had in the first season of American Horror.

MS: Since you like psychological thrillers a lot…the whole demon baby aspect, would you ever consider doing a remake of “Rosemary’s Baby?”
DM: No, because that’s a great movie. I don’t think you can—it’s like remaking “Psycho.” You can’t. Some movies you just can’t remake and that certainly is one of them. Some things should be just left alone—maybe the sequel to “Rosemary’s Baby,” but not the remake.

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Philippe Brenninkmeyer talks about working with Broken Lizard

Philippe Brenninkmeyer is best known for his work with Broken Lizard on their films like “Super Trooers” and “Beerfest”. He has also worked with the guys indivdually on projects like “I Heart Shakey” with Steve Lemme, “Dark Circles” with Paul Soter” and “The Babymakers” with Jay Chandrasekhar and Kevin Heffernan. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Philippe about his films and his love for comedy.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us how you met up with the troupe Broken Lizard?
Philippe Brenninkmeyer: It happened quite simply. I went out for an audition for the part in “Super Troopers”. When I went in they were all there in the room. Normally you audition for just a director and casting director. There were five of them there, so it was pretty fun. After my audition, I was pretty upset because I didn’t think I did a good job. I didn’t feel that I was that present. Then a few months later they called my agent and said I got the job. I had already forgotten about it. So that’s the way it happened.

MG: Your role in “Super Troopers” is so great; can you reflect on that experience?
PB: The great thing about the Broken Lizard guys is that they do all their own writing. They are really good comedy/script writers. They stick close to the script, even though they may improvise here and there. The scenes were so well-written you didn’t need to do much to deliver the lines. So, the first scene – the famous scene – with the feather and all, they were doing car chase scenes all day, which took a very long time. Just before the light was going down, I was waiting and waiting all day – then they came about and shot it very quickly. The light was very low but you can do a lot with film to fix it up. But from what I remember it was a very quick shot.

MG: With “Super Troopers 2” in the works, did they give you any hint about being involved?
PB: No they haven’t yet. They are such wonderful and loyal guys. They are really professional in the sense that they don’t want to promise anything that might not happen at the end of the day. So far they have taken care of me very much in their films. They wait until they have the greenlight and then give you a call…hopefully.

MG: “I Heart Shakey” was a cute film, how was it playing Mattias Ober?
PB: The characters that they cast me in aren’t too much of a stretch for me. It comes to me easily. They are close to me in real-life. I am kind of that crazy guy. I would say the character in “Super Troopers” was a bit more difficult, but he was still a laid back German swinger. Mr. Ober in “I Heart Shakey” was the kind of character that I relish in. It was great, great fun. Lemme was amazing in this film. It was great playing off him, since he is so subtle and real. You only do something if it really affects him and that is when the truth comes out. The truth is the most believable thing to watch on film.

MG: I loved how that film included the song, “Bidibodi Bidibu”, which the same song you had playing in your Porsche in “Super Troopers”, was that your doing?
PB: What is really funny is that I wasn’t even aware of that. But that is really awesome, I love it.

MG: What do you enjoy most about doing comedy?
PB: In the drama based films, I feel like it is more difficult. The script would need to be really good. In a comedy if the script is good but there is dialogue issues, I have the means to make up for that. In comedy, I just have a comedic head. I can also detect straight away if something is wrong in comedy very easily. In drama, I can do the same but I usually need more time to figure it out. People say that comedy is so difficult but I find it comes natural for me, since it is just so much fun.

MG: Switches gears from comedy but sticking with Lizard, was it working with Paul Soter directing on “Dark Circles”?
PB: That was really great also. There is something about the horror genre that responds to me because it is so out of this world. A horror film is something that you think would never happen, so there is an element in there that is crazy. That is what really responds to inside of me. It is a bit out there like a comedy is out there. I like stuff that is sort of filtering on the edge. It was great fun working with Paul.

MG: What projects do you have planned next?
PB: I am trying to get into producing now. I’ve got two scripts going right now and one is with Paul, actually. Paul is an absolutely amazing writer. He has gotten to a point where he is pretty prolific. He is writing all sorts of projects, like dramas as well. This one is actually a drama/thriller. I work a lot in Germany, so I am trying to produce that there. So that is really it. Acting-wise, there is nothing right now but who knows…maybe tomorrow. You never know.

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Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler talks about new solo album “Back from the Dead”

Steven Adler is probably best known for his work as the original drummer for the multi-platinum selling band Guns N’ Roses. After being fired from the group in 1990 Steven went on to work with a number of other acts and also appeared on the VH1 reality show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew”. More recently Steven and his new band simply titled Adler released their debut album “Back From the Dead” and Media Mikes had a chance to ask Steven a few brief questions about the album and the bands touring plans.

Adam Lawton: What type of writing process did the band take when putting songs together for the new album?
Steven Adler: Jacob Bunton and Lonny Paul would bring me songs and then Jeff Pilson and I would add our thing to them. Jeff also produced the record as well as played bass. Everyone in the group was real open to changes and ideas. That made the whole writing/recording process very fun and creative.

AL: How was it like working with Slash again?
SA: Slash and I have been friends since we were kids. I have always loved the way he plays and was honored that he took the time to play on our record.  Back in the GNR days, we took each other’s talents for granted.  At this stage in my life, I’ve learned to appreciate these moments.

AL: Are there plans to shoot any more videos for songs off the album?
SA: In a perfect world we would shoot a video for every song on the record.  But I can tell you from firsthand experience, we don’t live in a “perfect world”, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

AL: How did the band get involved with playing on this year’s Kiss Kruise?
SA: Our singer Jacob told us about it and passed the information onto our managers. From there they called Doc McGhee who is KISS’s manager and they made everything happen.

AL: Does the band have any tour plans in the works you can tell us about?
SA: Yes! We are playing some shows with Duff McKagan’s band “Loaded” in Japan starting in early March. Our manager and agents are working on some other things as well but for right now it’s nothing we can officially say. The band does plan on touring everywhere.

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Mark Consuelos talks about role in “American Horror Story: Asylum”

Mark Consuelos guest starred this season on the hit FX series “American Horror Story: Asylum”, where he plays the role of ‘Spivey,’ an inmate at Briarcliff who we first seen during a rough encounter with another character. Mark’s character recently reappeared during the episode titled “The Origins of Monstrosity”. Media Mikes had the chance to talk recently with Mark about his appearance on the show.

Adam Lawton:  Can you tell us how you got involved in this part?
Mark Consuelos: Yes. I am friends with Ryan Murphy and he wanted to talk about this particular project. We had dinner one night and he explained the role and how ‘Spivey’ was going to look. We really got into the physical characteristics of ‘Spivey’ and he did warn me that he’s going to be a super dark kind of character, extremely demented, and for me I said, you understand that’s exactly why I would want to play ‘Spivey.’

