Top 5 Favorite Interviews of 2021 on Movie Mike’s Movie Podcast

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Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie podcast, your go to source for all things movies. I am your host Movie Mike, and today I am looking back at my top five favorite interviews of the year. I'll explain why these are my favorite to give you some behind the scenes with each of these interviews. Let's waste no time and get right into this. Let's get started. In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge piece basically like a walking Audi MTV with classes from the Nashville Podcast Networking Cases, Movie mis Movie Podcast. So we reached the end of another year and I wanted to share with you my favorite interview moments from one I love getting your new interviews on this podcast, especially when it's people that I was a fan of as a kid, or they're in some of my favorite movies, or they're part of a project that I'm really excited about. So I've pulled my top five and here we go. Starting at number five was getting to talk to some of the original cast of Willy Wonka earlier this year. They were celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the movie. Yes, the fiftieth anniversary of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which is one of my favorite movies of all time, And it was so cool to see them all together again via zoom of course, and getting to ask them about that original movie. We debunk some myths that I've seen online forever and found out whether or not they were really true, and it was just awesome to get to talk to people who are a part of movie history. So at number five is the original cast of Willy Wonka. I got to talk to the actors who play Charlie Bucket, Ruca Salt, Mike TV, and Augustus Gloup. So let's check it out at number five. Are are y'all great? Great to see? How great to get to talk to you all. First of all, what's it like to see everybody again for the first time in a long time. It was the first time in a long time. We have actually either in during Claygates. We've caught up a couple of times. We've done a couple of social calls because we are kind of a weird famine. So but you know the fact that we are still here fifty years later. That's the that's the extor. Well. I have some myths I've heard about filming, and I wanted to get what really happened from you guys. So the first thing I heard of is that some of you experienced some pretty crazy nightmares after filming that famous tunnel scene. Was that a real thing? No, No, nightmare's here? Yeah, not exactly nightmares. I think it was more of a living nightmare while we shot it, rather than something we dreamed about later. Um. Uh, you know, they wound us up with some flashing lights and some uh scary footage that they projected across the wall, and then of course Jeane did his crazy read uh and so we weren't really prepared for that. So it was it was nightmarish to shoot, but I don't we're having a nightmare after the fact. So it was after the fact. What was it like being there when he's giving this performance that you had really no idea what he was gonna do. It was just like, all right, here it is, here's Gean. While they're kind of going a little mad. They didn't tell us. I mean, we've read the script, so we knew what he was going to do. We just didn't know how he was going to do it, and that was the scary thing. And there's said slug that it was kind of sweat and shitch like was very attractive, really crazy. So yeah, that was a little scary, but no lasting nightmare. So the other myths I heard was that, I know a lot of the candy was you know, fake props, some of it was made out of wood, some of it was just plastic. But the chocolate river was that real. And by the end of filming, what did that smell like? Horrible? The smells horrible. Actually was thinking borders and it was not any taste of proper at all. It was there for a beach and uh it was not freshly made, so not nonswers stump in this and you had to actually be in that. What what did you go in here? Was it a stunt person? What happened? You know? I had to stump in this thinking voda and it was very swallow and I had to hit uh a hole that was shot the squaremita And yes, I was very anxious that I wouldn't get the whole and hit my head on the bottom of the Tructors River. That's crazy. So Peter, I had another mede for you. Um, I heard that at the start of the movie and throughout the movie you were going through puberty, and that your voice is higher at the beginning of the movie and lower at the end. Is that true? I mean, I think, I think we are all going but yeah, I don't know. I guess it's a little higher. I don't know, deal, what do you think? I don't know, is thinking. And I was thinking, actually, you know, maybe that was something to do with the piano wires when you were in the fizzy message went right exactly exactly. I think I would have answered that question as follows. Sure if it was lower than it went well. At the end of the field, my dress was getting shorter because I was growing. I would do your hair though, but your hair my hair, yeah, yeah, and my hair my hair well, actually my hair shrank because we had a crazy hair dresser woman that back in the day, everybody was obsessed was split in. That was the thing back then about you know, girl, you have splitten and you would twist your hair into a rope and run a candle down it to burn off the stuns. And just in this terrible smell of burning hair. That all was happening was she was burning my hair. It was getting shorter. There was a scene where I go, I go out of the inventing room and then into the nicable wool paper and it's visibly to shorter. Well, I appreciate the time, thanks for helping put all those miss to rest, and thank you so much. Have a good one. At number four, it's probably the person I was most intimidated to interview because he is a living legend and in his director, Chris Columbus. We got to talk about Harry Potter. We also got to talk about Home Alone. And I could have talked way longer with Chris Columbus because he's written and directed so many movies that have been so influential on all of our childhoods. Really, and I can't wait to see him. He's part of the HBO Max special with the Harry Potter Reunion, so we got to talk all about Harry Potter. So here it is at number four. Chris Columbus like, Hey, it's an honor to talk to you today. Thank you so much. Nice to meet too. So I imagine when you go into directing the first Harry Potter there's a lot of nerves are just like getting it right from the book adaptation. How many times did you have to read the book before you did this movie. Well, my daughter had to persuade me to read the books. Okay, you know I She started with, uh, Sorcerer's Stone. She said, we read this would make a great movie. I said no. She was about nine at the time. So I lived through Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban. Finally, after Askavan, I said, okay, all right, all I read them. So I read them in two days and I knew immediately I have to make