talks Archives - Page 47 of 55

Joe Turkel talks about Stanley Kubrick, “The Shining” & “Blade Runner”

Joe Turkel is known best for his role of Lloyd the Bartender in “The Shining”. Joe also played the iconic role of Dr. Eldon Tyrell in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner”. Media Mikes had a rare chance to chat with this amazing actor, courtesy of C & V Promotions, to discuss his iconic roles and tell some great stories.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how you originally get invovled with Stanley Kubrick on “The Shining”?
Joe Turkel: That was the third picture I did with Stanley Kubrick. He first saw me in a little picture I did called “Man Crazy”. He liked the work I did and said he would like to use me in a picture he did called “The Killing” in 1956. He said it was a little role but he had something better coming up. Little did I know then but he was talking about “Paths of Glory”. He changed my life.

MG: Having worked twice before with Kubrick; did his style change over 20 years later on “The Shining”?
JT: He took a lot of time then but a lot of time on “The Shining”. He had a lot of attority and he wasn’t afraid to use that attority. Like with “Eyes Wide Shut”, he had a rule that anyone like producers or related to the film will not be permitted on the set. He just had this attority.

MG: How did you prepare for this unique role of Lloyd the Bartender in “The Shining”?
JT: It was just another part for me. I approached it like I would any other and that was it.

MG: How was it working with Jack Nicholson?
JT: Jack Nicholson is just the greatest. I’ll tell you a story about Jack. I am responisble for his career. In 1961 he has just come out from the East Coast and I had been there for ten years. He was broke most of the time. One day I was at the race track with a friend of mine and I hit a daily double for $4,400 dollars. Now that is a lot of money in those days. As I was getting the money settled, my friend saw Jack and I told him what just happened. Kenny, my friend, told me he owed Jack $800 bucks. So I told him to pay him and I gave him the money. Jack said to me “You know something Turkel, I was going to go back to New York but it is too fucking cold. I will take this money and it will get me through the winter.” But during the winter, he got lucky got a role and the rest is history.

MG: With a role that is consists of two scenes, how can you reflect on the impact they had on the film?
JT: I was suprised they had such an impact. Stanley and I were talking on set about how good it was and I told him “Stanley, thanks but I don’t want to wait 25 years between pictures”. We were both New Yorkers so we had this special bond. He told me we would work together again but that was the last time I saw him.

MG: Since the films are so different; did the productions of “The Shining” and “Blade Runner” differ much?
JT: Ridley Scott three times during my filming and asked me how I thought Stanley Kubrick would approach certain scenes. He was completely enamored with his work. Steven Spielberg said he was “the grandmaster of filmmaking”. So for Ridley Scott to come over and ask me for suggestion it was amazing.

MG: How did you prepare for the such an iconic character, Dr. Eldon Tyrell?
JT: Well I mad it that way [laughs]. I played it that way. It was a nice role and I did well. I have had better roles. I have had worse roles. Everything I have done has been unique from the fucking ruler of the world to a bartender. They were all crazy. I also like to do
comedy, which I have done over years in television.

MG: How do you feel about Ridley Scottworking on a sequel after all these years?
It is not going to be as good as the first. Sequels never are. The first one is always the one looked at.

MG: What do you like most about meeting your fans at conventions?
JT: It’s amazing. Just amazing. They are so gratitous. They are so happy to meet me. When I did a Q&A, the house was completely packed. They were asking questions about Kubrick and “Blade Runner”. I was taking pictures at the bar in full costume as Lloyd The Bartender from “The Shining”, so that was really cool as well.

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Takashi Miike talks about making “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”

Takashi Miike is know for his controversial Japanese filmmaker style. He is know for directing ultra-violent films like “Ichi the Killer” and “Audition”. His last film was the amazing “13 Assassins”, a remake of Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 film. Takashi took some time to answer some questions about his new film “Hara-Kiri” and shooting in 3D.

Q: What was your inspiration for choosing “Hara-Kiri” as your next film?
A: It just so happened that this kind of epic film was my next film after “13 Assassins”. I don’t plan to make only films like this. The touchstone benchmark is quality over quantity. By quality, I mean what kindles your heart or whether or not it makes you feel free as you devote yourself to the filming. Next fall, I will shoot a TV drama for late night television that is ruinously low-budget. But with low-budget works comes an excitement that can only be relished through low-budget.

Q: How do you compare your film to the original from 1962?
A: What excites me about resurrecting this film from the past is being able to feel first-hand the existence of the universal human suffering which “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai” depicts at its core as it transcends time, genres and countries. My new versions share everything in common with the old films yet everything is a little off. Since things like originality or being finicky about some worthless triviality were thrown away a long time ago, one cannot compare two works by lining them up next to each other. They are only connected in tandem as part of the flow of time in which they were created.

Q: Tell us about your experience working with Ebizo Ichikawa and Koji Yakusho? A: Ebizo Ichikawa is the real deal when it comes to being the prize of kabuki. He is the king of traditional performing arts in Japan. He is a man without a net challenging frontiers with a great deal of curiosity. He made the set a fun, stimulating place day after day. I am looking forward to even more exciting things from him. Koji Yakusho is a living treasure in Japanese film. He always seams up the frayed edges in my clumsy directing in an artful way. He is a living treasure of modern Japanese film who leads you into the special world of filmmaking. He always teaches me Japan’s unique virtue of humility. Also, his wife is a lovely lady filled with elegance.

Q: Can you reflect on the film’s music by Ryuichi Sakamoto?
A: From the bottom of my heart, I really appreciated Ryuichi Sakamoto providing such wonderful music. The souls of the characters in the film squeal in the soundtrack. And these sounds aren’t rammed down-your-throat and don’t really come so far forward. His music fills the theater like air with a certain stillness and quietness yet its sureness and authority remain. Ryuichi Sakamoto is an artist who sees through the deception of the essence of 3D.

Q: Can you tell us was your biggest challenge shooting in 3D?
A: Nothing changed for me shooting a movie in 3D. It was the same on set experience as any other film for me. The only difference was that the speed of shooting was slightly slower than normal. All in all, this film will probably be a welcomed development for those who already pursue stereo spatial visuals in the world of 2D via lighting and camera angles. There was no change to my approach other than I was able to go brag to the director shooting at the studio next door and say, “Huh? Yours is flat and level? Ours is bumpy and convexo-concave.”

Q: With 3D being the big craze, what are your expectations for the audience?
A: I would be most pleased if the audience feels that what can be expressed in 2D can also be expressed in 3D. For the people who are not fans of 3D, I hope they will say, “Wow! 3D works.” It would be perfect if older audiences would say, “How interesting the way this film bursts out and sucks me up.” I guess for the next few years this situation will continue where 3D is just one option for making a movie. And the audiences will probably decide and determine what happens after that. I definitely anticipate making more 3D movies. Next, if I have the chance, I want to have things that shouldn’t come out of our bodies be hurled at the audience.

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Emilie Autumn talks about film “The Devil’s Carnival” and new album “Fight Like a Girl”

