Mary Birdsong [Interview]

Hello, Folks! Well, as I am sitting here on a dreary English Saturday morning, a revolutionary figure has died, the earth is shaking, the air is unbreathable, and of course there is still this pandemic thing happening in which people are refusing to take such simple measures to prevent from spreading the globe. But, hey, let’s try our best to cheer ourselves up, shall we? Take a moment to check out this incredible interview we have from a brilliant actress that we love and adore so much. It’s Mary Birdsong, Everyone! Trust me, the sadness will come back shortly afterwards. Try to be a little bit happy?

If you can remember back into time to August in the year 2020 (I know, feels like an eternity, right?) you may remember that we had a wonderful guest from one of the greatest televised programs ever, which would be Reno 911!. That guest was Carlos Alazraqui, and he was great. Well, if you for some reason already couldn’t tell (how dare you?) we are headed back to the land of Reno again today! Mary Birdsong  jumped into the series portraying Deputy Cherisha Kimball and rocketed the show to even higher highs with her brilliant performance as the tough but maybe a bit clueless deputy amongst a whole batch of tough but maybe a bit clueless deputies.

Mary has also been involved with some other amazing work, and we are so excited to have her on the site today to tell us about what she is up to, her work on Reno 911!, singing in ice cream shops, being Judy Garland, and more. So Folks, please enjoy some wonderful words from the brilliant Mary Birdsong!

******

What inspired you to get into the world of entertainment?

It’s surprising even to me, but I had to be kind of pushed into it by other people who seemed to believe I had talent way before I ever thought I did. My best friend in highschool said we should try out for the play, so I did (it was The Mouse That Roared). And I also had a few teachers who took me aside and said “You know, you should really think about pursuing this professionally, or at least studying it in college. In acting, writing, and singing I got that kind of encouragement from very special teachers in highschool — Joseph Echle, Larry Delmasto, Michael Lorenzi, Fred Waters…

Was it something you had aspired to do since your youth?

No, not at all. I was painfully shy as a kid. I still am.  But acting and performing helped me find a way out of that shyness self-consciousness, and social anxiety. If I could make people laugh, or entertain them in some way, I think I felt like I was making myself useful to them, assigning some value to myself. And on some level- I do believe there’s an element of control involved in all of the arts. There’s an implied demand or directive (i.e., “Look at me,” “Listen to me,”) in anything one does creatively.

Or did you happen to find yourself in this world one day?

At the urging of my best friend and my teachers and my mother, I decided to major in performing in college (initially I was going to study singing or musical theatre, but unforeseen circumstances led me to studying acting instead (acting with a capital “A!”). I found it VERY intimidating, but I hung in there– the discipline of it, and the exposure to all kinds of culture I’d never known about before were very good for me.

What was your very first paid gig in the world of entertainment?

I was as a singing waitress (does that count?) at an ice cream parlor where I grew up — on Long Beach Island (LBI), New Jersey. The parlor was sort of a “spin-off” business that grew out of the Surflight Theatre (a decades-old summer-stock theatre on the Island that put on a different musical every week, all Summer). I would’ve gone for a job at the theatre instead of the ice cream parlor, but I couldn’t AFFORD to live off the tiny salary an actor got paid for summer-stock. So I auditioned to be a singing waiter for the ice cream parlor, and I LOVED IT!!!

And were there any sort of lessons learned from this experience that still impacts your work to date?

I learned SO MUCH! I didn’t know it at the time, but we were basically getting paid to be in comedy boot camp all summer. It incorporated lots of improv, sketch comedy, choreography, singing, writing, etc. I am still drawing from the same well today, no matter what I’m doing.

We recently had the opportunity to share some words from one of your former (and current) co-stars, Carlos Alazraqui, whom you worked on the absolutely legendary series Reno 911! We said it then, and we will say it again, it’s one of the greatest of all time. So what was it that drew you to work on this project?

The same thing that draws most actors to a project— paying rent! 🙂 It’s such a luxury for an actor to be able to pick and choose which roles they say yes to and which they don’t.  I have been lucky enough to get to that stage many times in my career, but it’s a cycle of feast or famine.  At the time Reno 911 came along, I really DID need a job, and I had to audition for the role just like anyone else. I think the role opened up because Kerri Kenney was pregnant, so they needed another female deputy on hand, just in case there were things physically that Kerri might not be able to handle while pregnant. And luckily, there were LOTS of things that really did draw me to this project (even if I hadn’t needed to pay rent at the time)— the amazing talent behind it, the requirement to improvise 99% of the dialogue, the edginess that the show was able to get away with, the amazing fan base it has… I could go on and on.

