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Michael, can you start us off with a visual and
describe the room where you're answering these
interview questions?
Do you remember Harry
Potter ; he lived in a closet, right? Well,
that's where I'm at. My closet is pretty big. So,
I made half of it my office. I have DSL, phone,
desk, computer and nice window. I'm on the second
floor of a new house we just bought. I'm a
screenwriter, besides an actor, so I spend a lot
of time up here. It's quiet and my kids know that
when I have the door closed, they're not to come
in. But they still do, telling me about something
they found in the backyard or a new level of a
video game they got too.
First off I want
to hear about how your work as Pluto in the
remake of 'The Hills Have Eyes'?
What sort of headspace did you go into to get
into character?
First
off, playing Pluto was so much fun. A lot of hard
work, but when you get to break things and not
get in trouble for it, plus get paid for it, then
the hard work was worth every second. Pluto is
not even close to the original that was played by
Michael Berryman. This Pluto is raw, brutal and
in your face. He has a mind of a child and the
viciousness of your worst nightmare. He keeps
coming and coming and won't stop until he kills
you. I'm a bit "method" but only a few
minutes before they call "action". So,
to get in that space, I had to get pretty crazy.
Alex, the director, loved it when I got
"jacked" up to do a scene where I had
to kick some serious butt. It took a lot of bad
words and stomping around to get not only my body
but also my mind ready to become Pluto. The cast
and crew knew when it was "Pluto Time".
Just seconds before "action" I'm ready.
Axe in hand and literally frothing at the mouth.
Aaron, who plays Doug in the movie, knew I meant
business. So, there was no acting when it came to
him and me battling. You're going to love the
"house" scene. It's an intense
onslaught that does not let up.
Was it
intimidating to step into Michael Berryman's
shoes who played Pluto in the original Wes Craven
flick back in 1977?
At first,
yes. Michael made Pluto iconic. It's tough to
portray such a famous character. Alex and I
decided that I should not see the original film.
I did not want to do an imitation of what Michael
did, but instead bring a new, fresh approach. The
first film has some camp to it. This film, there
is no camp. My character had to match the overall
feel of the film.
What is your
predominant memory of shooting the film?
I think
working with the German Sheppard dogs. They were
from France and they were not exactly trained to
do stage fighting with an actor. I had rehearsed
with them for a couple of weeks and everything
seemed to be okay. But when we got to the actual
shooting of the scene, the dogs got stage fright.
We just couldn't get the energy out of the dogs
that we wanted to. We used 4 different dogs. The
female dog was the last dog and the most vicious.
I had a pad under my jacket to protect my arm,
but the dog decided to try to bite my balls
instead. Go figure. She did nail me in the leg a
few times and left a few good marks that still
remain to this day. At the end of the day, the
scene didn't work and the director and producers
were not happy. So, we came back another day and
tried it again. The same thing. The dogs got
stage fright and I got bit. So, everyone told me
that we'd have to do this scene in the US, but
this time with "trained" American dogs.
I felt bad. It wasn't my fault, but still I felt
bad. When I was wrapped on the film, I had about
4 days off before I was to go back to the US. I
thought, "What the hell. I'm sitting here on
my butt, doing nothing. Let's bring 2nd Unit in
and spend a day, by ourselves and work with the
dogs. Let's make the scene work. So, after some
pleading and begging, I got them to do it. That's
what we did. We got 2nd Unit at the location,
brought in the dogs and spent all day working
getting the shot. In the end, not only did we
make the scene work, but also we saved the
production hundreds of thousands of dollars on
reshoots. The producers are still thanking me to
this day.
It's sort of
fitting at this point that your career would come
full circle in a way since you started your film
career as Super Freddy in 'A Nightmare on
Elm Street: The Dream Child' (1989). How
did that bit of horror immortality happen for
you?
Playing
Super Freddy kind of happened on accident. I went
with a friend of mine to an audition. He's a big
guy like me. I went with him because after, we
were going to workout at Gold's Gym in Venice
Beach, which was close by. Well, he finished
auditioning and as we were leaving, the casting
director asked me if I wanted to come in and meet
the director. I said, "Okay, I guess."
I went in and meet him. He asked me to laugh like
Freddy Kruger and I did. The next thing you know,
I'm playing Super Freddy. Did you know that I'm
the only other person to have played Freddy
Kruger, besides Robert England? Someone told me
that last week. And now I'm playing another
iconic character, Pluto. Pinch me! Okay, that
sounds weird. How about punch me?!
Can you describe
the feeling of seeing yourself on the big screen
for the first time?
I was
nervous as hell. I think I closed my eyes and
slouched down in my seat, trying to disappear. To
this day, with all of stuff I've done both big
screen and small screen, I still get nervous. I
think that's because deep down inside I think I
suck and I'm afraid everyone will find out.
Since then you've
also done several other horror sci fi movies - a
vampire in 'Blood Shot' (2002),
Valya in 'In Hell' (2003),
Creepy in 'Men in Black II'
(2002), 'Cyborg 3 (1994), etc.
Tell me about your work as the title character in
the promising sounding 'Monster Man'
(2003)?
That was
a fun role to do. Have you seen it? I had done a
few years on 'Charmed' playing four different
characters, so I' m pretty good at coming up with
different character traits. Seeing how Monster
Man's real name is F*ck Face, I figured he'd have
a f*cked up walk as well as he's breathing. So, I
worked something up, showed the director, he
loved it and we went with it. I'm so blessed to
be in this business and to have played so many
different characters. Even though it would be fun
to be a leading man, being a character actor is
so much more challenging and kick ass. Leading
men, play leading men. Not much difference from
one movie to the next. There are exceptions, but
for the most part that's how it is. Guys like me
get to play all sorts of characters. I don't get
to many love scenes, but that's okay. I get to
kill them instead. Plus, my wife wouldn't be to
happy seeing me on the big screen making out with
some chick.
