Dr. Jim Brockhohn: The "Chiro-Actor"

This week at Sunnyside, Troy visits with the local chiropractor: Dr. Jim Brockhohn who also happens to be an actor in over 100 films, tv shows, and commercials. Over the last 38 years, Dr. Brockhohn has been adjusting patients in our small town as well as with professional rodeo and the US Olympic Training Center. But, his real passion is in front of the camera and you have got to hear the stories he has to share in his 32 years of acting! If that weren't enough, he's also the President of the Iowa Motion Picture Association and has been for the last 12 years! This kind man has a talent for being an "actor who plays a doctor in real life."

Check out the Iowa Motion Picture Association which hosts its annual awards show May 30th in Des Moines here: https://impa.tv

And the Iowa Independent Film Festival here: https://www.iifilmfestival.org

If you are interested in trying your hand at acting, Jim recommends you check out local casting opportunities which you can search easily on Facebook.

For more on Jim Brockhohn and some of his credits visit https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1678624/?ref_=tt_ov_4_1

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello friends and neighbors. Welcome to life. Well after. Let's craze the place where love ignite is park.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Hello, friends and neighbors, and welcome to Sunnyside.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

And it's uh Tuesday, which is a different day. Usually I put these out on Monday, but I wanted to make sure that we uh got the guest in, and this is the way that the uh uh the schedule worked out for everybody. So uh sunny side of life on a Tuesday. It's uh and it is sunny side. It is sunny today, it's beautiful out. Uh, and uh what a what a great uh what a great day, and it feels like spring. So uh welcome uh back uh to the sunny side of life, and uh I've got my special guest with me today. I can't wait to introduce uh Dr. Jim Brockon. Hi, hey Jim, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:53

I'm doing good, Troy. Thank you so much for having me here.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

You're so patient. I I was just a little bit late, and I appreciate your patience, but I'm looking forward to this conversation because um we've been actually uh on and off in different capacities, particularly around um, I guess the fine arts theater and so forth for about the last 30 years. Yes. Uh I can't believe time flies when you're having fun. Um we started uh a uh let's see, well, so we had the Brick Street Theater back in the late 90s, and uh we got that going, and then uh I left. I had to uh I moved uh uh for work and went up north, and then you uh ran it. Yeah, I became present when you left.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

What year was that?

SPEAKER_03 1:41

Uh I think that was 2001, maybe maybe 2000, 2001, somewhere in there. Yeah, yeah, it's been 26 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Yeah, because you it was you and I and Pat Benda and Mary Beth Woldridge.

SPEAKER_03 1:54

Yeah, yeah. I was neighbors with Bendas uh when we lived in town, and so Pat would say, you know, you want to come over and and so I'd sit there with Pat and Mary Beth, and they'd have wine and talk about what kind of shows we could do. And uh that's how we uh I think we did the uh funny thing happened on the way to the forum, yes, is what the show was the first time, and then I can't remember the next year's show was something I can't remember what that one was, but and then we did a production of um the uh uh um a Christmas Carol. Yep, Christmas Carol. Which uh I had transcribed or you know from the book by Dickens, and so we have uh Brick Street's got its own version uh that we've actually produced twice now. Um so that's that's that's that's fun. But anyway, it's not but so that that's kind of how we got started, and you were part of that. Yes and and then you took over um as as the president of that, and then um we did you guys did some film stuff and and then it kind of took a break again, and then it and now Brickstree's back and it's been going strong for very strong last 10-11 years, I think, is I think 2015 is kind of when it come when it came. I I can't exactly remember, but I want to talk about some so for your you're a you're you're a chiropractor. Yes. So when I say Dr. Jim Rock on, I mean you're you're you're you're the doc, you know, get that back cracked and adjusted and all the things you need to get done. How long have you been doing that?

SPEAKER_01 3:21

I've been the chiropractor for 38 years.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Oh wow, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Acting and acting for 32.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

And acting for 32. Yes. So let's talk about that. So, first of all, um, what made you want to be a chiropractor?

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Oh, well, I was uh working part-time at a bowling alley. Okay, and I thought, you know, I gotta do something different. This was in Monasil, Iowa. I thought, I'm gonna be my own boss.

SPEAKER_04 3:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

And before that, the bowling alley, I was working as a prison guard and also at a factory.

SPEAKER_04 3:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

I got laid off. And then when I started working at the bowling alley, there's uh it was a Thursday night. Yeah, and there was uh an auctioneer in the chiropractor bowling that night. I asked each of them, I said, so what does it take to become an auctioneer? He said, like six weeks or something was really quick.

