Christopher Downie [Interview]

Robert Wuhl [Interview]

Today we have probably one of the most recognizable figures in the world of comedy with us here today. The great Robert Wuhl has been a staple in the world of entertainment as a comedian, writer, and actor for a few decades now. His career has been so varied and delightful it is almost unbelievable. It is definitely hard to dream up what he may be “best known” for with all the amazing work he has done. But, let’s try!

Die hard Madonna fans will recognize that handsome mug for his appearance in her greatest music video to date, “Material Girl”. Baseball fans are sure to know his work in Ron Shelton classic films like Cobb and Bull Durham, as well as his successful HBO series Arli$$, which isn’t entirely about baseball, as we will discuss further. Oh and if we want to throw basketball in there, let us not forget Blue Chips, penned by Shelton. Then of course there are is 2 Emmy’s for writing for the Oscars during their glory days when Billy Crystal reigned supreme. And that is all without even mentioning his amazing life in the world of stand up, and performances in classic films like Good Morning Vietnam, Tim Burton’s Batman, and The Bodyguard.

Or if you are just a dumb 90’s kid like me, he was that guy who wanted to flip out on Kel Mitchell in The Good Burger. Yep, that was my introduction to the genius of Robert Wuhl. Obviously I have become an actual adult and can respect Robert’s other works as well. But dammit if I don’t love me some Kenan & Kel!

With that, we are honored today to be able to share a few words with the legend himself, the great Robert Wuhl!

What lead you to the world of stand up comedy? Was it something you were always passionate about as a youth, or did you just sort of fall into it? 

I enjoyed watching stand ups growing up on TV (Ed Sullivan, Tonight Show, etc.)   I wanted to break into filmmaking and following the path of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and Paul Mazursky I began putting together a stand-up act to showcase my writing and comedic talents. 

The stand up world has obviously changed quite a bit since when you first started. What are your thoughts on the current world of stand up comedy, compared to what it used to be in the 80’s? Are things better in some ways? Worse?  

Certainly there are many more ways to be seen because of the internet, YouTube, etc.  I think most things are generational so I couldn’t say if things are better or worse, they just are different.

Your hit HBO show Arli$$ is one of those ground breaking classic shows that really set the precedent for what television would become, in my opinion. In your own personal opinion, what was it about this show that you felt made it special? 

I was trying to do a show about a guy running a business that happened to have a very specific, unique clientele.   Fran Leibowitz, the author, once approached me at a party, saying, “I hate sports, but I love your show.”   The thing is, the show was never about sports.  It was about CHARACTERS in the world of sports which is a very different thing.

I have always had a soft spot for Ron Shelton’s Bull Durham, in which you were amazing in by the way. But, the Shelton film, that you were also in, Cobb, is the one that has always stuck with me. All of these years later, what are your thoughts on this, in my mind at least, seminal film?  

Thank you for the kind words, Cobb has a special place for me.  It was a project that Ron and I spoke about for years before it actually came to fruition.  It was a job to make, however, as I learned, it wasn’t for everyone’s taste. It’s a dark tale and about a dark subject and also about celebrity and journalism in America.

COBB, Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Wuhl, 1994, (c)Warner Bros.

When you look back on your amazing career in so many different areas of the film and television world, what would you say you are most proud of?   

I’m fortunate in that I’ve been able to juggle a number of different balls and stay working.  I can generally say that I’m proud of most of the body of work I’ve been a part of.  Also, that I’ve been able to work with really really good people.

And we always like to ask our statue holding friends this question: Where do you keep your Emmys, and does their physical locations hold a certain significance to you?

They’re in my office.  And not really.

So what is next for you? Anything you can plug to our readers?   

I’m putting together a follow-up to my Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl show entitled, Shistory Happens.

What was the last thing that made you smile?

The thing that makes me always smile — my dogs!

David Gborie [Interview]

What was the last thing that made you smile?

I accidentally spilled a bunch of ground up marijuana on my naked body after my shower this morning and I laughed so hard I got lightheaded, which feels kind of like being high anyways so I like to think of it as a win-win.

