Top 5 Interviews of 2024 + Mike’s Bucket List Interview Picks!

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I
am your host, Movie Mike, and well, well, well we've
reached the end of another year. Looking back my top
five interviews of two thy and twenty four. Before we
get to those, I just want to say thank you
for listening. It genuinely means the world to me, and
sometimes people just say that, like all it means the

(00:20):
world to me. It legit means so much to me
that you listen to this podcast. As of now, I
have been doing this podcast for five years. Hey, five
year anniversary. I didn't even think about it. I don't
really like celebrating those types of anniversaries. If it is
in a wedding or engagement anniversary, I don't really think
about it because I just keep moving, I keep rolling.

(00:40):
But it was December twenty nineteen when I did the
first ever episode of Movie Mike's Movie Podcast, and now
five years later, I think like two hundred and sixty
seven maybe sixty eight episodes in what a ride it
has been. I go back and listen to those first
early episodes where I was just screaming, not knowing what
I was talking about. I love movies. Then, I've always

(01:03):
loved movies. I just didn't really know how to do
a podcast about myself. And how this podcast has grown
because of you listening. I'm talking about my day ones
who have been there since episode one back in twenty nineteen.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
You guys know.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
Who you are, and over the course of these years
we've developed this movie crew. I feel like we have
this bond of just people who enjoy talking about movies.
You're not always going to agree with me, but I
can always see in the comments, the emails, the views,
or the downloads, everything means a lot to me. So
it genuinely does, and it affects my well being of

(01:38):
a little bit because sometimes when I need to have
something that is just me, then I can appreciate and
look back at like, oh I did something there and
connected with people. That is what this podcast is. So
I think whenever I'm feeling a little like I don't
even know what I'm doing at this point, I go
to this podcast because I feel it's where I'm the

(01:58):
most comfortable and where I've really wanted to do in
my life what I've set out to do. So really
means a lot to me. When you say you're subscribed
to everybody who listens every single week, specifically everybody who
listens every single Monday when episodes get released, I know
who you guys are because I see those come I
see those messages flood in. So before I look back

(02:20):
on these fun interviews I've been able to do this year,
which I would love to do more coming in twenty
twenty five. That's always my goal with this podcast is
to grow it and growed and grow it. And there's
a lot of people who I want to have on
this podcast. I think at the end of this I'll
give my bucket list interviews, not just the twenty twenty
five because I don't know if some of these.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Are approachable or aplau or.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Not plausible, but if they are, where I'm at for
next year. But they are my ultimate bucket list interviews
of the year, so means a lot to me. Thank
you for being here, thank you for being subscribed. I
say that all the time, but right now, at the
end of a year, I just really look back and
think of how how much you guys have just changed
my life. So I appreciate you, every single one of you.

(03:06):
Enough of that, let's get into the top five interviews
of the year before I get too emotional here. At
number five, I really enjoyed The First Omen. I think
it is one of the top five horror movies of
the year. Kind of went understated Disney getting into the
game of not just putting out animated movies, not just

(03:28):
putting out big action franchises, but getting into horror now
and seeing some of these things depicted in this movie, thinking, oh,
Disney doesn't gear anymore. As long as it makes money,
they're going to be putting it out. I talk to
director Arcasia Stevenson and star Nail tiger Free, and I
just love their relationship. I haven't seen an actor and

(03:48):
director have just a true friendship that I felt through
this interview where it feels like they genuinely trusted each other,
enjoyed each other, and we're proud of their work. And
that made me love this movie even more so. At
number five, talking about the First Omen, which you can
watch on Hulu. No, it's not really horror movie time,

(04:11):
but for me, anytime at the horror movie time, but
this is Arkasia Stevenson and Nail Tiger Free.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
At number five.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
I just watched the movie and I loved it, and
I'm glad to be able to talk to you both
together because I think the dynamic of actor and director.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Is really special.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
I haven't done an interview like this before, so I'm
really excited to dive into this movie before we get
into just everything I loved about it. My wife hates
horror movies, and it's really hard for me to convince
her to watch a horror movie. She doesn't like anything
that evokes any kind of anxiety. How would you get
somebody who doesn't want to watch a horror movie to
watch the first omen?

Speaker 3 (04:45):
Hmm? Bribe them with me?

Speaker 4 (04:48):
Well, you know, I think the vagina SHOT's a big draw.
You know, that's a first I think in horror films,
at least for Disney horror films, depending on well.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
Actually, I know that might skin her off even more.

Speaker 5 (05:02):
Well, the thing is, you know, I'm very proud of
how pretty I think our film is, you know, and
I think that that's that's a draw because we do
get to shoot in Rome, and I think that you
you really get a sense of the city and you
get a real sense of the period.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Am I selling your wife?

Speaker 6 (05:18):
Yet?

Speaker 2 (05:18):
I can't tell she loves Rome. I could convince her
with that. With the imagery.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
Okay, room.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
Sells a romance story, Vagina. Yes, So when I try
to find a movie right now with a strong female lead,
I always find myself going back to the horror genre.
I think in the last three years, that is where
I've gone to to find a true hero.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Story that's female led.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
It is just a genre that is kind of dominating
right that right now, And that is what I got
from the first omen And I think a lot of
that that comes across off screen probably had to do
with your relationship as director and actor. So how much
of that relationship and what was that first true test
of like, Okay, we trust each other. We're gonna do

(06:04):
some crazy things in this movie, but it's going to
be working.

Speaker 7 (06:07):
I mean, trust is super important, really important, especially with
the like material that we were handling and you know,
some sensitive stuff that we were diving into together. But
to be honest, I don't know if this says more
about me than anything, but I trusted Gosh pretty much
straight away.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
I Mean we had such.

Speaker 7 (06:22):
A like cool, beautiful, like first meeting, which was my
Zoom audition, and even though we had like a screen
and an ocean separating our technically at the time, like,
I just felt so connected to her and safe, and yeah,
I felt like I trusted her straight away, and it only.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
Grew Thank you for saying that, because I felt the
same thing.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
It's you know, Neil is on set every single day,
She's in almost every single scene of this movie, and
so so much pressure was on you and so much
was writing on you. And what was so magical is
that she approached that with absolute zero fear, which I
think is really rare to find somebody who's willing to

(07:03):
get down and dirty. It's a very physical role in
extremely emotionally taxing and there was not a single obstacle
that you weren't down to tackle. And it was really
special because in this in this our first meeting, Nell
read you were gracious enough to read for us, and
she read the most intense scene, which is in Brennan's apartment.

(07:25):
Actually I won't spoil anything, but it's a very intense scene.
And she did that on the spot on zoom and
I started crying. I started crying, and we were everybody
was just kind of frozen, and we're like, okay, this
is this is our partner, you know, so we just
knew right away.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
You were mentioning some of the hard things that, you know, Neil,
you had to do. I really loved how your character
kind of evolves throughout the movie of the sinister thing
continue to happen. She kind of just grows and gets
a little bit more kind of demented in a way.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Was that something that you looked at when you first
got the scriptles game?

Speaker 1 (08:00):
How am I going to kind of play out this
character and show that she's evolving, that she's starting to
become a little bit more hesitant about what is real
what is not real?

Speaker 7 (08:08):
Yeah, and well Cash describes it so well. Is that
it's like, you know, it's it's like the descent into Hell.
And I feel like visually that was something that carsh
did too in the movie, where it's like, you know,
we start in this picturesque, beautiful place and then we
kind of end in like an inferno, we end in Hell,
And I felt like that was kind of what Margaret's
trajectory had to be. She had to get broken down

(08:30):
so much and beaten so much that she kind of rose,
And I felt like that's I had these markers for Margaret,
you know, Margaret when we meet her, Margaret in the
middle of Margaret at the end and just trying to
piece piece.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
That journey together.