AL: Were you allowed to give your own input in developing the character yourself, or did they have a certain agenda for you to work the character?
MC: I think that with most good scripts and good shows they expect the actor to bring some of their ideas and some of the things, the back story of the character, or just certain aspects, they expect the actor to do some of that stuff, and I think it’s always a good collaboration between the actor, the writer and the director to try stuff out during the process. I think what was really great is that people were open to certain things and they would let you know if that was something they wanted you to do more, cut that in half, do more of that, we need you to do this, but I feel like on any really good show everybody comes with their own stuff and you want to try as much as you can. I would say that the character was really clear in some of the things that he’d been doing and some of these actions, so it makes it easier for the actor. With this character there wasn’t really a lot of gray area here. They wrote him very specifically, which I really appreciated.  But just because they are very specific about those things, it doesn’t mean that it limits you. Actually, it makes those possibilities and some of your choices even greater.

AL: Would you say that you’re more of a fan of that type of direction, or do you like to sometimes havea little bit more defining in a role?
MC: No, I love the collaboration. I think every actor would probably say that it’s always a collaboration and if you ask directors they expect the actors to bring something. They don’t want to be thinking for everybody.  I think I enjoy this kind of – again, I think it was a hybrid of both.  There was a lot of collaboration but it was also very, very specific with an extremely specific views, especially from Ryan, on certain things that I thought were really good.  You have to have a specific view and you have to be pretty precise about that.  I think as an actor it’s always great to have a little bit of both

AL: What was the make-up process like for this role?
MC: It took anywhere from two and a half to three and a half hours, depending on what’s going on.  Whenever they say it’s going to take that long I’m like, yes, right, there’s no way, what’s so
hard about that.  But these guys are definitely artists.  They’re amazing at what they do. Just
getting it on and then once they get the stuff on the prosthetics, the way they go about touching
them up and painting them and adjusting them, like I said they’re really artists.

AL: With the show being so dark how do you protect yourself from taking that character and the tension of the storytelling home with you every night?
MC: As dark as you think the stuff that you’re doing as an actor on that show is, once you watch it you’re like, oh, man, it could have been a lot darker, having seen some of the other things that people were doing.  And so I don’t know, I saw it as such a great opportunity that I literally had so much fun doing it and there was excitement about doing it, and I didn’t have that much trouble separating myself from what was going on, on set.

AL: It was just announced that the show is being picked up for a third season. Would you be interested in being on the show again for next season?
MC: Absolutely! It’s been so fun just to be part of it, the whole buzz around the show is exciting, and then when it actually starts airing people absolutely love it. I got extreme street credibility from my high school aged son, he’s like, “Dad, the fact that you’re in “American Horror Story” is absolutely cool.” I was like, “I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for you.” And he was like, “Dad, come on, I’m a New York City kid in high school”.

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Sara Lindsey talks about working with Tom Cruise in “Jack Reacher”

Sara Lindsey is an up and coming Hollywood starlet who will be appearing in the new Tom Cruise action film “Jack Reacher” which is scheduled for release on December 21st. Media Mikes had the chance to talk recently with Lindsey about the film and what it was that got her in to acting.

Adam Lawton: How did you first get involved with acting?
Sara Lindsey: I have always been a performer. The first time I tried it was in a 1st grade play my teacher arranged. That was the bug that bit me. I have been performing since I was very young and I have always been very artistic and musical. As I got older I began to get more serious about things and when I started looking at colleges I decided acting was what I was most passionate about. I felt very connected to acting and that’s what I pursued in college.

AL: How did you get attached to the film “Jack Reacher”?
SL: I had gone to an audition for the film and after that I learned about the book franchise and all the other things associated with “Jack Reacher”. I think the film is going to be really cool as it is a fun film. The story is very easy to follow which is not always the case with some films with similar themes. Tom Cruise is just awesome as the Jack Reacher character. I am definitely looking forward to the film coming out.

AL: What was it like working on such a large production?
SL: It was crazy! I am super new to the business and have only done two or three movies up to this point. The audition process for this was pretty long and I had a few call backs. One call back was done over Skype between the directors, me and the person who was going to be playing my boyfriend. Christopher McQuarrie is such a brilliant writer and director. It was a pleasure to get to work with him. I had a great time during the process.

AL: Were you allowed to experiment with your character at all?
SL: We really did get some freedom within the structure of the film. My big scene is at the very end of the movie. Chris gave us the frame work and allowed us to do whatever we wanted within the boundaries of the scene. We talked over a few different ideas and went from there.  We sort of did things in the moment. To be allowed to do that on this caliber of a movie was very unique.

AL: Can you tell us about the film “Promise Land”?
SL: That was a dream project for me. I got to meet and work with an amazing group of people. I learned so much. The film is about identity and what makes us who we are. The story is set against a back ground that has to do with hydro fracking. There is that issue going on while some great characters with compelling stories are interwoven throughout the film. I think it’s going to be really great.

AL: What are the release plans for the film?
SL: I think they are doing a limited release in several cities starting on or around December 28th. The wide release is scheduled for January 4th.

AL: Can you tell us about some of your other projects you have coming out?
SL:  I am working on a screen play project right now that is not yet titled. We have been working on it for about a year now. It has been a lot of fun to work on something from the ground up. The things you can cultivate with peers and colleges are really great. We are hoping to start shooting that in the very near future.

 

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Ron Shusett talks about writing films “Alien” and “Total Recall”

Ron Shusett is the writer/producer, along with Dan O’Bannon, for the original “Alien” and “Total Recall”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Ron about creating the scripts for these iconic films and also got to chat about recent “Prometheus” and “Total Recall” reboot, which was based on his original stories.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how you got involved writing the original story for “Alien” with Dan O’Bannon?
Ron Shusett: Yep, I co-wrote that with Dan O’Bannon after he brought me the concept that he has from when he was in film school. We met and shared ideas.  I showed him a script I had done and he liked it.  He said “Your damn good, I think you can help me.  For two years in film school, no one has been able to help me get past the first act”.  I looked at the first 30 pages, which is basically what you see on the screen and he said he needed help finishing it and asked if I wanted to give it a shot.  I told him that I also had the rights to the Phillip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”, which turned into “Total Recall”. The short story is only one act and then it ends though. He said “you help me get the second and third act of mine (“Alien”) and I will help you with your second and third act” (“Total Recall”).  And at that moment both movies were born. We worked together on what became “Alien”.  We didn’t an agents or an attorney. We had nothing. The first place we went accepted it, Fox and it was a miracle. And the rest is history.