And after the show was off the air for over a decade, what was it like coming back into playing around in this incredibly unique world? Was it a tough transition back, or would the bicycle analogy be a better fit for your experience?

I was a little nervous coming back for the new season on Quibi, because it had been so long, and I had hardly done any improvising in those 10 years. But I was delighted to find that I had MORE FUN THAN EVER this time around. I loved getting to work with the two actors I hadn’t worked with on Reno before (Ian Roberts and Joe LoTruglio). They’re fantastic actors and comedians, and just plain NICE, COOL GUYS. I just felt a lot more relaxed this time around, which was just a joy.

If you were handed the opportunity to create and/or portray in the biopic of any legendary figure in American history, who would it be?

Judy Garland, hands down. Luckily, I’ve had the opportunity to do just that, several times already — I even got to play Judy Garland on Broadway! Judy Garland was one of many roles I played while performing with Martin Short in the Broadway musical, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. And before that role came along I devoted a few years of my life writing and performing a one woman show about Judy that I did in NY, in LA, and in Colorado at the Aspen Comedy Festival.

But since I’’ve already checked Judy off my list, I’d love to play Jackie O’, or Loretta Lynn, or Dolly Parton. Or ANYONE that would require me to wear a bustle, a corset, and/or a powdered wig. (I’m a total history nerd, and I’m vintage-clothing/costume obsessed, so period pieces are my FAVORITE!!).

Honestly, the roles I love playing the most are people who AREN’T famous or historically significant— they’re anonymous people you encounter on a typical day (the weirder the better, too).

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

Well, there’s more Reno 911 to look forward to— Quibi just announced that we’ll be doing a second season for them! And I’m currently pitching a 1/2 hour tv show called Hot Mess — a dark comedy about my mom and me. At this moment, I’d say it has a Grey Gardens meets AbFab vibe. 🤣 

And I just finished writing a feature film with my best friend Katty Biscone that I’m very excited about and proud of— it’s an adaptation of a great novel. I wish I could say more about it, but right now I can’t.

Other than that, I hope people check out my YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/marybirdsongtv where they can see my series of characters “365 Characters in 365 Days” (which I’m STILL working on finishing!!)

Other social media:

http://twitter.com/marybirdsong

http://instagram.com/marybirdsongofficial

What was the last thing that made you smile?

Will Hines.

Chad Opitz [Interview]

Hello Folks! Today we have an absolutely wonderful comedian that I love and admire so damn much. It’s Chad Opitz, Everyone! I discovered the brilliant comedy of Mr. Opitz in a pretty specific way that happens to be the way I have discovered so many different comedians that I enjoy and have had the pleasure of having on the site….it was Doug Loves Movies. It’s actually incredible how almost my entire comedic enjoyment experiences are based around this one program. But, we’re not hear to talk about DLM, we are here to share some wonderful responses from Chad, who is a genuinely sweet and absolutely hilarious human being.

This COVID bullshit, for a while, has put some facets of the comedy world to an absolute halt. But the laughter has not completed ended. It just went on line. It has been a real testament to which comedic warriors will make it out of this thing, with at least another 30 minutes of material to show for it. And I firmly believe that when the world is back to “normal”, Chad Opitz will be back on track to being a household name. Hell, he already is in my house! Trembath Manor is loaded up on Opitziods (does that work? Do you get it?).

Alright Folks, I am going to shut my proverbial mouth and let you all get to this incredible interview that we are so excited to share with you all. Please enjoy some words from the brilliant, Chad Opitz!

******

What initially drew you to the world of comedy? Was it something you have aspired to do since your youth or did you just happen to find yourself in this world one day?

I was initially drawn to the world of comedy via music. I had a one man band called Nervous Energy which I had come up with during my time at Central Washington University and many (not all) of the songs were of a comedic nature. The shows that typically worked best were when I would also be working with humor driven bands or opening for comedians. I was a fan of stand up comedy before and would go every month at college to the comedy showcase they had there just to watch. Never even really thought of doing it myself though until I moved to Santa Cruz, CA and was having difficulties getting booked to perform music more than like once a month. I needed a creative performance outlet and decided to check out a show at the Blue Lagoon and after watching it for a month or so, I asked the booker there, who goes by the name DNA, if I could do a set and there ya have it.

