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Speaker 1: Lou I have experienced this movie, and I mean experience it.

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This is unbelievable.

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Speaker 2: I I think I need to recommend a good therapist.

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Then maybe, wow, that's saying a lot, thank you. Yeah no,

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I mean there's so much of it that ring true

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to me as well, having come from the theater and

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you know, having a degree in theater from UTA Ut

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Arlington and Texas that it just tickled me. Man. I

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just thought it was such an entertaining script and really

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a fun role.

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Speaker 1: Everybody came together on this. I mean it is so

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evenly paced out and the suspense. I mean there's nothing

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that's rushed upon us. It's all paced out.

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Speaker 2: Perfectly, thank you. And that's you know, but I mean

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that's that's Max man Maxtent is the writer director. Uh.

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And what's interesting is you can see he took a

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real sort of cubic Soderbergh approach to it, you know,

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the wider shots, two shots, long takes. I mean, my goodness,

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he wrote me all those monologues that day and I

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would get like one take to do them with very

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little coverage. So what you're seeing is a real, uh

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example of homework and preparation.

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Speaker 1: Uh.

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Speaker 2: And and that that goes for the entire cast. I

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was I was so proud of everybody because every single

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day they came to play.

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Speaker 1: The lighting of the scenes, I mean it's so dynamic.

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I mean they're you know, you sit there, you can

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see that it's dark, but man, the whole entire storyline

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keeps it well lit up.

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Speaker 2: Well, thank you. It's Max and and the cinematographer, the composers.

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They're all friends. They're young artists, they're they're hungry, you know,

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they're they're itching to get into the business and make

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them ark. And I really do think they knocked that

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out of the park with this. Uh. For those for

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those who haven't seen the trailer, I play a theater

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director named Brent who has mounted a regional production of

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Julius Caesar.

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Speaker 1: Uh.

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Speaker 2: And he and he's very he's pretentious, he's an elitist,

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he's a purist. And with all of that, plus the

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headaches of you know, doing a live production, he thinks

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that the hunky young guy playing Brutus is sleeping with

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his wife. So, you know, in true Shakespearean fashion, the

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jealousy and the paranoia and all of that start. Well.

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Speaker 1: I love the idea that it's the story behind the story,

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because I mean, sure they're getting ready for that stage performance,

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but it's the story behind that performance that just really

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enlightens everything.

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Speaker 2: Backstage intrigue and you know, yo, I mean with Shakespeare

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is a backdrop. I mean, it's a you know, it's

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it's obviously very heightened and very theatrical, and it's I

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think that's one of the reasons why it's it's really entertaining.

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And like you, I'm assuming you've done some theater and

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that that that means you really you know, you can

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feel it, you know, you can taste it. Well.

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Speaker 1: It reminds me of a of an on stage performance

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that I saw back in the nineteen eighties, Faces Off.

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Did you ever experience that one?

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Speaker 2: No? I did not.

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Speaker 1: It's it's about a production and it and all of

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these things are taking place behind the scenes, the love affairs,

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in the action and the and the conflict, and I'm

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going and so when I was watching this, I'm going,

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oh my god, it's like I've been here before, but

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this one has got it's got to it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's got some it's got some real blood and

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some really some real edginess. So uh yeah, thank you man.

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I'm so thrilled. It's uh, you know, when I read it,

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I thought it's such a bizarre, quirky little film. I mean,

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I don't know, I don't know where it's gonna fit. Uh,

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but the festivals were very, very kind to it. We

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won a number of awards. I took Best Actor at

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the Los Angeles Film Festival. And uh, the fact that

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it got picked up for distribution and now is available

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on a video on demand, uh to render to own

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right now? You know, it's uh. Uh, I'm glad. I'm

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glad it's getting out there and finding its audience.

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Speaker 1: But will it will it make its way to a

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theater because I think this is one of those movies

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that needs to be experienced, especially when you when you

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see the hanging scenes and and and really that that

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dagger scene and stuff like that. I want to be

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able to see it larger than life.

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Speaker 2: I really, I really wish, uh it would. I don't know,

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I don't know. I mean, you know, I know that

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it's you know, uh, the release patterns these days are

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all over the place. So just because it's on VOD

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doesn't mean it couldn't you know, get into you know,

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some art houses. But I do think that's why it

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had such great response at the film festivals, because you know,

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a lot of people were able to see it on

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the big screen.

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Speaker 1: Your character standing above everything, watching the rehearsals that you know,

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just that scene, that that look that you put into

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that scene. I mean, you don't have to use words

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there at all. It's just you and you're going, oh,

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there's some stuff going down now.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's always nice when there's something going on

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behind an actor's eyes. But also you know, I mean

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I've played test to turned characters throughout throughout my career,

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and so especially in film and television, you know, you

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learn to tell the story without words.

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Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Lou Diamond Phillips

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coming up next. The name of the movie is at

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two oh. It is a thriller. Let's get back into

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that conversation with Lou Diamond Phillips. What listeners have to

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understand is that the very opening of the movie boom

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boom pow. You're hooked because it's so emotional. You wasted

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no time getting this movie started.

