Billy Burke | Guitars & Vampires

And when I saw it, I was like, what the hell is this all?

This seems like fun.

Well, I wish I'd have known you at the time.

I could have, I probably could have swung something for you.

Well,

I'll put that in my pocket for later.

Welcome to Story Craft.

Now, here's your host, Mark Preston.

Hey, how are you?

Welcome back.

This is Story Craft.

I'm Mark Preston.

Uh, if this is episode number two, well, this is episode number two, but if you're.

Coming in and checking out your second episode.

Thank you for coming back.

If you are new to the show, thank you for checking this out.

Glad to have you here.

Uh, today, Billy Burke, what a great actor.

One of those guys you see show up in a movie or in a TV show,

you know, he's going to deliver.

Uh, he's just one of my favorite working actors out there.

Great conversation.

Uh, Billy has been in a multitude of shows going to 24.

We talk about that.

He's also been in shows like Revolution and Zoo.

Of course, to many, he's known as Bella Swan's father, Charlie, and Twilight.

Most recently, he's been on Made, also been on 9 1 1 Lone Star.

So we had a great conversation and I'm glad you're here to check it out.

Hey, don't forget to, uh, check us out story and craft pod.

com.

Once again, head over to story and craft pod.

com.

Got all the social media links on there.

Uh, also a way for you to leave a voicemail kind of cool way for

you to get involved in the show.

And by the way, favor to ask, please follow, like the show, give

us a review, Apple podcasts, and we're on whatever, Podcast app.

You've got that you like.

Okay, so let's get after it.

It's Billy Burke day right here on story and craft.

How are you, my friend?

I'm good.

How are you?

I'm really, uh, sorry about the several times we've tried to do this.

Hey, we've eventually landed here.

It's all right.

Now, where are you located?

Are you on the, um, East coast or West coast?

I am.

I'm in New York now.

I just, uh, just moved back here in August as a matter of fact.

So

you're from, uh, Washington originally, right?

Yes.

Uh, I grew up, uh, in Bellingham, Washington, which is just, you know,

south of the Canadian border and, and then spent some formative years in

downtown Seattle and then, uh, moved to LA, which, you know, which was my

base Past, uh, better part of 30 years.

Well, you were, when you were in LA, uh, I'm sorry,

when you were in Seattle, that's, that's, that was, were, are we

talking right about the height?

Cause I noticed all the guitars behind you.

I'm wondering if that's the height of the grunge

phase.

It was so right in the middle of all of that.

Um, Yeah, it was, I, I had a band in, um, high school and, uh, continued

to play music from there on out.

And so moved to downtown Seattle when I was 17 and, and

immediately started a band there.

Yeah.

And, and so I was, you know, I was playing out, uh, with my, several versions of my

band during that whole, that whole thing.

And.

You know, knew a lot of the people who, uh, uh, you know, burgeoned from that.

And we actually, we shared a rehearsal space with Allison chains at one time

before they were called Allison chains.

And, and anyway, so.

I realized and I saw Um what was happening what was bubbling up at

that time musically and we weren't doing anything like that at all

What was in the water in seattle from about 88?

To the mid to early 90s.

What was in the water?

It was just you know, actually I think that had something to do with

Uh, because I started working in radio when I was 17, uh, in Dallas.

And I remember I was there during the height of the kind of the boy band,

New Kids on the Block and all that.

The grunge, I think, was just, it was just a reaction to all that.

It was a little bit of a backlash kind of.

Yeah, I, I think it was probably a combination of a lot of things.

Um, uh, not the least of which, you know, when something starts

bubbling in a city like that, at least it had been historically

like, you know, Athens, Georgia, you know, how they had their big boom.

And, and I think Seattle was just kind of sort of destined for that.

And then, Yeah, something about that entire, you know, mood and

movement spoke to, you know, the masses and it just went crazy.

There was something cool happening in the early 90s, I think.

There really was.

It was good times.

And you're still doing it.

You're still, uh, you're still doing the, uh, the musical thing.

Are you, do you have a band right now or are you, uh

Here's what I do.

I, you know, perhaps my, uh, my ideal first plan would have been to,

uh, become successful in the, uh, in the music world first, and then,

you know, sort of push my way into the film and TV business from there.

I had always planned on having some sort of dual career, but, uh, You know, the,

the movies and TV started to kind of pick.

I moved to LA in 91 or 92.

Um, and That started to pick up first and I just kind of went with that.

And so now I just write music, record music for my own enjoyment.

Well, and that kind of sort of where the Genesis of all of it

should start is write the music, play the music you like, you know, and then

you'll find in the, and the people will find you will dig in, you know,

you know, I know a Billy Bob thing.

Thornton was one of those guys, kind of did that good kind of riding

those two rails thing, you know, both music and the film thing.

But I will say I've tried to hunt it down.

I can't seem to rummage it up, but Dill Scallion, I did a, I don't like to do a

whole lot of research research, but I was like, okay, let me just take a look, IMDb.

I was like, wait a minute, this is you actually playing a country music singer.

And how that was that your first official theatrical project that you

did that was like a mockumentary, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It was a mockumentary, yeah.

Uh, that was by no means my first thing.

Um, however, it was my first, uh, it was my first, you know, lead in a movie.