SPEAKER_04 4:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

And I asked my chiropractor who took care of me, and uh, I said, How long does it take to become a chiropractor? He says, six to eight years.

SPEAKER_04 4:17

Okay, wow.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

So uh so I went home that night and I told my wife, Cindy, I said, you know, I'm gonna be a chiropractor. So Friday, I didn't have to work the bowling alley in Monascal, Iowa. So I went to Kirkwood Community College and I went in there and I asked them about their prerequisites and so forth I needed for schooling. And they said, Well, I'm sorry, but we're closed for uh uh new new students because we start Tuesday.

SPEAKER_04 4:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

I said, that was Kirkwood Community College.

SPEAKER_04 4:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

I said, no problem, cool college will take my money. I got off the chair before I went out the door and said, Come on back.

unknown 4:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

So I went back and then uh so and and so they signed me up and I was in class by Tuesday, and I went to Palmer College on that Friday also.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

And I went to work on Saturday, and I said, uh, you know, I'm not gonna work here anymore, and I'm gonna be a chiropractor. So I decided on Thursday night to be a chiropractor, and I was at school on Tuesday.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

I mean, that was almost auctioneer speed, though.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

You know, when I put my mind to something, I do it.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

That's amazing. And so, in and we're not gonna talk necessarily about the chiropractic business and everything, but you you've been that has taken you all over too, because you've done rodeos and you did some did you do some Olympic stuff too?

SPEAKER_01 5:27

I did the PRCA, the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association. I did that circuit for 10 years.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

I was a state coordinator, so I would line up the rodeos, I'd line up the doctors and everybody for that, and we'd have maybe 12 to 15 rodeos a year, something that for 10 years. And then in 97, the USA team asked me to join the Olympic team, so I did. Yeah. So I went to Atlanta, Georgia in 96.

SPEAKER_04 5:50

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

And then they called me up, wanted me to come to the training center in 97. So I went to the training center in 97 in Colorado Springs. And then about five years later, they asked me to come back again. So I went back there for a little while.

SPEAKER_03 6:02

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

So I made three Olympic travels.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

That's amazing. Yeah. I mean, who are some of the I mean, fame uh the the favorite people that you did you and you were working on people too, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah, I can't say who I worked on, but oh yeah, yeah. That's the you're the Dan O'Brien.

SPEAKER_03 6:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

You know, one that Decathlon. Yeah. Yeah. So he came through the clinic and uh like three days straight for his decathlon with his fiance. And so we took care of them, and then he gave me a free pass to watch him win the gold.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

Oh wow. That was fun. That is awesome. Well, just a cool thing, and I'm sure that rodeo people they definitely need some adjustments.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Oh yeah. Yeah. And sometimes they just get sore just by sleeping in their truck.

SPEAKER_03 6:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

You know, and I mean the rodeo cowboys and cowgirls are a really different breed of people than anybody else. Oh, for sure. Uh they uh before they ride, they get together in a group and they pray.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

And I would put my table right next to the shoot. Yeah. So sometimes when the bulls go kicking out, I'll get dirty.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

I have to be there. And then Wrangler's my sponsor.

SPEAKER_03 7:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Wrangler Sports Chiropractic. So I'd have to wear the Wrangler outfit, the hat, the boots, and everything. If it's 100 degrees, I was out there sweating with them. Yeah. It was a lot of fun doing the rodeo.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

It's very interesting, uh, Path. And of course, you've had your business here in uh Forest City for how many of those 38 years?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Well, 38 years. I've been actually been a chiropractor 38, so yeah, 37 years. Okay. I was in Kentucky for one year.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

Okay. Very good. So you grew up in Monticello?

SPEAKER_01 7:33

No, I grew up in Springville, City Rapids.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

I just worked at a factory. Oh, I see. Montecello. Nice. In the bowling alley.

unknown 7:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

That's pretty amazing. I mean, and so you've been in Four City for almost four decades and as a businessman and uh obviously as a practitioner for chiropractic, and then also having all of these additional um cool, you know, road trips and and you know, for the Olympic game and the and just the rodeo and all that. Um, but you've also had a lot of other road trips too, because you uh uh intimated earlier that you know you've been acting for you say 34 years or 32?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

32.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

Yeah. So let's talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Yeah. And my tagline is I'm an actor, but I play a doctor in real life.

unknown 8:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Or Cairo actor.