MG: Where did you get the inspiration for the Aliens?  Did you work a lot H.R. Giger?
RS: Those all came from a Swiss artist that has never worked on a movie, Hans Giger.  Dan found his paintings and thought he was the perfect guy to do these creatures. As we were writing the script, we would send him pages. He wanted to get into Hollywood and be a designer.  So he would design them for us as we were writing the pages. We would think up an idea, send him some pages and he would design them.  Then we reduced them and put them into the script.  They ended up looking exactly like they did in the script, which is very rare. Originally, they didn’t want to go with a first time designer.  But Ridley Scott, the director, looked at Gieger and said that his concepts were so unique that he wouldn’t want to make the movie if they didn’t use him. Ridley said “I can’t do the movie without this guy because I would always know how good it would have been”. Giger ended up winning an Oscar for special effects.

MG: With “Total Recall”, you wrote the screenplay off Phillip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”, how was this process different adapting from the short story?
RS: It is a totally different process and I am lucky enough to have done both in my career. It is probably a lot easier to adapt since it gives you a springboard to the start.  It gives you a gigantic creative push forward. If you have a blank page, it is harder to start from scratch even if you have a great idea. So it was hard for both of them but I enjoyed them both.  Phillip K. Dick has seven movies created from his work.  Only two of them were a success at the box office, they were “Total Recall” and “Minority Report”, both of which I worked on the scripted and produced. Not including films like “Blade Runner”, which was not a box office successful when it came out, though later becoming a cult classic. Like I before short stories, only have one or two acts tops.  So if you can’t get a great third act to match him brilliance than it is bound to fail. That was the hardest part.  It took about two/three years, just to get a proper ending for “Total Recall”. The whole “Alien” script was written faster than that. Dan and I got the first two acts of “Total Recall” writing by 1981 but we couldn’t get the third act. Then we got Paul Verhoeven and Arnold Schwarzenegger on board shortly after.

MG: Also having worked on “Dead & Buried”, “King Kong Lives” etc; what drew you to the horror genre?
RS: “Dead and Buried” was a complete original.  Obviously “King Kong” was a sequel – the third sequel in the series.  “Dead and Buried” always surprised me because it didn’t make money original but like “Blade Runner” became this cult classic after a few years.  I guess it was ahead of its time.  It was the only zombie movie, where the zombies didn’t look like zombies. I think only one thing really draws me and that is the fact that you have incredible flexibility. Anything you want to say create…you can, even whether it is believable, realistic or not. It just comes down to good craftsmanship. That is why I love the genre.

MG: With “Alien” getting “Prometheus” and “Total Recall” getting rebooting this year; can you reflect on these?
RS: Both of them were not very successful.  I didn’t work on either of them but was still awarded a story credit by the Writer’s Guild. I had no input either.  We had to use humor mixed with action for “Total Recall”, since that was what Arnold was known for. This time around they tried to do it without humor.  I guess what happened was that the audience wanted to see what they loved about the first one. With the humor stripped, even though the stories were similar, they didn’t seem to embrace it.  I did feel honored though that 22 years later, they are still using my ideas and spending over $100 million dollars on them.  “Prometheus” was 30 years after “Alien” and they still uses our ideas, we got credit for original story elements. I was also very disappointed in that film though. Like I said earlier, also touches on “Prometheus”, I think where they lost you on this film was that the first two acts are visually stunning but they couldn’t come up with a good third act. They left too many open answers that they claimed they would answer in the sequel. But you can’t do that if people don’t like the first one there will be no sequel.

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Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa talks about ABC’s “Revenge” & “Mortal Kombat Legacy 2”

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is an actor and martial artist that is known best for his role of Shang Tsung in 1995’s “Mortal Kombat”. This Fall, he joined the cast of ABC’s Revenge in the role of Satoshi Takeda replacing Hiroyuki Sanda, from the previous season. He is also reprising his role next year of Shang Tsung in the return of the wildy successful web series “Mortal Kombat Legacy 2”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Cary-Hiroyuki about those two projects and also his role as a healer.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how you ended up replacing Hiroyuki Sanada this season as Satoshi Takeda in ABC’s “Revenge”?
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa: I got a call one day from my agent talking about the show. He was pretty excited. I personally had no idea about the show. I honestly do not watch television much. I have not actually been in one place in order to settle in for almost three years. When I got that call I was in Hawaii. So I sat down and watched the show. I thought it was a little bit complicated though if you haven’t watched from the beginning but I thought it was cool and plus it has Madeline Stowe. I was told that they were looking for a replacement for Hiroyuki Sanada. He and I actually recently worked on a film called “47 Ronin” and had a great experience. He is a fantastic Japanese action star. So I went back and watched a few of his episodes. I knew very clearly what the role entailed. It wasn’t anything deeply new and exciting but it was a standard role for an actor. Takeda is basically a good guy [laughs] and I have done many of those. But I am a good guy, so I figured I could do it.

MG: What was your biggest challenge for you stepping into the role this season?
CHT: The challenge for me was to make him interesting. The dialogue doesn’t usually change much. But personally, I like to throw in ideas and change it up a bit. I have always had some input into every character that I have played. Nobody would stop me from playing out an idea that was interesting. But you have to come up with something pretty interesting. Dialogue is the easiest thing to change and doesn’t cost them any money. I always think about the audiences. They always keep on watching the same kind of junk. The bad guy is mean and nasty and by the end, we know he is going to lose. It is a pretty given sort of structure. But for me, I tried and find a way that I can make it more interesting for the audience and bring something different. You can scare the hell of our people, which I think I have done with different characters. That would get people’s attention. For this role, Sanada played it very straight and to the point. Since he was a lot smaller than I am and doesn’t look so mean, I had to try and gauge how mean I could look playing a good guy. One of the things that I was excited about is that people only saw him playing that character for one season and how I can make a difference. One thing that I wanted to do was bring a different persona, so that when Emily was being her arrogant self that she wouldn’t get away with it with me [laughs]. I wanted you to see that at least in my eyes that I was a lot more intimidating. They encouraged me to bring something new to it.

MG: What approach did you take to improve this character? What can we expect?
CHT: I do not think that it would have been too difficult for them to at least explain that we weren’t the same person. I thought that it was sort of a rough transition for most of the fans. I could have been his mentor or uncle, something like that. I think there is still a lot more to discover for Takeda. It is just the matter of how long that I can hold my breath. I think there is an element the way that Sanada played him that did not account for a lot of mystery, in the very particularly nit-picky way that actors are taught to do. To be very specific, he played it very straight forward and with not a whole lot more intrigued for the character. I think that having played the bad guy so long helped me with this. I feel that bad guys are fighting something all the time. I think I am bringing a little more of that to the character and it leaves you wanting to know more about him. That is why in the way that I play him, I mix it up. At points, I speak with them more like an Uncle or Father and other times it will be different. I have tried to layer that in, given I have only been given three times this season so far to do it. I was intentionally from the beginning making that choice. The show is one break now but after the beginning of the year, I am not sure where the role is going to go. But I know it has only just begun.