this into a film. So I called my agent and I said, I'd love to direct the first Harry Potter films. She said, you and about thirty other people, she said, get in line. So I was fortunate enough to get the job. But it was, you know, I knew it was, as they called it, a bake off at the time. So while you're filming this movie, do you sleep at all? Like I imagine just the scale of the production. What's going through your mind or trying to get everything right? Like are you able to process that and still do a movie? Oh? God, yeah, I remember I shot at in England and are pubs everywhere, so you hit the pub, I have a couple of pints and you sleep very well. So it's the twenties anniversary. And for me it's a movie that I, for some reason associate with Christmas. Like every single Christmas I end up watching the first Harry Potter. Like do you feel comfortable people calling the first Harry Potter a Christmas movie. I don't know if it's completely a Christmas movie, like Home Alone is a Christmas movie, but die Hard debatable. Everybody's arguing about that one. But I think that Potter, it's just a sense of warmth and there's a fuzzy qual even though there's moments of darkness in the film. I think that's why it's shown a Christmas all the time. I can't escape the movie at Christmas. I mean, yeah, it's everywhere. The first two Potter films are always playing from Thanksgiving to January first, which is, you know, a good feeling. If there was anything you could change from the way that the first one was made, what would you change about it? I think I go back and work on the visual effects of the quidditch match. Are you talking twenty years ago, and visual effects weren't as sophisticated as they are today. They were good, but they weren't great. So I would love to spent about four more months working on that first Quidditch match. If they came to you today and said, hey, could you they wanted to reboot Harry Potter. Is that something you would even try to tackle? Oh? God, no, it's been done. I mean I try to tackle. I think there's a fascinating uh film to be made of Person Child with our original cast Harry Potter and the Curse of Child. They're almost ready to play those roles agewise. Um, that would be great to revisit it in the same way JJ kind of went back and revisited Star Wars and did the smartest, most brilliant thing ever brought back the original cast. So there's just a feeling of nostalgia that I think is is kind of a wonderful thing. Has there been any talks of that or is that just something that you can see happening. I just I think you're probably the second person I've said, but you know you asked me. So going back, you you reference your movie Home Alone now to the people who do argue that that's not a Christmas movie. What do you say to those people, It's definitely a Christmas movie. I mean that's even done it without a doubt. It takes place over Chris on Christmas Eve. It's a it's a Christmas movie. I think. My favorite thing about that, I think you were so particular about the colors in that movie of making like the green and the red wallpaper. To me, the whole movie just has that feeling. So it's hard for me when people are like, no, that's not a Christmas movie. No, I mean, Home Alone was designed to be a Christmas film, but a warm I always hate when I see these Christmas films that are that were the either the decorations or the set design is just cheesy and and not warm. The thing about Christmas that makes it work on film is the warm So that's what we went to. You mentioned the wallpaper, which was a big debate for like a month before we actually built a set, because I wanted to get the color palette was you know, burgundy, deep greens, gold, just to get that warmth, that warm field, and also carried out over some of that potter as well. You know, we use that warmth in the Christmas Needs in Harry Potter, Well, I appreciate the time. It's a great talking to you. In fact, suck it. What is that guitar, the blue one? I think when we shot Christmas Chronicles, Little Steven in the musical number play that guitar. That's a jazz master. Okay, excellent, great, but thank you, have a good day. At number three is one of the nicest people who I've ever had a chance to talk to and interact with online, and it is Pixar artist Matthew Lunn. I kind of set out with a goal at the start of this year is I just wanted to talk to somebody from Pixar. And I did some research on Twitter or finding, you know, people responsible for making those movies, not just the animation, but the stories that really draw us into Pixar movies, the stories that make us cry. And I found the guy responsible for that. His name is Matthew Lunn. He posts a lot about behind the scenes of Pixar movies like Original Concept Are and I did some research on him and found that he was just responsible for some of the biggest Pixar movies ever, from Toy Story to Finding Nemo to up and I had to have him on the podcast and I talked to him about that, the emotional moments he has created through Pixar and the ones that really made us cry. So this is number three Pixar story artist Matthew Lunn. I'm joined now by Matthew Lunn. He's a former Pixar story artist and animator. He's the guy behind movies like the Toy Story films, the Monsters Things, wharing his monstersing hat right now, actually finding Nemo up, all these movies that just make us feel all of these emotions. And that was kind of your job, right Oh yeah, still is, but yes, it was for for over ten films to Pixar. Ten films. That's a lot of movies. So what I wanted to do is I put together a list of the five times you've really made me feel things in the Pixar movies you've worked through, and just kind of go through some of these of the stories behind how these moments came to be and just what's kind of the process of making people feel these emotions for these animated characters. Absolutely the same fun to me, all right, So let's start first at the very beginning the first picks our movie toy Story, and I think just the overall premise of toy story, it's these toys that when nobody's around, they come to life, and being able to take that and create this kind of connection with the audience of like, oh, I identified with these you know these characters now, and it's that moment for me whenever Woody gets replaced and you see all the Woody posters come down and the buzz light your stuff go up, that I as a kid felt like, man, I really feel for Woody right now. What was the kind of idea behind that? Well, you know what that's I haven't been asked that before, but that is a very good question, just for anybody out there that doesn't know. There are four of these story Toy Story films. I've worked on all of them. And one of the secrets to why these stories all work, because seldom do sequels work, is because we kept going back to Woody's greatest fear, which is being abandoned. Now, that is a universal theme that all people fear in life, all ages, all genders, all cultures. We all fear being replaced. We fear getting old, not loved anymore. Um, it's that fear of