SPEAKER_03 8:21

A Cairo actor. I like that. The Cairo actor, yes. So you have so how did you um I mean to let everybody know that so here you are, you're the you know, local chiropractor, and you've got done these things in your professional side of that, which are we've just discussed, but you've also um been in a lot of movies as an extra. That's your and and others, and uh you did it start as an extra?

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Yeah, I still I mean you've had I started as an extra. The very first one I did was called The Goal. That was back in '94. Okay. That's an industrial film. And I took my wife with me because we had a drive to Des Moines and it was early morning. So normally you don't take your spouse with you when you want a movie set. Yeah. This is my first movie. But they liked her and they put her in the movie too. Okay. I got a call from the uh my agent, which is Siri Vale from Tell on High at that time. She said they like you and your wife so much they want you back for another part. So went back. So my first job as an actor, I did get paid. A lot of people you don't. Yeah. Yeah, and you first start out, you do some extra work here and there.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Sure. Yeah. I mean, you've just been on a lot of sets.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

Yeah, I've I've done a little over a hundred different movies and TV shows and commercials. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

Wow. And you have an agent.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yes, I have two agents. I used to have five. Really? I got rid of three.

SPEAKER_03 9:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

So I just kept the two. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

What would you need five agents for?

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Well, I had one agent, and then there's a lady that saw me. I took some classes, acting classes from her for the Don Reed Film Festival. And she saw me and I was in her class, and she says, you know, I have a special class up in uh Hollywood, LA area, Burbank, and I'd like to come up there for a month and be in my class. So I went up there and I hired a chiropractor to take care of my office while I was gone.

SPEAKER_04 10:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

And, you know, that was uh and she's done a lot of work. Her name is Joan Darling, and she wrote Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She directed MASH.

SPEAKER_04 10:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Mary Tyler Moore show. She won a directory award for Mary Mary Tyler Moore. So I was in there, and there's a lot of other actors from Nick Nickoleon, the Nickelodeon.

SPEAKER_04 10:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

You know, that's all there. And there was a lot of people out in the audience when we were there for a whole month, you know, practicing on stage and going through uh parts that she gave us give us. And uh then I got back to Iowa. One of the ladies that were in the Hollywood area came back to teach a class and she says, Jim, you got some good reviews in Hollywood. And I said, What do you mean, reviews? She says, Well, every time you're on stage and doing stuff and going through rehearsals and all that, didn't you notice all those people in the audience? I said, Yeah. I met one, he wrote, Honey, I shrunk the kids, we became friends. Really? Yeah. And uh, so I said, Yeah, I'd seen them out there. So they're actually writing reviews. And I said, I never read them, I don't know what they said, but I guess it was okay.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

That's probably a good rule. Uh, if you know, for acting, is just don't don't read the reviews. You don't gotta worry about it.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

And uh Mindy Cohen was there too. Facts of life girl.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

Oh, really? Yeah. Mindy. Mindy. Yeah. Well, so now you have um so you've been doing that, like you said, for for for 32 years. Two years. And you've been in over um hundred films, commercials, TV shows, TV shows, and things like that. And you at one point had five agents, but uh now you you've got two. You've got two. And what do they what do they do for you? Like, do it do as an agent? They're supposed to find you work, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Yeah, exactly. That's how they get paid. Yeah. Yeah, they'll get 15%. Okay. And I have one in uh Omaha, Nebraska. Okay. So I'm representing Nebraska, then one in Iowa too, Des Moines, Iowa.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:59

And if something comes up, big production, they'll they'll let me know and I'll audition for it.

SPEAKER_04 12:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Before COVID, we would I would drive to Omaha or wherever they want me to and do a live audition. But since COVID hit, everything was done, you know, just sent through your your internet, whatever. Yeah. And so that's the way they still do it now, too. Really? So Cindy runs my camera and she reads the opposite lines of me, so she does that, and then I download it and send it off.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

And I did uh three auditions already this month.

SPEAKER_03 12:32

Really? Yeah. So they keep you pretty pretty busy.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Oh, yeah, they do.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

And I mean, all right, so obviously Cindy's pretty experienced with your auditioning and and everything. Is there a um so you're filming yourself and you're reading the line or you're saying the lines, you're not reading them necessarily. You're acting.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Acting, right, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Yeah, you don't have a script in your hand.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Well, I could have a script, but no, I try to memorize it from there.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

And then does uh so then do you have like a is it just pretty much a straight shot or is are you trying to like have a they don't want any backdrop or any of that stuff?