MG: How did it come again with you reprising the role of Shang Tsung in the web series “Mortal Kombat Legacy 2”?
CHT:After the first movie, all of the character had made deals for the sequel. Only two characters, Liu Kang and Kitana ended up in the movie. So it was a great disappointment, considering the success of the first one. This was just a confirmation to me for to reveal the truth of some particular people that were part of that team. It played itself out in much bigger problems. When I saw that person for one of the last times, I said “May you get what you deserve”. When that was all over with all I could do was resign to the fact that playing Shang Tsung in the first movie would have been enough. Then when I heard about the first series of “Mortal Kombat Legacy” but I was’t involved with the first season. Kevin (Tancharoen) and I connected over Twitter and offered me the role of Shang Tsung in the second sesaon. Twitter is changing politics. This guy is an amazing director and just such a humble guy. He is about to direct his direct movie for $50 million for the third “Mortal Kombat”.

MG: Any chance you will get to you play Shang Tsung again in that upcoming feature film?
CHT: The difference between the time that I did that the first movie and where my career is in now is that I have some certain standards now. But it will all be up to the studio and the producers. I let them know from the beginning, I said I wanted to do it but I had a history of not being respected. I said told them I would leave it to them to be real and see how it goes. Let’s just say I am not doing the web series for the money. But just to be a part of the web series is great. I am excited about working with Kevin and I would like to work with him even away from “Mortal Kombat”. He seems to really understand actors, which is highly rare. He has a place in Hollywood. I actually met his father back on the film “Rising Sun”. In fact, I had actually met Kevin as well, when he was 5 or 6 and he told me that he has a picture of me from back then. But for right now, I am very excited about the web series and the possibility of being in the feature.

MG: Tell us about your role of a healer, in addition to acting?
CHT: One thing that I have been enjoying talking about is that I am healer. You have probably never heard of an actor saying that…but I am a healer. I was a healer before I came to Hollywood. Hollywood is my day job and my greater purpose is to bring this particular system of healing to the world. It is something that I have been working on for over 30 years. I credit it to my father, who I didn’t know very well growing up. But I feel like when he passed, he passed on in spirit this healer gift. I consider it a gift and I am further developing it. So I want to dedicate this system to him. It comes from an understanding of breath. When you say breath, it is interesting to see people’s reaction since they start breathing deeper. It is funny and when I say posture, they sit up straight [laughs]. I have always been very observant of people’s behavior. Those are two things that should be second nature to us but our society has neglected it for so long. To bring this forward now, I know it is going to resonate with everyone that hears it. Then how far and deep they get into it after that obviously has yet to been seen. This is not based on any system that I have studied. The theories come from the principles martial arts, in terms of posture like the horse stance. There are others systems like Qigong that focuses on breathing. This particular form has nothing to do with fighting. I am calling it Martial Healing.

MG: Tell us about what can we expect from this system?
CHT: There is a lot that we can do to keep us out of harm’s way and prevent the breakdown of the body. This system begins with teaching about breathing and how it can greatly aid in that process. This would focus on breathing and the principle of moments and how those two can affect the body. I have worked with athletes and martial artists also and have gotten great results. I am coming from a place of developing something rather than just taking knowledge of an ancient system and repeating it. It is a new understanding with a new system. I bet you didn’t expect that from the actor that played Shang Tsung [laughs]. You can find out more at ShangsArmy.com

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: 2, abcs, caryhiroyuki, kombat, legacy, mortal, ...

Corri English talks about her role in FEARnet’s “Holliston” and Season 2 plans

Corri English is the star of FEARnet’s “Holliston”, created by Adam Green and Joe Lynch. The show completed it first season this summer and will be returning for it’s second in 2013. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Corri about her role on the show and the plans for season 2.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you end up on the show “Holliston”?
Corri English: I had worked with Adam a couple of times. I did a series of holiday claymation webisodes he did for American Eagle. The series was called “Winter Tails” and he had me do some voice work on those. Shortly thereafter Adam was doing one of his infamous Halloween shorts and needed someone to fill in for Daniel Harris because there was a scheduling conflict. We had a great time doing that and became friends. “Holliston” has had a couple of incarnations so when he first started putting that together he brought me on board to do the show. It was really exciting to work with Adam again and see the show come to life as I had been attached to it for about 2 years prior to shooting.

MG: What do you enjoy most about your character and how does she relate to yourself?
CE: I know Adam pulled certain parts of our personalities in to the story. He made my character an aspiring country singer. I am actually a country singer. For the audience I know things are a little bit blurry because we all have our own names. At times they may not know where the characters end and where we as real people begin. I feel like anything on the show can happen and that is something that I really love. Initially Adam told me about the role and how I would be the girl that was always breaking his heart and that the audience would probably end up hating me. However, until that happens though they are going to torture me. (Laughs) I think in season 1 Adam found out I was up for anything and has really ran with that in season 2.

MG: What do you think it is that makes the show work?
CE: I think for fans of horror there are tons of those references going on within the show. Also though for people who may not necessarily be horror fans there is a whole lot of other stuff going on. Adam did such a good job of creating characters that I am sure everyone can relate to at least one of the characters on the show. I think there is so much heart and real life emotion going on that it makes the show interesting. There is a lot of reality in the show.

MG: What was a highlight for you of season 1?
CE: Laura and I had so much fun with the market basket episode. That was something that came out of rehearsal and Laura not being able to say those lines as English is not her first language. Sometimes little quirky things would come up and she couldn’t tell the difference. They would just let stuff like that go on forever. There were a bunch of really great guests on the first season as well. Tony Todd was great and also getting to meet John Landis was awesome.

MG: Can you give us any updates on season 2 of the show?
CE: We just finished filming. We shot most of the show on sets here in Los Angeles however for the last episode we actually shot in Holliston, Mass. We finished up with a found footage episode so we are running around the woods “Blair Witch” style. It was a fun way to wrap up the season. I am really excited for fans to see the new episodes because it dives much deeper in to the characters and their relationships. When we got done with the table read we were all laughing and crying. There will also be an animated episode this season as well as a holiday special which bridges the gap between the 2 seasons.

MG: Can you tell us a little about your band Broke Down Cadillac?
CE: We are a country/rock band that works out of Nashville. We have a ton fun doing it and we also have had quite a few opportunities to write songs for television and films. It’s really great when I get to put the singing together with the acting. I get to sing one of our songs on the show this year which I am very excited about.

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: 2, corri, english, fearnets, holliston, plans, ...