abandonments and it really strikes a chord in the audience and toy story because it's something we can all relate to. And that's one of those things you want in a story. You wanted to be relatable and connect with an audience, even if the characters are toys, rafts, cars, robots, whatever. So that is the reason why that made such an impact on audiences. Um was because of Woody's fear of being abandoned. And how did the idea of would you like become like, Okay, we're gonna kind of base it around would he like? Why? Why was it a cowboy? Why was he going to be the leader? Well, that's that's another great question. You know, at first, he was going to be a been twil equistal, you know, one of those puppets that you put your hands and you kind of operate the mouth. They look creepy, like the goose bumps kind of you know character TV show, UM, which first off is really creepy. People make a decision within the first couple of seconds whether they like a character, and if your main characters have been triloquist to all, that's bad. So really it turned into We knew it was going to be a buddy story. And usually in a buddy story, two characters in the beginning don't like each other, but then they become best friends at the end. And it's always nice when not only do the characters not blend together because of their personalities, but also because of their physical appearance. And there was nothing better than to do kind of the future in the past, stuck together a cowboy and a spaceman, and so that was that was really the idea. And then also, um, you know, the whole idea for toy story really starts years before with the animated short um that was called Knickknack, the one with the little toy that is the that has the symbols and drums, the very first toy story. He the idea, it was that guy was going to be the main character. It was gonna always be a toy, but then it evolved into being Woody the cowboy because of the buddy's story. Two characters buckt together that are completely different. Next up on my list, I have Finding Nemo, which very opening of the movie, a parent is killed off immediately. Was that ever an idea of like man, maybe this is a too too heavy of a thing for kids, like can we really do this and pull this off? Yeah? You know, um, you would be surprised how many kid films, how many animated or live action or children's books for kids, start off with the kid being a an orphan or their parents are killed off or one of them. It's it's it's a sure fire way to get the audience to have empathy for the main character, because if the character is an orphan where their parents just died, you were immediately like, oh my gosh, I totally care for this kid. So when you watch you watch so many of the Pixar films, and even if you go through all those like Rall Doll stories like James and the Giant Peach and you know, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Rall Doll, he always had you know, parents dead or dying in the beginning to be able to get the audience to root for the for the main character. And then when you look at Toy Story or a lot of the other Pixar films, there is, um, it's pretty consistent that there's only one parent or both parents are disposed up. The lack of para kind of kind of shine sometimes like all right, I'm into this now. You know, I gotta tell you one of the reasons why we also do that. And you know it's not just Pixar. You know, you look at Frozen, they wiped out the parents before. Right, it's a great way to just get empathy for the main character. And that's basically what I want to say. The next movie I have up is Toy Story two, and it's the moment again going back to the abandonment thing when Jesse gets abandoned you learned about her and pairs perfectly well with the Sarah McLaughlin song, like was the song already like alright, already gonna have this song for the movie, or a moment that was a sequence that was a last minute decision on the film we had worked on. I had worked on Toy Story too for almost three years, and it took so many different story iterations. But one of the things that was a real pivotal moment for us in the story was when we decided that Jesse, Jesse has gone through this before, She's been abandoned by a kid, and we don't want on her just to talk about it. We feel that it would be great to a seed in a flashback and the song was written by Randy Newman, who you know wrote most of the Pixar stuff, and he was gonna sing it, yeah, you know, but it was just the perfect move for when uh, you know, would fit better to have a female voice for Jesse singing. But man, that is a tear jerker, even for me who worked on that. It gets me to one of my favorite parts of that movie is whenever they're having to cross the street and they take the traffic cons and hide underneath them. Is that just a thing? Like, all right, what's the most entertaining way they could get across the street? Like is there different pitches for that? Well? Oh you know that that was that was my idea, okay, And so my my assignment from the director was essentially, we need to get these toys across the street somehow, Alice toy barn, how are we going to do it? And I sat down and I kind of grew up ideas, and then I finally said, you know what, I need to just go to a freeway. I need to pull my car to the side of the street of us cars driving by me, and I just need to look around and what is around me and say if I was a toy, what would I use? And just by chance that day there was like a minute work kind of orange sign and orange pylon cones and stuff, and I was like, I would totally hide under that orange cone and I sneak across and then if a car got close to me, maybe they would just weave around me. And so UM on Twitter, just recently I put the first drawing I had done that I showed the director that made him go, okay, we're doing that. So that was that was how that idea came about. So when you see something like that, do you immediately start making a sketch or do you just make a note of it? How how does that come together? I remember I did, um, bring my sketch book in the car, and I went right back into the car and I did that sketch and I and I and that was the one that that kind of created what that whole scene was going to be about. So I want to move on now to up again. First ten minutes of the movie you learn all about Ellian Carl and not only that, but it's all there's not a whole there's not dialogue, it's all just through the images through what we see from them losing the baby to ultimately losing her, Like, how did that come together? Well, you know, the first off, I would say that when I'm making a film, and this is one of the things I learned early on when I was at film school, you need to always be able to understand what's going on in a movie with a volume off. You should always be able to turn the volume off in a movie and be able to tell what's going on through the visual storytelling. So to be able to pull off ten minutes with just music, some sound effects, no dialogue, and visuals that bring people to tears, it's not easy, but it is possible. But one