Is acting
menacing easy for you? Is it a form of therapy?
Do you think you're primarily cast because of
your looks, size, demeanor, or film history? I
guess I am asking what do you think casting
directors see in you that makes you win these
roles?
No,
menacing does not come easy to me. I'm a pretty
nice guy, well, I think I am. When I get into a
casting office for a bad guy role, I have to walk
in with the bad guy demeanor. If I don't, I don't
get the role. Now, when I'm on the set, it's a
different story; I'm nice, kicked back and easy
to get along with. I've lost too many jobs when I
first started by walking into the casting office
with a smile and all friendly. I now walk in
professional and like I own the room. My size and
my baldhead is what gives me the look but my
acting is what wins me the role. A lot of big
guys think they can just want in with no training
and win the role. But that's not the case for the
most part. After I did Nightmare and realized I
wanted to do this for the rest of my life. So, I
studied my butt off. For 4 years I took every
acting class you can thing of. To this day, I
still train. I treated acting like I did when I
used to play football. I wanted to be good and
that takes a lot of work. It's Hollywood, where
people from all over the world come to be an
actor. So, I knew I would be up against a lot of
competition. Even though I've put in a lot of
work and have paid my dues, I\rquote ve still
been blessed. I've done almost 40 films and about
60 TV shows. Most people could only dream about
that. But I don't take it for granted. Every time
I step on the set, I'm in awe. I wish I could do
it 24/7.
In addition to
your movie work you have done so much television
as well...4 episodes of 'Charmed,
'The X Files', 'Star
Trek Voyager', 'Family Matters',
'Desperate Housewives', 'Roswell',
Nash Bridges', 'The
O.C.', 'Malcolm in the Middle',
a couple episodes of 'Murphy Brown',
'Wings', 'Babylon 5',
'V.I.P.' and everything in
between. What have been your most memorable roles
on the small screen...or those you see and think
'Awesome, I really nailed that challenging role
that time!'
4
episodes of 'Charmed' , you're short changing me
here. I've done 13, but who's counting! Ha!
Oops, pardon my
faulty research!
Yep,
again, I'm very blessed with all of the work. I
think the one show where I said; "Man, this
is awesome!" was 'Nash Bridges.' I did one
episode. Had a good time and thought that was it.
Then a couple of weeks later, they call me back
for another episode. Same role, Iron Mike Willis,
but the part was a lot bigger. I remember, riding
a police motorcycle, having the camera right next
to me, filming and I'm rattling off all of this
cool dialogue. After the shot, I stood up on the
bike and screamed, "I can't believe I'm
doing this! This is awesome!" That's what I
said. Honest! The director thought I was a little
crazy though
Do you have any
other projects pending you would care to plug or
mention to the www.racksandrazors.com readers?
I'm doing
another film in April, where I'm playing this
racist cop. It's a great role and I'm looking
forward to doing it. It's an independent film
that will be in the festivals next year. I just
turned down a role on 'Las Vegas.' I wanted to do
it, but it interfered with the premier of 'The
Hills have Eyes.' It was tough to turn down, but
I can't miss the premiere! Other than that, I'm
auditioning for the "next" role. I hear
my name being tossed about for the next 'Friday
the 13th' film, playing Jason. But that's just
talk. It's nice to hear, but I don't put much
weight into it. I'm also finishing up my 3 rd
draft on my 4th screenplay. It's a great story,
very powerful. Hopefully, with some luck, I can
get it made. We'll see!
Do you recall the
first time you were ever scared at the movies?
Yep.
Don't laugh, but it was 'Count Yorga, Vampire.'
That was back in 1971, I think. Were you even
born yet? Don't answer that! I don't know how I
got into the theatre but I did. I must have snuck
in. I was scared for the next month when I went
to bed. My mom had to leave the light on for me.
The next time was when I was in the military. A
bunch of us big tough paratroopers from the 82n
Airborne went to the movies to see 'Alien.' Man,
I jumped every two seconds. To this day, I'll
watch horror films, but man, do I jump. My wife
loves them. Hell, I went to the NC-17 screening
of 'The Hills have Eyes' for the cast about a
month ago. I jumped then! And I'm in the damn
thing! Man, I'm a big baby.
Somewhat going
along with that -- we're pulling the car into the
Michael Bailey Smith Drive In. What three horror
flicks are going to be in the triple bill and
what goodies are you going to be serving up at
the concession stand?
I like
this question. 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' - Has
to be something burnt, like Freddy's face. Hey,
burned pizza! 'The Hills Have Eyes' (2006) - Raw
meat with lots of tomato sauce. 'Aliens' -
Something with a lot of dripping goop. Maybe
popcorn with hot melted caramel. When you grab
some popcorn, the caramel just strings out, like
alien slime. Sounds kind of good. The next
weekend at the Drive In, we'd play all of Michael
Bailey Smith's worst movies. Man, I've done some
bad ones.
What makes you go
psycho in real life?
You mess
with my kids or my wife, I'll go psycho. We were
at a department store a few weeks back. I was
trailing back from my wife and kids, looking at
something on a shelf. Well, this butthead walks
past one of my sons (who's 4) and bumps into him,
knocking him down. The guy looks back then just
keeps walking. My wife says something to him
like, "Excuse me. You just knocked over my
son." and the guy, out of nowhere, calls her
a bitch. Well, you can imagine what happened
next. Let's just say the guy not only had to
change his underwear but he's also has a whole
new outlook on life.
What scares you
in real life?
I hate
being in a darkened building by myself and having
to make my way to the exit. I always feel like
someone is going to come up from behind me and
grab me. I'm always looking back. I know, I'm a
big baby... |
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