Check out David’s now infamous appearance on Conan, courtesy of Team CoCo right here:

Sarah Wise [Interview]

Today’s interview is a real combination of aspects of the world of entertainment that I seriously enjoy just so much. One of them is brilliant writing, as we have showcased several times in the past. Another would be the exhilarating television show that has developed a very unique and deserving popularity, From Dusk Till Dawn. And on a more important note: I love to hear stories of bad ass women who are killing it in the world of television writing.

And as I mentioned, today’s amazing interviewee is involved with or excellent at being ALL of these things! Sarah Wise is an amazing young woman who has paved her own way in the world of television, and is absolutely amazing at what she does. Fans of From Dusk Till Dawn will definitely know what I am talking about. And what a story she has! On a proverbial wing and a prayer, Sarah made a courageous jump to reach the level she is at now.

And I will get to letting her tell you all about it! So ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy some great words from the amazing writer, Sarah Wise!

How did you get into the world of television, and more specifically, television writing? What made you want to get into this way of life?

I’ve always loved writing and television, but it wasn’t until after college that I considered writing for television as a possible career path. I was working at The Walt Disney Company in Internal Communications during the era of Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives and decided to try my hand at writing a spec script. At the time I thought I wanted to be a comedy writer, so I took a stab at writing a spec of How I Met Your Mother. Ultimately I quit my cushy, regular, old office job and took a job as an Office Production Assistant on Raising Hope.

My next job was as a Writers’ Assistant on In Plain Sight, followed by Writers’ Assistant jobs on The Client List and From Dusk Till Dawn. I wrote a pilot script that was a good sample for From Dusk Till Dawn and gave it to our showrunner, Carlos Coto, to read. He liked it and promoted me to Staff Writer the following season.

You’ve been working on the television adaptation of From Dusk Till Dawn for a while now, and it is some of the best television I have seen in quite a while as well. And to most of us, it is obviously the writing that makes it so great. What is the writer’s dynamic like on this show? What you believe it is that is happening behind the scenes that makes it work so well?

First off, I have to give an immense amount of credit to Carlos Coto for fostering a wonderful space for the writers to create and for always driving us toward brilliant character moments and storylines. The original film was so unique and engaging and it gave us a lot of material to expand into a bigger universe.  I think all the writers on the show felt passionately about the characters and the Dusky world they inhabited and we always strove to put those characters in dark, challenging, funny and fresh circumstances. It was a very open room where every writer was allowed to voice their opinion and make suggestions to improve storylines.

When you are working for/with a person like Robert Rodriguez who happens to run the network in which a show will air, does it feel a bit more freeing than working for one of the major cable networks? Is there a noticeable difference?

Robert Rodriguez is sort of the tastemaker of the El Rey Network. In a regular major cable network, I don’t think you write as much toward one person’s preference, but you write a show that hopefully fits the brand of the network, and the network executives are there to help you hit that mark. Our showrunner got notes directly from Robert so we got very specific feedback if a story we were working on jived with his sensibilities.  It definitely streamlined the process to have a direct line to Robert.

It certainly feels that although it is 2017, and times should have changed, that women are severely outnumber and underrepresented in the world of film and television when it comes to writers, directors, cinematographers, and more. In your professional opinion, as someone who is actively working in this world, what do you believe it is that is continuing to guide this old school “Boy’s Club” mentality? What needs to change?

Oh man, I wish I had a punchy, smart answer for this. I think people tend to gravitate toward people who are like them, and there seems to be a lot of older men in entertainment mentoring and hiring younger men that remind them of themselves. That’s why it’s wonderful when someone like Ava DuVernay has an opportunity to hire directors for her series, Queen Sugar, and she hires a bunch of “untested” female indie film directors. There’s a self-perpetuating cycle in Hollywood where you can’t get hired to work on a project unless you have experience, but obviously you can’t get experience unless you get hired to work on a project.