of the things that that really made that work is many iterations. You know, if you ever watch a Jackie Chan movie, and I love Jackie Chan movies, he is like you know, you'll see him jump up to a spin kick, He'll kick some you know, some cup out of somebody's hand that goes and knocks another person out and there's no special effects. He just did it. But you know, he did one hundred tries before they caught on camera that final one. But when people watch the film, they go, wow, he's amazing, But it's the same thing in an animation and film. We do so many iterations until we get the best version and then that's what you get to see in the end. And so, you know, it was a little bit of a risk also of having some think so emotional in the beginning of the film would people be into it, But you know, it hooked people so much that they couldn't stop watching that film after the first ten minutes out and it's and I got to work on the movie up as a story person, and uh, I'm very proud of that film as well. Yeah, I think out of every Pixar film, that is my favorite opening. It just still gets me every single time. It is great. The last one I want to talk to you about is Toy Story three. The most emotional I've ever felt watching an animated movie. The scene where you think everybody's going to die going into this generator. Yeah, Like, how do you get to that level of like, Okay, we're going for it here? I know? Well, you know, I think even in the very beginning when we started pitching around this idea, we knew that there needed to be this They're they're going to be so close to death moment. But when I got the assignment from the director of what that was gonna look like Before we do the storyboards, we do things called the boards, which is kind of like, what are those t images going to be? Now? I had never been to a garbage dump or an incinerator, and um, I saw a few images online, but there's not a lot of photos of what the inside of a garbage dump looks like. So I had to make a lot of this stuff up. And you know, I did these key images. I put them up on on on Instagram and Twitter just recently, but those were the images that were the the key inspiration visuals for what that moment is gonna look like. But I gotta tell you, the thing that I remember in this one meeting that I brought up that I'm so happy we stuck with, was that when they're all ready to die in the incinerator, there was going to be a moment where someone just kind of finds a lever and switches it off and it stops. But it felt so anti climatic. And in those images I had looked at in the incinerator, there was a those clothing, the graft metal, the garbage stops and I was like, what if those aliens they used that giant claw and it was reminiscent of the claw and and it was such a you know, it's such a good feeling when you see people near death and then like the heavens open up and it's like they get pulled out. It was so great. You know. So when you're working on a scene like that and you're spending hours days, like, how do you know that it's still an emotional moment You're you've just been looking at it for so longer, like is this even still good anymore? That is a very good question. Uh. What I have learned to do is that whenever I'm seeing current edits or at current iterations of a sequence or the film as a whole, I always take notes. So like today Friday's is the day that I see the most current path of edit of the the short film I'm directing right now, And I take notes every Friday so I can look back at them and always remind myself like did I think that was a funny joke? Did I think that was a sad moment? Because you know, you end up after a while forgetting, um that that is a great sad moment and then you change it. So you need to really think about that moment, just like you're having a filmmaking diary, and write it down so you don't you don't trick yourself into thinking what's it's not funny or emotional anymore, and you remove it. A lot of people fall into that mistake. So yeah, well, Matthew appreciate the time. Everybody listening. If you want to go follow him on Twitter, he's a great follow at Matthew Lan that's l u H. And I felt like I learned so much, you know, it's just great to learn all these movies are made. Hey, well, thanks for loving these films and um and thanks for everybody else out there for living those those films that I've worked on. Thanks appreciate you. Have a good day. Okay, thank you. At number two favorite interviews of the year, I'm going with Billy West. Now, a lot of you probably don't recognize that name, but to me, that name is synonymous with voice acting. And even if you don't know his name, you know his voice, you know his work. He has been in so many things that I watched as a kid, from Renn and Stimpy, Doug Futurama. The list goes on and on, and he was on to talk about the anniversary of Space Jam before the release of space Jam two, because he was the voice of Bugs Bunny in the original Space Jam. And what I loved about Billy West is he was so generous with this time, but also so generous with actually doing the voices we were talking about, Like he didn't have to do that, but it makes the interview so much better when he actually does the voices, and it was so cool to hear. I think I was smiling the entire time doing this interview, because once he started doing Doug and Bugs Bunny, I just pretty much lost it. So at number two is Billy West all right on? Now with Billy Less, How are you doing? I'm doing pretty good. Um, just woke up ready to face the day. I don't want to read the headlines because that will spoil my day. But what is the first thing you do when you wake up? Oh? Um, I don't know. I started stretching, I guess because because if I just jump out of it, I'll probably you know, bounce off the floor. What about on the day you're going into maybe do some voice work. What's the kind of first process to get your day started on something like that. Um, I did up early all the time. I mean, it's just a thing. I get up at like six um. Sometimes. I mean I love thirty five miles outside of l A. So um, the traffic gets to be beastly. It takes a long time. So to be at a gig at nine am in Los Angeles, I have to leave my house at like, you know, six fifty and on the way over, Like, do you have to like warm your voice up at all at this point or are you just so like fine tuned and your work that you don't really have to do that anymore. I very rarely ever did warm up. If my throw was damaged, I would do a particular little set of exercises that would revive it. But but I never get exercises. I remember one time I was having trouble with my voice and I was talking to a vocal teacher or a speech teacher, and she gave me these tongue twisting exercise to do. I said, I don't need those things. You know, I always born doing that stuff. So I want to talk about some of your your the voices you've done in your career. And I want to say I just first of all honored to be talking to you that I don't think I was kind of I have paramount plus now and I've been going back and watching all the shows