Speaker 7 (08:47):
But you know a lot of it was on the page,
and it was just about kind of finding the nuance
and making it feel real. And you know, we didn't
want it. It wasn't like a like a torture born
thing like enjoy watching all these things happen.

Speaker 3 (09:01):
It was like, you know, she.

Speaker 7 (09:02):
Had to go through all of this to come out
the other side.

Speaker 4 (09:07):
And what was really actually I just thought about this
and what was really interesting is because a lot of
the horror comes from If you took this supernatural element
out of this film, it's still I think a very
terrifying horror film because you're dealing with, you know, repressed
trauma and repressed intuition. And as these things start to
resurface in Margaret, she doesn't know what's supernatural? What is

(09:28):
a past trauma that is now she's now remembering and
experiencing in real life again. And what was so interesting
about the way you performed is Nel never said Okay.

Speaker 3 (09:38):
What is this? Is this real? Is this not real?
Is this a memory?

Speaker 4 (09:41):
And I loved that about you because that was what
the character was experiencing, this real ambiguity as to what
her reality was.

Speaker 1 (09:51):
I think it's also sometimes in just the Omen franchise,
it's not always the deep dark Sinister Monsterville, and it's
also the authoritative figures in the movie.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
And I think that was also a big.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
Part of this, of Margaret rebelling against the authority there.

Speaker 7 (10:06):
Yeah, totally. I mean, Margaret had been told not to
trust what she saw her whole life. You know, it's
like she's been gas lit by the people who are
supposed to take care of her. And that's just a
terrifying concept in itself. I think that's so pertinent and
so true what Carsha says that even if you do
take the supernatural element out of it and that part
of the horror away from it, it's still very much
would be a horror film because it's you know, an

(10:28):
abused woman and a woman who is going through traumas
that women have to go through all the time, and
it's you know, that's why that was also why it
felt like such a pertinent story to me, because it's like,
you know, even if this wasn't a part of the
Omen franchise and Damien wasn't the result at the end
of it, and it was something else, it would still
be on the page and off it I hope hopefully

(10:50):
it would still feel like like a true, a true
horror film. So, yeah, I just saw what you said.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
No, I love it.

Speaker 4 (10:58):
I mean it's true. Yeah, it's Margaret a character who
was bred to breed. Yeah, you know, and that's that's
not a foreign Yeah.

Speaker 3 (11:05):
I came up with that. Just sell I thank you,
But that's.

Speaker 4 (11:09):
Not foreign for Yeah, that's not a foreign experience for women.
And and so I think, yeah, you could have the
same effect even without the demonic elements.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
I think to fully like buy into doing a horror movie,
you probably have to become really invested in the source
material and also believe it yourself. You're living in it,
you're seeing it every day, You're having to experience that.
Do you ever lean into it a little bit too
much to where it starts affecting your mental state? Because
I'll watch a horror movie, I'll go to sleep and
I'll have a nightmare. But you are working, you both
are working in this every single day. Does it ever

(11:43):
just start to affect your personal life?

Speaker 3 (11:45):
No, not at all. We are absolutely.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
Completely normal, all good, right fully functioning.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
We live we live on the ground in caves.

Speaker 7 (11:53):
Yea, yeah, yeah, I mean you have to. You have
to learn to separate from it because if you take
too much of it in. I mean, nobody was living
in the world more than Cash. I mean, it was
your every waking moment for so much longer than anybody
else was involved in it, because you know, you were
there at its inception and they're right until the bitter end.

(12:15):
And I came in for a couple of months and
did my part and left, and you know, Kash is
still there in that world. But yeah, for me, it's
just luckily I have things that can very definitively separate
me from Margaret, Like you know, my eating something is
small as having a different accent to the character, it
can separate you from them straight away. And yeah, I
mean I think when I was younger, I used to

(12:36):
hold my characters much closer in my real life. But
that's actually, I think a hindrance because you have to
be able to kind of be a chameleon and shed
your skin and then go back in and do it again.
But yeah, I try not to let too much of
it in, otherwise I think I'd be alone.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
A big debate online right now is the discussion of
the effects versus practical effects in this movie movie. What's
the percentage on what was things that you actually made
for the movie, that you could actually interact with, and
things that happened in post production.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
Yeah, the only thing that isn't a practical effect is
the jackal at the end, at the very end, So
I'd say it's ninety percent practical ten percent CG.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
I think, you know, something that was really.

Speaker 4 (13:18):
Important to us is that, to the best of our ability,
to use a practical approach, just because I think when
you're trying to embody the spirit of nineteen seventies filmmaking,
you know that that people are looking for something very
tactile and textured, and I think also when it comes
to horror, it's bringing that reality into set for something

(13:40):
for you to see.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
Bazil I think as a huge effect on everybody.

Speaker 4 (13:45):
So we, you know, we really wanted to as much
as possible rely on our makeup, effects and SFX team.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
Another thing I think kind of doesn't get talked about
enough in horror movies is the sound, which I found
it to be really haunting in this movie, and a
lot of the jump scares that happened as a result
of the sound the quick whispers, the quick just out
of nowhere in your face moments. What was the idea
behind some of the sound design.

Speaker 3 (14:09):
Yeah, well, you.

Speaker 4 (14:09):
Know what, I was really excited about both our score
and the sound design because I think that there wasn't
really a defined line.

Speaker 3 (14:17):
Between the two in this project.

Speaker 4 (14:20):
Because a lot of our sound design, if you listen
very closely, is Nell breathing, or Nell screaming, or Nell praying,
And so a lot of that whispering is Nell and
some of the other women in the film, you know,
muttering prayers almost manically, and a lot of you know,
in a lot of the very intense set pieces like

(14:42):
the birth clinic scene, a lot of that sound design
is is just female breath. And then a lot of
the score was female breath layered with a lot of
female vocals, even female you know screams. So just this
constant parent and remind her that there's there's humans involved

(15:04):
in all of this violence was really important to us,
if that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, you talked about the human part there. The other
part that I found kind of enjoyable that I haven't
really seen in a horror movie is there's what I
feel is kind of a win for Margaret's character of
just having a little small moment of levity whenever she
goes out for that night, even though she's reluctant to go.
It's like, Oh, here are all these crazy things happening,
But then she goes gets to go out and have
fun and dance.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
What was the idea behind that scene?

Speaker 4 (15:30):
Margaret is I would say, a very sheltered character, but
she's not stupid, you know, and that it was really
important for us to create a really three dimensional, dynamic
character who felt very grounded. And so if this conspiracy,
she was going to fall into this conspiracy, she had

(15:53):
to be seduced into it, and I think in a
really relatable way. And so having Nell's character at the
disco was not only I think one of my favorite
scenes just because you're so endearing and delightful, but you
actually start to root for her and Poollo and their romance,
which I think you need to do that to not
undermine the credibility of Margaret. But yeah, how did you feel?

Speaker 7 (16:17):
No, I mean that's exactly it like that, It was,
It was it was when you see it when watching
shooting it certainly it was a beautiful thing to shoot,
and there was so much levity there in those moments
with me and Andrea, who's fantastic, and it makes it
all that more heartbreaking when you find out, you know,
the truth behind his character and the truth behind the
intent of the disco. You know, that is probably the

(16:39):
scene with the most levity. But then it also leads
to the most grueling elements of the film. And she
it's it's kind, it's sober, so sweet, because she's given
this moment of freedom and experience and youth, and it's
all it's all there to manipulate her, and it's all
there to to suck her in and and yeah, so
douce her into this into this world. So she's just
being manipulated left right center.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
And if you're not in love with Margaret at that
point when she dances onto the dance floor, you definitely are.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
It's just how I dance melksher at the club.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
Like, Yeah, we mentioned this about being a Disney well
Disney owned film. If you could go back now and
star in the horror remake of a Disney classic, what
would you want to be in Disney Classic? They're going
to do a r rated horror adocation. What would you
want to start in?