Emilie Autumn is a musician and world-class violinist. But there is so much more that makes up Emilie including her dark lyrics, metal-shredding violin solos, and industrial-strength voice. Emilie also co-stars in Darren Lynn Bousman’s new film “The Devil’s Carnival” as the Painted Doll. Emilie took out some time from working on her new album entitled ‘Fight Like A Girl and extensive touring to chat with MTedia Mikes about the film and her new album.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you initially get involved with working on this film?
Emilie Autumn: It was completely by absolute chance. I was on tour a couple of years ago and my tour manager at the time got an email from Darren explaining that he was making a movie, it’s going to be a crazy thing and he really thought I should play a part in it. We get those kinds of emails all the time and I usually don’t pay attention to them because usually they’re not real or I’d rather focus on my own musical world and aren’t interested in being in a bunch of people’s movies. But he was very, very persistent. And what I didn’t know until later, when we got together at a meet and greet and somebody asked him how he started working with me, was that the story is much more elaborate. He said he basically became a stalker (laughs). I didn’t know any of that. I thought he had just sent me that one email. But it turned out he had been trying to get in touch with me for ages through all sorts of different means. And because I was touring at the time I wasn’t on line a lot and I wasn’t getting his messages. So in the end he just got so obsessed with me playing this character. Which is funny since I had to endure four hours of makeup and prosthetics every day which pretty much made ME invisible. I have to admit that when they first contacted me I had no idea who Darren was, mainly because I hadn’t been exposed to “Repo” or anything else but it’s weird because I actually have (2) songs on soundtracks from films that Darren directed! I really enjoy good thrillers but I’m not very big on films with long, gratuitous torture scenes. There’s enough crazy shit in my head already! I hadn’t seen those. But lucky enough Darren understood why I hadn’t seen them. Amazingly we’re still friends, even after I said “I don’t know who you are and I haven’t seen any of your work” (laughs). I sent him a note saying, “I have no idea what this is…I need some more information.” And he sent me a reply back saying, “please go watch THIS.” I thought it was going to be a link to one of his films but it was actually a link to a compilation site of what the fans – the “REPO” army – were doing. Dressing up and watching a movie that had been completely panned and having gotten the worse reviews ever. And that was good. He wanted me to see the actual audience response to something that was completely underground yet became such a huge community that was really about being creative. And that is exactly what I, with my own career, am doing. That was pretty much the exact right thing he could have sent. When I told him that he said to go on my next off day and watch “REPO.” So all of my band girls and I got into one hotel bed, Netflixed it and watched it. We didn’t know ANYTHING about it. And then all of a sudden the opening credits come up and it’s Sarah Fucking Brightman! And I was like, “what the F??? Are you fucking with me?” I sent him an email back saying, “you got Sarah Brightman. Who am I to say “no” to you?” I mean, if it’s good enough for her I’ll do it. So that’s how it all began. And you have to realize, this could be a movie that nobody gets. It’s a project about people using their own money and their own connections and their own skills to make something happen. And that’s the only way I have personally ever done anything. So to me it was a beautiful thing. To work with people who are doing things the exact same way I do. We made it in six days. We recorded the soundtrack in one day. It’s really amazing and I love talking about it. With nobody else’s money they do what I do…they go on tour. They rent out theatres as they go across the country living in a van. I’m actually getting ready to join them for the rest of the tour. I’ll do some of the premiers and some more meet and greets and Q & A things. And it’s great because half of them who come to the show are wearing Emilie Autumn T-shirts! So for me this is a great crossover audience. A few weeks into this tour it looks like a mad fucking success. And I’m so proud to be a part of it. I’m so proud of so many things. I’m not embarrassed by my performance. I adore all of my songs. But I’m proud most of Darren. I mean I was reading about “Rocky Horror” a while ago and I noticed that, just like “REPO,” it was given horrible reviews. Nobody gave a fuck about it. Then it suddenly exploded into a cult thing that hasn’t died yet. And I think “REPO” can become something like that along those lines. That being said, I’ve yet to see a fan review of “Devil’s Carnival!” Maybe you will write one after you see it.

MG: This was your first film. What did you enjoy most about the process of making a film?
EA: I still get smiley and giddy when I think about it because I did not expect to have that much fun. I did not expect it to be so easy and yet so challenging at the same time. It was like Christmas every day. Especially because it was freezing every day. We shot in a town called Riverside, California, which is kind of like the carnival wasteland. It’s where old circus’ and carnivals go to die. It’s like two football fields of old ferris wheels and tents and carnival attractions and rides and wagons and games. And from it we actually built a theme park. I wish you could have seen it before it was put together. We were doing night shoots but in mid-May it’s still deathly cold. And I’m wearing very little. Of course Lucifer gets to run around in a cape and a giant bathrobe so he was fine. So the cold was really the only thing that was remotely unpleasant about the whole experience.

MG: I just saw a 12 minute teaser trailer for the film. What can you tell us about that?
EA: It’s funny on a couple of different levels. What I didn’t know, what I found out at one of the Q & A sessions, was that I was the very first person they asked to be in the film that had signed on to the project. Which makes sense why I’m the main one in the teaser because I had signed on before anyone else. But what we didn’t know at that time was the direction they were going to take with the Painted Doll character. So we just pulled the crew together, set up the cameras and made that 12 minute teaser, which was basically compiled from 35 minutes of me walking around doing nothing! Plus I don’t really look anything like my character, I look like Emilie Autumn. So it was me and all of this old stuff. Darren would tell me to walk around a corner and pick up an apple. NOW SPIT IT OUT! Now pick up that weird giant doll-thing. Now dance around with it. And of course what I don’t notice when I’m doing it, but what I see later, is that the camera is mostly zooming in and focusing on my ass. I mean, I totally approved. That’s not a problem for me. But I was like, ok, I know what’s going on. But it’s funny. When it came out it was pretty much the first thing anybody had seen on “Devil’s Carnival” on the web site. What’s funny is that I can’t read articles or interviews about myself. It just weirds me out. I can’t deal with that much information about ME. But I set up Google Alert for “Devil’s Carnival” because THAT I can read about all day long. So I was getting all of these little bits about what people thought about the 12 minute film. Half of them were like, “wow, that’s real cool and tantalizing. I can’t wait to see what this is.” And then some other people were like, “well, that’s 12 minutes of my life I’m never going to get back!” And the thing is they were both right. They were both absolutely right. Because NOTHING is going on. And when we shot it and Darren called me out there I asked him what he wanted me to do and he said “NOTHING!” And I asked him what the point was we were making and he said “NOTHING!” He really wanted something where you would watch this girl walk around for 12 minutes picking up stuff. You would be waiting for someone to say something or somebody to get killed or somebody to come in…some punch line or something at the end. But he just wanted you to watch and wait and then think “FUCK!” at the end! And he got what he wanted.

MG: How do you feel the songs in the film differ from your own original songs, if they do?
EA: Not a lot. My own music has always been dramatic and the songs on my last album have even gotten into musical theater territory. In fact some of the songs on my new record are part of a Broadway show that is being written right now. So it is all verymagically coincidental in that way. That I would be asked to be part of a musical theater project and to sing a song in a very dramatic way. To run around a tent and sing…”yes, this is Hell.” That is what I’m supposed to be doing. And of course, three days after we shot that scene I’m out on tour doing my own thing. And I should say the story starts out bad but it gets better. But I did the film the week before the tour and didn’t rehearse. I didn’t rehearse for my own tour. But the good thing is that I had two of my Bloody Crumpets – my girls who sing with me on stage – also with me on the film. And so at least we could sit in our dressing rooms and talk about the tour. We didn’t rehearse but we talked about what we were going to do for our shows.

MG: Since you brought up your new album, tell us how you chose the new direction your music is taking?
EA: Well the song “Fight Like A Girl” is not only the title track but, to be honest, it is deceptively “poppy.” And that was intentional. To say these really forceful things and basically go to battle but with a really catchy beat. To be scary and beautiful and fun all at the same time. And then the second track, “Time for Tea,” that one really starts the story. Both in our live show and on the record. I mean we have a big clock and when it’s four o’clock it goes off and we say, “four o’clock, it’s mother fucking time for tea, and it’s time to eradicate the enemy.” Then we just run down the stairs with medical tools and we start slaughtering. And the rest of the album just gets more epic and symphonic. So what makes it different from the others is how everything is together and complete in a story.

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: album, autumn, carnival, devils, emilie, fight, ...

Timothy Hutton talks about new season of “Leverage”

Timothy Hutton plays Nate Ford on TNT’s hit show “Leverage”. The new season returns Sunday, July 15th, at 8 PM, Eastern Time on TNT. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Timothy about the new season and what we can expect.

Mike Smith: What to expect this season? What’s different?
Timothy Hutton: Well, first of all, what we can expect from this new season is one of the biggest things is that the Leverage team has officially moved to Portland where we film the show. So they’ve left Boston, and what it’s allowed the writers to do is use all these amazing locations around Portland and just outside the city for storylines. There are some amazing vineyards. And we’re doing a show right now having to do with a winery and some bad things that are going on there, and the Leverage team infiltrating kind of the local wine industry and trying to correct that. So that’s one big thing about season five. And another thing is I think that the team have really come a lot closer together. And for Nate, with the way that his father died in the finale last year, I think it’s kind of made him someone who isn’t connected to his past and, instead, more interested in his future and his present way of going about life. And it’s changed him I think quite a bit.

MS: What you love about playing Nate?
TH: That’s something. I think that he is a guy with a lot of burden by events that happened in his past which anyone would be burned by and troubled by. But the way the writers have gone about the character, the fact that he spent almost all his time helping other people I think, and trying to correct situations that people have been ripped off or wronged in some way, I think that he’s a pretty good person. And then now going into this fifth year, you’ll see a lot more of Nate figuring out what can happen to him in the future versus what has happened to him in the past.