from my childhood, and I was realizing watching these that like, it's your voice and all these from rend and Stimpy to Doug, and I kind of realized like how important your voice was in creating those shows and building such an identity with those shows. I kind of want to go back to the beginning first of when it kind of became something maybe you just did as a kid, like doing these voices to something that you were actually like, hey, I could have a career at this um That happened very late, realizing that you could make a career out of it. I mean I could always. I was always the same way as I am now when I was just a freak when I was a little kid, and I used to go around, you know, to retting out voices and making noises, and everybody was always like, you know, can you not do that? Can you please not do that. I was a neighbor lady up the street. She was a giant, and she called me a karn, which means talking machine, you know, because I was always chatting and talking and blabbing and I couldn't I couldn't be contained, you know, which was very weird because I was basically kind of shy. Um I was, you know. I found out late in life that I had always been on the autism spectrum and I always had O C D and a D h D, except that they didn't have words for that stuff back then. So I um, you know, I was hyper and I was an m path and I it. I never fit in. I never felt like I fit in. But I could just create worlds of things, you know, just to amuse myself. And I just thought that everybody could do that, so I didn't think it was very special. I find a lot of myself and what you're saying right now, I think for somebody like me who has done stand up, who does you know? Radio now, I feel like I've kind of been so in my world of like I see all these things in my head to where they make sense, and it's like kind of a craft that I've kind of been able to do. But when you're doing something where you're performing, I think people people find a kind of out that you're like quiet, or you don't really like being around people. Sometimes it's it's kind of a thing, right. I was targeted a lot, you know, I was picked on, and plus I came from an abusive home life, you know. I mean I got the tar beat out of me all the time for nothing, for no reason at home. And so you've got to cut through a lot of scar tissue later on in life, try to figure out what happened to you and I, you know, and I was a drunk and a crazy and a druggie for good twenty years. You know. I stopped everything, like everything back in and started figuring out what I was gonna do. I played music. I was in bands for years, and whenever I was on stage and an amplifier blew up or broke a string or something, I would just start screwing around and the air would become electric. You know, I couldn't understand what was happening. Like the crowd just stopped dead and they would just looking and I thought, oh my god, I'm dying dying up here. But it wasn't that they were like they were like almost fatally fashionated. So just talking to you now, I can kind of hear I think the voices that you say you kind of pulled more from like your voice of like the red Eminem and Fry from Futurama. And how do you go about like kind of taking your voice and inviting a little bit of yourself and creating those characters voices. One of them was purely intentional wan Futurama. When I had auditioned for Fry, Um, I said, you know, I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm going to just do my voice only when I was like twenty five years old, because I remember what I sounded like. You know, I was whiny and nasally and complaining, and you know, man, I just spoke a string, now what I mean to do? You know that's the way I really sounded channeling myself at twenty five years old. Um, the Doug voice was just something delicate, and I imagined myself being a tweener long before they called it that eleven and a half, and I, you know, I hadn't gone through puberty, so the voice would be kind of like in the in the mid somewhere between you know, young adult and kid. So I made it like this, you know, like p Chap is my dog, and it was something realistic about it. I mean like millions of people and lots of people would say to me that, you know, they thought it was like some young person or maybe a woman or something. Didn't picture that it would be some guy, you know. And I also did Roger, and that was based on a real antagonist in my life. The kid was a bugger. He was like he would be double me, Like his hair came to a point, and his nose came to a point, and his pointing in my shoulder, you know. And uh, and he had pointing shooting. I mean this this kid was a son of a bit and uh. And so I pictured this Roger to be like that, Like, you know, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to rankle Doug funny. You know. He was like he's funny, you know, for no reason, no reason at all. So when you're so when you're creating these voices, you have these characters in your head, Like do you have to see them first to match the voice? Um? Yeah, Well, they show you what the character looks like and then they give you an idea of what it is that they're looking for, and you have to you have to go off that you know, you've got to try to give them exactly what they're looking for. I think one of my other two favorite voices are one that you kind of used the Three Stooges to kind of channel and oh yeah, Larry from Three Stooges, What was it about the Three Stooges Because for me, I think growing up that was like the only show that I could watch with my dad and we would both laugh at because it was so kind of simple and yeah, well, but the thing is is it's a guy thing. Oh is that what it is? Yeah, it is. It's truly, it's a guy thing. And told maybe recently where I'm watching women on YouTube, young women watching The Stooges and dying laughing, and that was not that was not like that. Years ago. Women could couldn't stand them. You know. My mother used to come in and go, how can you watch those awful men? Yeah, but mom, that's funny, you know. But um, I think I stopped going to church when I discovered The Three Stooges because I found my saints, you know what I mean. It's like every morning before they showed him. So I went to school with a head full of that, and I hated school. I just hated it. And and I was learning how to act. I was learning how to do comedy just from watching The Three Stooges. And that's what I wound up to do in life. I should have never even bothered walking to school, just stayed home and watch The Three Stooges. I would have got you so much for well, you know what it is. Back in those days, you know, there was no such thing as show business. I mean, yes, everyone knew it existed, but the bridge from like Detroit, Michigan to Hollywood doesn't exist. And and no one back in those days would encourage you. Hey, you know what, that's pretty cool. You know you want to keep practicing that will you know, make a tape re view or something of will film you. You know, they didn't think like that back then. They was I was just a pain in the ass. So