Actor Interview:

Greg: At what age did you see yourself as an entertainer?

Joseph: Well the truth is I always had it in me but it didn’t really become a reality till I was around 20 and took a big step by going to a Performing Arts school in Tampa, Fl. Then I go the bite that would forever curse me.

Greg: Did you see yourself acting in horror flicks?

Joseph: I was always a big horror fan even at a young age. I read The Shining when I was like 10 yrs old and luckily my parents never sheltered me from horror films and I was able to see anything I wanted at a young age no matter what the rating. So yeah, I was always up for being in anything but horror was a big goal. They’re a lot of fun and messy.

Greg: What was your first gig?

Joseph: I actually have a big background in theater. Most of my beginning experience was on the stage and in Florida at the time there weren’t a lot of films being done there so my film work consisted of extra work or industrial films. My first real gig I think was an extra in the film Problem Child 2. Never saw it so I’m not sure what kind of screen time I received, though being on a professional set at the time was exciting. In regards to actual film work I did my obligatory share of student films as well, but my first real lead role in a film was with a director from Florida named Richard A. Anasky who gave me the chance to try something different.

Greg: Who did you play?

Joseph: The characters name is David William Hughes and is the main character in a film called I AM VENGEANCE: The Revenge Biography. He is a psychotic mess who also has a sympathetic side to him.

Greg: What was the story about?

Joseph:  It’s a throwback to the drug and exploitation films of the 60’s and 70’s. David has a messed up life and ends up being a brutal, egotistical killer. The story revolves around his life and how he became the way he did and what motivated him. It’s extremely dark and very funny too we hope. It definitely has a campy edge to it as well. The dialogue and acting are a bit over the top but in the end I think it will work for the tone and style of the movie.

Greg: Did it have a theatrical release or film festival or was it just direct-to-DVD and video?

Joseph: At this time it is not completed. Rich admirably has done everything on his own and the budget is about as low budget as you can get. Every dime pretty much is coming from his own pocket. This being the case, we’re done shooting, but editing is taking awhile because he is building his editing equipment slowly and surely. It’s a labor of love and his dream project so he wants it done right, no matter how long it takes. That’s one of the reasons he is doing everything on his own.

Greg: What was the experience like with it?

Joseph: Amazing, frustrating, grueling but ultimately fulfilling as an actor. We hit many snags along the way and so many story changes occurred during the shoot because we had to fix things that went wrong with everything from lighting, to loosing locations to flaky actors that never showed or bad actors that ruined a scene. You name it, it happened to us. But as an actor, I learned so much and did so many things that I grew as actor. It was an experience to cherish in that respect alone. Things I experienced were irreplaceable. I was covered in blood almost daily. I mean covered. In my eyes, in my ears, in every crack. I even got to be buried alive and I did it without any special rigging. That was such a cool experience because now I know what that is like.

Greg: Any familiar actors work in it?

Joseph: Not really, we were all newcomers.

Greg: What kinds of a response did the movie get?

Joseph: Well being its not completed I don’t even have a response myself. It could go in any direction, but at this point I have faith that Rich will make it fun and completely different which was a big part of his motivation.

Greg: Will it run a theatrical or film festival release?

Joseph: Not sure what path it will take. We just know we want people to see it and enjoy it.

Greg: Are distributors interested yet?

Joseph: I don’t really know that to tell you the truth. I think if anyone is interested it will all depend on the final outcome. It does have a CD soundtrack that was released already though.

Greg: When will we expect to see this film?

Joseph: Preferably in my lifetime. If anyone is excited about it and wants to invest money let us know!

Greg: How did you hear about auditions for German horror director Andreas Schnaas’ production of Nikos the Impaler?

Joseph:  During the shoot in Florida on I AM VENGEANCE, I met a young film maker and FX artist named Marcus Koch. He had later worked with Joe Zaso on And Then They Were Dead and was offered the position of FX person for Nikos. He basically set me up with Zaso and I was able to audition.

Greg: What was required for you to audition?

Joseph: Well with Nikos, I’m sure the only prerequisite was showing up and being responsible… some acting experience was a plus too I hope. When Marcus told me about it I actually was doing it for fun. I read the script and thought “Ok… it is what it is.” And thought I’d just be a small part with maybe one day on set. When Joe Zaso mentioned Pete I thought, ok bigger part and I get to be the one who sees Nikos and freaks out a bit plus I had a decent death scene. My big concern was he was a young college student and I was in my early thirties at the time. But luckily I look young I guess.