Greg Warren [Interview]

Hello Folks! And a happy Friday to you all. I am very excited about today’s guest. I’m not only excited because we have the very funny comedian Greg Warren with us today. That alone would be fantastic, as I truly love his work. But, today’s interview showcase is even more exciting for me personally. And I will tell you why:

While I find Warren’s comedic sensibility and material to be genius in it’s own right, I happen to know somebody that I respect and care for so much in this world who absolutely LOVES the work of Greg. And I was excited to reach out to this person to see if they had any inputs. Now, I am collaborated on several interviews in the past with comedians, musicians, the brilliant filmmaker Chris Eaves (who I will take any chance to shout out at any time), etc. But, there is one person who has inspired me in so many different ways, and I, for whatever dumb reason, hadn’t gotten to work with….until now.

It’s my dad. Who happens to be conveniently named Ron Trembath (you know how it works). And when I told him that Greg had responded to my invite, he was obviously very excited. Dad has watched Greg perform stand up in St. Louis on several occasions, and various different formats, and has continuously told me to check out his work. As I stated earlier, my dad has been a constant inspiration of mine, which extends specifically into comedy viewing. I distinctly remember watching a whole lot of stand up comedy when I was but a wee child. As I age rapidly, I find it harder and harder to remember exactly who we were watching. But, I can vaguely remember some hints of Paula Poundstone, Rosie O’Donnell, and, of course, the great George Carlin. Also a lot of Gallagher, but hey, I was again but a “wee child”. This love for all things hilarious extended into my obsession with everything that Comedy Central could produce, and would lead to even more shared comedic sensibilities between Dad and me.

I could go on and on about some of these experiences, and maybe I will one day, but for now, let’s get to the reason that most of you are here. The amazing Greg Warren is here today to join not just the TWS family, but the beautiful gathering of wonderful comedians who have been kind enough to share there experiences and wisdom with our readers. He is a damn fine comic, and we are so excited to have him grace our digital pages.

So Folks, please enjoy some wonderful words from the brilliant Greg Warren!

******

You were doing very well in the corporate world when you decided to do standup full time.  What were your parents reaction when you made that decision?  

Back before Covid you spent a lot of time on the road.  What did you do during all the off time, and are the comedy condos really as nasty as we hear about?

You are one of the few comedians I’d love to take my mom and granddaughters to see.  In fact, I’ve seen you do an all-ages show in St Louis.  It was fun to see what the 8 and 9 year old kids laughed at.  Did you make a conscience decision to be a “Clean Comedian”?  

I’ve been listening to you on the Bob and Tom radio show for years.  How important is it for comedians to do morning radio?  

Speaking of the Bob and Tom show, did Josh Arnold really bomb as bad when he opened for you?  Did you have a similar incident?  

You’ve performed all over the USA, including cruise ships.  Are the crowds different in the Midwest, compared to NYC or the west coast?

You have a podcast with Brendan Eyre about the NY Times crossword called One Down.  How did that come to be?  Any chance the Trip to the Lou podcast will make a return?

Recently watched you, via Zoom, perform a show in Bloomington, Indiana.  You had a lot of new content.  Was most of that written during the Covid shutdown?  

What would it take to get you to do a standup show in my backyard or mancave?  O’Brien can open and I’ll cook steaks for all of us.

What was the last thing that made you smile?

Maybe this question.  It’s a nice question.  I think I smiled at the girl working at the coffee shop that I am sitting in.  It was maybe a little bit of a fake smile but I think I was convincing.

Check out Greg live at the below cities near you! And check out his WEBSITE to see what future shows may be coming to your area!

December 10th-12th, 2020: Omaha, NE @ The Funny Bone

December 17th-20th, 2020: Columbus, OH @ The Funny Bone

Steve Hernandez [Interview]

Hello Folks! I simply can not tell you enough how damn excited I am to have today’s guest here on Trainwreck’d Society. I’ve been wanting to have this wonderful human being on the site for quite some time. And I will admit, I sort of bought his participation in a way. It’s Steve Hernandez!