Um, I'd done a ton of stuff before that that didn't get recognized.

I'd, uh, um, a couple of movies, you know, I did a couple of

independents while still in Seattle.

Um, yeah.

And so before Dill Scallion, uh, there was, uh, I did without limits,

which was written and directed by Robert town, um, starring crudip.

Uh, and then I did this other comedy, which was made by the people who do,

uh, airplane called mafia, which was

with the Zucker, that team.

Yeah.

Um, and it was, you know, it was a spoof on the mafia.

Um, And right after that, because that was a comedy, um, uh, this, this guy,

Jordan Brady, who, you know, still friend to this day, he, uh, came to me and said,

would you be interested in doing this?

So we'd take a look at this.

And I just read the script and laughed out loud and thought it was, uh, beautiful.

And.

It to this day one of the greater experiences i've ever

had doing anything i mean we

I mean the cast was kind of the one of the more unique cast.

I mean you had henry winkler You had willie nelson pete berg, you know,

yeah lauren graham.

Um, uh, David keckner who's one of the funniest people on the planet

who uh, you know Yeah, it was a kind of a magical little cast,

and we just threw it together.

I mean, none of the songs were written.

We got on a tour bus in L.

A.

and wrote the songs kind of as we went.

And the plan was to just shoot everything we could, you know, some

scripted, some not, uh, all the way to Nashville on this, uh, tour bus.

So you can imagine it, whatever I was 29, 30 years old.

It was, uh, it was, it was a great time.

All you have to say is tour a bus.

I'm thinking, okay, this was a good, this was a good time.

You know?

So it

gave me, it gave me a little bit of, you know, what I thought

I should have had back in that day.

Well, apparently Pete Berg liked the experience, but he brought

you back to do, uh, uh, Wonderland.

Uh, he was, he directed Wonderland, right?

Did he also act in it, I think, if memory serves?

He

wrote it, uh, he wrote it, produced it, and directed the pilot

and, uh, several episodes afterwards.

But, but, yeah, it would, and, you know, it was the first pilot that I'd

done that had actually got on the air.

I had done, I don't know, maybe six, seven, eight pilots

before that got on the air.

Um, And that was the first time I'd lived in New York as well.

So, uh, and we shot it here in New York, but, and it was huge off the bat.

I mean, the, the numbers that they got back then.

were nothing comparable to what, uh, what we see today.

I mean, we opened with massive numbers.

It was, you know, it was a big splash right off the bat.

And then I, I don't know what happened.

The network got scared and, uh, somebody got fired and, uh, and the baby

went out with the bathwater on that.

But it was a really, I mean, it's a, it's a show that would

probably still hold up today.

It was really ahead of its time.

Yeah, you know, it's funny that you mentioned the thing, uh,

when you did the pilot, I have a lot of friends who, uh, they're, they're

always just cranking on pilot season.

There's this one thing after the other.

It's gotta be the biggest, one of the biggest emotional roller coasters.

You go and it looks like it's going to go.

It's going to get to the, nope, not going to happen.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's, uh, this business is not for the faint hearted.

It's, uh, I mean, that is, that is how it goes.

And I, I think.

All said and done pilot wise, um, I think somebody had told me that, that

George Clooney had done, you know, 11 or 12 well by The mid 2000s, I'd done 13.

Um, so in pilot season today doesn't really exist as it used to.

Well, we don't really run in seasons quite the way.

I mean, it was always like fall big release.

Now it's just, they're releasing all throughout the year.

So we're kind of like, you're never really stopping now.

You know, it seems like there's always something in production.

Yeah, there's

always something in production.

Um, networks don't operate the way that they, they used to, uh, there's way too

big a landscape now with, uh, So many streaming services and so much competition

for people's eyeballs that, uh, it, yeah, it can't work the same way, but

there's, I think there are still, still some vestiges of, uh, of pilots being

made, but usually it's like, here's the idea, here's who's attached, it either

goes straight to series or it doesn't.

Yeah.

Yeah.

One of the, one of the things I've always admired about you, Matt, the eclectic.

Choices.

It's all about making choices.

But in terms of career though, you've landed in like a really

nice, eclectic mix of shows.

Is it just sort of like, just, you know, just, you know, happenstance

happened to land you there or were you actively going, you know, this is

something I really want to do, right?

That

is, that is mostly luck.

I mean, unless you get immediately on a, on a fast track that's going

to take you to a place where you have, um, a multitude of choices.

It's, It's mostly, it's mostly luck.

You, uh, you know, you kind of, uh, at some point in time,

you kind of resign yourself to what is going to come your way.

There are things that you, you know, that once in a while you

can hear about and really sort of go after and make a play for.

But the competition for those things is immense.

And, you know, you're, you're fighting bigger names all the time.

And, uh, that's just.

It's just the way it goes.

You know, the things you've landed in have always been, like I said,

it's just very memorable, you know.

In fact, the kids, I have three teenagers, one just started college

this year and, but when COVID first kicked off, I mean, they're home and

we're all just like, okay, well, how are we going to be managing this?

So it's, of course, online school.

It's been really fun, hasn't it?

Yeah, you know, it's been an adventure, you know, and I, I'm lucky I got

three kids who are smarter than me and they just managed it beautifully.

But, uh, it was an opportunity to kind of do that, those shows that were out

when they were a little bit too young.