Speaker 7 (17:33):
I know this I would want to do like the
Hands Christian and this version of the Little Mermaid where
mean become knives, like the ground becomes knives and she becomes.

Speaker 8 (17:42):
Foam on the water.

Speaker 7 (17:43):
And it's like, it's very dark. The original fairy tale
is very very dark. So if they made that version,
I would love to do it.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
And then how would you direct that version?

Speaker 3 (17:54):
Oh my gosh, well, you know it's so lovely? Is
I grew up on that version?

Speaker 6 (17:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (17:58):
And I actually have a Mermaid because of that. That's
so crazy that you bring that up.

Speaker 7 (18:03):
I had the original storybook and it was so I
feel like it could be easily a horror God, why
has nobody made this.

Speaker 2 (18:10):
I think we just found the next film.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
It's your idea out.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
You give me a small part in it, and we're
all good.

Speaker 7 (18:20):
Well.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
I appreciate the time.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
I hope everybody goes and watches the movie because I
really enjoyed it. It has made me want to go
back and revisit all the omen movies, and for me,
I feel like it's the biggest breadth of fresh air
in the franchise and just congratulations on the movie.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
Oh that's a human movement.

Speaker 2 (18:38):
Appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
Thank you guys, you bye bye.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
At number four, I sat down with the director of
Amber Alert, which you can rent now, I think it's
like five ninety nine wherever you rent your movies, and
his wife and producer, Summer Blessa, and they were super awesome.
And what this interview taught me is how hard it
is to make a movie. They've been trying to get
this thing made for years and it is such a grind.

(19:06):
The odds are stacked against you to not only get
your movie made, but then to get it out actually
in theaters, which is probably the hardest it's ever well,
I would say it's the hardest it's ever been because
there are so many movies coming out and it's hard
for a studio to take a chance on you to

(19:27):
put it out in theaters to promote it when they
could just easily put it on their streaming service. But
I think in twenty twenty five will probably see more
of a rise in independent filmmakers, and with the way
that movie studios and the relationship between movie theaters is going,
I could see it be a little bit easier for

(19:47):
certain independent movie makers to actually get their movies in
a theater. And I say that because I think movie
theaters just want something shown on their screens that it's
going to get people in there. I'd be able to
take that risk. Now, are they going to put it
down in thousands of screens across America? No, But just
to have your movie in any set amount of theaters

(20:08):
I think is huge for a director, For a filmmaker,
I also think, not just in twenty twenty five, but
moving forward, the way media changes, that is not going
to be the end all be all for filmmakers anymore.
It's just not We are going to consume things differently.
I still think that ultimate goal is to have a
movie yet in theaters. Much like a musician wants to

(20:30):
put out an album, they want to press a physical copy.
I think that will always be there. The movie going experience,
I think will always be there. But I think it
comes down to connecting with an audience. You think about
some of your favorite movies of all time, you probably
didn't see them in theaters. It's also just a small
window for something to be out and people to consume
it and people to make money off of it, which

(20:50):
is what it comes down to you at the end.
But talking to them both just made me realize how
hard that struggle is and how really emotional it is.
Once you see that read come true and you can
tell somebody, hey, I have a movie out in theaters
right now, you can go watch it. They were super
proud of it. I really enjoyed this movie because I
didn't have a whole lot of expectations going into it.

(21:12):
I also love me a good thriller where you're like
yelling at the screen like no, why would you do that?
So at number four, I have Carrie in Summer Blessa
talking about Amber Aller. I feel like a lot of
being a filmmaker, being an artist is observing the world
around you. I feel like that's really the thing that
defines like somebody who's actually going to follow through with
it is you observe it, also write it down and

(21:35):
then execute it. Like you've been talking about the filmmaking process,
just like the inspiration of this movie, it came from
seeing the Ambreller and thinking, WHOA that should be a movie?
Are you constantly observing things and writing things down? Because
the other day, like I was on a flight and
I sat down on the exit road and they're like, hey,
if you know something to do that whole thing of
something goes wrong, like are you willing to help? And

(21:57):
I just you know, willing to say, ah, yeah, thinking
in that moment of like what if I actually had
something actually went down and I was put in that
situation of I actually have to do something now, and
I was like, hey, that could be something. Are you
constantly observing things like that?

Speaker 2 (22:11):
I made it.

Speaker 9 (22:12):
I definitely, Yeah, truth does a lot more interesting than fiction.
Just reading the news, I mean I have a whole
little bookleted news art culset are just freezing for me personally.
I like things that should possibly happen and that are real.

Speaker 10 (22:27):
How about you?

Speaker 11 (22:28):
Oh, I mean I feel like I tend to go
more in the fantasy or the romance brow and calm
world burns less. I mean, it's still human nature, it's
still based on you know, relationships, but maybe the less
less news driven or reality, or I like.

Speaker 9 (22:45):
Observing it seeing things I'm like, oh that might have
to be all filmed. But like what you're talking about
is like it's like some type of little scene there
or set up.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
You know, you just gotta write it.

Speaker 12 (22:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
The next step as a filmmaker, what would be my
next on that idea? Is it writing a title, writing
a synopsis? What is that when you sit down to
like you just have this idea? What is that next
step to flesh out a script?

Speaker 9 (23:08):
You just need to put it in the paper? Like everything.
I mean that that's the hardest thing is just getting
and even if you don't have the entire film down,
or you just might have a scene, write the scene,
you know, if you have a first act, right, the
first act, I just think and it's still difficult to
like sit down, you know, a blank piece of paper.

(23:30):
It can be so overwhelming and so but it's just
it's just couldn't in the work.

Speaker 13 (23:38):
Yeah, no one will make a film of just an idea.

Speaker 11 (23:41):
So you need to have eventually it flushed out into
a full script and then you can share it and
have people give you insight and hopefully up people who
are like, yeah, I see the vision too, let's go
think it.

Speaker 1 (23:54):
That leaves me to my final two questions. We're sitting
here the night before the premiere here in Nashville. Are
you feeling the overwhelming joy of it finally being out
at for ten years? Or are you feeling nervous about
people are going to react to it this week because
I know, as somebody who deals with reading the comments,
reading getting all the messages, I don't see the ones

(24:16):
they say, hey, and that was a great episode you did,
that was a great interview. I see the ones they
say this sucks, like why did you put this hell?
Like I used to feel terrible.

Speaker 9 (24:23):
The positive things and then something Dong says, you suck, Yeah,
and you just focus.

Speaker 13 (24:29):
We feel it so hard. Yeah, it's definitely him the nature.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
I mean, I think that.

Speaker 9 (24:33):
Would be the old wise man that I am that
I don't read comments. I read comments and before I
remember specifically a long time ago, and like the comments
made me feel like I was like the graded I
was Spielberg. You know, these people are like this so bazy.
I don't ever read comments.

Speaker 13 (24:55):
You take it with the great to take it with
a grain of salt.

Speaker 9 (24:57):
Like I love what we do, and I love this
path that we've chosen his career, but I just love
so many other things in life that bring me joy
that no one's going to take us down over some
comments that you're not doing.

Speaker 11 (25:10):
You know, yeah, you're not going to make everybody happy
with every film. Yeah, you know, there's films that we
love that changed our lives that some people don't like.
At the end of the day, that's we just want
to make something that's entertaining, to make it people thinking and.