Steve is a brilliant comedian and podcaster who, amongst many others that we will discuss further, is the co-host to my absolute favorite podcasts, Who’s Your God? alongside our dear friend and past guest Amy Miller. Nary a Friday goes by that I do not listen to this incredible show. In fact, many of the guests we have had here on the site, I discovered from listening to this damn fine show. Folks like Lydia Popovich, Jackie Fabulous, Billy Wayne Davis, Bri Pruett, and Steph Tolev entered into my own personal comedy fandom and the TWS family. Other wonderful comedians we have shared proverbial stages with have included Sarah Tollemache, Shane Mauss, Allen Strickland Williams, Kyle Ayers, Martha Kelly, Brendon Walsh, and more!

As I mentioned previously, I sort of bought Steve’s attention. And it was in a way I would recommend everyone do! Who’s Your God? has an absolutely wonderful Patreon that I need you all to get on. It’s absolutely wonderful. And that, Folks, is how I managed to essentially bribe this kind soul into being a part of the TWS family. I am still a patron, and I will forever be

If you are familiar with Steve’s comedy and work in general, it is obvious why he is an absolutely wonderful and kind human being with so much to offer the world. We are so happy to have him on the site, and the world should feel lucky that he is out in the world (well, when it’s safe to do so) entertaining the world with his art. And he gave us some wonderful and thoughtful answers below.

So Folks, please enjoy some amazing words from the brilliant Steve Hernandez!

******

What was it that initially inspired you to get into the world of comedy? Was it something you’ve aspired to do since your youth, or did you happen to find yourself in this world one day?

A lot of things had to go wrong for me to get into stand-up comedy! I grew up in the evangelical church and was a youth minister until I was 23, but then I left that all behind to work at gas stations and liquor stores and finally, restaurants and bars. I got married when I was 30 and after some prodding from my then wife, I went back to school to become an English professor. And I liked it! Ive always loved reading books and analyzing literature (like the Bible), and I was used to teaching in front of an audience, so it was really a no-brainer. Going back to school as an adult was a lot of fun and interesting and I had a goal and everything was going pretty well. In the summer of 2010 I needed to take just ONE more class and I’d be able to transfer to UCLA. I couldn’t be more excited! I registered for the class, but thanks to a clerical error, I DROPPED the class. Because that particular class was only offered during the summer, I would have to wait a couple more semesters to transfer. Man, I was BUMMED! 

But I also had a free summer for the first time in a couple of years. I had recently gone to my buddy Scott Luhrs’s first comedy show (a bringer show at El Cid) and he did great, and he said he was going to start doing open mics. I thought, “I guess I could just do open mics with Scott, it can’t be that different than preaching”. And I was right, it wasn’t! What I didn’t expect was in just a couple of months  I would be willing to throw away any previous plans just to get up onstage and tell jokes in front of strangers. Boy, what a dummy!

I have been a huge fan of your podcast you co-host alongside our dear friend and past guest Amy Miller, entitled Who’s Your God? I seriously can’t miss a week! I am curious to know why you think the show works so well? What do you believe it is about your chemistry with Amy that makes it work so well?

Thanks, Ron! Those are very kind words! I can’t tell you why people  like this damn podcast so much, but my guess would be Amy Miller. She is very funny and very smart and I am not lying when I say that there are very few people I would agree to do a God podcast with, especially when we started a few years ago. I think both of us are truly trying to be the best version of ourselves and the podcast really is about our spiritual journey and I think are listeners appreciate that. We’ve had real fights on the show and I got sober on the show and there’s really not a lot that we DON’T talk about . We’ve also have had the real pleasure to interview some of the best comedians on the planet and they usually come on the show ready to play ball and get deep and be funny! Now that I think about it…of course everyone loves this podcast! 🙂

In your obviously expert opinion, do you notice any similarities between stand up comedy and being a mega church pastor? Are there similar forms of manipulation involved?

There’s a lot of different aspects to being a youth pastor at a mega church, preaching being one of them, and yes, I do think preaching and stand-up are very similar. Both audiences want to be seduced, but they’re not trying to hand themselves over to just anyone! I think the word “manipulation” implies that there is some kind of deception going on and I believe people come to church and comedy shows wanting to FEEL something, so everyone chooses to  suspend belief about where they are and what’s really going on. Whether it be at storefront church in a strip mall or a dive bar in Covina, people go wanting to feel the presence of God. All that to say, it’s not really manipulation if you want to get manipulated! You’re not being deceived if you want to be lied to! And as someone who has experienced both, it’s really not that different when a comedy show gets rocking and church gets rocking. 