Greg: Did you feel you knew your character well as the college student Pete Whittenberger?

Joseph: Well what I really think is that all the characters were one dimension and Joe Lattanzi (Ryan) and I worked together to try and make them a little more layered if that’s possible. We did our best with what we had to work with and just tried to have fun as much as possible.

Greg: What kind of an experience did you have working with horror icons Joe Zaso and Felissa Rose?

Joseph:  Because Joe was so busy wearing so many different hats I didn’t really have much time with him besides acting in the scenes. And in all honesty all the scenes I had in the entire film were shot extremely quickly with little takes. Lattanzi and I would be the cast that got to sit around all day and do nothing or very little and then at 1 a.m. start doing our scenes. Zaso would just be running around and organizing anything and everything he could. He is a hard worker and did an amazing job with what he had to work and deal with. Felissa was great. We hit it off from the start and had a blast in our downtimes. We made it possible to sit around for hours and hours and not go crazy.

Greg: Have you ever seen them in any shows beforehand?

Joseph: Well of course I knew Felissa from Sleepaway Camp. It’s legendary. But unfortunately I had never seen Joe in anything… we had met briefly when I visited the set of And Then They Were Dead though.

Greg: I understand that Andreas Schnaas was a little difficult to work with. What was the toughest direction for you to do?

Joseph: The LACK of direction. I think the only real direction I ever got was on my first take ever when I was trying to get out of the gallery after the door closed. He wanted it more freaked out and scared. The next take I went a bit over the top and was not happy with it and eventually found my stride but guess what take was used? The one that was my worst one. Ah well. But I felt that unless there was an FX shot, Andy didn’t even know the script. There were scenes cut within scenes that I think were just forgotten and in some cases I had to speak up and explain what was going on so the scene even made sense. During some takes other actors wouldn’t even come in on cue or say lines at all and it was never even addressed. It was very frustrating and inevitably affects everyone’s performance. But Andy was oblivious to it. But he was always nothing but nice to me and always full of compliments about Lattanzi and I. I mean most of our shots were done in around two to three takes.

Greg: Which scene did you enjoy performing the most that you’ would always remember doing?

Joseph: The scene that always comes to mind is a simple one. The take on the dolly that Hughie our DP thought up. It’s right before Pete comes back in the room and says, “Call the police.” It was only me in the long gallery hallway being pulled forward on a dolly looking freaked out. We did it so many times to get it technically right, but I knew we were doing something interesting at least. Bless Hughie. He was great to work with. Unfortunately the edit in the film was scaled down to about a tenth of the actual shot. But I also had fun with the scenes where we were lost in the gallery and then of course the scene with arm missing.

Greg: Now I remember the gruesome death scene with you was when Nikos ripped your arm off but you never realized that your arm was torn off until someone mentioned it to you and then you died. Could you understand why you didn’t know about what happened to you and then died when you found out what happened? I found it a little silly. (Nothing against your talents)

Joseph: It is silly. Exactly. I hoped it got a laugh actually. But the way I thought of it was that he was so hyped up with adrenaline trying to get away and in major shock from seeing his good friend beheaded that he had no idea that his arm had ripped off. When the professor pointed it out by that time he had hit his max and passed out. Time caught up with him and he eventually bled out. That’s my take on it at least. A couple more things about that scene, a part that was in the script that was never shot was that I fall on the ground and Ryan’s head was supposed to land between my legs or feet. But it was never done. Oh man, I also remember that on the first take I tripped over Lattanzi’s foot and bit it hard on the floor.

Greg: Did you ever go to any showings in Germany when the film was playing?

Joseph: I wish. It would have been interesting to see it with a European audience.

Greg: Did Fangoria or other horror magazines ever review you in it?

Joseph: Fangoria did a feature on it and I actually had a pic of me in it which was the best thing to come from this movie for me. It was like a childhood dream man. Me in FANGORIA! I don’t know if they ever reviewed it, though. It was reviewed on some websites. And luckily, If I was singled out, nothing horrible was said. Though the acting got a real bad rap. Rightly so I guess.

Greg: Who did you get along with the most during the shooting of the film?