I got a, uh, uh, I've got an 18 almost, gosh, he's almost 19, uh, 19, a 17 year

old son and my youngest daughter is 16.

And so what we did was like, what can we binge?

So we went through lost, which is kind of a, kind of a head trip of a show to, to,

to power through, you know, but we also.

Cut up at 24 twice, you know, it was one of my, I thought, I thought

it was just a fun, great series.

Um, and you've literally done so much.

I like pop, I'm like, oh yeah, Billy Burke, he was

right, he was in this episode.

And that one of my favorite things about that.

Uh, spin was, was, um, I was talking to somebody about this the other day.

Some of my favorite roles, some of my favorite people to watch or, or ones

you watch, even when they don't have dialogue, cause you're wondering,

okay, what are they going to do?

What are they thinking?

You know?

And that, that character in 24 was, uh, he was a gnarly cat, but

you didn't quite put it together.

I mean, that was, how did, I'm curious how that one role came together,

cause I'm a little bit of a 24 nerd.

I mean, I'm going to put it out there, Mike, you know, how did that,

how did that come together for you?

I don't really remember clearly.

It was kind of in the thick of, um, some other stuff going on.

And I don't really remind me if you can, what, what year that even was.

So I could put it, I think I

wrote, I made a little note cause I know it's 2002, uh,

2003, which makes me realize that was.

Doesn't seem like 20 years ago.

You know, getting to that age, like, wait a minute, that's 20 years, man.

Okay, so, uh, but yeah, that, I mean, I know you were busy and things

were ramping up nicely for you, but I talked to, uh, Reed Diamond, uh,

and I'm always curious about the experience of shooting that show.

It was just really fast, 24?

Um, Well, first of all, by the time I got there,

they had their machine down.

I mean, they were, they were clicking real well and, um, just a really

great atmosphere and, you know, uh, When you, when you, there's big

differences between working on shows that have certain successes and shows

that, you know, may just kind of be meandering out there in the atmosphere.

But, um, but 24 was clicking by then.

And I don't really remember how it came about, but, uh, but I think that.

John Kazar, one of the creators, um, I think I met with him and, and he

sort of told me a little bit about the scope of the character and, and

the arc and what it was going to do and sounded, sounded great to me.

And, uh, and so we just kind of dove in, but the, The story that I would tell

about that is not that you're necessarily looking for stories, but I'm going to

I'm not going to turn you down, please.

But, um, so what happened was, is we shot all my episodes and on

the very last one, I got the script.

Um, and it was.

It said something along the lines of he goes searching through his,

he's in a big rush and he's panicked and he's going searching through his

house for something, blah, blah, blah.

And he lifts up a lamp or something like that and finds his stash of,

I guess, what we assume is meth.

So, um, unbeknownst to me, I, uh, My character was apparently on meth the

whole time, and I didn't really know it.

Really?

That's okay.

I need to go re watch this now.

I know.

It's kind of like behind the music, but behind 24.

I always wonder what it's like to shoot that show, because

there's so much going on.

You have, um, you know, it just, it was a show that, I think kind

of at the time it was post 9 11.

It was just primed.

I know Kiefer Sutherland's talked about.

It's like if they come up, can come up with a new script.

I'm like, maybe they focus on domestic terrorism now.

God, I don't know.

But it was definitely you kind of saw the impetus of how that thing took off.

in the early 2000s.

And it just was one of those shows.

You don't know if they could really do a show like, or I don't mean

the subject matter, but a show that just take off and just catches on

fire and runs for that many seasons.

You know, if something gets three seasons nowadays, that

seems like a long time, you know,

it's, it is, it is, and has always been, and will probably

continue to be lightning in a bottle.

I mean, you, you just, you're, you're putting the best stuff

out there that you possibly can.

And, and hoping that, that people get.

interested about it.

My, my storyline on that show, um, happened to be, you know, one

of the B or even C storylines.

Um, so I didn't really, there wasn't, I didn't experience what, uh, most

of them experienced on the show with the, with the big stuff going on.

And the, you know, um, I was, uh, Which I was totally fine with it, by the way.

Yeah, I think most of the scenes were pretty contained.

A couple, probably a couple, three locations at the most, like at a house.

I think, you know, so not a, you weren't as sincere.

As I remembered, I'm,

I, I, I feel like I was pretty much just, uh, chasing Alicia

Cuthbert around the whole time.

Basically, she was cute, you know, I understand.

I'm just kidding.

Um, but no, they, You,

you've had some fun.

It's such a resume and done so many things, it's like, okay, you know,

you've had a chance to work with, I mean, um, got Anthony Hopkins.

I mean, that's, that's right there.

It's like, you know,

it doesn't get a whole lot better than that.

Right.

I mean, in terms of a company to be in.

Right?

Yeah, indeed.

Indeed.

And in that movie that you're speaking of, that's, that's Hopkins and, uh,

and Gosling all in the same shot.

So, yeah,

I think that had to have been pretty soon after it was

the, the notebook, I think it was, he was still, Ryan Gosling was still

kind of on fire with that, I think.

Yeah,

well, he was, he was catching big fire at that time.

There's no question about it.

Um, and, you know, I, You, you can tell when you work with people, you

know, there's, there's sometimes where you can sort of sense a trajectory

that's, that's going to happen.