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Speaker 2: Well, once again, that's a credit to the script, but

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uh uh, it's Brent presented such a strong character that

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that you know, you couldn't you can come halfway? Uh

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you you really had to commit to the bit, as

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I like to say, and just and just bring it

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and just trust that you know that that it's all

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going to make sense in the end.

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Speaker 1: Don't you think that this also educates viewers and that

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that the understudy is a very important position when it

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comes to a live performance, that if that understudy is

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not ready and and they're called into action, I mean,

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you really did put a lot of attention on that.

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Speaker 2: It's huge. It's huge, I mean, especially when you get

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to the level of Broadway or whatever. I mean that

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understudy has to be able to you know, especially in

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the lead roles, has to be able to carry the play.

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Uh and and do it in a way that is

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seamless where you don't know you're looking at an understudy.

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I'm telling you something. I've seen some plays recently. I

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live in New York where the understudy had the chance

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to go on and it was their moment to shine.

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Uh and and uh you know, and they deliver. So

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so the casting of an understudy is just as important,

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you know as the casting of your uh uh, your

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main cast.

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Speaker 1: My wife and I both agreed that this wasn't just

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a role for you. It's almost like you became this character.

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And especially when it came to that dagger and how

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you use that dagger, because I could see your facial expressions,

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I could see your entire body, and it's it's like,

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my god, this is authentic.

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Speaker 2: I appreciate that. Thank you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I mean, once again, it's just it's a matter of

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really embracing the role. I mean a lot of times

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people say, you know, this is weird playing bad guys.

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I mean, I played Richard Ramirez in The night Stalker,

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and it's like, no. I often tell young young students,

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you have the ability within you as a human being

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to sit on a mountaintop and be a monk or

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to kill somebody. You just have to figure out in

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your mind how how you put yourself in that situation.

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And once you adopt that worldview, once you start looking

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through the eyes of the character, you can't judge them.

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You can't hold them at our arms distance. For the

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amount of time that you're on screen, it is your

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job to convince the audience that's who you are.

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Speaker 1: How do you shake off that character? Then because I

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mean I'm a d fragger. I have to sit down

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and ask myself the questions and question the answer so

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I can get myself refocused.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's just winding down, winding down after a

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long day of work. I mean, fortunately, you know, we

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works some really long hours, so you're pretty tired. On location,

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I've taken to play in like an hour of video

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poker or something, just as a palette cleanser, you know,

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but also then studying the lines for the next day. Fortunately.

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I mean, like you know, in my late twenties early thirties,

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I was still pretty intense about roles, and even though

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my research is still exhaustive, I learned to relax and

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to let go of things and to you know, to

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reset the clock to zero. You know, a lot of

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times it it proved to be a bit healthier.

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Speaker 1: Did you have to study someone in order to become

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this character?

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Speaker 2: No, I knew this guy. I knew this guy from

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Chump Street. He reminded me of so many directors that

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I've worked with, who you know, fortunately, are not that psychotic.

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But I mean Luis Eldez from Lalamba is very very intense. Christopherenshaw,

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who directed me on Broadway is very English and very

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proper and very demanding, you know, I mean doctor Peter Weller,

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who's a friend and a wonderful actor, but I've also

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been directed by him. You know, he's flamboyant, he's got

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you know, he's got a big, big presence. So I

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was able to take pieces from those guys, plus a

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lot of other people that I know, in trying to

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develop this role.

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Speaker 1: Please tell me that you're just like me when it

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comes to this movie in the way that it would

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really work on a live stage. And would you play

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that role on a live stage? Oh, one hundred pc.

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I think it could be fantastic. Yes, Wow, that's a

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that's a great thought. Actually, maybe turn it into a musical.

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Who knows? Oh my god? See that? That to me

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is where entertainment is these days. You can go in

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so many different directions and still have a winning performance.

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Speaker 2: This is true. And the different I mean you we're

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seeing it all the time. You know, there's so many

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movies into musicals these days and vice versa. You know,

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so yeah, no, it's way I mean like Wicked, I

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mean the Wicked film. I love the stage place so much.

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I didn't know if I would love you know, the

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movie as much. But I got to say the movie

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bought things to the production that you can't do on stage. Yep,

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you know. I mean the close ups where you just

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you just see Elphaba's pain. I mean, you know, you

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understand it on stage, but you really see it in

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the film.

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Speaker 1: Where can people go to find out more about you

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and everything you're up to? Sir?

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Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Well, I'm on X believe it or not.

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There are people who are posing as me on Instagram

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and Facebook and stuff like that. I am only on X.

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I you know, I do my dad jokes and my

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you know, my cat daddy pictures and all that other stuff.

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I got a bunch of stuff going on. My wife

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and I have books, two books that are out there,

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The Box Soldier of Indira and The Tinderbox Underground Movement.

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I wrote them, she came up with the stories, and

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she also did the illustrations. So it was a really wonderful,

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uh you know, pet project of ours. And then I

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just finished a comedy series called The Chair Company for

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HBO with Tim Robinson, who's just amazing, just freaking hilarious. Uh.

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That'll be on in October.

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Speaker 1: Wow. Please come back to the show anytime in the future,

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especially this October so we can talk about it.

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Speaker 2: There you go, I look forward to it.

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Speaker 1: Will you'd be brilliant today?

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Speaker 2: Okay, thank you so much. I'll try. Thank you so much.

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Erro