MS: Are you surprised by the success of this show now going five seasons strong?
TH: Well, I have to say, once I started seeing the shows put together and reading the scripts and everything and then we did the first year and saw that the ratings were strong and all that, that people were watching it, it just started to feel good and started to kind of make sense because we all were, we were having a great time making the shows and having the people who are having – you know, that translated to people having a great time watching them. The writers kept coming up with and still do these really intricate plots and cons and character storylines. So as time has gone on, on the one hand, I think, wow, it’s been five years, and when we’re done with this season, it will have been 77 1-hour episodes – 77 different 1-hour episodes of Leverage. It’s pretty hard to believe, but here we are and we’re still having a great time making them and I hope to do many more seasons.

MS: Can you talk at all about any of the great guest stars you’re going to have this season?
TH: Yes. This season, we have some really terrific guest stars. In the premier, we have Cary Elwes and then, right after that, in the next show, we have Treat Williams. We’ve got Neil Hopkins, Steve Valentine, Marshall Teague, Danielle Turchini. We’ve got Ronny Cox and Fred Ward in one of my favorite episodes we’ve ever done, which is called the “D.B. Cooper Job”. And that’s where the team goes back in time to try to solve the disappearance of the hijacker D.B. Cooper. And that one is a terrific show. We have Matthew Lillard. And we have Mark Sheppard coming back. And then we’ve got Adam Baldwin, Monty Markham and Willa Ford. So, yes, we’ve got some really good guest stars and some more surprises that I’m not allowed to mention.

MS: What do we expect to see from Nate and Sophie this season?
TH: Well, with Nate and Sophie, I think what you’ll see this season is, instead of there being as it was in the past, a conflict between the two of them whether or not they’re going to work it out as a couple, I think that what you’ll see from the beginning is that they really are, they really have come together as a couple, as working partners. And they’re comfortable with one another and their trust of one another, most importantly has come to a point where they’re able to have, finally, a much healthier relationship. Now, having said, it is Nate and Sophie, so I don’t know how. They’re both very dysfunctional kind of complicated people, so, we will see that things can’t ever get too comfortable with them because of the nature of who they re.

MS: You’ve directed television episodes in the past. Is there any desire or any plans for you to do – go behind the camera on Levarage this season?
TH: Well, I don’t think that’s something that I would do. First of all, we’ve got a group of really terrific directors, I mean, starting with Dean Devlin and then Jonathan Frakes and John Rogers and Marc Roskin and a group of others. It’s a very well-organized show. I enjoy working with all of the directors. We have some new ones this year. And playing the role of Nate can be pretty time consuming and a lot of dialogue and whatnot. And I think it really isn’t anything that I thought that I want to do. I mean, if they came to me and asked me to do one, if we ended up doing another season and there was a show where it made sense, I think it would be fun to direct one of the Leverage episodes. But, right now, it hasn’t been anything that I really wanted to do. I have quite a full plate to play Nate.

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: hutton, leverage, season, talks, timothy

Michael Jai White talks about Adult Swim’s “Black Dynamite” and “Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse”

Michael Jai White is known for playing roles in films like “Spawn” and “Black Dynamite”. His live-action film “Black Dynamite” is coming to Adult Swim and becoming an animated series thanks to Titmouse, Inc. Also currently Michael is reprising his role of Marcus in “Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse” on TBS. Michael Jai White took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about “Black Dynamite”, Tyler Perry and “Mortal Kombat”.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you reflect on the cult following that “Black Dynamite” has developed over the years?
Michael Jai White: My intentions were originally to open it larger. It eventually got the attention it deserved. The audience started to find it and their worth of mouth has been very valuable. It is tweeted about every few minutes since 2009. It has been a miraculous type of thing. We even won a bunch of film festivals in other countries, which has proven it is universal. I am very happy about its success and what what we are going to do to follow it up.

MG: What made you take the animation route for “Black Dynamite”?
MJW: It was an opportunity that presented itself. I was a fan of “The Boondocks” and friend of Carl Jones. He thought it will make a great animated show and I agreed. We are still open to do another live action version of the film as well. The original plan was to do three films in that blaxploitation genre, the first being “Black Dynamite”. With our second film, must like Monty Python you can use the same cast in different movies. We are planning that right now.

MG: How was it reunited with original cast like Tommy Davidson, Byron Minns, and Kym Whitley?
MJW: Most of the time we would come in separately. Whenever we come together, we have too much fun [laughs]. It was a purposeful idea that we do it separately so everyone can concentrate.

MG: Do you feel that you are able to expand the show more since it is animated?
MJW: Oh yeah absolutely! Cause you can do things like Black Dynamite goes to the moon. That would be very difficult if you were shooting in live-action. Your imagination can run wild on an animated show and that is exactly what we did.

MG: Did you get to work closely with Titmouse, Inc on the show’s style?
MJW: The animation style was in the hands of Carl Jones. He is the master and knows what he is doing. I had to humble myself to be able to understand and learn a whole new genre. Carl has worked tirelessly in order to make this show unique and he has done that.

MG: Continuing with your TV work, what do you enjoy most about reprising your role of Marcus Williams in “Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse”?
MJW: Yeah, it just started its second season on Thursday July 12th. It is a more family wholesome show and then on July 15th we have “Black Dynamite”, which is definitely not [laughs]. What I enjoy most is I get to play a real human being. I enjoy my other work as well, like “Spawn” but they are bigger than life. This one is right on life. Being a husband and father, I get to play a lot of other nuances I wouldn’t ever get to play in these fantastic movies. We are dealing with actually issues, family issues. Things that are really funny and can hopefully connect with the audience.

MG: Any update on Kevin Tancharoen’s feature version of the web series “Mortal Kombat: Legacy”?
MJW: Absolutely, that is currently in the works. It is going to be with Warner Brothers. If you have seen any of Kevin’s work, this guy is just super amazing. He is is tirelesly working on that script, nipping and tucking to make sure it is perfect. I have all my faith in Kevin. He is going to be one of the best directors ever. Be sure to watch for him. Once that script is done, we are planning to go into production.

MG: After “Never Back Down 2” last year, any plans to direct more for you?
MJW: Yes I do. I plan on directing a romantic comedy, one that I have had the rights to for a while. I would also like to direct more action movies down the line as well, it depends on what speaks to me and where I might have a unique voice in directing.

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: adult, black, dynamite, jai, michael, swims, ...

Ben Gleib talks about “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, Kevin Smith, “Chelsea Lately”, hanging with Jaleel White and time traveling with Syfy’s “Insane or Inspired?”

Ben Gleib is a comedian who can be seen recently voicing Marshall in “Ice Age: Continental Drift”. He also has his own podcast called “Last Week on Earth” on Kevin Smith’s Smodcast Network. Ben took out some time with Media Mikes to chat about appearing on “Chelsea Lately”, hanging with Jaleel White and time traveling with Syfy while working the show “Insane or Inspired?”

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your role of Marshall in “Ice Age: Continental Drift”?
Ben Gleib: Well I had had an obsession with sloths since early in my life. So I have had to shape my career so that one way or another, I would portray a sloth on the silver screen. Actually that answer is bullshit. I just auditioned and got cast. It was very exciting though. Every kid grows up watching cartoons and you would never imagine that you would become a cartoon yourself. It has certainly ruined my ability to watch cartoons again though since now I know the process that goes into it…but it is worth it to entertain America’s children [pauses]…I only say I want to entertain America’s children so that women will read this and want to have sex with me.

MG: Tell us about your podcast “Last Week on Earth” on Kevin Smith’s Smodcast Network?
BG: I did a TV pilot with Kevin originally. He then asked me to co-host a podcast with him and shortly after he offered me my own show on his network. The idea behind it was that I try and cover every single event that happens the week before on Earth. News, politics, pop culture, science, social trends, technology and just weird shit. Every other week a celebrity guest joins me for it. I am having the time of my life doing it. It is a shit ton of work trying to learn the details of all of theevents on planet Earth each week. But I feel like it is worth it as a gift to all of my listeners. And by gift I mean a gift that no one asked for, and will probably get returned to the store.

MG: What is the prepare time for each episode?
BG: It is a lot of time. I am following the news all week. I’m also pre-writing a lot of concepts for the podcast. Each episode probably takes me between 20-30 hours to prepare. If I don’t end up on “Jeopardy” or at least the dumb version of it “Celebrity Jeopardy” one of these days, my life will be a failure.