Speaker 9 (25:24):
Talking, and we're like risk takers and gamblers. I'd rather
you absolutely hate my film and talk about it and
be so passionate about your disdain instead of just making
something that they're like, uh, it's okay, like it was
like forgettable. But yeah, we're we're excited to just get

(25:44):
it out there and hear what people think and their response.
And we're very confident in the film too. We think
it's a great film. The feedback's been really good, and
I think.

Speaker 13 (25:55):
People are really going to enjoy seeing Hayden and Tyler
and yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah it's Tyler like I've really never seen it, Like
I've been watching one Avid Elementary and it's like, oh,
this is a totally different side of it.

Speaker 6 (26:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (26:03):
Yeah, he's a killer, Like he's just so locked in.
It's so good, so insightful. And Haten too, like they
were just like we're the perfect people at the right
time to have this, you know.

Speaker 13 (26:16):
Yeah, they both brought such humanity to the rules and
personality and it was really really fun to work with
them and see what you know, their perspectives on their
characters and they they s brought so much.

Speaker 1 (26:29):
And my final question is why Louisville, Kentucky. I'll give
you why I think you picked it. After watching the movie,
I feel like that city which I've been to you,
I love Louisville. It makes it feel so much more real,
like you could happen to anybody. If you said this
movie in La it would feel like, oh, it's just
another movie in LA where crazy things happen all the time,

(26:50):
or in New York. But for me, like just seeing them,
like at the beginning, they just had a random.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
Park and that's where it happens.

Speaker 1 (26:55):
Is that the reason why it's in Louisville or is
it just I just want to say, Litville, Kentucky is awesome,
great people. Our crew was like we missed those those people.
They were so awesome and just like genuine down.

Speaker 9 (27:10):
The earth and they kind of knew our story, like
that we've been hustling for ten years, that we were
gonna make it that we were no one was gonna
let us, and they just like got behind us like
family and really helped us make an amazing film.

Speaker 11 (27:25):
As the producer, I will say was because of there
was a few different places that have great test incentives
that we were debating over. And I think exactly what
you said though, is you know, one of the strengths
of the film is that it could be anywhere except
maybe la but in general, like this happens all over
the country.

Speaker 9 (27:43):
And it was originally written in Phoenix, Arizona, because Phoenix
is the kidnapping capital of the country.

Speaker 13 (27:50):
Yeah, we wanted to make sure it didn't feel like
it could be anybody, yes, and.

Speaker 9 (27:54):
So we just kind of tweaked it a little and
it was couldn't I couldn't imagine anywhere else now. And
I love the lushness, the beautiful degree, Like I mean,
I do want to fight a lot with the rain.
Then we had to day. We didn't shoot for a
whole morning because the rain that you know, it was.
There were some challenges, but it works out.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
Worked out.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
At number three. This guy was a delight. Paul King.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
He is the director of Wonka, which came out last year.
Around this time last year, I was just walking around
singing there chocolate and there's chocolate. If you haven't seen
Wonk at this point, it is on Max. Timothy Challamet
is a great Wonka and Paul King is a great director.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
He is also the director of the Paddington movies.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
And you have Paddington three coming out next year, which
looks just as good as Paddington two, which is one
of the best family movies of all time. I need
to do a rewatch of one and two going into three.
That looks fantastic. Paul King was actually out doing press
for that movie, and he said that Wonka two is
in development. Didn't say if Timothy Chalomey is coming back,

(29:02):
but he did say he wants it to be more
like the books, which is.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Kind of what Wonka was.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
And I think a lot of people who had problems
with the Willy Wonka from back in the day wanted
it to be more like the book because I think
the book is a little bit more whimsical, so maybe
he could get back to that. But he seemed like
a genuinely nice guy. He loves musicals, and I become
now an adopter of loving musicals.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
So at number three, I have Paul King.

Speaker 10 (29:29):
Harry Paul, I'm really good thank you. How are you?

Speaker 2 (29:31):
I am great good to get to talk to you.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
The original Willi Wonka is one of my top ten
favorite movies of all time, so I hold it very
precious and after seeing Wonka, I completely loved it, and
I'd have to imagine it was such a hard thing
to do. And the thing I want to start with
first is I love the way Timothy shallow May portrayed Wonka.
Did you have that vision first before he was cast?

Speaker 2 (29:53):
Or was he cast and then that vision happened and
it came to life.

Speaker 10 (29:57):
Well that's a really good question. Thank you.

Speaker 14 (30:00):
That means a huge amount to me because the original
Willy Wonker is is right up there for me too,
and it's a daunting experience to kind of walk in
those footsteps. I think when I started working on the movie,
i'd been fortunate enough to meet Timothy in that kind
of year where he did call.

Speaker 10 (30:17):
Me by your name, and Lady Burden knew what.

Speaker 14 (30:20):
A wonderful actor he was, and I really wanted to
write something for him, and so pretty much from the
second David Haymees suggested a young Willy Wonka film to me,
I was like, well, that could be Timothy shaller Mate.
So there's obviously never a guarantee that you're going to
get the actor that you want. But in my head
I sort of went, well, him or someone like him,

(30:42):
I don't know who there is like him would be
absolutely wonderful in this world because he feels so sort
of mercurial, but he's also emotionally grounded and slightly unknowable,
and he has that whole sort of range. And I
felt that he could feel like a younger Willi Wonker
or you know, Geene Marder twenty years before the events
of that movie. Like it felt like there's a sort
of kinshit there somehow, but without doing an impression. And

(31:06):
you know, once we'd written the script and sort of
sent it to him, it's a nerve wracking moment because
you sort of go, if it's not you, I really
don't know who it could have been.

Speaker 10 (31:14):
And I thank my lucky stars.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
He said, yes, you mentioned Gen Wilderlier And I got
to imagine when you're you know, had this vision of
this movie in your head, there's all these things you
want to pull from the original. Was there anything that
you didn't get to put into this movie that you
wanted you from the original, either it was too expensive,
or it just didn't work, or it just didn't make sense.

Speaker 14 (31:33):
There was one bit we tried to do the forward
role and the pop up thing, and it felt it
just felt a little shoehorned into the moment. It was
felt like kind of an Easter egg for the sake
of an Easter egg. And and we didn't do it
in the end because it felt like it was it
was there for fans rather than because it didn't serve
the story.

Speaker 10 (31:51):
So I think.

Speaker 14 (31:52):
But what was so funny was how much kind of
went in and some of it where it went in,
and I'd kind of forgotten where it had come from.
But you know, obviously I sort of imbibed the original
so much that it was sort of like would come
out and you sort of go just little bits of
choreography and little gestures, and we always kind of were
aware of it on set, where you go, oh, you
could do the cane thing, and you could do the
step thing, and and this is the coin and the

(32:14):
storm draining, and I think some of the kind of
building blocks. It was kind of really looking at that
movie and the original book and go, here's the kind
of this is like the playground.

Speaker 10 (32:23):
You're in, now, go play with the toys.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
I think my favorite shot out of the entire movie,
Like I'm just a stickler for cinematography, and when I
see a great shot, I just make a note of it.
The one shot I made a note of it's whenever
there's that great silverware to Timothy Shell. May you really
just see like the shadows on his face and the
outline of the hair, how much time goes into just
getting there one shot?