Christopher Bessette talks about his film “Trade of Innocents”

Christopher Bessette is the writer and director of the film “Trade of Innocents”. The film recently played in the Toronto Cornerstone International Film Festival and we were awarded “Best Feature”. The film was released limited in theaters early this Fall and will be released on DVD on December 11, 2012. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Christopher about the film, what people can do to help in real life about human trafficking and also what he had plans next.

Mike Gencarelli: You have not has a simple career as filmmaker ranging from places like Amazon and the jungles of Central America, Russia, South East Asia, throughout Europe, across Canada and most of the United States; what do you enjoy most about working in so many different situations?
Christopher Bessette: I am really grateful for the places my career has taken me. You learn to be sensitive to cultural differences and become the observer in the nuance of communication… primarily because you don’t speak the language, so you learn to watch their physical mannerism and reactions.  This has been invaluable for me as a director.

MG: Tell us about how you were inspired to write and direct “Trade of Innocents”?
CB: Interesting how coffee shop conversations can ultimately lead you to the other side of the world. In 2008 I was in a coffee shop with a friend and she shared with me her missions work with orphans in Cambodia.  She told me about the plight of the people and the intense suffering they’ve endured.  My heart was broken and I immediately thought of two of my characters that are in Trade of Innocents. Two months later I get a surprise phone call from a broadcaster that I had worked with 17 years earlier and they asked me to help them tell a story about an organization that rescues children from the sex trade in CAMBODIA! I already had a story that I wanted to tell, so the trip would be dual purpose, I’d do the work for the broadcaster and I’d location scout and research for my movie.  So now I’m in country and I am seeing things happen all around me.  When your readers see the movie and the “Puppy Love” scene in the bar of the hotel; that really happened.  I chased down a perpetrator, following an investigators lead, exactly like the scene in the movie.  People might say, “come on” but if they could feel an ounce of pain my soul suffered when the pedophile was getting away with the little girl, they’d understand why I wept when we recreated that scene for Trade of Innocents… even as gut wrenching as that was, still it wasn’t the impetus.  On that same trip I found myself in the village of Svay Pok, 11 KM outside of Phnom Penh in a building called Rahab’s House. If you’ve seen the Dateline report, this is the building that was a notorious brothel. It is now used used as a community center, day care, medical clinic, church etc.  I went upstairs to the second floor, the room was sterilized freshly painted and void of furniture. Rahab’s House administrator told me that the room upstairs, “The Virgin Room or the Pink Room” was the room brothel owners held children as young as 5, 6 years old for the pedophiles.  I looked out of the bared window of that room to the dirt streets below and saw children playing. I wondered if a little girl looked through this same window wondering why she couldn’t be out there with her friends. I found myself whispering the words, “Oh God, help me tell her story, I have to do something, help me tell her story.”  Needless to say I came home with the story burning in my heart.

MG: How was it working with such an amazing cast like Dermot Mulroney, Mira Sorvino, John Billingsley and Trieu Tran
CB: Absolutely brilliant. Each actor has a different approach. My job is to serve each one so we communicate effectively and in-turn they serve the story, and the story serves the audience.  Here’s where the multi-culture experience comes in handy, I watch their unspoken communication actions and reactions and that gives me clues on how to effectively communicate with each of them.  Trieu Tran and I were in-sync from the beginning, I would say “a couple of words” to Trieu and he’d be like, “gotcha” and boom it would be outta the park!  All of these people are incredible professionals and my level of work with them is very subtle, whereas with other actors in the same piece, it is a lot more intense.  The end result is you’re looking for balance.

MG: Where you aware of Mira’s position on the topic of human trafficking before casting?
CB: She was a goldmine find.  I wasn’t personally aware of it but when her name came to the table, everybody on the producing team started buzzing about her passion with the  issue.  To have an actress that is extremely skilled and passionate about the issue is such a huge blessing.

MG: How does “Trade of Innocents” compare from your previous films?
CB: It is ambitious,  it carries poetic imagery of subtext, that for the viewer looking for it, will find.  I won’t spoil all of it by telling you, but the theme of redemption runs throughout… in each of the characters, even in colors.  The color red for example is typically associated with the red light district or a lady of the night, but in our film you’ll find it played in all of the positive ways, the red krama (scarf) the red drapes in Princess Willow Leafs palace, the Crimson Sun Bird that leads Amy into shanty town etc.

MG: Do you think that this film will create awareness for this “epidemic” of a situation?
CB: One film won’t be the answer, people will. The film will entertain but I hope that somewhere along the journey the viewers realize, “This is really going on!”  There is a collective voice that is silent for the most part crying  – that little girl looking through the bars of a window, hoping that a modern day abolitionist will stand up and say, “Enough, this is wrong.”  I hope it stirs those people that will make a difference.

MG: What do you have planned to follow-up this film?
CB: From real life drama / thriller in “Trade of Innocents” to real life drama in a supernatural thriller: imagine if I told you “The 6th Sense” was real.  True Story –  A 12 year old boy wakes from a coma and he is unable to speak but he can write.  He writes two letters, to two families, street addresses it to their house and everything… but he’s never met them before.  The contents of the letters contain exact details and names of their deceased children he’s met on the ‘other side.‘ They have a message for their parents and the world.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: bessette, christopher, film, innocents, talks, trade, ...

Otep Shamaya talks about new album “Sounds Like Armageddon”

Otep Shamaya is the lead vocalist for the heavy metal band Otep. The group has just released a live CD titled “Sounds Like Armageddon” and has an album of new material set for release in the coming year. Media Mikes had a chance recently to ask Otep a few questions about the groups new live CD.

Adam Lawton: What made you decide to release a live album?
Otep Shamaya: I started this band to summon my soul into existence through the power of live performance. This album brings the raw, organic intensity of our live shows to a private performance inside the intimate universe of your mind.

AL: Was there any nervousness knowing that you would not only be performing but also recording?
OS: No, we prepare diligently for our live shows. People are always recording them in some fashion, smart phones, etc so we are accustomed to it in some way. But the truth is we give everything we have to every show, no matter where it is, how many people show up, or how we feel on that night. Every show counts. Play it like it’s your last.

AL: What made you start covering the Nirvana song “Breed” during your sets?
OS: Nirvana is one of my biggest influences. We were asked to cover a song on The Ascension, I chose BREED because I thought it was the one Nirvana song (at the time) that we could honor and do tribute to without veering too far from our sound or theirs.  It is now one of the staples of our live shows and fans go insane when they hear it.

AL: Can you tell us about your upcoming studio album?
OS: It’s a concept album based on a graphic novel I’ve been writing for two years. The book is about a girl corrupted by the world, corrugated by evil, ripped away from the golden, molten elixir of creativity, and abandoned on the placid, jagged rocks of a cruel and barbaric island where the rats poison themselves. This is a story of her personal revenge and righteousness. Her rise from the smoldering ash as a bruise that never heals transmuting, to the infinite, still-born messiah, a vigilante serial assassin, codename: HYDRA.