Um, and that was always pretty obvious, uh, with, with him and he was, you know,

despite all that, just, Really solid guy.

Yeah, he's Canadian.

So he's, you know, real friendly, naturally, you know, the Canadians,

you know, indeed, indeed.

Now the, uh, now all along while you're doing this, is music still part of your

ecosystem, part of the thing you're doing, or is that, or was it, I don't,

I'm not saying shelved, uh, was it put on pause a little bit while you were

focusing on what was going on at the time?

It's, been something that I have never not paid attention to.

It is just one of those things that, you know, a lot of people talk about,

uh, the things that, you know, keep them sane or keep them grounded.

Uh, I suppose if, because I have.

No better terminology for it.

That would probably be, that'd probably be it.

I, I, I do it cause it's there, you know, it's, uh, I, I'm constantly writing songs,

I'm constantly writing a lot of stuff.

Are you sticking to one particular genre, or are

you kind of, or just whatever kind of hits you at the moment?

No, as a matter of fact, so the, the, the two, you know, self made

albums that I've, that I've actually released, uh, that are both on Spotify.

One was kind of a collection of everything that I had built up while I was, uh,

getting caught up in movies and TV.

Um, and then years went by, and then I decided I wanted to make,

you know, a, a music video.

that kind of, uh, paid some tribute to the stuff that I grew up with.

Um, so I put that one out and, uh, now I'm doing one that is inspired by, uh,

a lot of the country influence stuff that, uh, I've always appreciated.

So that's what, that's what's in the can.

Yeah, my, my daughter now, my youngest, is just out of the blue, you

know, I was getting a new, uh, I needed to get a new vehicle, and my daughter's

like, why don't you get a pickup truck?

I was like, pickup truck?

You know, she's as, she's as much of a city girl as they come, and the next

thing you know, I get the pickup, and I'm like, that doesn't make sense to me,

you know, I'm from Dallas originally, gotta have a pickup, you know?

You can't go wrong with one.

No, now she's like, let's listen to country music.

I was like, you like country?

I was like, yeah.

And, uh, and she said, we're driving and she's like, daddy, did they have like

country music when you were younger?

I'm like, Oh baby, bless your heart.

And I was like, and so I said, okay, now I'm realizing I got Spotify on

the phone, plugged into the car and I'm like, you know, I'm going to

go and educate you a little bit.

I said, tell you what, I'm going to give you a little bit of a

sample of high school music.

Brooks and Dunn, uh, Neon Moon.

I kick it on.

She starts singing it.

Dude, I cover

that song.

I love it.

Yeah, and what, she starts singing the song.

Baby, how the hell do you know this song?

She's like, it's TikTok.

Apparently somebody's singing the song in TikTok.

But, so we went through and just, it's, it's just kind of funny.

She just, she, she enjoys it.

I haven't quite gone into the whole Willie thing.

Thing.

I mean, that's gotta be part of her, uh, education.

So many songs have, I mean, through my daughter as well,

my daughter's 13 and there are so many songs from my youth and, you

know, early adulthood that she.

Knows every word to now, um, that she shouldn't, but she does.

And that is due to tick tock.

So I guess, uh, no matter how you feel about it, there's one good thing about it.

I talked to my old radio buddies.

I'm like, man, what in the world?

Would people listen to now kids, uh, you know, uh, the impressionable

age and make them think, God, I want to do that radio thing.

You know, back when we were young, there was the music, there was

the personality, but it was, that's how kids discovered music.

We all had the boom box with a tape ready to go at a moment's

notice to record that mixtape.

Uh, but they're all discovering on Spotify and in a way that almost opens up

a whole other world for them, you know, on demand, they can listen to anything.

Yeah.

It's.

It's great for music lovers and appreciators, uh, and for the

perpetuation of, of music itself, but it has yet to really come to a place

for musicians and bands and people that's, that's, that's a tough one.

I mean, yeah, my business is, is tough.

I'm glad I don't have to make them.

as a musician.

It's, that's a weird, weird landscape.

Yeah.

Now, now they, they used to be the, uh, the, the muse,

especially on the first album.

I remember the L the folks got to get out on tour and make their money.

And then now I think record labels do that all around deal where

they get a piece of the tour also.

So, you know, if you got it used to be, you don't make your money until

you get through your second album.

Hopefully you get a second album.

And then your second album usually sucks because that's the

sophomore slump that everybody expects.

Yeah.

So what were you listening to?

You mentioned something about your musical inspirations and that's kind of what

feed has fed into what your choices on writing and performing, but what were you

listening to back, uh, back in the day?

In, well, in which day?

Well, I mean, when you were coming up as a teenager,

like what I want to say the word influence is what we heard.

Like, damn, I, you just want to go pick up a guitar.

Even if you didn't know how to play, just wanted to kind of,

you were just like jazzed by it.

Yeah, well, the stuff I grew up with, the stuff that made me

interested in music was, um, uh, the songwriters, you know, I would listen

to my, I'm sure this is the case with a lot of people, but I would listen

to my mom's music and my dad's music.

Um, that was constantly playing around the house.

And so it was, it was the, the James Taylors and, uh, Jim Croce's and, uh,

uh, the first time I heard, uh, you know, songs, you know, the deeper cuts by Elton

John that Bernie Taupin wrote with him.