Speaker 14 (32:44):
Probably too much for that shot that was. I mean,
I love that shot so much, but it was it
was it was actually a find on the quite near
like on the day, I think that we had the
shot of him from behind with the behind the was
like when he opens the door and walks out, and
that was going to be our hero shot. And we
were setting it and went, oh, there's a lovely there's

(33:06):
a found that there was this lovely profile and chunking
Chung like incredible cinematographer. We then went, this is a
lovely angle. But we kind of wanted to get both
and we were sort of trying to get it and
then we were Okay, we're gonna have to stop everything
and get this silhouette perfect because it could be the
shots of the movie. And I do remember we filmed
it and it was like we sortaly didn't whe where

(33:27):
he goes, here we go Mama, and I was like,
that's definitely how the Treasure's going to start. And then
there it is.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
The thing about this movie is that it feels oddly
nostalgic for me here and I was born in the nineties,
so even the original came out was before my time.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
But there are so many different generations of Willie Wanka fan.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
Do you have the people who discovered it maybe in
the two thousands, the people who love the original, and
then it's a family movie at the same time, How
do you want that line of making a movie that's
appealing to kids but also appealing to the adults who
are just lifelong fans.

Speaker 14 (33:59):
Yeah, it's it's It's funny how that it is interesting,
because it's definitely I think most kind of like known
characters and known through one iteration, you know, like you
sort of go iron Man, say you go. Most people
will have come to it through the Robert Downey junior
iron Man, you know.

Speaker 10 (34:17):
Or you sort of gore.

Speaker 14 (34:18):
There will be some comic book fans, but you sort
of go, there's one kind of hero iteration. Willi Wanka
really isn't like that, as you say, because there's the book,
which has an army of fans around the world, one
of the best selling childrens book of all time. You
got two absolutely beloved movies, and it's it's really tricky
to kind of to to sort of walk that line.
And I guess what I realized early on was you

(34:39):
sort of have to pick your hero references. And for me,
it was like the book first and foremost, because that's
the kind of the mothership, and I didn't want to
do anything that wouldn't kind of sit comfortably with that.
And then the the g Model movies. So in my DNA,
I mean, I was born in the seventies, but I
really grew up with that movie as my Willy Wonka.

(34:59):
So and there were so many iconic choices they made
that I kind of wanted to honor in terms of
like balancing kids and grown ups. I sort of, for me,
my favorite family movies and my favorite movies probably in general,
movies that can can appeal to everyone. And I never
really try and go, here's a bit for the kids,
and here's a bit for the grown ups. Just try

(35:20):
and make something that's this exciting and fun for everyone.
You know. It's kind of I think my co writers
Simon and I we're trying to make each other laugh
and find things that we find emotional or funny or
silly or eccentric or you know, touching, and if it works,
pray that there are enough people out there with our
sense of humor and sentiment.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Well, I think it's such a great job and appealing
to everybody. The thing I was surprised about is a
lot of people somehow did it realize they were going
into a musical. Well, it's such a big part of
the first one, it's such a big part of the
second one. The music is like the foundation of the movie,
Like it's a musical. Were you surprised just about that
and people saying, ah, I had no idea as a musical, Yeah, well,

(36:03):
I think it was.

Speaker 10 (36:04):
It's tricky because it's sort of.

Speaker 14 (36:07):
A lot of the promotional materials didn't really have any
singing in them, or that you know, there would be
a shot. But it's a and I know there's a
sort of larger conversation about how musicals are sold, which
is is a really tricky thing to do because.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
It's almost like a bad word to say it's a musical,
like somebody's not gonna go watch it.

Speaker 2 (36:23):
That's what it feels like to me.

Speaker 14 (36:25):
I think I think that is true, and I think
some some people. The thing is some people will immediately
just go, I don't like a musical, and and that's
the end of their conversation. But I always kind of go, really,
when I meet somebody says they don't like musicals, and
you know, you don't like singing in.

Speaker 10 (36:38):
The rain, and they I like seeing the rain. What
about sounding music? Well, obviously sound of music's good.

Speaker 14 (36:44):
Well you don't like you like all of those? Yeah, yeah,
I think it's I think it's more that so yeah, hopefully, hopefully.
And I think what's difficult with a musical with original
songs like we have is that you sort of go
They're hard to get into promotional materials because people don't
know them, and you sort of go, it's hard to

(37:04):
kind of so it was easier for the to lean
on something like pure imagination, where you go, people know
that one, they know the young Plumpus tune, and it's
kind of a there's a sort of recognition, but hopefully
people have enjoyed the songs when they got some eventually.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
I mean I had a song stick in my head.
I was leaving the theater singing scrub scrub.

Speaker 10 (37:22):
Yeah, me too.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
So you've succeeded at telling which I love that this
was a companion piece and not a remake, not a sequel.
You've succeeded at the young Willie Wanger story. I feel
like there's another story there because you really showed Wanco
and he was like bright eyed and bushy tail before
he had any level of cynicism which we saw in
the nineteen seventy one version. Do you think there's a
story there where he kind of starts to turn his

(37:46):
perspective a little bit, becomes a little bit more jaded.

Speaker 14 (37:49):
Yes, I do, Yes, I think there's absolutely a story there.
I think it's I think it's a real challenge with
the story where you feel he becomes more cynical and
jaded to sort of find an ending that is satisfactory.
And I think one of the things that liberated us
for this movie was to go, We're not going to
try and take him all the way to the chocolate
factory because he seems quite a sort of damaged soul

(38:11):
at the beginning of the Chocolate Bat. You know, he's
rettly reclusive and needs to retreat it behind the walls.
So I think there could absolutely be other Willing Won
stories that could work, and I would love to find one.

Speaker 10 (38:21):
But they're hard.

Speaker 14 (38:22):
They're hard to find, and in a way, the closer
you get to the beginning of Charlie that the harder
it gets, you know, to find a movie that works
as a story.

Speaker 10 (38:30):
But we'll certainly give it a go.

Speaker 2 (38:33):
Well, I'm in a prayer, my tickets already. I'm already
in for it.

Speaker 10 (38:35):
If you make it great, thank you.

Speaker 2 (38:38):
I appreciate it. Paul's great. Good to talk to you,
good to toy to you too, Thanks so much.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
And number two, I have the director of the original
Twister Yondabond, and I talked to him actually before Twisters
came out, which I didn't really feel the need to
ask him about it, like, hey, how do you feel
that they're rebooting the franchise with a non Dirigg sequel.
I would have to imagine, especially after talking to him
in this interview, that he thinks it's probably a movie
that didn't need to be made.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
I love one. I've seen it so many times.

Speaker 1 (39:05):
We talk about that, and I love two, so I
didn't want to have those two opinions conflict with me.
I think it was blown away by how many times
I've seen this movie. And I think you could tell
that I was a genuine fan because he really got
into talking to me about all my dumb questions about Twisters.
So at number two, I have yondemont. Hey, it is

(39:26):
Mike from a movie Mike's Moet Podcast.

Speaker 8 (39:27):
How are you?

Speaker 2 (39:29):
I am great.

Speaker 1 (39:29):
I just want to say that Twister is one of
my favorite movies of all time. It is the only
film out of any movie that I've seen over fifty times.

Speaker 2 (39:37):
I make a point to read Wow.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
Since I was a kid, I watched this movie and
the reason I have such a bond with it is
I grew up in a trailer park and I was
terrified of tornadoes and by watching Twister, because if a
tornado came through the trailer park, we were done for.
So I was always freaked out watching the news. I
just had all this anxiety and I would watch Twister
because it almost helped me deal with that anxiety. If
I can literally watch the worst possible scenario of what

(40:02):
could happen.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
It kind of helped me work through that. So that
is why I've seen it so many times.

Speaker 15 (40:07):
Oh wow, wow, wow, that's amazing. I mean, I mean
I never heard somebody seeing it for fifty times, but
that must.

Speaker 6 (40:15):
Be a record bike that us be. The funny thing
is that it is still a very watchable movie. They
still feels like it could happen today, and the way
it is filmed, the excitement and the cast they all
like still today's people. They're not like from a different period,
even though thirty years ago. I think that's why it's
so relatable. It's very relatable this movie. I mean, everybody

(40:38):
can see themselves more or less being a storm chaser,
being want to be that everybody likes danger and to
some degree, and that both wouldn't want to go that
far bad people who are really willing to go on
cars and drive towards that's pretty insane situation. But they
exist and they are they are They love it, but

(41:00):
also they love the science line it too.