AL: Will there be plans to tour in support of the new album?
OS: Of course.

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: album, armageddon, otep, shamaya, sounds, talks, ...

Howie Mandel talks about his new game show “Take It All”

From his early stand up days to his years as Dr. Fiscus on the Emmy award winning “St. Elsewhere” to his role as host of “Deal or No Deal” Howie Mandel has always found a way to let his good natured, fun loving side show through.  This week he begins a new chapter as host of the new show “Take It All.”

Based on the popular “White Elephant” prize swaps that usually occur this time of year, the show will run starting Monday, December 10, through Friday, December 14 at 9:00 p.m. EST on NBC, with the show’s finale running at the same time on Monday, December 17.  While promoting the show Mr. Mandel sat down with Media Mikes to talk about his new show, his mostly hidden enthusiasm for contestants and the latest “Gremlins” rumors.

Mike Smith: Thanks for taking the time to talk today.
Howie Mandel: Oh, you’re welcome.

MS: How is this game different from what people play in their homes each year?
HM: Well, if you play this in your home, I’m coming to your home, because I don’t know that people give away cars and anything from hovercrafts to exotic vacations. This is beyond any gift that Secret Santa would have. And then, what we did was, you know obviously that was the theme of the idea, and I had gone to a few parties and had seen this, and watched the type of the gamesmanship and people play against each other. So, the simplicity of it is everybody comes out, we start with five, everybody comes out with a different prize. So, if you pick a car and the next person picks a hovercraft, whoever ends up with the least expensive prizes gives it back and goes home. And eventually we end with two people that have a veritable cornucopia of extravagant prizes. And then, they can pick cash, you know, a 1/4 of a million dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then they have a choice. And I don’t think they do this in the house, but their two choices are keep it, so they can keep everything that they have, or take it all. If one of them decides to take it all, they get everything that they’ve accumulated throughout the hour, plus what their opponent has accumulated and they end up with tons of money and prizes and cash. But here’s the catch. If they both decide to take it all, they both end up with nothing. And neither of them knows what the other is going to do, so it’s like – it’s great gamesmanship, because it’s like poker. They get a chance to face-off each other and against each other what they’re going to do and it’s the most surprising social experiment I’ve ever been part of. I thought “Let’s Make a Deal” was an incredible social experience, this takes it to the next level.

MS: Part of the fun of a Yankee Swap in homes is that people tend to bring kind of dud gifts, so somebody ends with a dud. Is that an element of the show?
HM: No, absolutely not. There are no duds. Well, the only dud, if you want to call it a dud, is you end up out – and I say that a couple times on the show, you know in one of the beginning rounds when the amounts are lower, you know you could end up with – you know where there’s a range from $15,000 to $100,000 in one round, and end (the game) if you end up holding the $15,000 prize, you know which for all intents and purposes is a really nice valuable gift, that could end up being the dud because that could send you home. You have to give that back. You give back everything you’ve accumulated up to that point. So, there aren’t any – you know in that way there are no duds. That being said, prizes are like characters in themselves. I mean, you will see things that you haven’t seen on any other show. And I’m talking things like hovercrafts and submarines and jet packs, and things like you’ve never seen before, so they’re all amazing. I mean, I’m just as blown away as the contestants when the gifts are revealed and I go, “Oh my, God, this is amazing. I want one,” you know?

MS: Is there chance that this show will go on beyond the holidays?
HM: That’s a question for NBC. It’s not a question for me, you know? But, the fact that I have this opportunity to do an event, you know? And the last time I was involved with an event of this magnitude in this way was “Deal or No Deal.” When I was presented with “Deal or No Deal” they said, “You know, we’re going to give you five nights in a row on a network and we truly believe in this. We think it’s a fun holiday event.” And that fun holiday event turned into 500 episodes. So I would love that, but I take each take as it comes. And, you know when we played the game in the room with NBC I said, “If you ever decide to do this, this is the one time I want the host.” I’ve been asked since “Deal or No Deal” to host everything that’s come along in the way of games and been told “This is fun.” Because this is about people, it’s about gamesmanship. You know, can you play – can you bluff somebody, can you create a story from that has the other players believe in what you’re saying? You play it like poker.

MS: This is the second game show you’ve hosted. What have you learned about people’s natures from doing this?
HM: I’ve learned that I know nothing. I’ve learned that you cannot judge a book by its cover. I learned that I’m fascinated with the human condition. I’ve learned that if you put people in different environments they probably don’t even know what they’re going to do. What happens is they get up there and there’s hundreds of thousands of dollars cash in front of them: diamonds, boats, gifts, and real estate, and you watch their eyes glaze over and you see them become a different person. The same thing is true when you get into a casino. I’m fascinated by what happens, you know? All I try to do as the host is just direct the traffic and hope that I keep them as clear as possible and as focused as possible, so that they can manipulate whatever plan they have of attack in the clearest possible way.

MS: And what kind of game player are you? Are you good at games?
HM: No, not at all. I’m not really a player of games. I’m fascinated by watching somebody play games…trivia, for the most part, and physical things that people have to do. I’m fascinated by that. And I watched, right in front of my eyes, somebody’s life changed forever. Somebody shows up and they just graduated college and then 40 minutes later they’re standing there with hundreds of thousands of dollars, millions of dollars, just their value, their worth monetarily has gone up. And with that, you know their life is not the same as it was when they walked in. So I find it fascinating. I don’t have the guts. If I showed up some place and somebody handed me 5 bucks, I would leave with my $5 and be thrilled that I got my $5. So it’s amazing to me the guts that people have to play a game, to keep going on, and to push it to the limits.

MS: As a host of game shows and talent shows, are you able to maintain a professional distance from the contestants, or do you find yourself getting emotionally involved in what they’re going through and sort of secretly root for them?
HM: Well, yes. You know, first and foremost I’m a human being and I’m a father and I’m a husband. So yes, the professionalism lies in you You can tell that I root for people and you can tell that I care, and it’s really hard. The hardest thing is to maintain, and I guess that’s what they pay you for, to maintain my professionalism when I see, in my mind, just like you the viewer, you know I can go, “Oh, no, no, no, no, this is bad move. This is a bad move,” but I’m not allowed to say that. And I can think it, but I can’t tell you I’m thinking it because that may sway you. And then again, I could be wrong. So yes, I am very involved. I can’t totally remove myself from it. But I hope that I maintain a professional stance as the host of the show. I’ve seen some parts of it and I think I do a fantastic job. (laughs)

MS: You had such a great run on St. Elsewhere. Do you ever see yourself open to the option to return to episodic television again?
HM: I would love to, so if you hear anything, please let me know. You know, I’ve always – everything I’ve done in my life has been because I said “yes” to these opportunities, and they’re nothing that I planned, you know? And I didn’t plan to do “St. Elsewhere.” I was a standup comic, and then I did that. And I certainly didn’t plan to be a game show host. You know, I fell into “Deal or No Deal” and it was such a great experience.