People have been aware of this underrepresentation for many years now, but clearly awareness is not moving the needle in a significant way. I think a proactive move to give more opportunities to female creators might start to nudge the door open. That doesn’t mean mandating that 50% of all films or TV shows should be written and directed by women (though that would be nice), but I’ve heard anecdotes of studios putting together potential director lists for upcoming films that don’t include a single woman. If you don’t even give a woman an opportunity to interview for a job, she’s clearly not going to get the job. That absolutely needs to change.

What is next for you? Any projects you can tell us about and that our readers should be looking forward to?

I’m shopping around a TV series concept – I can’t speak to specifics at the moment, but hopefully I will have some good news soon!

What was the last thing that made you smile?

I finished the first draft of a new pilot this morning!  After many weeks of eating, breathing and dreaming in that world, it’s an incredible feeling to have a completed script.

Marc Jaffe [Interview]

 

With my wife in a park that had a playground. We got on the teeter-totter (see-saw). We turned into kids again. So much fun seeing her so happy.

Nick Brimble [Interview]

There are few mythical tales out there that really hit the way that Robin Hood does. It is an absolutely brilliant moral driven legend that I have been fascinated with since I was a young boy. And for me, at this time, it was the film Robin Hood: Princes of Thieves that really struck me as the greatest depiction of the Robin Hood mythology. I’m certain that some could argue against this, but no one can argue that it is a fantastic film, and a brilliantly told story of Robin Hood. And one of my favorite characters of note from the film was the man with a bit more common sense than the rest, the wonderful Little John. And wouldn’t you know it, I have a man here today who just might know a thing or two about this character, as he is the brilliant man who brought it to screen!

That’s right folks! Today’s interview is with the legendary actor of screen and stage, the wonderful Nick Brimble. Now, I may have just given a long winded introduction about Robin Hood before introducing Mr. Brimble, but as regular readers will know, that was only the kicker. So often I become intrigued by an artist for some piece of work they have done, and then I quickly realize that they have been a part of some other amazing works of art as well and are continuing to wow audiences in a career that is nothing short of stellar. And that is definitely the case with the brilliant Nick Brimble. He is also a very versatile actor. BBC viewers will recognize him from his work on Granchester, and horror fans may be familiar with his work in Roger Corman’s brilliant take on another creature of mythology in Frankenstein Unbound. And he has done just SO much more.

Obviously we are very excited to have Nick Brimble on the site today! So let me stop the babbling and let you all get on with some great words from the brilliant actor, Mr. Nick Brimble!

I’ve come to learn that you studied philosophy and English Literature in college. Which isn’t so far off from acting, in some respects. But, how did the transformation into acting come into play? When did you realize you wanted to perform for a living?

The one thing you know after completing a degree in Phiosophy is that you don’t know anything. That disqualifies you from almost every profession….. except perhaps being an actor!

My father was a keen amateur actor in Bristol where we lived and I used to go to rehearsals, take him through his lines and occasionally take part if they needed a kid. He also did some radio drama work and again I would sometimes take part.

I was also given a season ticket to Bristol Old Vic, our local repertory theatre and went to every play from the age of 11 until I went to University at 18. The standard was very high and I got to watch some fantastic actors (including a young Peter O’Toole) doing all sorts of work.

When I was in my mid-teens my father also took over the management of a French/Czech troupe of High Wire Artists (called the White Devils) when they were touring England, and for three summers we toured with them.

He would do the commentary and I would sell souvenirs. One year he arranged a blind-fold crossing of Cheddar Gorge which was a pretty big event at the time. At the end of the English tour I was sent with them touring through France, helping put the equipment up and living in the back of a truck . When it was time for me to go back to school they would give me my trainfare and I would find my own way home. It was huge fun.

All of this background meant that a steady job didn’t really appeal to me.

After leaving Sussex University I got a job as Lecturer in English at the University of Baghdad. The ex-pat life style appealed to me as a young man and I might well have continued on that path but at the end of my first year in Baghdad the Six-Day War broke out and I was forced to leave.