Speaker 8 (41:03):
I was fine someone that match a lot of them.
That is not only the fact.

Speaker 6 (41:07):
It's not only the adrenaline that that it creates, it's
also really like we really want to see and photograph
it that Joe to people, and that was really pretty
surprising to.

Speaker 8 (41:18):
To really to really see that happen. It's really good.

Speaker 1 (41:22):
And I think the other thing is it's not just
a movie about people chasing tornadoes. It's also a story
of all these people who are just friends, but also
the story of Bill and Joe of going there to
get the paper signed. That's the whole reason he shows
up back there, and you have that threat throughout the
entire movie, of the tension between them. I think it's
something I probably didn't appreciate as a kid, but as
an adult I understood it and how that was really

(41:44):
that was the story. You could almost make a movie
where you take away the twisters and it's just Bill
and Joe.

Speaker 6 (41:50):
You could make a movie like that. That wouldn't be
as exciting, I think. But no, but of course that
is that is true.

Speaker 15 (41:59):
Of course that's all that whole idea of that team
and how they get along and the relationship to Bill
and and and and and talent that was like, that
was that was the story, That was the plot, and
and how that kind of they started in intermingle more
and more and more and and and because seeing that happen,
that's also because they got closer again, of course, and

(42:22):
youvolve and it wasn't in danger and other people have
to come and help you.

Speaker 8 (42:26):
It is it's changed relationships and shave bond.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
So when it comes to just the camaraderie that you
feel from the cast, I think the best example of
that is the breakfast scene where everybody's just they're having
literally what looks like the best meal ever, and you
just feel that bond between everybody. Everybody gets their moment
to shine, everybody's getting in their jokes. What was it
like filming that scene? Was it a much larger scene
that was cut down to what we saw in the

(42:51):
movie or was it all on the page?

Speaker 8 (42:54):
And it was most of it was on the page.

Speaker 6 (42:56):
And also quite a bit was improvised because I told them,
but I said, this is okay. If you step on
somebody's line, if you want to say, just jump in
and then you can come back to that later.

Speaker 8 (43:08):
And I let that all happen. And when you have
a bunch of people that get along really.

Speaker 6 (43:13):
Well, they are fine with that. They wouldn't get mad
as you just tap on somebody's line. They would just
come back later, and so I really wanted that to happen.
And don't be afraid it's a fun scene. It has
to be a fun scene. Well, you guys having a
great time, you having a really great meal after being
in the field, not eating anything or just cookies whatever what.

Speaker 8 (43:34):
You have in the truck.

Speaker 6 (43:35):
But this is like a really a scene in which
showcase of friendship and the friendship in a way that
everybody accepts the sort of witnesses and strengths and it
becomes like one one group. The whole scene is based
but the group and nothing else. And I agree, I
love that scene. I really totally, really really excites me.

(43:58):
Still it's still fun to us.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Was that your philosophy throughout the other parts of making
the movie, aside from that of letting people improvise? Since
you do have these just huge personality Bill Pax and
Philipinore Hoffman and they're doing these scenes together, were you
okay with them just throwing different lines in there that
were in the script.

Speaker 6 (44:15):
Yeah, but only only if they still would would move
the movie forward.

Speaker 15 (44:20):
I mean sometimes it came up with sentences or I
mean never long sentences, so that that actually would help
to see and then I definitely let them do it.

Speaker 6 (44:30):
I mean that the screenplay is like based a little
bit how storm Chases talk. You know, we we listened
to them many times and it met them, and so
it has had to resemble that.

Speaker 8 (44:44):
So and does people stalk, no to stop?

Speaker 10 (44:46):
Basically all of them they all talk at once.

Speaker 6 (44:49):
And and then and you pick up something that you
pick up something him or her.

Speaker 8 (44:53):
So it is it is. It is a little bit
like the same way as they would would act in
real life.

Speaker 6 (44:59):
And and Bill, if they would have if this would
be all will storm Chases, they wouldn't talk a much different.

Speaker 1 (45:05):
Being that I have seen the movie over fifty times.
I know every single scene down to the every single line.
And for me, there was nothing, there's nothing I would
change about the movie. I think it is a perfect film.
But for you, now, almost thirty years since it's been out,
how often do you rewatch it?

Speaker 2 (45:19):
And is there anything you would change?

Speaker 15 (45:21):
It's a question that I've been asked many times. Is
going to be director Scott? I was asking directors to
what do you mean? Well, I'm really big director makes directors.
Now everything is in a movie. This is my movie.
I don't have anything. I don't want to put any
deleted scenes in. We work really hard to make this
and this works perfect. Why would you, as seen or

(45:43):
take things out that either already work and change it
with something else.

Speaker 8 (45:48):
I mean, there was at one point there's some studious
for worried.

Speaker 15 (45:52):
About about that the audience would not understand the idea
of getting those little balls in the air, the little.

Speaker 8 (46:00):
Power, and they had to be explained except they see it.
They don't have to. You don't have to explain. They
can't see god damn happening.

Speaker 6 (46:07):
So why would you really really really haven't seen and
people explaining that? And I had to film it, but
then also most of it from back out again because
it was completely redundant, and because the whole thing is
a little bit It is not only a movie.

Speaker 8 (46:24):
Told by sentences, by by dialogue. It's about the whole
physical reaction to of all the people towards what they
what they encounter. It's there to get inness. It's there.

Speaker 6 (46:38):
That being upset or angry at disorder and then getting
changing again. That was that was my wholecal I didn't
want any anything that looked like a real movie, like
a regular movie, as you'd see not a real movie
like a regular by people sit down and talk. It's
like even that. That's why they scene on the tape
because if they sit around the table, but he said

(47:00):
up and I was sent up and he grasps over
the table.

Speaker 8 (47:02):
Give me some of that. So they're almost doing things
while they're having this discussion. Just funny discussion. And that's
I love that. I think it's so good.

Speaker 2 (47:10):
So there's nothing you would change.

Speaker 1 (47:11):
But what was the most physically or not physically, but
just the most the hardest scene to just tackle that
had maybe a lot of production elements to it, or
it were just so time consuming. You're like, that almost
killed us, but we got it in there.

Speaker 8 (47:25):
Actually just quite a few of those things.

Speaker 2 (47:28):
Because there was a lot of practical effects too.

Speaker 6 (47:31):
It was at the special effects like for instance, like
when the combiness fall from the air and the tractors
fell from the air to really catch a timing lid
best a helicopter really flying close over the cars and
this Helen and Build driving the car and they had
to maneuver that way around. I mean the thing would

(47:53):
fall down and it could fall down there and they
quickly would have to react and response to that. So
I was filmed them at the same time as that
as when it as when it happened, so that I
would have the.

Speaker 8 (48:05):
Responses to the real action in front of them.

Speaker 15 (48:07):
And of course we I had such good relationship and
with special effects, I knew it was gonna be okay,
especially the pilot and I communicate with them, but I
was sat in the car.

Speaker 8 (48:19):
With them too, by the way, but it's happened.

Speaker 15 (48:21):
So you sit in the car and and you measure
and now, and then I knew how many seconds it
would take to hit the ground, and then I let so.
And when Bill heard me say now, they knew something
was going to happen, but not exactly what YE had.
And that boom that the combined a filet and those
things I was really cumbersome to set up and really
have with so many moving parts, and that was tough,

(48:46):
and I was so happy that that was done. Ultimately, Yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
Really appreciate the time.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
I'm now going to go watch it for a fifty
first time, so thanks for talking to me. Okay, Out
School one of my favorite movies of all time, and
Nanny the other year that probably would have made it
in at number one.