MG: Tell us how you ended up appearing as a frequent guest on “Chelsea Lately”?
BG: I knew Chelsea a bit before she had her show just from doing stand-up together. So one day she told me they wanted me on the show and I have been asked back ever since. I have been very fortunate because I really enjoy being on television. Chelsea’s show is best place for comedians to be these days. You go on her show and just riff about everything going on with pop culture that week and it is a lot of fun. Plus it is even easier for me, since if I tell jokes that don’t go over so well, Chelsea just makes fun of me and it gets laughs anyway. So it is a win-win situation and a fail safe.

MG: How did you get involved with Syfy’s “Insane or Inspired?”?
BG: The casting director of that show, Phyllis Coblentz, called me up one day and asked me to be on the show. I agreed to do it and thought it sounded like a fun show to do. We actually just got picked up for another twelve episodes as well. It has been awesome with Syfy because besides being paid to be on their show, they also conduct experiments on you. I can’t say too much more, but my end of this phone call is happening in the 1800’s. I might have already said too much, so let me cover it up and say that my end of the conversation is actually place in the 23rd century. That way it will keep you guessing.

MG: I noticed you wear the same clothes in every episode, do you ever consider personal hygiene?
BG: When you work with Syfy and are a time traveler, you don’t really have time to pack a heavy bag. You just keep the same clothes. Syfy didn’t really know which clips would be in each episode, so they asked us to wear the same clothes each taping. It was a little silly because in the same episode you can see me with long hair and a beard and short hair and clean shaven, all while being in the same clothes. That or it could have been just the longest taping in history or I just have bionic fast growing hair.

MG: Speaking of the SyFy family, you worked with Jaleel White, host of “Total Blackout” in the film “Dumbbells”, tell us about that?
BG: We already shot “Dumbbells” and I didn’t even know that Jaleel White was in the movie until you told me right now. I am very excited to know that now and more excited about my film career since he is in it. I did actually meet Jaleel White once in the past. I was at a bar in Hollywood last year and there was a very attractive girl I was trying to impress and while she went to the bathroom, I felt like my breath could use a little freshening. And like a knight in shining armor, like everyone knows he is, Jaleel White walks into the bar. So I asked him if he could spare a piece, since I saw him chewing and I felt nervous asking Steve Urkel for gum. He put a piece of gum in my hand and closed my fingers around it and said to me “Never forget me man, I hooked you up”. Things did not work out with that girl. But if they did work out, could you have guessed who the best man at the wedding would have been?

MG: Let me guess…Jaleel White?
BG: No, it would have been my best friend Scott. I just got a piece of gum from Jaleel White, that’s really not a big deal.

MG: Being a comedian, who are your all-time favorites comedians?
BG: My favorite comedians of all-time would have to be George Carlin, Chris Rock and George W. Bush. They are definitely three of the funniest people in history.

MG: What do you enjoy most about doing stand-up comedy?
BG: It is the most free medium for a comedian. It is really a privilege to bring comedy to people on any form, whether it be TV or movies. But when it is stand-up, there is literally nobody else that gets to have a say in it. I get to say or do anything I want. It is completely just my unfettered creative output that gets directly to the audience and you get immediate feedback. It is also exhilarating, in the moment, with every second to second and joke to joke you don’t know how it is going to go. So it keeps you on your toes. Also when you are on your toes it is good because you seem taller. Girls enjoy tall guys, and you just hope that they do not look down because girls do not like guys who stand on their tippy toes. They do not find it very manly.

MG: What do I need to do to get you down to the Improv clubs here in Orlando, FL?
BG: All you need to do is find very attractive women who are into somewhat tall comedians who make themselves look like taller ballet dancers, and then I will be there. Because that is the girl I like. The kind of girl I like, and you can quote me on this, is the kind of girl that likes me. But do me a favor though, do not quote me on anything else I said so far.

MG: Well that is going to make this a very short interview then.
BG: Perfect.

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Adam Busch talks about working on TBS’ hit show “Men at Work”

Adam Busch is currently co-star on TBS’ hit show “Men at Work”. He co-stars along side Danny Masterson (“That ’70s Show”), James Lesure (“Las Vegas”) and Michael Cassidy (“The O.C.”). “Men at Work” is one the best new shows on television right now and was already renewed for a second season next summer. Like myself Adam is also a Long Island, NY native who then moved to Orlando FL (also like myself) to pursue acting. Media Mikes had a blast chatting with him about “Men at Work” and if you haven’t seen this show be sure to check it out on TBS.

Mike Gencarelli: What drew you to “Men at Work”?
Adam Busch: I have always wanted to do a sitcom. I started working for Nickelodeon on the show “The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo” and across the hall they were recording the sketch comedy “All That”. Our show was serious and we would hear this laughing and screaming next door whenever the stage door was opened. They were always having such fun and improving on the fly. I said myself that I wanted to do that. Well, it took about 15 years later but I am finally making it happen. It was definitely as fun as I thought it would be.

MG: How do you prepare for the role of Neal?
AB: I like that it’s a place for Breckin (Meyer) and the writers to really explore relationship problems. You get heartache, you get serial monogamy and the pressure of a new dating system. Neal is the only chance to get the positives and negatives of being in a long-term relationships and the things that come up. I think it is a constant reminder to the other guys that things can be much better or much worse depending on the situation.

MG: The show is filmed in from of a live audience, does make it more difficult to shoot?
AB: That is the best part! If at all everything else is a challenge and that is where I feel the most comfortable and have the most fun. When you have been rehearsing a line all week long and right before you say it one of the writers or Breckin comes over and hand you a brand new fresh line that you haven’t had time to think about, you have no choice but just to commit to it. To hear the reactions from the crowd, that is so much fun. I love the studio audience. There is also a rhythm you can into like if the audience is laughing or Oooing and Ahhhing, you can tap into that and just go with it and make the audience happy.

MG: You find that their is a lot of room for improv?
AB: Well, yeah there is room for it and it certainly does happy sometimes. The really exciting thing is that it gives room for Breckin and the writers to come up with lines on the fly.

MG: Breckin Meyer seems like he is always there on set, huh?
AB: He is always there. Every day, after we rehearse with the director, we do a run through for him to hear it and see it. He is the one giving notes on our performance or walking around making sure everyone is cool or has questions before the shoot. It is a really lucky situation having a young actor as your boss. Also everything is ripped right from his life, so he has all the answers.

MG: The chemistry between you and the guys are great, you find it hard to stay serious while shooting?
AB: Yeah, I do…I do. But that is what is great about doing a show about four friends. Very often if I am laughing at something James (Lesure) is saying during the shooting, there it is right in the show. We are friends and he makes me laugh and that is it. I don’t have to remain serious. We enjoy the way we all interact. Our dynamic of us hanging out is actually a lot different than our dynamic on the show. In the show everyone makes fun of Neal but outside we all make fun of (Michael) Cassidy. He is so freaking pretty and you can’t resist [laughs].

MG: What has been your favorite episode so far this season?
AB: I don’t know if I have a favorite episode. But I certainly have a favorite scene, like when I smack Cassidy back into reality. That was really fun and it changed so much throughout the week. First it was him smacking me, then it was me smacking him and it ended with us both smacking each other. We decided we were just gonna do it, no blocking with camera to fake it. I said I gonna smack you and your gonna smack me and that’s it. I also loved meeting J.K. Simmons and working with him. It was really wonderful.