Joseph: Joe Lattanzi, who played Ryan, and I were always hanging out. Actually the two of us with Felissa and Brenda (Daisy) were inseparable when we were on set together. We entertained each other and had a great time for the most part. When we weren’t bored to death. Luckily Hughie’s studio has a great green room to hang out. TV, Dvd player and everything.

Greg: Do you stay in contact with anyone from the flick?

Joseph: Sadly I lost touch with all with the exception of Zaso. It happens but I’m sure if we ever met up again all would be good. It’s just the way the film world goes after its wrapped. I keep in touch with Joe Zaso every now and then. He’s a great guy and has a good integrity which is rare in this business.

Greg: I heard that Andreas hopes to make a sequel which would be awesome. Even if you were slaughtered to death in it would you be involved with it in any way?

Joseph: Wow. good question. I guess that would depend on what else I was doing at the time. What the script was like and who was involved. I don’t want to do another Nikos. I would really like to do a film that was scary. A true horror film that is loved, or looked at fondly at the least would be nice.

Greg: You also played David IAV in a direct-to-DVD comedy-horror titled Actress Apolcalypse which you also associate produced. What was your role in it?

Joseph: Actress Apocalypse was directed by the same director and writer of the film I AM VENGEANCE that I talked about . Richard Anasky. The funny thing about this film is it is that it is almost autobiographical. It’s about our experiences in doing the previous film. He took our feelings about other actors and people in the industry in working on a low level production and made a satirical film. Almost every character and instance was based on real life people. Except we didn’t kill anyone. He received a small budget and ran with this idea. I think he wanted to give me some props and inserted a little dream sequence from the film we worked on together. So David is the characters name and IAV stands for I AM VENGEANCE. It was a nice cameo that I didn’t even have to show up for.

Greg: Could it be compared to any horror film out there?

Joseph: Not really. Richie’s work has a unique and distinct voice. But it’s definitely satirical and meant to be funny.

Greg: Did it do well on DVD?

Joseph:  It was just recently released. I think the end of May. I think that it exceeded expectations though considering what a miniscule budget it had.

Greg: Now I recall that you are going to be working in a non horror film but there is gore in it made by Nikos make up wizard Marcus Koch. What is that film all about?

Joseph: Well unfortunately at this point I can’t give too much information on it but I can say that it is violent. It’s a labor of love for both of us that we’ve been trying to get funding for a long time. It’s such a great idea and story. We have such a belief in it that we want to do it right, with a decent budget. We filmed a trailer for it and we were both happy with the way it turned out.

Greg: Will it still please horror fans do you think? I mean a lot of B-film horror fans love Troma Team dark comedies like Toxic Avenger or Class of Nuke Em High.

Joseph: It’s nothing even close to those. I do think horror fans will like it. But again it’s not horror. More of a thriller with suspense and action and violence.

Greg: Now here’s some fun stuff: What are your favourite horror films?

Joseph: I have so many actually. All for different reasons. The Exorcist, The Thing, Suspiria, Dead Alive, Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2, Alien. These are the first to come to mind, I guess I have such a wide array of tastes.

Greg: If you have a film you’d like to change. What would it be?

Joseph: So many these days. I guess the most recent is SAW. I thought it had a great premise even though it was a bit of a twist on SEVEN. But the story was told in a way that ruined it for me. It was more about the script, story structure and development than the direction that I would change.

Greg: What is the film you acted or directed in that you cherish the most?

Joseph: I haven’t been in enough to make that decision. Hopefully I’ll let you know in say 5 years.

Greg: If you were a top scream king for one day or a famous horror filmmaker whether this actor or filmmaker was alive or dead who would he be?

Joseph: There are a lot out there that I would like to get in their heads for many different reasons. Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, George Romero, Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, John Carpenter. Not necessarily in that order. There are some Asian directors out there that I think are really interesting as well.

Greg: What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Joseph: Working and making a living solely in the film industry. In any aspect will do. I love to act but I also have aspirations of producing and directing as well. Not having to wait tables ever again!

Greg: What are your ambitions in life?

Joseph: Besides making a living at this it would be really cool if I had a body of work that was looked upon like some of the greats. In any genre. While I like horror, I also have a great love for all films and all types. I want to leave something out there, that can play and be remembered fondly for years and years.