Speaker 2 (49:07):
Because he's somebody that I just never thought I would
talk to.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
But taking the top spot in my top five interviews
of twenty twenty four, I have Robert England and Heather
Langenkamp aka Freddy Krueger and Nancy from the original Nightmare
on Elm Street. They were out talking about the fortieth
anniversary of this movie. I think the thing that stuck

(49:31):
out to me going into this interview as they thought
that nobody would care that they would be out promoting,
is that they thought that nobody would care about this,
that it'd be the fortieth anniversary, they'd agree to do
some interviews, and they were so surprised at the overwhelming
response that they got of how many people like me

(49:52):
wanted to talk to them about this movie forty years later.
And like I was talking about earlier, whether Kasha Stevenson
and Nel Tiger free health.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
They have a great friendship.

Speaker 1 (50:02):
You can tell by talking to Robert and Heather that
they have remained friends over the years and still after
decades about talking about this movie, like how many times
can you be asked about the bathtub scene and about
Freddie that they still enjoy getting together and talking about
this movie and if ken year old me knew that

(50:24):
someday he would be talking to Freddy Krueger. He would
run away in terror. But at number one, I have
Robert England and Heather Langenkamp as my number one interview.
So I want to do a buy the numbers interview.
We're gonna see how many number of related questions we're
here to get in here, starting off with forty. It's
been forty years since the movie came out. I want
to know after the movie came out, as a result

(50:46):
of it, when was the first time each of you
felt famous.

Speaker 12 (50:49):
Gosh, I felt famous, probably way after Robert, but people
continuously mispronounced my name. But when like, somebody really pronounced
my name correct act at one of the wonderful autograph
shows that I go to and there were a bunch
of people there in the audience, I kind of felt
that was the first time I felt famous.

Speaker 16 (51:08):
I was in Milan, Italy to receive an award for
Best Supporting Actor or Ensemble I can't remember which, for
a TV series I was in. And we pulled up
and I was in a rented tuxedo and I got
out and the audience, the people in the piazza the

(51:30):
plaza in front of the scholar started chanting Freddie, Freddie,
and they.

Speaker 17 (51:35):
Literally picked me up and passed, you know.

Speaker 16 (51:38):
And that's when I knew Freddie was international and that
Freddie had taken off. And I was just beginning to
enjoy fame from the TV series, which was science fiction.

Speaker 17 (51:50):
But it's that moment in time when audience has put
your name to your face. That's true fame, you know.

Speaker 16 (51:57):
And for me, it was a combination of that, and
I became an international actor overnight, and.

Speaker 17 (52:03):
That's just a great gift.

Speaker 16 (52:04):
They never teach you that in school or what that's
going to be like, but it's just this great adventure
that becomes like a parallel to your career in Hollywood.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
The next number is thirteen.

Speaker 1 (52:14):
That's the number of times Freddy says bitch throughout the
entire franchise. I heard Jalil White recently, who played Erkele,
saying that doing that voice has damaged his vocal cords.

Speaker 2 (52:25):
It's shredded because of that.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
For you, doing the Freddie voice over those movies hasn't
messed with your real voice.

Speaker 17 (52:32):
Well, here's the thing. When I do the movies, I
might only have one line a day.

Speaker 16 (52:37):
You know, when I do these junkets like I'm doing
here with you, or when I do morning radio shows
and things like that, they want me to talk like
Freddy a lot. And if I'm doing a lot of those,
I can heard my voice. But playing Freddy, I probably
only have one or two lines a day, if any,
because Freddy doesn't talk that much.

Speaker 17 (52:59):
So it never bought rcle. He can't stop chatting.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Yeah, talking about the time.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
That's the whole episode of the whole series. The next
number is thirty two. The entire movie was filmed in
thirty two days. Heather, what was your favorite day on set?

Speaker 14 (53:13):
Oh?

Speaker 12 (53:13):
Gosh, Probably the days I didn't have a big makeup
I mean a big stunt or something. I know, the
day with Johnny when we're walking across the bridge in Venice,
or the day with Amanda where we're at the party
and where you know, first talking about Freddy. Those days
were really luxurious because there wasn't a lot of tension
acting and I could just hang out with everybody and

(53:35):
have a great time. Most other days when we did
do like the bathtub scene or chase scenes, all of
those were really you know, you don't have a lot
of time. You have to be on your mark, you
have to know exactly what you're doing. A lot more pressure,
a lot less time to hang out and just kind
of have a great time on set with my co stars.

Speaker 16 (53:52):
Any day when I'm getting the makeup off, yeah that's happy.
But I got the makeup off one day and it
was a couple of you know, Freddie Booger's hanging from
my ears and underneath my chin, and Heather and I
wanted to see the revolving room and this was going
to be the shot of Johnny Depp's bed exploding with

(54:14):
all the blood coming out in a gusher like Old Faithful.

Speaker 17 (54:17):
And they had this.

Speaker 16 (54:18):
Great revolving room and it was the same room they
used for Amanda on the ceiling, for Tina on the ceiling,
but they had redressed it to become Johnny Depp's bedroom.

Speaker 17 (54:28):
And they had been working.

Speaker 16 (54:30):
All night and they had it all ready to go,
and Heather and I walked out to watch it, you know,
and I was still wiping some of my makeup off,
and Heather was in her little pajamas, and I remember
standing out there and they spun it the wrong way,
and Wes and Jacques Heiken, our cinematographer, were inside in
these Volkswagen bucket seats with the camera mounts, so they
would be upside down while the thing they erupted and

(54:53):
came down so it would look using gravity to make
it look like it exploded. That's how they did it.
They got the idea from the shine. Anyway, they spun
it the wrong way and all the blood came out
of the windows of Johnny Depp's bedroom and out the
door of Johnny Depp's bedroom and covered west and Jacques
Heiken and I remember standing with you and we saw
this puddle coming at us. And I looked down and

(55:14):
if you know anything about movie sound stages in Hollywood,
they're all cables, electrical cables everywhere, plugged in. And I said,
this doesn't look good of us. The two of us
ran all the way back to the Baker.

Speaker 6 (55:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 16 (55:29):
Yeah, but we didn't get to But that's like, I
really remember that. I remember that, yeah, because I was.
I really thought something terrible was going to happen.

Speaker 2 (55:37):
The next number is seven.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
That's the total number of minutes that Freddy was on
screen in the first movie Robert, based on your relationship.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
With wesb Seven minutes in Heavens seven minutes.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Based on your relationship with Wes Craven, do you think
that was more by design because he wanted to keep
Freddy mysterious or was it more based on the budget
of the movie.

Speaker 17 (55:56):
No, I'll tell you what I think their true truth was,
and it's because.

Speaker 16 (55:59):
I I got access to this right at the last minute.
With the final makeup tests and wardrobe tests. Both Robert
Shay and Wes were petrified about lighting the makeup. The
makeup look great, but they were worried about the lighting.
And what we discovered almost immediately, because I think I

(56:21):
had a scene with Heather pretty quickly, is that I
could not step into the kids lighting. They were lit
traditionally and attractively. If I went in there, I became
to my makeup look too white or too pink, and
so we had to light me. And it was incumbent

(56:41):
upon Heather and Johnny Depp and Amanda Whist and everyone
to step into my lighting and which was more dramatic
and darker. And that's how they solved that. But they
were so nervous about the makeup and what it would
look like, and they hadn't started seeing dailies yet or
rushes yet that I think they just had minimized my

(57:04):
screen time because of that, and there came a probably
came a point where they probably wish they just shot more.
But there's nothing in Nightmare one that I shot that's
not in the movie except maybe a little bit on
the ceiling dragging Amanda.