At it’s most basic, they’re the same because you tell safer, funny shit up front, gain the audience’s confidence, and then wack them in the end with the good shit once they decide to trust you. And the better you become at preaching/stand-up the quicker you can be your authentic self onstage 

You have another podcast that you co-hose alongside another friend of the site & past guest Allen Strickland Williams entitled The Male Gaze. I am curious to know how the concept for this show came about? What made you want to venture down this path with Allen?

I’ve been doing podcasts longer than I’ve been doing stand-up, and I always start with the same question: who do I want to work with and talk to every week? Allen and I have been friends for many years and we get along really well and make each other laugh a lot, so I’ve always tried to think of a project for us. I’m a big podcast fan and I noticed that New York had a slew of podcasts where  guy comics just sit around and shoot the shit and even though I enjoyed some of them, it didn’t sound like when me and my friends get together and talk. I’m queer and I’m non-monogamous and like many of my friends, I’m trying to cut away the misogyny that I know I have in me, so how would it sound if you had guys talking like that WHILE being funny? That’s how The Male Gaze was born. I really love talking to Brodie Reed and Zed Cutsinger and Allen every week about celebrity gossip and our sex lives and video games and movies. We took a month off when the pandemic started because up until that point we really tried to make  The Male Gaze light and fun, but we’ve sort of morphed into more of a news cast against our will. And I’m glad we did! It’s been super rewarding and I’m reminded every week how funny and smart these four guys are

I understand that you would have celebrated a full decade as the founder and runner of the Chatterbox Comedy Night. While the last few months of probably ruined any celebratory events, a full 10 years is still VERY impressive. When you look back to the early days of the show existing, what do you find the most impressive? When you look back on your time at the Chatterbox, what makes you think “Damn, I fucking DID THAT!”?

If I were to never do stand-up again, I think the thing I would be most proud of is Chatterbox Comedy Night. I started it as a monthly show for the first year, brought Scott Luhrs aboard the second year when we did it twice a month, and then in the third year we went weekly. Currently Scott, Lisa Chanoux, Julia Loken and myself are the producers with Ellie McElvain, Johan Miranda, and Brian Barlow helping through the years. 

The Chatterbox is a dive bar 23 miles outside of Los Angeles. It looks a little scary from the outside. It has no business being as good of a show as it ends up being most of the times. I think that it’s great for a few reasons. First, all of us involved with the show really gives a shit about the show. We get there early to set the room up, we shut down the pool table and the televisions and once the show gets started, we’re not afraid to kick out people who are disruptive (big shout out to Ralph the owner for always having our back). We’re booked two months out and try very hard to book diverse line-ups (gender, ethnicities, styles) while also creating a space for new comics to flourish. Our audience is the best audience in Los Angeles. They’re working class people that have become incredibly savvy about stand-up, so they know good comedy when they see it. Chatterbox is one of the few places in LA where you can really get the room cooking. This is not about industry, no one cares if you’ve been on TV, they only give a shit if you’re authentically being yourself and if you’re FUNNY. Comics that usually do well can have just okay sets and someone relatively new can have the set of night. It’s mostly good but when it’s great…there’s nothing like it.

Without the others producers this show would have shut down four years ago. People really always mention me with Chatterbox, but it is absolutely not MY show anymore. When I quit drinking almost two years ago, I didn’t get on that stage for three months and the shows remained incredible. I love Scott, Lisa, and Julia and I love our damn audience and I cannot wait to do stand-up in Covina again

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

I’ll be launching my fourth and final podcast Put It in My Mouth with Steve Hernandez within the next month and Julia and I are in the process of turning are second bedroom into a video studio, so you’ll be seeing my face more on the Internet. But other than that, just follow me on Twitter at @BigHern and on Instagram @Hernia! Thanks for having me, Ron!

What was the last thing that made you smile?

When the pandemic hit, we started going to this little corner market a few blocks from our house. Like two months ago, they stopped carrying these round tortilla that I’ve never seen sold anywhere else. This really bummed me out. Well, anyway, I went to the market yesterday and they had the chips again! I was legitimately happy and excited. This is my sad story about the last time I smiled.

Be sure to check out Steve’s current podcasts, The Male Gaze , Views from the Vista (latest episode features our dear friend Alana Johnston!), and of course, the wonderful Who’s Your  God? !!  I also HIGHLY recommend you become a Patreon Member as well. It’s totally worth it. And when the world reopens (maybe) be sure to look out for Steve in L.A. and possibly on the road, and definitely at the Chatterbox in West Covina.