SPEAKER_01 13:07

They just want they just want a clean backdrop. Okay. I can't wear a shirt that has like Nike or anything like that on there or thin stripes.

unknown 13:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

And then my back wall in my adjustment room, uh the one of the walls is just plain, there's no pictures and anything hanging from the wall. That's what I use.

SPEAKER_03 13:25

Nice. And so how long is a usu uh an audition uh video that you do that you submit? How do is there an average length?

SPEAKER_01 13:34

I would say anywhere from one to three minutes.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

Okay, so pretty quick. Yeah, it is pretty quick. Yeah, and so I I could see how that would be um probably more efficient for for the people to be able the casting folks to be able to look at that many people and not have to spend you know the whole day and and all of that. Um they spl they still have to watch everything. And uh and then how soon do you hear back, like when you get a job?

SPEAKER_01 14:02

If you get it, yes, you hear back. If you don't get it, you never hear it. You never hear they don't. It's really weird. There's auditions I've done in person, and uh I would come home thinking, Oh man, I really messed that up. Yeah, I screwed up, I was so bad. Then I get a call that I got it.

SPEAKER_03 14:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

And then there are times you think, Oh, I I did so well, I got it. You know, and then you don't. Yeah, you just never know what they're looking for. Yeah, sometimes it's not the acting. Uh my two boys are actors too, they've done a lot. And uh sometimes if they wanted a son for mother-father, like uh I'm trying to think who the actor was, Don Travolta or somebody, but it was somebody big like that, and they're looking for a son.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

So Jamie read for it, but he was a little shorter. So sometimes when they they cast you, it's not your talent, it's if you look like the family you're supposed to belong to.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's a visual medium, so uh you obviously have to have the acting chops, but they also you have to look like what they want you to look like. And yeah, and so do they describe that to you uh in advance? Like you or is they just okay, how does that go? Like they say age, male.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Yeah, age, male, female, whatever, uh Caucasian, black, whatever they're looking for.

SPEAKER_04 15:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

And sometimes they might be casting for a female, yeah. Like an Asian female, yeah, and then they like like another person who's actually a white male, and they just change it up.

SPEAKER_03 15:32

Oh, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

I've seen that before.

SPEAKER_03 15:35

Wow. So uh you did three auditions already this month. Is that pretty average?

SPEAKER_01 15:41

No, sometimes I might do one a month.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

Okay, yeah. So okay, but it's still and it's uh and it's Iowa. I mean, this isn't it's not Hollywood, but I mean, are these still are they happening out in all of the uh all over the place? So all over the place, yeah. Yeah, all over. Yeah. So like without getting into details, I suppose, but like the three auditions you've done already this month, those were those for jobs in Iowa or just around?

SPEAKER_01 16:06

One was Iowa, the other one was close to Omaha. Okay. About an hour uh west of Omaha. And then the other one was River or what is that? It's South Dakota.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Yeah, way in the east, way in the west side.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

Yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah. Way out there. Commercials. Are those for one movie and two commercials? Okay. So now there's a are there more independent movies being made now than ever before, or about the same or less?

SPEAKER_01 16:40

It's probably about the same. Some people say that there may not be as much. We had a tax incentive at one time.

SPEAKER_03 16:47

Oh, in Iowa.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

In Iowa. And then that got ruined.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Yeah. What happened there?

SPEAKER_01 16:52

Well, I've I've got a list of about two and a half pages of movies that were supposed to be filmed in Iowa.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

And they pulled the rug. The uh because I was with uh the governor at the time when he signed it into law.

SPEAKER_03 17:05

Okay. Which governor was that?

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Oh gosh, I'm trying to do his name. It only lasted like a year or two. So Culver?

SPEAKER_03 17:11

Culver?

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Culver, yeah. Yeah. So he was right in front. I was behind him, about six of us behind him. Okay. And he signed it into law. Yeah. And so he'd signed you know one letter of his name, and then he'd hand the pin to us. Yeah. But then uh the Hollywood just started taking advantage of us. For instance, you could get 50% back. If you're an investor, you get 25%. If you're on the production team, you get 25%, make it 50% for incentives. And they were buying like a ladder for like 130 bucks, but then they would rent it to themselves for like$300 a day.