Finding myself back in England I took a job teaching at a large London School for a year before deciding to try something in theatre.

I was offered a job as “Youth Theatre Organiser” at a theatre in Canterbury. My job involved organising tours of plays to schools in the area, as well as performing in them, driving the van, helping build the sets for the main theatre productions and playing any small parts that were available in main theatre.

From this I was, to my surprise, offered a job as an actor in the Northcott Theatre company where I worked for three years before going on to work for the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the West-End

As a man who has mastered the craft of acting in the world of film, television, and stage…what would you say is your favorite type of production to be a part of?

Well, I wouldn’t claim to have mastered my craft, part of the fun is that you are continually learning and reinventing yourself.

Initially I only considered theatre…. it didn’t occur to me that I could work in film or television, but once I began to be offered screen work I found I really enjoyed it.

Wessex Tales was one of my early “film-for-tv” jobs. I remember being taken to a field where the art department had created a fabulous Inn. The scene involved me meeting the girl I was in love with. I watched as she came over the brow of the hill in a stage coach pulled by white horses…. it was a marvellous sight.

The director called “Cut”, then told me that I had done a really good job which confused me because I hadn’t done anything…. just watch.
That was the beginning of learning about screen acting.

In 1990, you performed as the legendary Monster in Roger Corman’s Frankenstein Unbound. What was it like to take on the role of such an iconic figure? What sort of preparation did you do for this role?

I tried to create a different physicality for the Monster. He had been created to be better than a normal person, he was stronger and had more sensitive hearing and could speak and reason.

I got help from a movement teacher and worked on walking without opposing movement of the arms and legs. Then we developed a loping run with both arms moving together. I used to practice this run early in the morning on Wimbledon Common near where I lived… and scared a few early morning dog-walkers!

The prosthetic make-up was designed by Nick Dudman and I spent hours with his fabulous team each day applying it all. The final bit was the eyes, which were rigid pieces with art work showing that different eyes had been stitched together for the Monster. This gave me very limited vision and I had to be helped on set. I was told that on no account should I get any dirt in my eyes….. So, naturally, the first scene I shot had me running behind a the horse-drawn carriage while a wind machine blew handfuls of dust in my face.

We had the best fun making that film. I spent most of my evenings in fabulous restaurants in Milan eating, drinking, laughing and arguing with John Hurt and Raul Julia.

A truly unforgettable time!

Roger Corman is a legendary filmmaker and producer with a very specific way of doing things in the world of cinema. What was it like working under the guise of a man like Mr. Corman?

Roger is a very conservative seeming gentleman….. but with his own wild ideas.

In one early scene we shot, The Monster has gone into the town where a fiesta is taking place. The noise of fireworks hurts his sensitive ears and in his distress he frightens some children. A nightwatchman runs up blowing his whistle which makes him even more distraught. He grabs the nightwatchman, plunges his fist into the man’s chest and pulls out his still beating heart which he holds up in front of him. Seeing this the poor man dies!

As we prepared to shoot I had a tube running up my arm which was pumping sticky artificial blood through the throbbing prop heart in my hand.

Roger came up to me and said, “Nick, at this point over-acting is impossible”.

1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves will not only go down as my favorite Robin Hood story of all time, but one of my favorite films of all time. And you were freaking Little John! What was it like to work on such a iconic film, and what are your thoughts on the final cut of the film that we know and love?

I grew up on the Disney live action film with Richard Todd as Robin and James Robertson Justice as Little John. I saw it several times in the cinema.

There was a stream near my house and as a kid we would act out the fight in waterfall. What a treat to get to act it out again – this time in a hugely popular modern version!

The actual shoot was chaotic and hard work….. we had no idea it would be such a success. Our fight in the waterfall was shot in Aysgarth Falls in Yorkshire…. in November. And let me tell you, it was cold!

It took three days to shoot that sequence – what you see in the film is a small part of what we actually shot. We were in the water first shot to last shot, for three days, fighting on treacherous boulders in fast moving water, and because of the fighting we couldn’t wear wet suits under our clothes.