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Nivek Ogre talks about Skinny Puppy and “The Devil’s Carnival”

Nivek Orgre is the lead singer in the band Skinny Puppy. He is also known for working with Darren Lynn Bousman in his film, “Repo! The Genetic Opera” and “The Devil’s Carnival”. Ogre took out sometime to chat with Media Mikes to chat about “The Devil’s Carnival” and also touring with Skinny Puppy.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you start working with Darren Bousman?
Nivek Ogre: I first met Darren through Joe Bishara. Joe was the musical producer for both “Repo! The Genetic Opera” and “The Devils Carnival”. He has been a friend of mine and fellow musician since back in the day. He went on to make a much better choice than I did by moving from playing in bands to doing sound tracks. After our last tour in 2007 we were talking and he asked me what I was going to do. At that time I pondered some of my fantasies. I was thinking about doing everything from being a pastry chef to being put into prosthetics. Being put into prosthetics has been one of my favorite dreams ever since I was a little kid reading Famous Monsters magazine. He told me about the work he was doing on “Repo! The Genetic Opera” and there was a character that is a face stealing rapist. I thought it was delicious. They had originally wanted someone else as Darren wanted Actors who could sing not Singer who could act. It was sort of an uphill battle for me but Terrance Zdunich and the whole crew were pulling for me. Terrance had heard of Skinny Puppy and I got to know Darren more over the course of production as I was wearing his wife’s face. One of the masks they had cast for me was of his wife Laura’s face. Whenever I had to ask him a question with that mask on he would look at me and run away. (Laughs) It was a bit of an odd friendship at first. I didn’t know what he really thought of me and was sort of out in left field. I was told to be very polite and not to pull any diva moves by the producers. I’m not sure what they thought I was. They were all very nice to work with. Over the time since Repo Darren had tried to get me in to some of his other projects however things never seemed to work out. We always kept in touch and on the side we started to realize we both had an interest in paranormal and other extremesort of perceptive qualities. We went back and forth over email and Darren told me he had this character called “The Twin”. They plugged me into that role and that’s how things all sort of happened.

MG: What can you tell us about your role as “The Twin”?
NO: The Twin is sort of an interesting character to me as I think he could have been played a lot of different ways. I myself tend to have too much empathy so I wanted to make him very sympathetic. I kind of saw him as one of the original shells that were shucked down to hell. He probably made a bargain with the man below and is now living in fear trying to escape his fate by taking on the appearance of another. However while doing this he tends to see the best parts of him which gave him a slight bit of humanity. He also would see their nastiest thoughts which ultimately would do them in. It is both an empathetic and vicious character. I see myself as the bait for Lucifer.

MG: What do you enjoy most about working in the horror genre?
NO: Everything I have worked on has been somewhat of an ensemble cast. The best part for me is I am playing a supporting role for a whole group of people. Sometimes it’s even for the main character. In the case of Repo I was supporting Paul Sorvino. We each had our own things but we all were Paul’s kids. It’s a huge kick because it allows me to dig into a character. I get to really be in the moment and react to everything around me. With Skinny Puppy I make it. I conceptualize the stage show, I perform it and I am there every night by myself. I have musicians on the stage but everything else is imaginary. It is a huge amount of fun to play up against people. I really enjoy the process and I love makeup effects. I am one of those guys who likes to be immersed in character. I don’t have to have my face showing as I love trying to push myself through a mask.

MG: How do you think your music on the soundtracks differ from your work with Skinny Puppy?
NO: It’s incredible. If you ever have any trepidation or fear about changing your style or jumping into something new do it whole heartedly. I tell people this all the time. For 26 years I have stayed in the character of Ogre and never stepped too far out from that. I didn’t want to piss fans off or have them think that I wasn’t bloody or weird enough. When I actually stepped out and pushed myself it gave me a whole new presence and character within my voice. It was a great thing.

MG: Can you give us some background on the upcoming Skinny Puppy live album?
NO: In May of last year I released an Ogre record and I have continued to tour that as my solo project. Skinny Puppy is recording a new studio album as we speak that is going to be titled “Weapon”. The live album I believe is coming out in July. That album kind of follows our ill-fated European tour. It was a great tour performance wise but we were pirated out of a large sum of money. The tour just went upside down on us. Everything that could go wrong did. I did get to take my girlfriend to Europe for the first time as she had never been so I guess there are two sides to the coin.

MG: Are there any other upcoming projects in the works?
NO: I am doing a movie at the end of April in Philadelphia that is going to be a throwback to the 80’s slasher films. The movie is titled “Scream Park” and we are filming it in an amusement park in Northern Pennsylvania. I am pretty excited about my role in that film.

Jessica Lowndes talks about “The Devil’s Carnival” and “90210”

Jessica Lowndes is known for her role of Adriana on The WB’s “90210”. She also appear in Darren Lynn Bousman’s “The Devil’s Carnival”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Jessica and talk about working on “90210” and also her role in the film “The Devil’s Carnival”.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you give us some background on how you got involved with working on “The Devil’s Carnival”
Jessica Lowndes: Darren is a friend of my manager. I actually met him the day I chopped off all of my hair for “90210”. I was obviously a huge fan of his other work already. When I got the script I connected with it right away. I play Tamara who is a girl that wakes up in hell. Everyone there is doomed to relive their faults. I put faith in people too easily and that’s what I have to relive.

MG: Can you tell us about the song you perform in the film?
JL: That song is sort of a sailor song. It kind of reminds me of “Pirates of the Caribbean”. There is something very eerie about it and it gets stuck in your head. Basically my character becomes hypnotized and I start falling for the devil. It’s pretty intense.

MG: What was experience of shooting on such a tight schedule?
JL: It was definitely a lot. I was still shooting season 4 of “90210”. I was doing 12/14 hr. days on “90210” andthen driving to Riverside for night shoots on “Devil’s Carnival”. It was a lot. I did 3 nights and everything was crammedinto those nights. It was freezing cold but everyone there had such a passion for the project. The energy was contagious. We shot at the coolest carnival ever. It was just unreal. Some of the pieces there were so awesome that I wanted them in my home. Everything from the costumes to the prosthetics were great. There was an “Alice in Wonderland” type vibe.

MG: What do you enjoy most about changing into the horror genre?
JL: I like switching it up. “90210” takes up 9 months of my year. This film was something that worked with my schedule. I got to sing and be in front of a whole different demographic. Darren’s fan base is completely different from the people who watch “90210”. I really connected with the role. I think the finished project came out awesome.

MG: Can you reflect on the closing episodes of “90210” this season?
JL: It’s been great! I just finished shooting about two months ago. Adrianna is trying to pursue her music career while trying to keep her relationship with Dixon alive. This gets hard because they are doing music together and Dixon has started going behind her back and doing music without her. She is going to find out about that and its going to be kind of dramatic.

MG: What did you enjoy most about recording your EP and do you have a full length album in the works?
JL: I definitely have a full length album in the works. I have written tons of music. In the past year or two I have worked with a bunch of different producers. I haven’t signed a deal yet so I have been funding everything independently. It’s been great as I wanted to get a good sense of my sound. I can’t wait to show people more. Also I had a new song called “The Other Girl” released timed with the finale of “90210″.

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: 90210, carnival, devils, jessica, lowndes, talks, ...

Briana Evigan talks about “The Devil’s Carnival” and “Stash House”

Briana Evigan is known best for her role in “Step Up 2: The Streets”. She has also worked with Darren Lynn Bousman on recent films, “Mother’s Day” and “The Devil’s Carnival”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Briana about working with Darren and also her new film “Stash House”.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved with working with Darren Lynn Bousman?
Briana Evigan: I think for “Devil’s Carnival” he had already had someone else hired. I don’t know if there were some complications that came up or whatever but he called me last minute and luckily everything worked. This has been probably one of my most favorite jobs so far. I hadn’t read the script or heard any of the songs so I just figured it out as we went along.

MG: How did you first meet Darren?
BE: He had given me an offer for a show titled “Fear Itself”. We met doing that in Edmonton and a couple years passed and a role in “Mothers Day” came up so he gave me that and then “Devil’s Carnival” popped up. We have a great relationship and I think we enjoy working with each other. It’s kind of easy and fun.

MG: Can you tell us about the Ms. Merrywood role?
BE: I am a klepto and I have a problem with stealing. I am a jewel thief that wakes up in hell. I guess it is explained as a sort of shoot out that happens but you don’t see that in the movie. I wake in hell and have to deal with the consequences. I have seen the film once and I thought it was a little bit confusing but I can’t wait to see it again. It’s a journey of everyone trying to get out of hell and into heaven.

MG: Can you tell us about the song you perform in the film?
BE: I have always been a musician. To keep that going I have tried to have songs onsoundtracks and make a little extra cash which is fun. This was really cool because I got to perform a song in the actual movie. Yes you are lip syncing but you still are doing it live. I love the song and I am very lucky.

MG: Can you tell us about your work on “Mother’s Day”?
BE: “Mother’s Day” was very different. To be honest I don’t know if I would want to do another film like that. It was a very dark psychological film. Excuse my language but it was a little too fucked up for me. I really enjoyed it and I actually met my boyfriend on that job. When I watched it back was when I thought that I would try and stay away from movies like this one. It’s a very well done film.

MG: Were you aware of the earlier version of the film?
BE: I was but I hadn’t watched it. I was always told not to watch the originals when working on a remake. It was the same with “Sorority Row”. You can unintentionally start copying people.

