Brian:
Who were your first performance influences - Fred
scattering demons on weekly installments of 'Scooby
Doo' - The Olsen twins sneaking sips of
booze between takes on 'Full House'
- The desire to play the abandoned nephew of
Dixie Carter on that smash hit 'Designing
Women'?
Cory: During my
fourth and fifth grade years my best friend Rich
and I used to get together every Saturday
afternoon to watch a Saturday nightmares-a
matinee horror series on USA network. It was a
double feature of really bad horror movies and I
have been hooked on them ever since.
Brian:
How did you get involved with 'When
Heaven Comes Down'? Were you stopped on
the street and told "Hey, you look fairly
psychotic!" or was it the more traditional,
albeit boring, audition route?
Cory: It
was more traditional. I read about the auditions
in the reader and then had to drive all the way
to Woodstock, Illinois. It was my first film
audition and I was terrified but it turned out to
be a good experience.
Brian: In
'WHCD' not only did you get
above the title billing, but you actually got
some meaty background stuff to tackle with your
character. Ultimately, you nicely downplayed some
of the more out of the ordinary stuff. Did you
decide that was the only way to handle the
material and how much to director Gary M. Lumpp
play in your decisions?
Cory:
I was given a lot of freedom in how I played the
character. Gary was very supportive. I did down
play it with hopes it would be more believable
and partially cause I was afraid I wasn't good
enough to pull of a big overblown performance.
Brian:
As Josh, you got to save the day during a serious
counseling center take down. Most impressively,
you got to do it without raising your fists! How
does one do that? - Super speed track shoes? - A
threatening scowl? - A bad script?
Cory:
I actually have laughed quite a bit with friends
over the fact that I just ran into the building
and scared the psychopath away. It was fun to
film though.
Brian: How much 'stunt work' (as in stalking,
strangulations by broom stick and stabbings) did
you do as Josh? Was this a case of "It
wasn't me" - it was the 65 year sound
guy"?
Cory:
I did not get to do much of the stunts. There was
another actor that did most of them. This was
probably good cause I had very little experience
with stunts and I probably would have killed
myself or another cast member.
Brian:
As, both, victimizer and ultimate victim, Josh
was the full basket - the Almond Joy of horror
characters. What two things do you wish you could
simultaneously be in your real life? (Be wishful,
crazee!, wild!)
Cory:
Hmmm. Fearless and suave.
Brian:
The 'WHCD' killer's outfit was a
shaggy metal rock star wig and a black face mask.
It was unique and ugly all at once. What other
deadly clothes combinations should we avoid at
all costs?
Cory:
Sandals and socks-For sure!
Brian:
Can you tell us about your involvement as the
hitchhiker in 'The Road To' -
another Gary Lumpp production?
Cory:
Gary asked me to shoot another short film he had
written. It was really fun. There was a twist in
the ending and I got to play the victim.
Brian:
Lastly, any final words of advice or wisdom (IE:
Make sure your shoes are tied when you're chasing
the blonde bartender around the bar with
murderous intent) that you'd like to leave us
with? And - thanks! It's been a ride!
Cory:
My words of wisdom would just be for actors to
audition for these types of films-they are so
much fun and you can meet some really great
people. |