But I feel so lucky to have been part of something that people know and love.

After being in the world of acting for over 5 decades, what is it that keeps you in this business? What is it that you still adore about the profession of performance?

You never know what you will be asked to do next. That is priceless.
Getting an early call to be driven out to some exotic location to meet your fellow cast members and crew never grows old.

So, what is next for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?

I’m so lucky to still be asked to do things. Currently I’m in the third series of Grantchester which is a joy to work on. Set in the 1950s, James Norton is the Anglican Vicar of Grantchester and Robson Greene the local policeman.

I came into the first season in a guest role and immediately felt at home. I was asked back to do a couple of episodes in the second season, and now in the third, I am a potential romantic interest for the vicar’s house-keeper played by Tessa Peake-Jones.

Who could have predicted that!

What was the last thing to make you smile?

I just heard that after a five year hiatus there is a new series of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.
Can’t wait!

McNally Sagal [Interview]

Today’s interviewee is somebody extremely special to the TWS world, and someone we have wanted to talk to for a very long time. A few years ago we had the fortunate experience to receive some great words from actors like Christopher Reed and Michael Ornstein, both known for their brilliant performances on the hit TV series Sons of Anarchy. And today we have reached a whole new level in the SoA universe. Today we have the brilliant McNally Sagal on the site! McNally as you will definitely remember portrayed the brilliant Margaret Murphy, the doctor who wants to help all the wrong people, probably because she has a few secrets herself. She was absolutely brilliant in this role, and was definitely a major highlight of the program.

Now, as per usual, McNally Sagal is a brilliant actress who has managed to not be pigeonholed into being known for one performances. Since SoA, McNally has been a regular on the hit series Secrets & Lies, and has appeared on other great shows like Scandal and Jane the Virgin. And even before SoA, McNally appeared in another project that has been very special to us here at TWS, the brilliant indie classic film SLC Punk, directed by our old friend James Merendino and featuring our new friend Michael Goorjian. And that is all without even mentioning the fact that she appeared in one of the most underrated comedies of all time, a classic in my book, High School High. As well as a break out role in Clive Barker’s horror masterpiece, Night Breed.

Yes, McNally Sagal is a brilliant actress who has been proving for decades that she has the goods and is one of the greatest in the business for very obvious reasons. And we are so very excited to have her as our featured guest here today at Trainwreck’d Society. So please enjoy some great words from the amazing McNally Sagal!

When did you decide that you wanted play pretend for a living? Was it always an aspiration of yours, or did it just sort of happen?

I grew up in the middle of 10 children outside of Chicago, IL. My father is a reconstructive plastic surgeon. He clearly loved his work and his hope for all of us was that we found something we loved to do and make a living doing it. His often repeated phrase was, “Convert your hobby to your job and it will never feel like work.” I was an excellent student in high school, and thought that my parents might have their hearts set on my going into dentistry or medicine. I was shocked when I told them I wanted to study theater and they just said, “Great!” I graduated from Boston University, and then moved cold to NYC.

And after all of these years in the business, appearing on dozens of the best television shows and in some amazing films, what is it that you still enjoy about the business as it evolves into what it is now?

I love that I never really know what I will be doing or where I will be as the days unfold. I look forward to getting an audition for something that I know nothing about…then I work hard on it…and lo and behold, some days I get the opportunity to experience a whole new world that had never crossed my mind until that moment. For example, I had not seen The X Files when I got an audition for the show…it was 2 full days of multiple call backs…then the next day I am on a night shoot, standing on top of a flying saucer, holding an infant, with wind machines blowing and cursing at the top of my lungs! Ya know, things like that.

This might be a bit of a specific stretch here….but, Nightbreed is one of my favorite horror films of all time, and what I still consider Clive Barker’s most honest work. And it was one of your first on screen roles, according to my little research. So I am compelled to ask about what it was like working so early on a film like Nightbreed? Was it a positive experience overall?