MG: Can you tell us about your upcoming film “Stash House”?
BE: I am really excited for this film. Sean Farris and I play a married couple that may have gotten married a little bit too early. Sean’s character ends up buying me a house. What he didn’t know was the house is full of heroin which Dolph Lundgren is clearly in charge of. It was great and super cool to work with Dolph.

MG: Can you tell us a little bit about the training you had to do for your role in “Step Up”?
BE: There was a lot of work that went into that. I originally started off as a dancer/musician so I had a backgroundin that. They threw me in with 20 of the best dancers in the world and it looked like I never danced before. I had a month of training. It was really more of learning the routines. The idea was to have everything down so that when it came time to shoot things would be less stressful. There were a lot of hours put in during that month. I remember having to put ice in my bath tub after some of those trainings. It was one of the best experiences in my life.

MG: Do you have any other projects you wanted to talk about?
BE: I have a really awesome project in the works but unfortunately I can’t talk about it just yet as everything isn’t closed up. I am also waiting on a few other things that I really want. Everything looks like it’s going to work out time wise so I will be really excited if everything works out.

Kyra Sedgwick talks about final season of TNT’s “The Closer”

Kyra Sedgwick is known best for her role of Brenda Johnson on TNT’s “The Closer”. The show returns for its final season on Monday, July 9 at 9:00pm on TNT. Kyra took out sometime to chat about the show and reflect on her role and the end of the show.

Mike Gencarelli: Why did you decide it was time put a close to “The Closer” (excuse the pun), Was there an epiphany made you have the decision?
Kyra Sedgwick: No, there really wasn’t an epiphany. I think we were in the middle of shooting, gosh it must have been Season 6 actually, when I started to contemplate the idea of what a Season 8 would look like. It was something that I struggled with for many, many months; almost a year really to make the decision. It felt like time, mostly for me as an artist, time for me to do something else. The idea of doing a Season 8, I think felt daunting to me and overwhelming, and sort of just didn’t feel right. I think as an actor you really kind of just have to follow your instincts. It was a hard decision because you’re putting so many other people out of work and there was just a lot of factors that go into making that kind of decision. But, I feel like it’s wonderful that we get to go out on top, we had enough time to close this out in the right way.

MG: When The Closer was first on six years ago it was paled as sort of a groundbreaking show and Brenda was really kind of a revolutionary female character. What do you guys think will be the legacy of this show after it’s over? How will people remember it?
KS: I mean I see her as a significant and sentinel character in the lexicon of female characters ever played for a long period of time, whether it’s a movie series or a television series. I think we broke a lot of ground and I think that we were able to consistently weave exciting story lines with deep and resonating character arcs. I think that that’s something that’s very hard to do, especially in a procedural. And I think that we accomplished that.

MG: What can we expect from the final six episodes? Will there be humor interlaced? Or a pretty dramatic ending?
KS: I would say it’s a dramatic ending. There’s also really fun romp in the second episode of the final six. And yes, there’s always an element of humor. I don’t think we could do our job as well as we do if we didn’t have an element of humor. There’s always humor within, with any kind of law cops always have humor, but there’s also just the interpersonal, recognizable things about each other that when you’re with a family or a cast a long time. There’s a lot of interpersonal winks and people are still who they are, even in the midst of the most dramatic circumstances. So, there are still a lot of laughs and a lot of good character fun stuff.

MG: As you look back on the series, do you have a favorite episode or a favorite story arc that will stand out in your memory?
KS: That’s always so tough for me. I feel like we have so many years to choose from it’s hard to pull out some favorites. I’m always most intrigued and feel most satisfied by the character arcs. And by those I mean some of the character arcs with Fritz and Brenda. I loved the whole – their courtship, and then when he finally asks her to marry him in that doctor’s office, you know in between tears of realizing that’s she’s suffering from perimenopausal symptoms that have to be operated on. He asked her to marry her in the most inopportune moment, but it’s beautiful and funny and wonderful. I loved the whole cat arc, the getting the cat and her not wanting the cat, and then the cat becoming, you know an intrinsic part of her life, and then the eventual demise of the cat. I loved the parents. I loved the fact that, no matter what age you are when your parents come to visit you’re suddenly that 12-year old kid again who hasn’t learned anything; hasn’t changed at all. And I so appreciated being able to see that side of Brenda. I loved the personal moments with some of her squad when Detective Sanchez’s brother died and she had to be there for him in a very special and different way. Moments when she had to have Gabriel turn in his badge and his gun and – after he beats up the pedophile. I thought that was, you know very difficult for her and he is her favorite. And I loved that personal moment, so those were among my favorites.

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Eric McCormack talks about new series TNT’s “Perception”

Eric McCormack is known best for his role on “Will & Grace”. He is starring a new show on TNT called “Perception”, which premiers Monday, July 9 at 10 o’clock pm Eastern on TNT. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Eric on his new show and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: What drew you to the part? Was it immediately you read the script and went I got to do it or how did it all happen for you?
Eric McCormack: Yes, I was a bit of that on first page where I’m lecturing was a big one for me because I was a big Paper Chase fan from the 70s with John Housman. And the idea of playing not just a neuroscientist not just somebody brilliant, but the fact that he is a teacher, that he has that thing that audience in the palm of his hand and that he’s funny and passionate and finds an interesting way to approach what could be a very dry topic. He finds a very humorous approach and I just love this guy. Then to find out outside of the classroom he is often crippled by symptoms of schizophrenia, I thought that’s a wild combination of the arrogant what becomes with an intellectual and the absolutely let us say crippling conditions that the disease contributes.

MG: What kind of research did you do?
EMC: I did as much as I could. I think it’s crucial that we represent all aspects of this, the neuroscience and also the academia but most importantly the schizophrenia, not to mention the FBI reality which is somebody else job, but with incredible accuracy. We started with Dr. Michael Green at UCLA who is a neuroscience professor with schizophrenia as his expertise. And then I sat down with Elyn Saks, a fascinating woman who wrote a book called The Center Cannot Hold. She is a law professor at USC but she wrote a book about her own schizophrenia, which she completely blew her mind out in the 70s. She was like writing brilliant papers one day and in the hospital strapped down to a bed the next and has such tremendous memory of it that she was able to describe it and some of the passages in her book about what it feels like to break psychotically were absolutely crucial to what I do in the show.

What aspects of your personality or idiosyncrasies did you bring to the role of Daniel?
EMC: What I love about him like I say is that combination of so much confidence and so much crippling fear. And I think if there is anything that I can understand as an actor is, I think it’s that. It’s that idea that sometimes the only way we see is by walking into a room and believing that no one can do that better than us. And yet it’s really just a mask we put on disguising the fact that we’re terrified that we suck and we’reterrified that we’ll never work again. I think understanding that dichotomy is understanding what it must be like to have the drive that says I need to be in front of a classroom or I need to solve this puzzle even though I’m on a crime scene that is absolutely shutting me down. And to have that disguising someone that ultimately would rather be in a laboratory then out to dinner with people is to understand the world that he lives in mixed emotional.

MG: What challenges have you found on taking on the hat of producer as well on this series?
EMC: I am a producer on the show I’m certainly not the producer. I couldn’t produce the whole thing and be in every scene. The guys that created the show Ken Biller and Mike Sussman do a fine job at producing it creatively and there are some great guys producing it physically. My contribution as a producer mainly I wanted to make sure that we all conceived the look and feel of the character and we’re on the same page. I wanted to have a say in the casting and I was certainly in the room for the casting of Rachael, Kelly, and Arjay and I’m really excited how that worked out. Then to say hey, it’s important the tone of the show, whether it be dealing with how do we shoot a hallucination and accurately reflect what schizophrenia can look like or feel like. How do we have a scene where he’s angry but there’s also a comic element? How do we do that and accurately represent how a professional behaves? How would a schizophrenic behave? It’s important that I always have the ability to speak up and to take ownership of that. That’s the main way I produce.

MG: So you’ve work for a while in comedy with “Will & Grace”; what do you enjoy more, the drama or the comedy?
EMC: I love doing both. When I was on “Will & Grace” nothing made me happier than having a big dramatic scene with Debra in the mists of the crazy comedy. Nothing gives me a bigger better thrill than dramatic crime scene in this show where he gets to suddenly say something inappropriate that clearly is going to be funny. I love the mix. I think the magic is in the combination and I’m never happy with just one.