Frank Whaley [Interview]

Hello Folks! I hope this week is finding your safe and healthy and not to fearful of the possible pending doom that surrounds us. Today we have a guest that I have wanted to have on the site since I started this thing almost a decade ago. It’s the brilliant Frank Whaley, Everyone! Frank is an absolutely legendary actor who always tends to show up in just about everything you are watching. In fact, the very night that I received Frank’s amazing answers, I was pretty stoked and felt accomplished enough for the day (as if I actually did anything) and decided to finally watch the film Hustlers that rocked the world last year. And lo and behold, wouldn’t you know it, along comes Frank portraying one of the hilariously duped millionaire roles! It should have felt a bit more serendipitous I suppose, but as I said, Frank is always around!

Obviously everyone will recognize Whaley as Brett, the man who shared his hamburger with a fella and ended up hearing scripture just before being shot all to hell from two angles in the legendary film Pulp Fiction. His portrayal of fear was absolutely incredible, and he will be forever noted as taking part in one of the greatest scenes of cinematic history. And beyond that one project, Frank is also an accomplished writer and director with some amazing work under his proverbial belt. We will get into much of it below, so I will sign off right about here, and let you all just get right to it.

Folks, please enjoy some amazing words from the legendary Frank Whaley!

******

What initially drove you into the world of performance? Was it something you have always wanted to do since your youth, or did you happen to find yourself in this world one day?

Acting, being on stage, performing is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I certainly did not come from any kind of show business or performance family or environment. I’m not sure where it all came from. Some of my earliest memories as a child are watching The Tom Jones Show or The Flip Wilson Show or famous people being interviewed on Johnny Carson and thinking that’s what I wanted. When I was really little I wanted to be Tom Jones. I would practice my moves in the mirror and insisted on wearing my shirt open and long necklaces to Kindergarten. My family didn’t go to the movies. The first film I saw in a theater was Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon when I was about thirteen, which completely transformed me. I fell in love with acting and films from that moment, and it remains one of my favorite films.

What was your first paid gig in the world of entertainment? And were there any sort of lessons learned from this particular project that still affect your work to date?

My first paying job was an off-broadway play called Tiger’s Wild by John Rechy. I couldn’t contain my happiness. I couldn’t fathom that I was actually being paid for doing what I loved. It was a very strange and difficult play about four messed up teenagers hiding out and taking acid in the desert. Nothing about it worked.The New York Times review declared “Don’t go, send an enemy.” The play closed after a handful of  performances. I was devastated and had to go back to waiting tables. I was convinced that was it for me, and that I would never be hired again,  but eventually I got over it. The lesson I learned: things will undoubtedly devastate you and disappoint you and shatter your little heart into a million little shards but you will eventually get over it. That and never take your clothes off on stage.

You famously portrayed Brett with the “big brain” in one of the most renowned films of all time, Pulp Fiction. Your scene is absolutely legendary. I am curious to know what it was like to do the scene and did you get the sense that you were a part of something legendary? Also how many times a week does someone say ‘Check out the big brain on Brett”?

As I recall the scene took about a week to shoot. It was thrilling to be there. I idolized John Travolta. His performances in Saturday Night Fever and Urban Cowboy are brilliant. And the minute I started working opposite him and Samuel L. Jackson I knew I was a part of something great. At the time of the film’s release I was living in Manhattan and it was astonishing to me how many people recognized me from it. It remains and probably always will be my most recognizable role.

In 2016 you appeared in one of my favorite films of the last 5 years, alongside many wonderful performers we’ve had the pleasure of having on the site (Joe Chrest, Laura Cayoutte, Chester Rushing, & Rachele Brooke Smith) entitled Cold Moon. While it isn’t singularly a horror flick, it was pretty terrifying. We are huge fans of the world of horror here at TWS. So with that, i was wondering how you enjoy working on projects that are a big darker? What sets them apart from the plethora of other genres you have worked in?

I loved working on that film, many very talented actors and a really talented director. I prefer working on darker material and exploring those types of characters. One of my personal favorite roles that I have done is in the film Vacancy, were I play a very dark and demented motel clerk.

In 1999 you directed your first film with the wonderful film Joe the King. What made you want to move behind the camera? And how do you enjoy appearing in your own work?