Like, that's what I was really, I was really into this, that

sort of, uh, amalgamation of, uh, of words and music together.

But I was always pretty heavily bent towards the more melodic

than the more, uh, experimental.

I appreciate the experimental, but I like a song that, you know, that,

Sticks to your gut and you can't stop singing after you hear it, you know

Or somebody just mentions the name of the song and it starts

playing in your head immediately

Yeah, and i've noticed that my my daughter actually has

that sort of Way better than I did my my daughter can hear a song one

time and she knows the entire chorus I don't know how that happens.

But uh, is she playing

instruments right now?

Are you uh,

She's she's She's, um, she's becoming a pretty decent drummer.

Um, that seems to be the one that she is sort of, you know, leaning towards most.

She plays a little bit of guitar, um, and she sings, um, has yet to, uh,

sort of, you know, really find, she's a good singer, but she has yet to

find where her voice really lives yet.

So I'm hoping that once that happens, she, uh, uh, Comes out and

you know explodes with something,

you know, it's funny.

He's listening to a podcast in a pin Gillette was on it.

He was talking about his daughter moxie crime fighter.

I'm like, that's one hell of a Name and then and then I ran across the

name that you blessed your child with bluesy LaRue I'm like you just you've

you've birthed a rock star just out of the gate right there that names

is ready for Album cover, you know

Could be a rock star, could go a lot of different ways, but, but,

um, yeah, that's another, that's another thing that just kind of came out of the

ether, um, wanted, you know, something,

something musical, um, and something that, you know, said something, so

the name Blue was played around with.

And then, uh, we landed on Bluesy and I said, I said to her mother at

the time I said, uh, if it's going to be bluesy, she's got to have a sing

songy middle name and heard the blues.

This all credit to her.

The first, first one out of her mouth was LaRue and I just went done.

And it crosses all genres.

I can imagine a rock country blue, you know, she's kind of at that age.

Now, now you have a teenager, you know, as my people say,

Mazel Tov, welcome to the teens.

Um, how has that, how has that, she, how's she looking at dad doing the

music thing, doing the acting thing?

Is she, is she enamored by like, that's really cool.

Or is she just like.

You know, whatever about her dad doing this thing.

I think because we're living in the times we live in and she's

13 years old, that she is much more influenced by, um, what's going on.

Uh, In her atmosphere than she is by, by this.

Now she recognizes what this is.

She grew up on sets.

She, you know, she's traveled tons.

She's got more on her passport.

Uh, she had more on her passport at 10 years old than I had by the time I was 30.

Um, so she's, she's lived in that world, but in terms of, I mean,

and she does appreciate, uh, you know, the fact that I've had some

success in, in this business, but she's not seen almost any of it.

Really?

No.

She's 13.

She still hasn't seen the Twilight movies.

I was, I

was just about to say, you know, what's really wild is I, I

know, um, Ian Somerhalder's sister.

And I was talking with her and I said, you know, it's so funny that, uh, my

daughter, uh, Emma, my 16 year old has a friend who has a picture of her brother.

It's a blanket, but it's got a picture of her brother on it.

I'm like going, I said, isn't that the weirdest thing?

I said, wait a minute, I'm doing the math on this.

I was like, you know, uh, vampire diaries was a little while back.

And from what I gather, kids, uh, the, this teenage group is starting

to discover a lot of that stuff and they're starting to rediscover twilight.

Have you noticed that at all?

Like with your daughter and, uh, her, her tribe.

Have you noticed that like a twilight's kind of coming

into their like ecosystem now?

Have you, has that happened?

Yeah, it never really went away.

It's always been hovering there in this sort of, uh, the mist underneath.

Um, but yes, just very recently in the past year, I mean, Twilight had

some sort of, uh, resurgence on, on Netflix or one of the streamers.

Um, and, but it was never because of the juggernaut that that whole series was.

And it was it.

It was never really not present.

I mean, people sort of just kind of found out that, you know, the guy

who played Charlie Swan was her dad.

And so there's always been trickles of that everywhere, but yeah, now in

high school, it's, it's, it's, I just.

I try to make it the least big a deal that can possibly be, and she goes

with that, so I'm happy for that.

Yeah.

When that screenplay landed in your lap and you're looking at it, did you

kinda, it's like a two part question.

Did you get what it was supposed to be about out of the gate or, and did you

also kind of say, okay, this is gonna be so something, this is gonna turn into

something you, did you have a sense of that or did you kinda look at it like,

okay, this is gonna be a job I'm gonna knock out here, and what was first blush?

What was your vibe on it?

First of all, I didn't get the whole screenplay.

Um, I had no idea of, uh, what the book series was.

I had never heard of it.

Um, I went in to meet Katherine Hardwick, the director of the, of

the first movie, and we talked a little bit, and then we, we sort

of read through a couple of scenes.

Um And as I was leaving, she said, she said, how do you feel about this?

I'm like, like, I don't know.

I haven't read the whole script.

I guess I, she said, go home and Google twilight.

And so it did.

And then I, I was like, Oh, this is a, it's a big deal.

Um, and so I think.

I mean, I don't know.

I've heard, of course, a lot of the other, uh, participants and actors

talk about their experience on the movies and whether or not they thought

it was going to hit like it did.