MG: What do find challenging from playing Pierce in this from an acting aspect?
EMC: Like I say it’s a combination of being accurate enough to plot out. Okay in the course of an episode – and we were often shooting two episodes at the same time just for cost reasons, so it was really a lot of work on my part to go, I have to make sure that there is accuracy here in how he behaves situation to situation. But you also want unpredictability, that the fun of the character is that he surprises the people around him and he surprises himself sometimes. And I like sometimes to discover he surprises me. That somehow my reactions might be something I hadn’t thought of. And yet still remain within the realm of being accurate and being sympathetic and being responsible to the mental illness community.

MG: What do you think it is about “Perception” that’s really going to connect with theviewers? And now that you’re on Twitter how is that going to help with the promotion of the show?
EMC: Well, I’m not a natural tweeter. It’s work to make myself tweet everyday. But having work that I’m excited about like the play that last few months when we first got started it was fun to tweet about that. As we’re getting closer now in the next few weeks I’m going to start tweeting a lot about it because I want people to see the show. I’m excited to share that. I never do work just for the sake of doing it. I do it because I want as many people as possible to enjoy it. I think this will be – this is particularly for summer, I think this will be a breath of fresh air. So much of summer programming is sort of fun and silly and reality shows and competition shows. I think this is people love a good mystery solving show, but I love the point of view of this. I think we’ve gotten to the point now where we can’t just see regular cops following regular things because a lot of those shows we now – it’s nice to see coming from the angle of someone with a very extreme point of view on life. And a guy that is a neuroscience professor with schizophrenia is coming at a crime scene from a very, very different perspective, sometimes humorous, sometimes extremely intellectual. Some of the cases that we’re going to tackle are things that wouldn’t necessarily come up on a lot of other shows because there wouldn’t be anybody. They’d have to go to an expert, someone like a Daniel Pierce, to solve it. So, our guy David Eagleman who wrote a book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, to have him as our resident expert allowed us to come up with some plot lines that are really fun, and for anyone that likes the twists and turns in an hour long mystery there’s going to be some really surprising episodes.

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: eric, mccormack, perception, series, talks, tnts, ...

LeVar Burton talks about TNT’s “Perception”, “Reading Rainbow” iPad app and 25th Anniversary of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

LeVar Burton is a well-known actor who has appeared in shows like “Reading Rainbow”, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the mini-series “Roots”. LeVar is currently guest starring in TNT’s new show “Perception”, which premiers Monday July 9th at 10:00 PM Eastern. LeVar took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about TNT’s “Perception”, his new “Reading Rainbow” iPad app and also the 25th Anniversary of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get attached to TNT’s “Perception”?
LeVar Burton: Ken Biller and Mike Sussman are Star Trek alums and I read the pilot and forced my way in. I love Ken’s writing and I loved his pilot and I called Ken and said, “Is there any way I can be in this?” And he said, “Well, the one character that you’re right for it’s like in a scene in this pilot.” And I said, “Yes, but, you know, I see room there for this guy to grow.” And Ken worked it out. You know, he was thrilled at the prospects. We had a great relationship on Star Trek and I directed a lot of episodes that he wrote and as a fan I just wanted to be in this.

MG: This show is a crime procedural but it also has additional elements to it as well. Can you reflect?
LB: Well, I would say it has a real psychological element to it. I think that Ken’s point of view on the treatment — and I’m going to put this in quotes, “mental illness,” and brain chemistry and how our perceptions literally determine our reality. I think this is a fascinating conversation to have especially in the popular culture medium like television.

MG: How was it been working with Eric McCormack on the show?
LB: I’m a huge Eric McCormack fan, was before meeting him and working with him and even more so now. He totally kills this role, definitely, and I really appreciate the difficulty of what he is so deftly doing in every episode. And he’s just a joy to watch and a marvel to behold. I’m so happy to be working with Eric McCormack. And then on top of being as good as he is, he’s also a real professional. There are a lot of kids who want to be famous these days who come to Los Angeles and say that, you know, they want to be an actor or an actress but really what they want is to be famous. Eric is a real pro, right. He takes what he does seriously, yet he doesn’t take himself as a celebrity seriously, so he’s one of those people who knows, understands what it means to be the number one on the call-sheet. You know what I mean when I say that? Number one on the call-sheet. Eric knows, he knows what it represents. He knows how to do that. People like Scott Bakula, Mark Harmon, they’re guys who know how to be number one on the call-sheet, right. They care about the work and saying good night to everybody when they leave just that their humanity is a part of how they move in the world and it shows up in their inter-personal relationships with cast and crew and it just wonderful when you see that in action.

MG: Your career has been marked by such really important and really iconic roles and a whole slew of awards for “Reading Rainbow”. What do you still want to accomplish at this point in your career as an actor and director? What still keeps you working on every day?
LB: Aside from “Perception”, I’ve really taken a bit of a side-step and as much as the last two years of my life have dedicated and wholly devoted to the “Reading Rainbow” app. We launched it just last week and in 36 hours shot to number one in education. It’s still the number one grossing education app. This really feeds my passion. My mother was an English teacher. My older sister is a teacher. My son is in education. I have cousins, nieces, this is the family business, you know what I’m saying? I did “Reading Rainbow” the television show for 25 years and Rick Berman, the executive producer of “Star Trek”, having produced a children’s television series “The Big Blue Marble”, knew how important the show was to me and knew how important the show was to television. And so, he made it possible for me to do both “Trek” and ‘Reading Rainbow” at the same time. Ken knows it fully well how important “Reading Rainbow” is to me and this is what I feel like I’m really, really supposed to be doing. And the reason why we brought Reading Rainbow back is there is such a need right now. We have fallen so far behind our own expectations as a nation in terms of how we educate our kids and what the outcome of a public school education is these days. And we can’t rely on government to get it done anymore. It has to be a public-private partnership. Our government is brokaye, right? We’ve spent the last decade plus engaged in funding the machineries of war and our kids have been left behind. And, you know, from my point of view that’s just not OKAY.

MG: So with the app out, this is maybe a nice break for you being in a recurring role on television?
LB: It brings a balance to my life because I stepped away from acting after Next Generation and became a full-time director. And then my business partner, (Mark Wolfe) and I decided to re-launch the Reading Rainbow brand. And so that’s been a two-year journey. And now through Perception, I haven’t been on television in, I don’t know what, 10 or 12 years in a series. So I get to return to my first love here. And Ken, as the writer-producer, is committed to giving me notes to play that he knows the public hasn’t seen from me before. So I get to go to work and act and love every minute of that and love the people that I’m working with, Eric and Rachel and just really tremendously talented, quality human beings. My day job right now is continuing that mission of inspiring children who are making decisions as to whether they’re going to be readers or not, to choose the light.

MG: Do you think there’ll be any controversy when a show airs considering it’s like a fully-functioning schizophrenic with a job but doesn’t take any medication?
LB: Well, it’ll be interesting to see if there is, isn’t there? I think the whole idea of mental illness and the stigma that we have associated with it in this country is up for discussion. We are ripe to reevaluate that stigma. And to be able to, as I say, have that conversation begin with a television show, I know the value of that. I watched this nation become transformed in eight nights of television around an issue that goes to the heart of almost everything that happens in this country, in this culture. And that’s the subject of slavery and its legacy on subsequent generations. So I know and appreciate fully what the value of the medium to be an alive part of the evolution of culture. And I just think that we really need to have this conversation in America about how we feel about out-of-balance brain chemistry, just like we needed to have the conversation about racism in America, its roots and its legacy.

MG: You always seem to star in series that thrive on intelligence. How important is intellect and programming to you as an actor?
LB: Oh, my gosh. It’s everything. Unless the story-telling is smart, it’s hard to have impact. I’m really drawn to intelligence and to intelligent story telling. And, you know it when you see it. Even if you can’t define it, you know it when it smacks you in the face, right? And I’ve been really lucky. I’ve been very, very blessed throughout the course of my career. I just am grateful. I’m enormously grateful.

MG: You’ve been on a lot of shows with a lot of big fan bases like “TNG” and Reading Rainbow, obviously. You’re quite interactive with your fans via Twitter, so what are you enjoying most about interacting with them?
LB: Twitter I love because it’s an opportunity for me to have a conversation with people who are from different parts of my life and my career, “Roots” fans and “Star Trek” fans and “Reading Rainbow” fans. I can converse with them absent gatekeepers. I get to say what I want, when I want in a manner that I want 140 characters at a time. And there’s no studio or network or publicist between me and my voice. That’s what I love about it.