SPEAKER_04 17:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

And one guy bought a Cadillac and he got to write 50% of that off and keep it. So they were just doing so much stuff. And then they and Tom Tom Wheeler, a really nice guy, he was the one that they put in charge of it. He's never had any experience with it. It's been a friend of mine for a long time. And they basically threw him under the bus, but he came out, you know, clean and everything.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

So you're talking about this is the Iowa Motion Picture Picture Association. Oh, no.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

No. No, this isn't Iowa Motion Picture Association. This is just an incentive through the state.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

Oh, okay. Oh, so that's different. Well, we should bring that up though. You have been, are you still the president of the Iowa Motion Picture?

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Yes, I am. This is my 12th year. Wow. I've been with them since 2000. Yeah. And so this is my 12th year as president. Well, first they first asked me president. I turned it down. I was vice president for a few years. I said, okay, I'll I'm ready for it. Yeah. I figured three to four, three or four years I'll do it, you know. And now it's 12.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

Isn't it? Is there I mean, are there how many films are made in Iowa?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Oh, I the there's probably something being filmed every weekend.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

Really?

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Yep. Independent films. And I do a lot of independent films too.

SPEAKER_03 18:53

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yeah, where you don't get paid, you just help out a buddy and you get paid in food or gas. Right.

unknown 19:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Yeah. If you want to be an actor in Iowa, don't expect to become a millionaire or anything like that. You know. Make sure you have a day job. Yeah. And I do it because it's it's fun. Then you work with other people like the Cohen Brothers and so forth, and you get a little more money. Yeah. So I've been to Hollywood and I've you know, I've been there, I've done two movies there.

SPEAKER_03 19:21

So I say which movies were those, can you say?

SPEAKER_01 19:24

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It was uh and that's when I went there for the the acting classes through Joel and Darwin. Okay. So I wasn't planning to do any movies everywhere. I got there, I just it was the year 2000.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

I did some extra work. Yep, and they were called Simone and Evolution.

SPEAKER_03 19:39

Okay. Simone and Evolution.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Simone. What's really cool about Simone, and that was in October 2000, is it's uh it's about a star, an actress who walks off the set.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

And so they they wanted to create, so they digitally created an actress. That sound familiar, like AI?

SPEAKER_04 20:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Well that was 2000. So here's Simone, who isn't a real character, and she started winning the awards. Wow. And the public wanted to see her. So nobody saw her in person.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

It was an interesting film to be. That's an interesting concept. And especially well before now, it seems like that's the reality. Everything's AI, it seems like. Yeah. You can't even trust what's on social media.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Yeah, and there's a big debate going around AI. People liking it, people a lot of people aren't liking it. It's in bad rap.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

It's gonna go, I mean, it's gonna just continue to get better. I mean, you can right now you can see what's we you know, you'd like, ah, that's AI, that's fake, you know, or whatever, but it's gonna get better and better, and then at some point probably won't be able to tell.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Yeah, you won't.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

Yeah. So is that gonna be tough for the actors then? If they if people can just generate a AI, you know, storyline and put everything together?

SPEAKER_01 20:59

It could be. It could.

SPEAKER_03 21:00

Yeah. Yeah. Well, we're always gonna need, I mean, the performance of the human being is important and the storytelling that goes along with it. Um, you've been on some um you showed me pictures one time of uh you were on a uh on a set uh with uh John Goodman. What was that movie a few years ago?

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Um that was inside Lewin Davis.

SPEAKER_03 21:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

Yeah, I always see his uh photo double. Okay, and I did nine scenes for him. So they kept him in in New York and they brought me to Minnesota. I was with them for the director for two days. Okay, and they sent his car and his clothing and so forth, so that's what I had on. And it was really cool. The Cohen Brothers are so fun to work with. This will be my second movie I worked with.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

Was that that was the Cohen Brothers film?

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Yeah, that was the second one. Okay. What's really cool is that year when the Golden Globes was on in January, and my wife and I were sitting back in the chair watching the Golden Globes. And Globes.

SPEAKER_04 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

And since the Cohn Brothers, they were nominated for three. Uh the best movie, best act, uh, and then there's a best actor and the best director.

SPEAKER_03 22:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

So their film got nominated three times, and with the best movie, they show a little clip. And so I was sitting there, and I said, Cindy, that's not John, that's me. They show the car in the gravel road, you know, and I'm in the back, the clothing he they sent and the guitar next to me. And so I said, This is kind of weird, because here I am. I made the Golden Globes. Nobody's ever gonna know it.

SPEAKER_03 22:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Just me. But it's kind of funny that the step.

SPEAKER_03 22:38

So the photo double, you stand in for they they they're not, they're seeing your like your your body, your silhouette, you're like you said, you're riding in the car and that type of thing. And and and uh yeah. Do you get credit for that?