I want to talk about Space Jam now, which is going to be available now on four K Ultra HD Digital for the first time. Now we were kind of getting into the voices. You created original voices, but now you're going and doing a legendary character bugs Bunny, Like, how do you approach that of like keeping the same kind of iconic voice that everybody knows with Bugs Bunny, but also kind of giving it your own spin. Um, I just gave it everything I had. I knew that I've been right and had you hired me to do it, and I and I just didn't want to let them down. I mean I wanted to, like, you know, go in like Gangbusters and pretty much what I did. Um. The thing about imitating work that's already been done is the template was set. You gotta stick pretty much by what was done, and you have to try to be as faithful as you can be. There's other people that do the characters, and there's people who prefer like one person's version of Bugs over another's, and vice versa, you know, and same with the other characters. But I mean I did it for like ten years or so, and I was I was grateful. I was honored, you know. I mean that was mel Plank was my idol. But the thing is is, um, you know, people are like, hey, you're the next Mel blank. Well, I don't want to be the next Mel blank. You know, I want to be the next meet. You can't be the next Mel blank by doing Mel blank voices. You know, you could be the guy they hire. But but in actuality, UM, it's much better to be an originator. And that's what he prided himself on. He claims that he never did impressions, but he he did a few impressions in those cartoons. So when you're doing like Bugs Bunny having an argument with Elmer Fudd in your brain, is there like a gearshift that you can go between the two voices or is it just the thing you kind of automatically have been able to do to go from one character to the other. Well, there's like phrases that ke you in, um, and you're talking about two different actors. You're not talking about the same actor doing both those voices. So you have to imagine the person doing it and try to get into their countenance and you know how much they weigh and how energetic are they? And I do I do like really, but this happens in a split second with me, It's not like I deliberate but almost Fudd was was very quiet, you know, and uh and almost childlike, and then when when he got mad, he'd go from zero to five in a split second into you know, mania. He's like the really quiet I'm hunting webbits Uh, it's like and then oh, I webbits say it. Boys come out of there. You have lebit so in your mind. That's not it's not voices to you. It's literally getting into the mindset of two different characters, like just like an actor would yes, and and and I'm familiar with mel blank and what he did and uh and that was just um the original voice was like what ship doc, you know, but they sped it up ever so slightly. Bugs was sped up and there's a final boyd goodbye that I find that fascinating. That is amazing that you can do that just just by kind of feeling that in your head. Oh well, there's guys that can do it, though, I mean there's not a whole lot of them. There's probably about two, two or three. But but that's you know, again, that's like imitating something that's been done. The hard stuff is to try to create something classic that hasn't been done until you did it, which I think you've done with all the characters here, I think you've completely done that and kind of made I kind of associate you with one of the greatest void actors of our lifetime. So with all the voices, you've created. Is it possible to like copyright like one of your characters like that? Nobody can really take that and kind of maybe spin off a character or imitate you in a way. Can you like copyright a voice? Um? No, you can't. You can't really and um like you can't copy right a joke? You know. I don't know exactly why that is. I mean, but I don't think that they It's not on anybody's radar, you know, like who who stole a voice from somebody else? I mean, it's almost like in the in the world view, it seems pretty picky you And if he has me, well, I appreciate the time, Billy, Like this has been amazing to get to talk to you and here kind of the process behind these voices and kind of just being able to pick your brain. So I really enjoyed this. Oh me too, Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Have a good day, you too, man. And at number one, my favorite interview of goes to lou Diamond Phillips because La Bamba is another one of my favorite movies of all time. He plays Richie Vallens in that movie, and I just had to ask him questions about that movie. That I've had forever, and you know, by listening to this podcast, I bring up and reference that movie a lot. So finally being able to sit down and talk to him was truly an honor. And also I had a lot of message leading up to the release of this interview and then after it aired. I think you guys enjoyed it as well. So at number one, What's out a doubt my favorite interview of one Lou Diamond Phillips On Now with Lou Diamond Phillips, I gotta say, it's a pleasure to be talking to you. I feel like you're an actor. I've been looking up for a long time now. I've been around my friend. So you grew up in Corpus Christie, Texas, right, Yes? I did? Yeah? Did you actually work at water Burger? That was one of my first jobs. My very first job was that the cook's assistant on the Navy base. My dad was in the Navy. Uh and uh gutton the job and I was like sixteen there. But yeah, shortly there after I looked at water Burger for quite a while. I was like the crew chief and employee of the month and all that mean I I slipped some burgers. Man, I love water Burger. I grew up in Texas too, and I was wondering, like, if while you're working there, is it a thing that you tell your co workers that you wanted to be an actor? Was that like not in your plans at that time? Oh? No, no, no, no, no, no, it was. It was fairly well built throughout high school that you know, I I wanted to become an actor. I mean I was doing high school theater. Uh. You know, in Texas we have the u y L, the University inter Scholastic League, and so I was part of the drama club, and I was, you know, competing a lot and unfortunately winning awards and so a lot of positive reinforcement. Uh. I think everybody knew, but my aspirations were at that time. So you've been in movies since the eighties. I just wonder at this point does acting kind of comes second nature to you? Or this feel like a like a muscle that you have to flex. I mean, if you're chronology yourself, it's always a muscle you have to FLEs you always have to work out. I mean, you know, uh, if you start floating it in man, it shows you know, people can see if you're uninspired. Uh. And I try not to do roles that don't matter to me, you know what I mean. I I have to be excited about something anytime I'm going to do it. Um the work is too hard otherwise, you know. Uh. And and even when I'm you know, doing something that would be a manly a is uh you know, familiar as there's the role I'm