I think I'm the only one who kind of knew I'm the only one who admits it.

Anyway, I kind of knew, uh, I looked at it like, this is just,

it's a recipe for absolute success.

There's no way this is not going to speak to, to, uh,

To its audience did the adults quote unquote adults were they

hanging out together and the kids are hanging out together Uh, and I you

know, I I haven't seen the full series.

I've seen I think one or two of the me and

facinelli were the only adults no, with the exception of I

mean elizabeth reaser and and and some others were there as well, but

the rest of the you know, the rest of the cast was somewhere between a 18

and 25 and um So there really was no.

Uh,

everybody hung out with everybody when we were on set.

And if you felt like hanging out, uh, off the set, uh, you may or may not.

And, you know, I most of the time kind of keep to myself anyway.

So

it's so funny that the kids, um, my kids grow up in this era

where they have these movies, uh, based off books or what, the great movies.

Don't get me wrong.

It's just, I'm remembering I'm hitting rewind.

And I remember back right about the, uh, John Hughes movies, the Brat Pack times.

And it was kind of when most movies are really crafted

for adults up to that point.

You know, you really didn't have teen driven movies for the most part.

And then all these movies started popping out.

Like, and of course you had a chance, you spent some time with Rob Lowe, you know,

and that has to be kind of interesting.

Cause he was, you know, there was a time when these, you had like.

That whole Brat Pack thing, that's what I grew up on.

And there wasn't any, I don't think there were any sci fi or

kind of movies like that out there.

So this is, uh, I don't know, it's kind of cool.

It's a little different.

It's kind of neat to kind of live vicariously through my kids as they

experience these movies, you know?

Yeah.

I think, uh, as far as I can tell, I mean, the Harry Potter series really started

that entire Uh, movement of like, Oh, if we can get ahold of a, of something

that can become this kind of franchise, then, then that's probably the way to go.

That's, you know, and that's where we live today.

I mean, Marvel rules the world, you know,

Hey, as an actor, that that's some job security too.

I mean, I, I remember when I was working at ABC years ago and I was

interviewing somebody that was there.

In fact, I was interviewing John Favreau when he did a movie called PCU.

I mean, we're going way back.

Oh, I sort of remember that.

I don't remember seeing it, but I sort of remember that.

Yeah.

He played a character called gutter, who was the kind

of stoner guy at a university.

It was back there's politically correct university.

It was Jeremy Piven played kind of the, the, the main dude.

Uh, but he said, listen, he said, you know, whenever a

show raps, I'm out of work.

Technically, I was like, and it just kind of just registers.

Oh, yeah, until you get another gig, you're out of work, you know So these kind

of movies that you know, you're gonna get two or three films out of that's that's

some security That must be kind of nice.

Yeah, and even then you don't know.

I mean, I like I said, I I was pretty sure that the first film would have

some success but uh You know, do you know that it's going to have the

kind of success that is definitely going to catapult it into the making

the rest of the, of the movies?

You don't know that.

It, yeah.

Cause you, you don't have that crystal ball.

Certainly.

If you look at kind of the arc of, you know, you've done

the films, you've done TV.

Is there any preference in your mind on the workflow?

Like, okay, TV, I can stay close to home.

I, you know, do you have a preference?

I, I have a tendency to.

On the whole, I have a tendency to, uh, get more involved probably than anybody

would prefer me to when it comes to the content and the writing and the actual,

what we put on film or, uh, digital image.

Um, so indie films were always like a playground, you know, whenever an

indie film would come along, it would be just, you know, Even if it was not

a great script, it would, it would be a place where you could kind of do stuff

that, uh, wasn't on the page, you know?

And then there are places that are very stringent.

Stringent and, uh, where the work environment is very like, uh,

this is, this is what we do and these are the rules on this show.

And, you know, I don't get along very, very well with rules and . So

it was, uh, like, kinda like, um.

Oh God, it did West Wing.

Um, I, I'm vapor locking on the, uh,

good example.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, because every word is there for a reason, it carries its own

weight and you gotta, you know,

and for what it is, it works.

I mean, that's Aaron, so Aaron Sorkin works that way.

Yeah.

You, you like being able to kind of float in the moment and kind

of riff a little bit, you know?

Is that kind of the way you prefer to, to work?

Usually,

I, I have to be able to, I gotta be able to.

Um, because the words that are on the page are there and they're there

for a reason to, you know, show you who the character is and move

the plot along and stuff like that.

But, but I gotta be able to work with them and massage them a little bit.

Um, otherwise it feels really uncomfortable and false.

And I, I just don't like it.

I've never been in an, uh, I've never had to work in an environment

that's apparently that strict.

I don't know.

I've never worked on a Sorkin show, but there are, I know that there are

Places like that, where it's very important that every word is the word.

Um, I don't know how I would get along in that.

Um, uh, I suppose if, you know, if one is doing Shakespeare, one

has to sort of stick to the text, but, uh, I, I, I don't know how

this guy works in that environment.

Well, it's almost like music, you know, it's kind of jazz.

You gotta, you know, kind of riff a little bit.

Now, I know my son and I back when he's 17, not back when he was 7, 8, 10.

years old or so.

We got really into Revolution.

He loved that show.

So we dug it.