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Oh yeah. Photo double is different than uh stand-in.

SPEAKER_03 22:55

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:56

It's a stand-in because when I did my first Cohen Brother movie, I had a stand-in for me, which is the first time I had that. So I had lines and everything. But but for this one, the photo double, I was actually portraying him.

SPEAKER_04 23:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

So I wasn't just standing there so I get the lights and the sound and everything looking good.

SPEAKER_04 23:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

And I matched his body type pretty much. He was like one or a half inch bigger on the belly than I was otherwise.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

We were yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Just and then I went to Des Moines and got a fake goatee.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

So I had to drive there and got back about three in the morning. He had a upload and everything and send it to the the producers.

unknown 23:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:35

To get the job.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

To get the job. And then you got it. That was my second job with Colin Brothers. And what's really cool about the Colin, what I like the most about acting is the backstory. Yeah. That is my most favorite thing. I'll come back and say, this is what happened on set. You know, and the Coleman Brothers do not like uh clean cars. And when they cast people, they like just realistic people. They don't want the stardom type people.

SPEAKER_04 23:59

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

You know, if you watch No Country for Old Men or whatever, you know. But anyway, there's a guy out there that before I got into the car, he was out there spraying it down with like a bug killer tank.

SPEAKER_04 24:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

And he was spraying in there, and I said, I spraying out there. I said, What are you doing? He says, The Cohen brothers don't like clean cars. We're dirtying it up for you.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Really?

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Yeah. So he sprayed stuff on there. It looked like, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

There's a whole there's a whole film side, you know, a business. I was like, how do we make this look instead of just making it dirty, they just say, we're gonna make it dirty right here. It's much faster. And somebody knows how to do that and make it look good. There's uh what was the first Cohen Brothers movie that you A Serious Man. A serious man.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

Yeah, and that was a Red House store manager, and that was the first one I got. So I'd go to the Minneapolis area, and I went up there for hair. They cut my hair. Yeah, this took place back in the late 50s.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

So I cut my hairstyle just like I had when I was a kid, actually. What's really cool is whenever I uh go for a role, and I didn't know I had lines either until I got there. I thought, okay, I'm just background stuff.

SPEAKER_04 25:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

And with the red owl store manager. But what I did was we had red owl here in town at the time.

SPEAKER_04 25:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

And Keith Byrow was a manager there. Okay, yeah. So I followed him around a little bit, asked him questions, what was it like to be a manager? And then I went to another guy's place that had a bunch of memorabilia, the red owl.

SPEAKER_04 25:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

And I even had two great big red owl signs in the my the trunk of my car. And I even had uh Keith Byros, it says Keith, his badge.

SPEAKER_04 25:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

And I had Thai class, I had everything I got from this one guy that has memorabilia, yeah. And so I went up there for the costuming. They're just gonna put a plastic pocket protector in my pocket.

SPEAKER_04 25:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

And I showed them the name badge with the red owl symbol on there and everything. They said, wow, this looks great.

SPEAKER_04 25:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

So so anyway, I they said that I'm gonna make them look good. And I said, go ahead, take the credit.

SPEAKER_05 25:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:58

But then a few weeks later, I went on set and I got introduced to Joel and Ethan Cohen. And I had a trailer, you know, they treated me good. They even fed me, you know, I afterwards went to supper and they paid for it. And I mean, they're just super nice to work with. And uh yeah, so they weren't supposed to tell the Cohen brothers that I was the one that brought stuff, they're gonna take credit. And I said, do it, because you know, yeah, for your your job. And and Ethan, or Joe, yeah, Ethan's the younger one. He's like three years older than I am than Joel is even a couple years older than Ethan. Ethan came up to me and he says, I see you brought your own stuff, and he gave me a thumbs up. And the girl said, Yeah, we had to tell him that you brought it, so that helped. Oh.

SPEAKER_03 26:40

Well, that is cool. And they were and they're and they're they're cool guys.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Oh man, they're like two heads and one brain. I explained it. You know, the brothers, they never fought. I've never seen them fight.

