If you are looking for a new job, what resonates with you that makes you want to take it? Also, what resonated with you for the script of Beast Mode?
It can tend to change from time to time. Usually, I’ve been more drawn to things that frighten me. Things where I’m like, “I wouldn’t do this normally,” and the moment I say I wouldn’t do it, I almost know I have to do it. There’s another old saying I learned when I was young. “If you can’t, then you must!” That’s a frightening thing. “I can’t do that, so now I have to do it! I shouldn’t have said that!” So, you start training yourself not to say you can’t do things, and you start rising to the challenge and learning and growing from that.
When I got the script for Beast Mode, it wasn’t, fortunately, that I was afraid. It was more that I relished the idea of being able to play so many different characters in one movie. Because when I saw Huckle and Michael, I saw it as more than just Huckle Saxton. I was going to play Huckle; I was going to play Michael pretending to be Huckle Saxton, who, along the way, becomes corrupted and becomes a lot like Huckle for a small amount of time. Then he turns into this beast, which is, again, another character. Then there’s the remorseful Michael who comes back and sees the error of his ways, and he doesn’t want to move in that direction. I loved the journey of Michael. As much as I loved playing Huckle, I loved Michael’s arc. What Michael has to go through, the self-discovery he has to face.
I thought it was a charming part of the movie. I think that it has a lot of layers, just like your character.
It does, and without spoiling anything, it’s wonderful. You have this character (Michael) who wants to be famous. He would love nothing more, but what he understands and what he realizes, in the end, is that being famous like Huckle Saxton, having that kind of fame, made him very unhappy because he was very unkind to people. Especially to the person that he loved. To him, to be loved and to love is the most important thing in the world. So to have that poignancy layered underneath this campy, gruesome 1980s horror-comedy gives it a heat that draws me to not only watch movies like it but to be in films like it. Because I like that kind of message and films can have a sweet message like that.
“…so I really try to balance that cheesiness out.”
Well, it’s good in a way. I think cheesy can be kind of a negative connotation for positivity.
It has a good connotation and a bad one, so I really try to balance that cheesiness out. Having fun without being ashamed of having fun and understanding the ridiculousness of it at the same time. There were a lot of things I really loved about Beast Mode because it traversed around this subject matter in a really fun manner. It was a lot of fun to do.
The other thing that draws me almost a majority of the time to projects is the talent involved—the actors, etc. Sometimes, I may not even like the character I’m getting offered, but if I’m going to be in a movie with this and that person, then I’m in hook, line, and sinker. I don’t care. I just want to perform with them. I was already a huge fan, of course, of C.Thomas Howell. I was a fan of Carrie Finklea from Elephant. Then the cast just kept coming. We got Leslie Easterbrook, James Hong, and Robert Costanzo. Even the newer and up-and-coming actors. Albert Minero Jr. and Allana Matheis, who plays my love interest, Flex, are lovely.
Oh yeah, she’s great.
There’s a joy in working with people like that, who are as excited and motivated to be there as you are and who is really good at what they do. I gotta say, Teddy Margas. I posted something about Beast Mode, and he said, “It was a pleasure being stomped by you.” I was like, “Oh yeah, I stomped you in the movie, that’s why you can’t walk! I crushed your legs!”
Spain and Drew told me the story about his character’s name. It’s hilarious.
Spain had me in stitches the whole time. That wig.
Oh my God, that wig is ridiculous.
Hahaha.