And that's one of those shows.

I'm like, man, well, that's that

audience seemed to be pretty big on that show.

But by the way, I mean, it was like, you know, it was it was preteen to

teen boys that really dug that show.

And then and then it jumped to like an older crowd from there.

In terms of demo, um, but it doesn't surprise me that your seven year old

at that time was, was into it, yeah.

Speaking of Jon Favreau, that was, wasn't J.

J.

Abrams involved in that as well?

He

was, he was the exec producer on that, yeah.

Yeah, that was, that was just kind of a fun, just one

of the shows like, ah, I wanted a few more seasons out of it.

But, you know, it's like that thing, it's like

We did too!

Yeah, you know, you got those shows out there that

are, um, I think sci fi ish stuff.

Seems to be the one thing, it's, it's, it's a little more finicky.

There are a lot of great shows that seem to end a season or two too early,

but they were sci fi based, you know, but there's definitely one enjoyed it.

In fact, I was, uh, I auditioned at least a couple, three times for zoo.

And when I, I was like, I only got pieces of the script and I was like, I didn't,

What?

When did you do this?

Oh, uh, back in, was it 2050?

Oh, I'd be like a day player.

I wasn't, I wasn't doing anything, uh, certainly I wouldn't be a regular.

Were you living in, in New Orleans or Vancouver?

Yeah, I'm

here right now, in fact.

Yeah, in New Orleans and, uh.

Oh!

So, yeah, that's, uh,

that totally makes sense.

Oh, I show up in all kinds of random stuff shot

here, but, uh, but no, I know.

In fact, I have friend of mine, Terry Weibel acted with you, I think

a couple, a few times on that show.

And she said, Oh, he's so sweet.

He's so nice.

He's such a nice guy, you know?

So I was like,

well, she's a liar.

Well, she's, she's, she's, she's diplomatic.

Uh, it was funny that when I got this, I couldn't quite get my head around.

What is this supposed to be?

Because even if you're a day player, week player.

You're really not getting, uh, the full scope of what's going on.

And when I saw it, I was like, what the hell is this all?

This seems like fun.

Um, I think I did a callback and I was about as far as I got with that.

Well, I wish I had known you at the time.

I could have, I probably could have swung something for you.

Well, I'll put that in my pocket for later.

It's, it's worth a muffaletta, maybe some beignets for you.

Something I'll throw, throw a little lanyard your way.

I

was about to say too.

So yeah, the.

We didn't either, if this is where your question is going.

We didn't, uh, week to week, script to script, we didn't have a clue

what was about to happen either.

I mean, it, it's, and I'm sure you hear this all the time from actors,

uh, on television shows that you just, you, you get scripts and you go, oh,

well, That, that's what we're doing.

This is

the ride we're taking now.

All right.

Okay.

But it was, it was a, it was a very cool idea.

And it's, it's, I see, I sometimes wonder when I watch shows going, okay,

would that show a couple of years later have more of an opportunity to take

off because just whatever reason is it, you know, did it find the right time?

And I just thought it was such a cool idea.

Yeah.

I've seen some shows since then, as a matter of fact, that that made

me kind of think for a second, like, well, had we done that and been there in the,

you know, in the time that we're in right now and, uh, had that been acceptable and

perhaps had the show not been on a, uh, a network, um, um, we'd have been able to

get away with some things that would have made it You know what it could have been

Um, you know, I think as a streamer that would do really well

Yeah as a network show it did as well as as it could I think on

a network, you know selling commercial television time um, but in order to do

what what I and probably a lot of other people thought it could have done without

those restraints, um, it Yeah, it could have gone a lot of really cool places.

I think that's kind of, I was talking to a director the other day,

uh, Ariel Roman, and we were talking about the, with Netflix and all the streamers

and his idea is that you're basically going to get these big companies are

going to be aggregating together and they're going to be creating their own

content and you've got to subscribe.

It's, it's, it's not like the wild west, but the rules are changing a little bit.

He said, but right now there's so much work and so many opportunities.

Um, but like a show like that, I think would just be golden if they

were on Netflix, uh, you know, You know, no restrictions at all.

It would have been, uh, I thought it was great as it was.

Don't get me wrong, but, uh,

yeah, I know exactly what you're saying and there's no, there's

no offense going to be taken about that.

Well, my daughter, I have yet to see it.

I told my daughter, Lily, my 19 year old, I says, watching as me speaking with

him, she's like, Oh yeah, he's on made.

I put that in the bank of shows.

I'm still have yet to watch.

There's so much stuff out there to catch up on.

I said, well, I'm watching nine one, one lone star.

And she's like, okay, good.

Well, you can't, I'm watching that too.

So we both.

Have that in comment.

I'm going to watch made here shortly, but you're obviously staying busy,

you know, so 911 that shot in.

It was supposed to be in Texas shot in LA.

Um, those kind of episodic things where you're coming in.

Um, and you know that you got an established team there.

Is that is that ever, uh, not uncomfortable, but is it.

Is it something you're, you're, you're, you're comfortable stepping in?

You got an established cast, you're coming in for an arc.

Is that, is that still cool for you?

Or are you kind of prefer to be a, you know, one of the primary characters?

Yeah.

I, um, like I said, on 24, when I stepped into that, I mean, the

machine had already been working so well and everybody was gelling and it

was a really comfortable atmosphere.