MS: This last one is a little off topic but I was asked to ask you if you know anything about the possibility of a “Gremlins” reunion or perhaps a remake of the original movie? And would you be interested in participating in that?
HM: I know nothing about it, but if they do I hope they give me a call. I would love to be part of it.

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: game, howie, mandel, show, talks

Christopher Tyng talks about scoring the TV series “Futurama”

Christopher Tyng is a composer that has worked on various television series including “Futurama”, “Suits” and “Rescue Me”. With Volume 7 of “Futurama” hits Blu-ray and DVD this month, he is releasing a brand new remix version of the “Futurama” theme on iTunes. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Christopher about working on the show and his influences over the years.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you originally get involved composing for “Futurama”?
Christopher Tyng: It all started with Matt Groening when he was searching for the style of music for the show. He has heard some of the stuff that I had done prior. He called and asked for a meeting. He was getting a lot of demos from other musicians but I guess they liked what they heard on mine. The rest is history, as I have been with this show for the last 10 years. Matt is a great person to work with.

MG: What is some of your inspiration that you pull from for this show?
CT: The visual aesthetics of the show goes back to the 50’s/60’s idea of what the future will be like. So we really wanted the music to reflect the same thing. We were looking at the hey-day of bachelor pad space age music. That was the music version of what they thought the future would be. The synthesizers were just started to get popular. There was this whole new pallid of sounds. People were also trying to stretch the boundaries of what music was then. We looked at what was happening with music at that time, so some of the influences were Les Baxter and Martin Denny. Of course then the show also takes place in the year 3000, so even though it has that visual aesthetic of that 50’s/60’s era, it takes place way in the future. We wanted to take those influences and modernize them a bit. Matt has always been a bit component of having a orchestra and doing it live. I was able to go back and do some remixing with electronica music, so we brought in that element as well. It is really a nice hodge-podge of elements in our influence.

MG: How do you do to differentiate the score season to season?
CT: That is a really good question! What is really great about “Futurama” – and different from any other show that I have worked on – is that in each episode, the story is set in the future where anything in possible. The show gets its story lines from pop culture reference over the years. Every episode is like a different journey. That has actually made the music different from episode to episode. We have this big orchestral sound with this bachelor pad space-age sound. They go back to ancient Egypt and the music takes on that tone. What is really fun for me is that when I go in to record, I really don’t know what I am writing for the next week. Due to that aspect, my job has never gotten stale since it is always changing.

MG: Tell us about the new extended remix for the “Futurama” theme available on iTunes?
CT: We wanted something that was going to play at a longer length for the iTunes release. We are excited that all the fans of “Futurama” are finally going to be able to own this piece of music in their collection. The TV scenes always tend to be a little shorter and don’t play the full single track. Some parts of the remix actually go back to the original premiere of the show at Griffith Observatory, which is this circular dome at the top of Hollywood. They had a DJ there and I decided to come up with some music for the DJ to spin. So there is actually some stuff on this single that I did way back then that was never able to been released. We were able to take all those elements and made it into a really great single length release.

MG: How composing for a cartoon compare to your other TV work?
CT: For shows like “The Simpsons” and “Futurama”, it isn’t the traditional cartoon music like the old-school Warner Bros. In the show there might be an epic space battle with deep comedic irony involved. But the music will always stay like it is an epic space battle. I thought originally that getting involved with a cartoon would be a totally different mindset. In truth though, the shows aims to play the aspects of the music like they are completely legitimate. If they are doing an emotionally intense moment, then the orchestra swells in a “Braveheart” sort of way. We are treating the show like we are scoring an epic movie even though the characters are doing something so ridiculous. That is what makes “Futurama” such an interesting project to work on due to the fact that it has such a wide set of influences.

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: christopher, futurama, scoring, series, talks, tv, ...

Robert Carlyle talks about his role in film “California Solo”

Robert Carlyle is a wonderful character actor known for his role in projects like “Trainspotting”, “The Full Monty”, ABC’s “Once Upon a Time”. In his new film “California Solo”, he plays a washed-out ex-Britpop rocker-turned-farm worker. This role is honestly one of his most revealing and honest to date. Robert took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about the role and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: Where did you pull your inspiration for Lachlan MacAldonich in “California Solo”?
Robert Carlyle: I was fortunate, in the respect, to have known a lot of people who are involved in that world like the Gallagher brothers of Oasis and Ian Brown from The Stone Roses. It was interesting for me to then try and realize what their live would have been like had they fucked up and ended up on a farm in Los Angeles. The role was written very honestly and also believable. He doesn’t like to talk about his past rocker life and just works on this farm. So it was interesting for me to re-examine that aspect of the character. The only similarities between Lachlan and me are that we both have failed at points in our career. But it was very interesting for me to dive into a character like him.

MG: Did you know writer/director Marshall Lewy before he wrote the role with you in mind?
RC: No I didn’t at all. I read the script and I remember thinking about halfway about the role that it is wasn’t going to be me, it better be somebody really fucking like me [laughs]. I spoke with my manager after reading it and found out he wrote it with me in mind. Well maybe not so much with me in mind but with the characters that I have played in the past. Lachlan certainly shares a lot of emotions with characters that I played back in the UK and still do to this very day. I am kind of known for that, in a sense, that I am able to give characters voices that maybe do not have one.

MG: The film has quite the emotional journey for Lachlan, was it a challenging character to portray?
RC: It certainly was! I think there are 96 or 97 scenes in the film and I am in 96 of them [laughs]. So that was a bit of an ask. I was a little bit concerned about that and spoke with Marshall about it. He stuck by his word and thought that it would work well. He believed we needed to see all aspects of this character. You see the certain side of the charm that Lachlan has got. Then you see the hopeless side of him, due to the way his drinks. But overall you get to see all aspects of this man, which I think makes it very interesting.

MG: Your are known for your chameleon-like ability to portray a wide range of characters; do these roles always find you or do you seek them out?
RC: I have been very lucky with that aspect and I am fortunate. I have never been the type of guy who would go around and knock on doors. I just look for roles that have honesty and really challenge me to do something different.

MG: You also sing the title song for the film, written by Adam Franklin, tell us about that?
RC: That was actually the scariest part of this role [laughs]. In the end though, it was kind of liberating. It was shot towards the end of production in the last few days. I didn’t use a voice coach to find my singing voice. I didn’t even know what my own signing voice was. But what you hear in the film is exactly what we shot. Plus Lachlan was never meant to be a singer. He is the guitar player, so he didn’t need to really have a perfect voice. However, I was quite pleased with it.