Speaker 12 (57:20):
And also with Ronnie at the end in that burn scene,
I know that. That's yeah, it's pretty short, much shorter
than I think what was shot.

Speaker 16 (57:28):
Yeah. I think I went in there and substituted at
the beginning, and then Tony went in to stunt my
stunt Noble went in and did the flame stuff.

Speaker 17 (57:35):
But I know there, yeah, because I remember being in
that room. So I must have been doing something with Ronnie.

Speaker 16 (57:39):
I think I you know, I might have kissed her
or pinned her down or whispered something in her ear
and leaned up and then I combusted, and I think
they substituted the stunt man in then that was a
famous fire stunt at the time.

Speaker 17 (57:52):
But yeah, that except for that though, I got all
the screen time that was there. But you know, no
small parts, only small actors.

Speaker 1 (57:59):
The next time is seventy nine, that is the total
number of kills Freddy has throughout the entire franchise, out.

Speaker 2 (58:05):
Of this movie or out of any movie.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
What is each of your favorite kills that Freddy has done, Heather,
what's your favorite?

Speaker 12 (58:11):
I have to say the most unique and disgusting kill
was when he kills brook These in Nightmare four Who's
the cockroach and she turns into the cockroach, And that
one just is funny and disgusting and grotesque, and it's
also one of my best friends getting killed.

Speaker 16 (58:27):
Besides, it's also very Pafka esque, which really serves the surrealism.

Speaker 17 (58:33):
And the Nightmare mayor thing.

Speaker 6 (58:35):
I think.

Speaker 16 (58:35):
I like the boy with the hearing aid that was
brutal part in part Yeah, in part six is so
politically incorrect. And I always like Amanda on the ceiling.
The ceiling that's so disorienting.

Speaker 1 (58:48):
Yeah, and it's so unexpected too, the way it starts
the movie, like you don't see that coming.

Speaker 17 (58:52):
I remember she's the janetly sacrificial lamb. Yeah, that's why
the lamb's in there in that corridor school corridor.

Speaker 1 (58:59):
And two thousand and three is the next number. That
was the last Freddy movie that came out with you, Robert,
when is the actual last time that you put on
the costume? Just have you ever just been hanging out
in your house like I want to feel like Freddy today.

Speaker 16 (59:12):
Well, I did one appearance in Europe and one appearance
in Chicago for the fans, and I wanted to make
sure it was me, so I didn't wear the costume,
just the makeup.

Speaker 17 (59:25):
And then uh so that was like you got to
have your picture taken with Robert.

Speaker 16 (59:29):
England, the actor that played Freddy Krueger as Freddy Krueger
as opposed to just being a Freddie impersonator. And then
I did do My agent's favorite TV show was The Goldbergs,
and I got a beautiful five page letter from Adam
Goldberg telling me this true story about how he had
to watch The Nightmare and elm Street movies next door
in his neighbor's house.

Speaker 17 (59:51):
And I love that actress Wendy on that show.

Speaker 16 (59:54):
I've loved her since Arino nine one one, and so
I want to work with her because she's so funny.
And we worked it out that we wouldn't make too
much fun of the Freddie character, we just you know,
balance him out. So I did finally break my rule
and take Freddy out of the series and do that show.

(01:00:15):
But it was the right show because it was a
celebration of the nineteen eighties. It was a celebration of
Nightmare on Elm Street.

Speaker 10 (01:00:21):
It was a true.

Speaker 16 (01:00:22):
Story, and it was my agent's favorite TV show that
he shared.

Speaker 17 (01:00:26):
With his family. He and his family would sit down
and watch it together. So I sort of had to
do it for him.

Speaker 1 (01:00:31):
And finally, ten minutes was the runtime of this interview.
Thank you for making my childhood nightmare come true.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
Thank you, Thank you so much. That's wonderful. Thank you
lot of math in that interview.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
There I go, and that is the list, and that
is the episode. I told you guys, I would tell
you who is on my bucket list my dream interviews,
not even of next year, but just of all time.
I'll do one director and one movie star director. First,
I think it comes down to two people, Quentin Tarantino

(01:01:02):
and Jordan Peele. I love both of them for very
different reasons, and overall I would go with Quentin Tarantino
only because I believe he is on the tail end
of his career now that he's saying that he has
a set number of films that he's going to do.
I believe that the next one is going to be
his last one, even though he was gonna do that

(01:01:24):
movie Critic movie, and that movie has now been scrapped.
So I don't know if you're going to come back
to that have an entirely different movie, or if still
the next movie he does will be his last movie.
But I feel like I have a limited time to
talk to Quentin Tarantino, and there'd be so many things
to get into with him, And I think the hard
thing about doing that is I.

Speaker 2 (01:01:46):
Feel he is so particular.

Speaker 1 (01:01:48):
And it's so easy to set him off that if
you ask him the wrong question, I feel like he
could turn on you. I saw him recently talking about
Yellowstone going off on that. He just knows what do
you like. He knows what is good, and he's not
afraid to say what is bad. And that would be
a tough one to do it. I'd have to do
a lot of homework. I had to come in just

(01:02:09):
prep solid, because he is somebody who can't really screw
around with. So I would be really intimidated, really nervous
to do that one. And I don't really get nervous
to do interviews. But that would be a really cool
one because I mean just the legacy of films that
he has, that would be my bucket list director actor,
I'm gonna go big. I would call Leonardo DiCaprio just

(01:02:31):
because he doesn't miss it anymore. And I would really want
to know how he just approaches roles now and how
particular he has to be in what movies he says
yes to, not even getting into his just crazy history
of banger after banger from dudes in Titanic, The Departed, Inception,

(01:02:54):
Shutter Island. I mean, you think of movie star, and
you think of Leonardo DiCaprio, and also somebody who doesn't
really do interviews anymore, and that of all the celebrities
that still have some kind of mystery about him, he
is on that short list that not on social media,
you don't really see a whole lot of him outside

(01:03:15):
of him partying on yachts with twenty year olds. But
I would like to know more about his career and
what he thinks are his best movies, what movies he
thinks ah, I probably should have said not of that one,
and more importantly, why he told Timothy Shallow made to
never do a superhero movie. I gotta know why. I mean,
I kind of know why, but I would like to
know it from him. So bucket list interviews of all

(01:03:39):
time Quentin Tarantino, Leonardo DiCaprio. But those are my two
and that is the episode for this week. If you're
listening to this on release week, still on vacation. But
I will be back next week with a brand new episode.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
Hopefully you got some time off too. It's still holidays.

Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
We're in that time where right now where we don't
really know what day it is. We're kind of in
limbo when New Year's coming up and then it's like, oh,
I gotta go back to work. I'm in this haze, man,
I gotta get Peggett to a routine. So we're still
all living in that. Hopefully you got some rest ate,
some good food, got to watch a bunch of movies.

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
That is what I've been doing this entire break.

Speaker 1 (01:04:18):
If you need to know, probably seen it on me
posting on Instagram or TikTok. That's all I've been doing.
So I'll come back next week. I will do my
episode where I talk about my top ten films of
the year for twenty twenty four. I wanted to wait
this year because so many new movies come out over Christmas.

(01:04:39):
It's like four big ones coming out, and whenever I
do that episode early, I always kind of neglect those
movies because they come out towards the end of the year.

Speaker 2 (01:04:48):
But it's a big time for movies.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
So this time I wanted to wait until I saw
all those and could weigh them against what is currently
on my list of the best movies of the year.
So we'll come back next week with that episode, and
until next time, go out and watch good movies, and
I will talk to you later.

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Host

Mike D

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