The difference in COVID times is vast.

Okay.

Um, it is just, you know, if you allow it to.

The masks and the testing and all this stuff, it will suck

the fucking joy right out of it.

You know?

So you've got to be, you know, you gotta be mindful of, of that and

put that caveat on it all the time.

That said, the first time I stepped onto the Lone Star set, I mean, just

beautiful people all around, like such a lovely environment and their machine

was running really, really well as well.

Um, and, you know, And the character itself, again, I didn't really

know where it was going to go.

I had an idea, you know, they, they talked about, you know, who he was and that there

was going to be, you know, certain red herrings and, and twists involved, but the

experience on that has been mostly that I've just had such a fun time with him.

You know, he's a, he's, he's so unpredictable.

I was about to say that you don't know, kind of like, okay,

these guys seems like the, I'm going all the way back to you, the other

characters, even the unpredictable.

Go even go back to 24, even still.

That's one of the things I love.

And I really admire about your work is you do have that, uh, your, the,

the, uh, I put like a Gary Oldman or a, uh, Sam Rockwell, people you just

like to look at and watch and just watch them think with no dialogue.

They're just equally as interesting.

And, and you had plenty of opportunities in that, you know, where you're kind

of like, how's he going to react?

What's he going to say?

Is he going to be the good guy?

Like I said, it's, it's, it's certainly fun to watch it.

That's, you know,

first of all, thank you.

That's good company.

Um, Gary Oldman, again, one of the.

I mean, not only in the pantheon of greats, but, uh, again, it's just

a really super sweet, genuine guy.

I, I did a movie with Gary Oldman.

I mean that, you know, that nobody, I mean, some people saw, but, uh,

directed by Katherine Hardwick, who, uh, Who did the first Twilight movie?

Oh, yeah, that's right.

That's right.

Yeah, it was a Red Riding Hood.

That's Yeah And you know, it was what it was but but I

did a movie with Gary Oldman.

There it is

Yeah, that's something that bugs me.

I don't speak to Ariel Roman I he directed him and with Kevin Costner

in criminal and I was like, I meant to ask one question What asked Gary Olman?

What's it like to be directing?

Yeah, I'm like crap.

I'm like two seconds later.

I'm like, God, I forgot to ask that question, but kind of as we're wrapping

up here, and I appreciate you being so generous with your time, most

certainly, but, um, but you know, what I like to do is kind of wrap up

whenever I talk with folks, the, um, some call my Preston's lucky seven.

I just like to throw out seven questions.

I think it's just kind of, kind of a fun way to find out a little

bit of insight beyond all the, all the, who is this like the actor's

studio thing?

You know what?

Uh, you know, I'm not going to say I'm nearly as eloquent as, uh, as him.

Uh, but I'm also not gonna go, you know, Barbara Walters and ask you what kind

of tree you would be, so I'm not gonna, uh, but what, what is, first question,

what's your favorite comfort food?

The thing you just like, man, when it comes down to snacking or it's like

when you're just chillin with it, you just gotta, you just, okay, this is,

I'm gonna chill at home and eat it.

So easy.

Um, uh, My favorite food of all time is, uh, Vietnamese soup.

Some call it pho, but we know the, I guess pho is right, um, but we still

call it pho because it's more fun to say.

Um,

uh, so that's

it.

Yeah.

God, I'm hungry right now.

Now you're sitting there making me think.

It's like, I don't know.

We're trying to decide what to do with, um, my kids for dinner tonight.

I could eat it any

time of day, breakfast, lunch, dinner, doesn't matter.

No, that's one thing I love watching Anthony Bourdain and,

uh, he, he was, I got turned on to the idea of eating something like that, but

for breakfast, but have it be spicy.

That's a, you know, in America we always have something sweet, but that's actually

kind of a cool way to start the day.

Like a hot soup is kind of spicy, you know, and it'll look

in a cup of coffee after, but

done it many times, my friend,

um, now, okay, next question, three people, you're

going to have a cup of coffee and you're going to sit down with them.

Uh, who would those three people be, uh, for you?

Uh, I always go back to music and most of my,

um, well, a lot of my favorites are, happen to be actors as well.

Uh, Tom Waits.

Oh, and oh indeed.

Yeah, he's a great at both both actor and uh, and a musician you cover both

He's

just a

magical human being.

I want to hear a documentary that he narrates I would

love to hear a documentary come out.

It just I just be glued to it the entire time

Oh, yeah, anytime he opens his mouth.

It's just it's there's there's poetry coming out.

It's great So Tom Waits the late David Bowie

Would be on the list Also a great actor in his right.

I don't know speaking of vampires, by the way Oh indeed kids out there haven't

you know, if they're thirsting for some vampire movies and want to see no pun

intended One of the best one of the yes One of the best vampire movies ever

made the hunger made back in I think 79 or 80 Uh, with, uh, him and Susan

Sarandon and, uh, it's, it's so awesome.

Anyway.

So Tom and Dave, um, I guess the third one is going to be Barack Obama for me.

He's shown up a couple of times.

Uh, yeah, he's, uh, I think that.

People that have a story to tell, I think that would be, or, or have

a unique way of seeing the world.

That's gotta be the best people to sit down with.