playing on Prodigal Sun. There's you know, there's there's new stuff to it all the time. I mean the layers of you know, relationship and history and bag and it's it's it's always a blast and it's always fun. And the you know, the the other actors that you work with, Man, they really inspire you to bring your best game all the time, you know. Um. And I also try to ship it up. I mean, like this movie Adverse that I have out that is a little independent film you know that Thomas, you and Nichols put together. I said yes, because well, first of all, Thomas is a friend, and so is Sean Atton was already a part of the cast. Uh you know, but then Mickey you are joined and you ban Miller, and so I let's do something a little different. Let's you know, let's edge, let's not get too comfortable with it. And uh, you know, it's always it's always fun to join a an ensemble like that where you know it's not about the money, it's not about the luxury, but it's about you know, independent film and an up and coming director like Bryan metcass And and you know you keep it sure you still yeah, And I want to talk about that movie. You played Dr Cruise in it, and you mentioned how it had to be something that you wanted to kind of still test yourself in. So when you get that script for that movie, what's your like creative process to kind of find your character in that? Like, do you have a creative process to know like who you're going to be going into set from when you get the script to when you show up Actually the film, Uh, well, it was funny because it kind of came about because uh I was doing a lot of conventions, you know, before the pandemic hit, and uh I was running into Thomas a lot and you know I had you known him, uh you know uh in and around Hollywood for a while, and he said, hey, I'm doing this, uh independent film. You know, you want to see the script and yeah, sure, you know, and like I said, Sean was already a buddy and he was already attached. And you know when you look at the role and you know, can is there something that I can break through this is or something that you know I can uh illuminate you know if you will, you know, as part of the character. And at this point in my my life and career, there's a couple of reasons why I do something, you know, and I'm excited about the role, I'm excited about who I'm working with, and this this was both you know, um uh be the end of a certain age, you know, playing a role it is you know, uh supportive or is authoritative, you know that that tries to keep somebody on the on the straight and narrow. You know, I felt like, you know, being a father you know as well, there there was a lot about this role that I could tap into, um, you know, just just what comes to me, you know, naturally. Uh kind of the same thing with the Gila Royal on on prodible Son. You know, he's the boss, but he's very you know, fatherly towards not only his team, but you know, Malcolm Bright, who was the lead profiler. So there there's something about you know, my history, about the life that I've lived that that lends itself to, you know, to to bringing some some experience to the role without having to you know, hit it over the head. It's just part of who you are now. So you know that that that speaks to me and most of the things that I've done recently. And I was recently talking to Michael Benion and we were talking about some of the actors who inspired us because I'm Mexican American and he is as well, and what two of the actors he named were Edward James almost in you and I'm sure you kind of get that a lot now of like people who are like, oh it was kind of seeing you on screen for the first time. I was like, hey, there's somebody who actually kind of looks like me for the first time. But you know, it's it's interesting, man, because you know, you just kind of you do what you do and you're following your old path and then eventually you start going, wow, I guess I am carrying the flag here. I guess I am representative of you know, people who need to be represented. Um And one of the first times I remember experiencing that was I spoke at U n y U, you know, at the film school here in New York, and a young Platonican actress you know, said, you know about standing Deliver, that she finally looked up and saw people that looked like her on screen and that's why she decided to pursue acting, you know. Uh. And it's and it's interesting when I looked back a lot of the guys that were inspirational to me in the seventies, you know, with the swarthy guys you know, uh, de Niro and Puccino and Austin. It's like, Okay, not everybody has to be Robert Redford. You know, maybe I can actually you know, have a have a career at this um. And then I wrote a film you know, in the early nineties called That Fish or actually played Filipino American and Sosuit Attack was my leading lady. And I got to have dinner with her father greatly text at a certain point and he said, uh, you know who you remind me of my old friend Tony. I thought he was great, that I was kind of on his path man, that I was kind of carrying the porch if he started, uh, that is, you know, representing so many different communities, you know, not just what I am, you know, blood wise, but you know, the Latino community, in the Native American community, and just you know, I mean I've played in you what I've played Asian, you know, like in the team on Broadway, and and that's what it's about. It's it's representing each of these communities with you know, vitty and with respect. And that's really become kind of a you know, a Touchshoone of my career and your breakout role was La Bamba, which is one of my favorite movies of all time. And I think because it's not only the story of Richie Vallens, but ultimately it's like the story about brothers, which I think why it still resonates now. But I feel like it's hard to find any kind of footage of Richie Valens and the way his kind of memory lives on is because of your portrayal in that movie. Like, at what point did you realize that you weren't just taking on another role when you were doing that? Um, from the second I read the scripts, you know, I mean, I I got cast out of Dallas, Texas. Uh, And um, you know, I had no idea why this Hollywood film company was doing this national you know, talent search. It was. It was ridiculous. I I really could not believe that I even had the opportunity to audition for this um. And I read the script and I just want I knew it was the chance of a lifetime. Um. And even my acting coach said, you're never going to get this role, but hopefully you're gonna do a great job, and they'll give you something smaller, you know, like the drummer or something, you know. Um. Uh And so it was, it was really lighting in the bottle when I got the role. And and and you know, working with Louis Valdez and becoming close with the family, which was you know, I did growing into the deep end of the pool. You know. I I met Bob Morales at at this at the screen test, you know, on the on the on on the Warner Brothers lot. I mean, it was it was crazy. Uh. So I knew, I knew it was