SPEAKER_04 26:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

One would say something, and one would say, you know, finish up the sentence, whatever, like twins would do it. Really? They are twins, but oh my gosh. Yeah, and they had storyboards, you know, just the drawings of each scene, and I've kept some copies of that. So I've handed them out to people. Yeah. I'd be happy to give you a copy of the storyboards and my script and everything. And Ethan came up to me. We were in the when we did the scene at uh Red Owl. I was up in this booth that was above the store, uh, you know, above the aisle, so I can look at the aisles looking to see if anybody's stealing stuff. You know, that's where the manager would sit.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

And they had uh stationary by Red Owl, Red Owl Stationery. He says, Well, let's talk about your lines. So he gave me five lines and he wrote it, and I kept the paper that he wrote. Oh, cool. Yeah. And then they brought me down, and I always had three people around me at all times, three women that do hair and makeup.

SPEAKER_04 27:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

And they brought me down, they put a stand in for me, which I never had standing before. I looked at one girl that said, Are they replacing me? No, no, it's your standing.

unknown 27:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:56

Well, there's a big difference, uh, isn't there, between acting for film or television, um, and even differences in in film and television and you know, corporate videos, whatever, but uh per com compared to uh live theater, you know, uh, you can be a lot more subtle uh uh with film um just because they can do you know close-ups, they can you you know you can theater is it's not like it would be considered overacting over the top over the i in in a f in film, but it would but it but it uh it it's necessary so that the person in the back can see what you're emoting, you know, but it's also not like 1930s where it's like it seems like everything was and you can tell, can't you? Like you watch, I mean you obviously you gotta be a movie buff. Yeah, you just love movies, yeah. And I always thought growing up that like all these old movies, they're like, it's classic, it's classic, I tell you. And it's like uh you can kind of tell that they all kind of started either in like the really old ones, like they were in vaudeville or they did a lot of stage stuff, or the you know what I mean? Because they still have that delivery.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

I made a vaudeville band.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

You know what I mean? Yeah, they're still like delivering it in the on, you know, once you get talkies, you know, and then but they're still and it's just like it those seem like overacting. Now we look back 70 years, 80 years when they're making film and you're going, Oh man, they're really overacting.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

And even then, the 50s and 60s, and now it seems like everybody's a very, very subtle, yeah, and natural is what yeah, like uh Spencer Tracy, you know, Spencer Tracy when usually when I talk about Spencer Tracy, nobody knows who the heck I'm talking about. But a reporter went up to Spencer Tracy, and I remember this so well from what he said. A reporter went up to Spencer and said, So what do you think about acting? And his quote was acting, acting is fine as long as you don't get caught doing it.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

That's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

That's perfect. So I tell now, I've taught acting classes to people, yeah, and I always say, You gotta remember, be natural. And if somebody comes up to me and says, Boy, I couldn't even tell you're acting, you're natural. My God, it's the biggest thing. And yeah, I there's a a gentleman that I would do movies with uh pretty regular, but I'd done about six movies with him. And I said, I'd like to do a movie where I could be mentally challenged because it sounds like something, you know, it just sounds like it'd be fun to try to do that, yeah. You know, you know, to push that.

SPEAKER_04 30:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

And so we wrote a movie called The Star. And so I was a 50-something year old gentleman living with my mom who's in her 70s, and I was mentally challenged, and they had three premieres one night, and this was in Minnesota, and uh I only made the last premiere. One gentleman came up to the director and says, How'd you find a mentally challenged person that could act so well? He said, He's not he's not mentally challenged, he's an actor. No, and the guy wouldn't believe him.

SPEAKER_03 30:58

Really?

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Yeah, so I thought, you know, that's probably the biggest you know that's a great compliment. I can get. I mean, because he really thought I was mentally challenged. Uh then they then the director brought me back to another movie with the same character. He just rolled it into the movie because he liked it.

SPEAKER_03 31:14

Dustin Hoffman did it. Um you know.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Um my favorite actor, Tom Hanks.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

Tom Hanks with Forrest. My dream had something going on.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

My dream is I would love to work with Tom Hanks.

SPEAKER_03 31:27

Oh yeah. Well, he he's still making a lot of movies. Oh, yeah. It seems he's making like his his uh, you know, he went from the uh bosom buddies goof off guy in Splash and all these other things to in in and what was the one? Uh Bachelor Party. Yeah, oh yeah, you know, along so that he kind of had that period. Then he moved into the force gump thing was huge. Oh man. And then he be now he's like he just plays every hero that we have in history. You know, he can do anything. Yeah. I heard he's gonna play Lincoln.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

Oh yeah? And he creates his own character too.

SPEAKER_03 32:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

You know, he doesn't do method acting, yeah. Uh and what he does is he creates his character.

SPEAKER_04 32:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

And he'll build a family around his character, what he is, uh, where he grew up, what it's like, his you know, his past, and so forth. So he creates it. And he said, the few things you don't want to do is never write down all the ideas you have for your character, and never tell the director how you develop your character. The director might try to want to change your mind.