I love Clive Barker! I was pretty scared doing the role actually….screaming my head off as a severed head is plopped on the counter and I am getting stabbed in the chest. I so enjoyed his sense of humor. He cast me again in Lord Of Illusions as what he described as a lip stick lesbian. We spent a lot of time together actually. I went to his home with my then 3 year old son, Boris. There was Clive’s artwork displayed all around the house, and my son was in awe….and then he said, “This is scary pretty.” Clive encouraged me to submit a story for his Hellraiser series of comic books for Epic Comics and I had a story published. That was pretty cool…although it is a pretty gruesome story about stand up comics in hell being pulled apart on stage when the audience yells for , “The Hook!”

How long was it into your career when you realized…I am an actress! When did you realize you were living as a working actor in the business? Was there a specific project or time period where it really hit you?

Well, uhhh, I moved to NYC right after graduating from college…and beleive it or not…I was offered a role in Amadeus on Broadway, 3 weeks after my arrival. So, yeah, I figured I had gambled correctly. Although, I was sure that I had nowhere to go but down. I did that job for a year and a half…so I was able to save some money and support myself as an actor ever since.

We have had the fortunate experience of talking with fellow Sons of Anarchy alum Christopher Reed and Michael Ornstein about their experience with the show. And you were absolutely AMAZING on the show, one of the major highlights in my opinion. So what was it like working with this strangely complex and conflicted character? How was the experience overall, and how much of the characters personality was of your own creation?

First off…shout out to Chris and Michael. They were great in their roles and really fun to work with!

I came in to audition for Kurt Sutter for a role where I had to literally turn myself inside out with grief and horror at the death of my teenage daughter. I totally lost it (as my real daughter was the same age as the daughter in the show) One of those times when I think the casting director thought maybe they should call an ambulance. Kurt told me there in the room….”I can’t see you doing this….you will not get this role….but I have something else in mind.”  Then of course, a year goes by and I let it go….

Then I got a call to come play a role on SOA…it was a very short scene in the hospital with Maggie Siff who played Tara on the show. I thought that was going to be it…I am a team player/trooper…just go where I am hired…had no more expectations. But then my character kept popping up, and the story and character arcs were so fun and amazing. I never knew what to expect or what might happen…I would just open my email to see if I was in the episode or not and what was going on. One day I was reading a script and I kind of made a yelp squeal and almost fell out of my chair….because I found out that my character literally had a “Back story”…and that I would sport a full back tattoo, get kidnapped, tied up in an attic, shoot a gun, get punched and strangled, kicked in the chest and thrown to the floor, black eyed, past heroin use, punch others in the face, lie on legal forms, lie to murderers, lie to the cops…you know, that kind of stuff. It was a blast!

Another close tie in we have is our relationship to the filmmaker and cast of the film SLC Punk, in which you had a wonderful role in as well. What can you tell us about set life on an independent flick based around the world of punk rock? Was it a memorable shoot for you?

It was very memorable because…and as I said earlier, why I love what I do…..I got a call at 9 p.m. one night, from a frightened, soft voiced, young woman….she was whispering….I could barely hear her. She said, “I have to be quiet because they are shooting a film on set. I don’t know if you remember me, but I used to work for your agent. I am here in Utah doing this movie, I am P.A…..and Julie Haggarty is very sick and unable to play a role…it works tomorrow in Salt Lake City….and um, as everyone was freaking out about who could play the role, all of a sudden…I kind of said that you could do it in a heartbeat…and so, now they want to hire you. But, um, now I am really nervous and my job depends on this. so, um, can you really do it? and can you leave RIGHT NOW?” I jumped on a plane and basically ran on the set and did that fun scene with Mathew Lillard and Christopher McDonald.

What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers?

My son is going to be a senior in high school next year…one more year before I have an empty nest! Who knows where he will go to college…or where I will be? Or what the future holds? That’s what makes it fun and keeps me on my toes!

What was the last thing that made you smile?