a big deal from the beginning. Uh. And and uh, you know, even even beyond that, So I I felt, you know, very fortunate. Uh. And it's funny because you're right, I mean, there There literally is only a two I think film cuts of Ritchie. One uh from American dand Stand and one from a movie called Go, Johnny Go, where he seems to come on, Let's go. So, you know, there wasn't a whole lot to hang my head on performance wise. I really relied, you know, on the family to kind of fell in the blanks for me. What is that like talking to the real life Bob when you're going to play his brother? Like did he start to like see his brother and you like, how does that relationship work? Uh? You know, I mean they were They were so kind to me from the beginning. I mean literally, Bob said later, you know, the when he laid eyes on me and then saw the audition, he goes, he knew that I was going to get the job, which was really sweet. But you know Connie and Irma, I mean all of the siblings, a little Mario who was only a baby at the time. Uh, and his mom, you know Connie, she was around, so they were there every single day, and Uh it would always be like, well would Richie do this or what would Richie do in this situation? You know, they were able to tell me these things and it wasn't just about Richie the rock Star, was about Richie the human being, you know, the seventeen year old kid. Uh and and so uh that you know that was really uh. I think was fleshed out the character and and helped him, you know, be be more than just an image, if you will. I wonder now, if you're ever out in public and you hear the song Sleepwalk by Santo and Johnny, do you immediately have like flashbacks to filming that movie? Always? Man, always, and what I always go to because it's what what is playing over the in the film is that that hillside Lois made me so I run up that in my twelve times. Man. By the time I was over, I thought I was going to drop dead. I mean, my my legs were on fire. I don't know what he was looking for when we ran up that hill so many times. Man, after that movie came out where people just yelling Richie at you all the time in public? Uh they still they still? Did you get to keep anything cool from the movie. I still have the green guitar, but it's in It's in California right now in my house there. I'm in New York City where I'm filming Prodigal Son, and when the pandemic hit, you know, the ruck got kind of pulled off from under it. So I was not not able to go home. Uh And so we uh my family, uh Vane and my thirteen year old thought us been looking here in New York City for you know, for a year and a half. I mean, uh know, but it is what it is. But yeah, I kept the green guitar. And what was the technique you learned? Because you didn't learn to play guitar for the movie. You just kind of learned, like the fingering style. Is that what it was? Yeah, I know I learned. I still don't play the guitar. I had to learn all of the singing just for you know, just for the for the film. Uh. And it was stip in me. I didn't I didn't pick it up. I should have picked it up that, but I didn't move on other things. So the following year in Standing Deliver comes out, and that movie has just such a large cast. I wonder, like when you're filming that, how hard is it to kind of wrangle everybody in to do a scene? Not typical, man, I mean it's like we've got a pretty massive ensemble cash for Prodigal Son as well. Um uh and for the movie Adverse that I just did. It was literally just one day of shooting all my scenes with Thomas, You and Nichols, So that becomes easy. I mean, that's that's it's It's not like you know, putting together ay an amateur show in the Amco's barn. Uh. There there's an entire army of people who are doing scheduling and doing uh uh rangling of the actors and whatnot. So it's as a professional, you're there when you're supposed to be there, and you know, you do what's what's what's required to do that day. I wonder when you're doing that movie. The line that always sticks out to me is your line when you're like I strangled him in his body is decomposing you my locker? Like, how hard is that to say with a straight face with everybody there? No, you look forward to it, man, I mean, but that's what's again, that's just part of the acting. I mean, it's uh, you know there there there were lines in Longmire, and there were lines uh continue to be in lines in Prodigal Son, especially when I'm working the kick AGAINA uh where you know, you get tickled, you just get you know and think, goodness, there's always take two if you if you crack up, you know. But uh yeah, that particular line I knew was going to go down in history. Was that a genuine reaction in the movie, Like the laughter seems just so genuine after that. Yeah, it was. It was you know, I mean the entire and you know, the entirecast and who got into it so especially focal. It was so wonderful, wonderful guy. Uh so yeah, I mean I think quite often the uh, the warmth and the chemistry and the happiness that you see on screen is the real deal. You know, it's hard to hard to manufacture that. Well, really appreciate the time. Everybody. Go check out the new movie Adverse, check out Lou and prodigal Son. And it's been really great getting to talk to you. I just want to really let you know like how much your work is kind of affected my life. And you know, just being able to see somebody like looks different and kind of represents the story from me to the flat bro. You know, you got to represent that, right, Yeah, I appreciate that, and uh, I'll send you a nice water Burger care package wherever you are right now. I mean, I what's your favorite thing to get from there? Do you get sick? Did you get sick of that food while you're working there? No? Not at all. I mean, man, you you know you because the h an employee you got, you know, you've got the employee uh employee meals and they kind of had like Google coupons that you would turn in. But yeah, man, I think I eat water Burger every day. It was it was fanta and not only to day. I got to make it myself, so it's just like I wanted it. We'll appreciate the time. I'll talk to you later. Thanks, Mike one. So that's the list my top five favorite interviews of One. Make sure you're subscribed to the podcast to get brand new episodes starting in two. And I will say this, I've already booked my first big interview of and it's probably gonna be the biggest person I've ever had on this podcast. I'll just leave it at that. I'll give some clues later on social media, So if you're not following me there, go do that. I'm at Mike destro on every single social media platform that's Mike d e s t r OH links are also in the episode description. And just thank you to everybody for listening for another year, for sharing the podcast on social media, and mainly for allowing me to share my passion and movies with you every single week. I look forward to another year of doing interviews, of doing movie reviews, and breaking down other movie topics. So I hope you joined me another year here on the podcast, and until next time Later, m