I wrote Joe The King thinking I would try and get someone to direct the film. I reached out to a few established filmmakers like Robert Benton, Sean Penn (I had just seen Indian Runner, which is truly amazing) and Penny Marshall. No one I reached out to responded so eventually I figured why not do it myself. Little did I know how grueling and difficult making a low budget film with a bunch of kids would be. At the time I was acting in a television series (Buddy Faro) while battling with the film’s producers who hated it and were trying to take the film away from and re-cut it. Thankfully, in the nick of time, the film was invited to premier at the Sundance Film Festival and magically all the producers loved it. I only appeared in Joe The King briefly, (the guy we hired to do the part didn’t show up).

It wasn’t until my second film as writer/director, The Jimmy Show that I really had  to direct myself.. That was probably the most difficult thing I have ever done. The film was very low budget and I am in practically every scene, many of them very difficult emotionally. Fortunately, it turned out great and was also selected to premier at Sundance. I highly recommend it though The New York Times (damn them!) said in their review, “A must to avoid on a bad day.” Needless to say, that less-than-glowing review did not result in box office receipts.

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

I was gearing up to start something just as everything was shut down due to the pandemic. Unfortunately the project was scrapped. Things are slowly beginning to get up a running at the moment so I look forward to getting back to work when things are safe to do so. Meanwhile I have been keeping busy writing and doing a daily podcast THE WHALEY FAMILY HOUR with my wife and writing partner Heather Whaley. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pod-emi-cast/id1503588579?uo=4

What was the last thing that made you smile?

Waking up this morning next to my amazing wife, knowing that she and my two beautiful kids are all okay, and that soon (November 3rd) this long national nightmare will end so long as everyone gets out there and VOTES.

Yasmin Bakhtiari [Interview]

Hello Folks! Today we are sharing some wonderful responses from an artist on the rise. It’s Yasmin Bakhtiari! Yasmin is the star, writer, and producer of the scary AF film released earlier this year entitled Evil Little Things. I truly loved the film in ways that I was not expecting. By concept alone, I was simply expecting to have some fun with a somewhat silly horror film about dolls. Well hot damn if I wasn’t completely wrong, and left the viewing more compelled and full of fear than anything else.

Evil Little Things is great, and Yasmin shines in it. We are very honored to have her featured on the site today to tell us a bit about the film and what the future holds for her. So Folks, please enjoy some wonderful words from the great Yasmin Bakhtiari!

******

What initially drove you to the world of entertainment? Was it something you have wanted to do since your youth, or did you happen to find yourself in this world one day?

I’ve always been fascinated with the world of entertainment, even as a child. I put myself in this world through writing stories and wanting to see them on film.

What was your very first paid gig in the world of entertainment? And were there any sort of lessons learned from this experience that still impacts your work today?

My first foray into the world of film was writing and producing Evil Little Things. Everything in life is a learning experience. I’ve certainly learned many things in this experience. The most memorable are the friendships I made. Starting out in the world of fiction story-telling, script writing and movie making is very different, just as challenging and just as intriguing. I love all aspects of this world.

If you were handed the opportunity, to star in the biopic of any legendary figure in world history, who would it be?

I love historical stories. I find all European history interesting, and I feel Queen Elizabeth the first one of the most intriguing characters in history. Strong, independent and regal with a sharp wit as well as a sharp sense of humor, she held on to her empire and kept the upper hand in her life and her monarchy as a woman in a man’s world. However, being an Iranian American I certainly wouldn’t want to star as Queen Elizabeth I, I would have to find something more along the lines of an Iranian version of Fiddler on the Roof.

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

I plan to keep writing and making movies. Making Evil Little Things was like a catharsis for me. It was therapeutic. All my childhood fears of talking dolls, scary movies and Twilight Zone episodes wrapped into one meatball. I love hearing other writers talk about “What inspired them” to write certain stories, especially Stephen King. He wrote little scenarios at the end of his book Skeleton Crew, a collection of some of his best short stories. I will never forget what inspired him to write some of his stories as long as I live. I, too, have vivid reasons for writing the original stories of Evil Little Things, all based on childhood fears of dolls and Twilight Zone episodes.

What was the last thing that made you smile?

I thought my answer of my life being an Iranian version of Fiddler on the Roof was funny. My sisters and my brother and I laugh quite a bit, especially reminiscing on our childhood immigrant stories and what scared us.  Memories of working with Matt Green the director of Evil Little Things, and my co-writer, Nancy Knight, actually the entire cast and crew, our fun memories and how hard we worked always makes me smile.