MG: How was it going from a role like “California Solo” to Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold in “Once Upon a Time”?
RC: It is quite a leap. It is fantastic to be on a show like that. In the early 90’s, I wanted to take on roles that were very different from what I did last. I wanted to build up a background with good versatility. As the years have gone on, I hopefully have shown that I am able to play parts like Rumpelstiltskin and he is a culmination of that. He is the most out-there and certainly the most theatrical role that I have ever been given. So I am just looking forward to continuing that and hopefully playing it well.

 

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: california, carlyle, film, robert, role, solo, ...

Don Felder talks about working with The Eagles and his new solo album

Don Felder is probably best known for his lead guitar work with The Eagles. Felder was inducted with the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 however left the group shortly their after. He has recently released a new solo album titled “Road to Forever” which is his first solo release in 30 years. Media Mikes had the pleasure of talking with Don recently about the album, his autobiography and his plans for 2013.

Adam Lawton: With your last solo album being released 30 years ago what prompted you to now release an album of new material?
Don Felder: When you are in The Eagles you eat, breath and sleep Eagles business. You are either on the road, writing songs, doing interviews or performing. It is something that is all consuming and a monster of a machine. When I left the band in 2001 I really went through a period of self reflection. I started meditating between 30 and 40 minutes a day where I would look back at my life. I was trying to get a handle on what had happened to me and how I had changed. I would come out of these sessions and write down my recollections. My fiancé had read them and told me she thought it would make a great book. I told her that I was the world’s worst English student in high school and I actually had to go to summer school because I failed English. The next thing I know I am on a plane to New York with a literary agent. We ended up coming back with 5 offers from publishing companies to publish this book. I then had to look at the daunting task of having to take all these recollections  of my life story and write it in to a book. That took some time. During that first year of separation from the Eagles I also was separating/divorcing from my wife. Everything that I knew was stripped away from me. I had to find a place where I could resolve all of that. As I was going through the book writing process there would be painful parts that I needed to work through. To help myself through those tuff times I would go in to my home studio and write a song about it. I wrote 26 song ideas at about the same time I was writing my book. This was an effort to emotionally and intellectually flush myself of these feelings. I didn’t want to carry this excess baggage with me through the remaining years of my life. After the book was published I went out on the road to promote it as well as doing shows with my solo band which I have had for about the last 8 and a half years. In between all of that I worked on this album. I took the best 16 songs from the original 26 and recorded them for this CD. At that point I really shifted myself away from book writing and promotion. There were a lot of reasons that caused this album to take so long. I definitely wasn’t at home just twiddling my thumbs. (Laughs) I had a really full plate on all levels.

AL: Did you find any similarities between writing a book and writing music?
DF: Absolutely! It was a dual cathartic experience. On one hand I was writing the text of my life while on the other I was writing the music to my life. I turned those stories and experiences in to songs. To me real art weather its film, literature, painting or music contains stuff that have a human common denominator. People can experience those things and relate to them. I felt it was important for me to take my experiences and put them in these songs.  For me that is one of the most personal things an artist can do is to expose themselves in these ways. I felt the process to be very personal on both levels.

AL: The album features an impressive lineup of guest appearances. How did you go about picking people to appear on the album?
DF: One of my top criteria was having people that I know and who are good people and friends that wanted to have fun. When I finished the song “Fall From the Grace of Love” I wanted it to have these really great harmonies in the chorus. I called my friend Steven Stills who I was in a band with when I was 15. He actually lives down the road from me and we hang out and play golf together. When I got to California the first band I was in was Crosby, Nash. I called those guys up and asked them if they would sing on the record. They came over immediately and we had a really great time. There was no drama like I was so used to with my old band. Steve Lukather is probably one of the funniest guys to be in a room with. Not only is he a great guitar player but he is a ton of laughs. He played on the song “Road to Forever”. Tommy Shaw of Styx came in and helped with a couple tracks. Randy Jackson also came in and did some bass work on a song. Everyone knows him as the “Dawg dude” on “American Idol” but, he is a monster bass player! Randy is probably one of the top players in the Los Angeles area. He just destroyed this thing. They are all just friends of mine who happened to be in or around town. We had a lot of fun and made some great music. Those sessions really wiped away the old stigma of being in the studio and having arguments and contentious feelings. There was none of that and everything was just all good. In fact I had such a good time that I will promise the next album will not take another 30 years. (Laughs)

AL: How did your song “Fall From the Grace of Love” end up being chosen to appear in an episode of Showtime’s “Homeland”?
DF: I love the show and was just as shocked as everyone else when I heard they wanted to use one of my songs. I watch that show religiously as I think it is one of the most exciting shows on television right now. I got a call a few weeks back by the people who handle my publishing company that they had received a request from the people at “Homeland” to use the song. I said absolutely and felt quite honored.

AL: Can you tell us about your tour plans for the rest of this year and in to 2013?
DF: I think my last date for 2012 is December 15th. We have had such a great response to not only the new record but also the live shows that I plan on working from early February through fall of 2013. I will probably stay out on the road until it gets too cold to be slopping around out there. I could certainly use a vacation right now. It seems the closest I get to a vacation these days is doing interviews with people like yourself.

AL: What do you think has been the biggest change in your audiences over the years?
DF: Personally I am not a fan of going to really large venues like football stadiums or hockey arenas to hear music. I think that is the wrong place to go. The sound is usually bad and most instances you are so far away from the stage that you get a better show watching the video monitor than you do from your seat. It is just not comfortable. I prefer to play the 3-5,000 seat arenas. In the summer I do like playing larger venues like State Fairs and such with bands like Reo Speedwagon and the Doobie Brothers. Those big festivals that happen during the day are really great and people love that. I think the smaller venues are much more comfortable and intimate. It also is better sounding for the artist and listener at a smaller venue. We are also able to make the ticket prices much more affordable than that of say the Eagles. About 60 percent of my shows consist of Eagles songs while the rest is covers and solo material. It’s a great evening where by the end everyone is up on their feet dancing and having a great time. There is no drama as it’s just a great group of guys playing great music and having fun.

AL: Is there anything else we can be watching for from you in the coming year?
DF: There are a lot of things in the planning stages for 2013. Those things will start to show up on the website once they become public. Right now there are a couple tours being planned. One includes going to Japan, Europe and Australia. That is going to be contingent on the routing of where we will be and when during next year. I can’t really say exactly what will happen until those are contracted. I love to be out playing music and have a very child like enthusiasm for it. When you are doing something you love to do it is a playful experience. I have been fortunate enough and been given the gift to be able to do what I love. I enjoy it for that.

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: album, don, eagles, felder, solo, talks, ...
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