MG: Are you going to be going to San Diego Comic-Con and also sort of what’s your take like the fan experience at a Comic-Con versus sort of the insider experience at the Comic-Con?
LB: Definitely, I mean, I will at Comic-Con this year. This is the 25th anniversary of “Star Trek: Next Generation” coming on here, so we are actually doing, not in San Diego but we are doing a sort of a reunion tour where all of the cast is getting back together. We did the first one in Calgary back in April. We have dates coming up in Orlando and Austin and Toronto, I think. So from the inside when two or three and in these cases all of us are together, it’s just a glorious experience because we all remain incredibly close even though we don’t see each other every day like we used to when we were shooting the show. Patrick lives in England, Jonathan is always off working, we’re all doing other stuff with our lives. However, when we’re together there’s just nothing better.

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: 25th, anniversary, app, burton, generation, ipad, ...

Lynn Shelton talks about directing “Your Sister’s Sister”

With only three feature films to her credit, Lynn Shelton has built a reputation as a writer with a keen ear and a director with a similar eye. Her last film, “Humpday,” earned her multiple awards, including the prestigious John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Her latest film, “Your Sister’s Sister,” continues her rise as one of the most talented and respected independent filmmakers of her generation. While promoting the film’s release, Ms. Shelton took time out to speak with Media Mikes about her love for the Pacific Northwest and her even greater love: being behind the camera.

Mike Smith: What was your inspiration in writing this film?
Lynn Shelton: The initial kernel of the film came from Mark Duplass. It was a little different. It was a guy and a girl who were best friends and the guy loses his brother. She sends him up to the cabin to be alone and he meets her mother. Her hot, youngish mother. It was going to be a kind of mother/daughter bed switching comedy. It was something he had envisioned making with his brother, Jay. But because it dealt with a dead brother Mark felt that it might be a little too close to home for them to handle as filmmakers. But he liked the idea still so he brought it to me with Jay’s blessing. And I made a few changes. I set it in the Pacific Northwest, where I set all of my movies. I just finished my 5th filmthere. I live in Seattle and I love to work in Washington state. And I also changed the mom to a sister. I always liked the idea of exploring a sister relationship…I’ve had an incredibly fascinating and rich love/hate relationship with my sisters my whole life and I thought it would be rich territory for a film.

MS: As a writer do you encourage your casts to improvise?
LS: I do. Well, in this case, for sure. My last film, “Humpday,” was 100% improvised in terms of the actual dialogue. I knew what was going to happen in each scene but we would talk before hand. Then we’d turn the camera on and they would find their way through the scene. In this film I actually had most of the dialogue written out. But I asked them to just hold the words loosely in their heads…don’t memorize the lines. It was really a quest for naturalism. I wanted the audience to believe that these people were having real conversations.

MS: You kind of touched on the fact that Mark Duplass is also a talented writer/director. Is it harder or easier to work with someone with that experience? Not to the point that he would second guess you but would he step back and offer advice?
LY: Not really. It’s a very open environment on set and everybody is contributing a lot. All of the actors. And I find that his experiences as a writer and director are really very invaluable. His input is really, really valuable. He never tried to overstep his bounds. He’s always an actor. I like to engage my actors…I like them to bring everything they’ve got to the table. I find it an incredible value.

MS: And as someone who also acts it might be easier to see where they’re coming from in certain situations?
LS: Yes. And that’s why I still like to keep my toe in that discipline. If somebody asks me to do a role and I’m able to…if it’s small and not too time consuming…I like to say “yes” because it keeps me close to that process. It also reminds me how difficult it is and what ittakes to do it. So you’re right. I am extremely empathetic with my actors. I try to create an emotionally safe work environment. That gives them the best chance of giving their best performance.

MS: Since we’re on the subject, have you decided to remain more behind the camera or is there still an acting role out there you’d like to do?
LS: I’ll never say never but right now I’m just so in love with directing that it’s hard for me to imagine taking on any kind of major acting role. But there may be something that comes down the line when I have an opening in my schedule that feels like the right thing to do. So I don’t want to put a total nix on that. But I’ve really just fallen in love with directing so it’s kind of hard to imagine taking acting seriously at this point in my life.

MS: You mentioned that you just finished your next film. Can you talk about it or what else you have coming up on your schedule?
LS: Sure. We wrapped shooting about five weeks ago. It’s called “Touchy-Feely.” My other films have been three character pieces and I wanted to get away from that. This one has an ensemble cast. It’s not a typical “Lynn Shelton” film. It’s a real departure. It was a great deal of fun to shoot.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: directing, lynn, shelton, sister, sisters, talks, ...

Miles Elliot talks about working on “The Amazing Spider-Man”

Miles Elliot plays the role of Billy Connors in “The Amazing Spider Man”, the son of Spider-Man´s arch nemesis, Dr. Connors aka The Lizard. Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Miles about the role and what it was like behind the scenes of the film.

Adam Lawton: How did you become interested in acting?
Miles Elliot: I had done some work with a music theater group where we put on “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat”. I was just part of the ensemble but I started talking to other people in the production who had appeared in various films and television shows. I asked them how I could start doing that and then I asked my parents about it. They told me if it was something that I really wanted to do I could go ahead and do it. I have been acting now for about two and a half years.

AL: What was it that interested you in auditioning for “The Amazing Spider Man”?
ME: At first I didn’t even know what film the role was for. The movie was only listed as a teen action film. I did a scene where my characters dad gets mad at me. After that we found out they were casting for “The Amazing Spider Man”. As things got bigger and bigger I realized that I had gotten into a really big movie. Things just kept getting more exciting as they went on.

AL: What was the audition process like?

ME: I had to do a couple auditions. After the first one the lady who was running it chased me down after I left and asked me if I would talk/meet with another casting person. When I went to meet with this other lady she was on the phone and told me we would have to meet a different time. I said “that went well”. When I went back I ended up reading with director Marc Webb and I got the part.

AL: Can you tell us about your character?
ME: I play Billy Connors who is the son of Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard which is played by Rhys Ifans. I have about 3 scenes in the film and I am just your normal everyday kid whose dad is a lizard.

AL: What was it like working on the set?
ME: When I got there I thought everything was really big. There were just trailers all over the place. I was amazed that there was even one for me. This was my first time ever experiencing that. Even the catering was big. I remember one night they had lobster, crab and there was even an ice sculpture. I got to meet Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone which was also really great.

AL: What was it like being able to watch such a great group of actors work?
ME: It was cool! On one of the nights I got to watch them shoot a scene where Spider Man jumps off a parking garage. They had all this stuff going on to make the scene happen and it was great to be able to watch that. Another night I was on set they had a bunch of green scenes set up to shoot Andrew swinging back and forth.

AL: Can you tell us about some of your other work?
ME: I recently finished a project in May titled “Camp”. The film is about a camp for troubled kids and my character Eli gets paired up with a reluctant counselor who is there just for the money. It was a fun shoot as we shot in the Sequoya National Forrest for three weeks. I will also be on an episode of Disney’s “Austin & Ally” as well as “The Mentalist”.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: amazing, elliot, miles, spiderman, talks, working, ...

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Tag: talks

Joe Turkel talks about Stanley Kubrick, “The Shining” & “Blade Runner”

Takashi Miike talks about making “Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai”

Emilie Autumn talks about film “The Devil’s Carnival” and new album “Fight Like a Girl”

Timothy Hutton talks about new season of “Leverage”

Michael Jai White talks about Adult Swim’s “Black Dynamite” and “Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse”

Ben Gleib talks about “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, Kevin Smith, “Chelsea Lately”, hanging with Jaleel White and time traveling with Syfy’s “Insane or Inspired?”

Adam Busch talks about working on TBS’ hit show “Men at Work”

Nivek Ogre talks about Skinny Puppy and “The Devil’s Carnival”

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Jessica Lowndes talks about “The Devil’s Carnival” and “90210”

Briana Evigan talks about “The Devil’s Carnival” and “Stash House”

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Kyra Sedgwick talks about final season of TNT’s “The Closer”

Eric McCormack talks about new series TNT’s “Perception”

LeVar Burton talks about TNT’s “Perception”, “Reading Rainbow” iPad app and 25th Anniversary of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

Lynn Shelton talks about directing “Your Sister’s Sister”

Miles Elliot talks about working on “The Amazing Spider-Man”