SPEAKER_04 32:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

He says, You keep it all to yourself and you just go for it.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

Method acting.

SPEAKER_03 32:37

That's a good idea. Yeah, method acting can get kind of weird.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Um, I was in method acting. I did method acting for a lady from LA come down, she would teach this. And we did, well, we did a scene of Forrest Gump. It was shortly after my brother passed away.

SPEAKER_04 32:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

And we did the scene where the gentleman was in the hospital, legs cut off, and he pulled Forrest Gump down and started yelling at him. And so I was doing that character, and I got into the character so much I couldn't get out of it. So afterwards, well, after the classes, we all got together. Yeah, we did this all in this hotel in this this big room that where we did our acting. And we got together, and there's a friend of mine who was on Johnny Carson, or yeah, Johnny, not Johnny Carson, but one of the late shows. And uh he was there as a guest because he won the Golden Wrestling. So I was looking at that, and then I moved away from the the actors and the teacher, and I went to sit by the TV, and she says, Come on over, join us. And I said, No. And I said, I know this guy, you know, I worked with him at the Olympics, and he just won the gold for wrestling, so I'm gonna watch him. And I started cussing and calling her names, and you know, she couldn't believe it because I was never like that in class. Yeah. And she pulled me away, she said, What's going on? I said, I can't get out of this character. So she talked to me next thing I know, I was crying my eyes out. I was bawling like crazy.

SPEAKER_04 34:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

She had put me in a position where I I had to get out of it. I couldn't, but she helped.

SPEAKER_03 34:13

I heard that that does happen somehow.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

Yeah, you get in the character so much.

SPEAKER_03 34:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:19

I mean, I've never uh had that happen to me, but I've also not done all the things that you've done. I know that like when we did the Johnny Cash show, um, to me that's a character.

SPEAKER_01 34:30

You were great. You were great.

SPEAKER_03 34:31

Wasn't trying to impersonate. But I wanted to talk like him, and so then we'd slip into that before you know, so for like a week there, on and off, I would be, you know, but I was aware. I was like, oh, I mean, I know I'm not Johnny Cash, you know what I mean. Yeah, thank you for that, by the way. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

Yeah, and even Saturday Night N going at the very end, I was in the you know, Grandpa Joe.

SPEAKER_03 34:54

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

I got in character so much where I was supposed to be in the scene where we're searching for Donnie, and we're going up to the lantern and so forth, and they pulled me out and says, No, we don't need you for the very last scene. I said, But that's my grandson.

SPEAKER_04 35:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

You know, I got so in a character, I really got kind of upset and I was very quiet and stuff. And yeah, it's like, no, I have to be in it. This is what I want, I want to find him.

SPEAKER_03 35:18

Because you want it, like what Tom Hanks said is is is is accurate. Like, I I think you know, you want to definitely um uh you have to fill in all the pieces for the character that you're being asked to play because the playwright or the screenwriter doesn't do that for you. You don't have this tremendous backstory, and I you know, sometimes you do, you know, it sometimes the the the the show itself kind of explains, particularly if it's like a flashback or like you have you have concepts of maybe where they came from and and whatever, but you still have to be you still have to develop that for yourself. And I think that's cool that he said that you shouldn't tell the director. I think that's that's correct. Um because because you just have to you just like you said, just have to go for it. Yeah. Um I mean, in in uh every character that I've ever played, um I've always done that. Yeah, like I would imagine, you know, who my siblings are that we don't ever talk about, you know, or maybe where I grew up or whatever. And and that would give me uh it just gives you a little more more depth to your character so that when you're saying the lines, and you might say the lines a hundred times, yeah, or more, you still have to make it sound every time like it's the first time that you ever said it.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

Yeah, and it's not all about the lines too. You gotta be yeah to be a good actor, you have to be a good listener too.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

You know, you just can't sit there thinking about what my lines are next.

SPEAKER_03 36:36

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:37

No way. You're in it, you create your character, you're involved in the scene, yeah, you bring in the other actors, and when the actors are really at their top, it brings you to your top too.

SPEAKER_03 36:46

Yeah. A little bit like a track meet uh in the avert actors, uh not necessarily compare it to a track meet, but you know, in a track meet, if you're running against really great runners, you're probably gonna run your best time even if you don't win, you know. And that's the same thing with uh if you have a scene with just a lot of that's loaded with even if it's and you can see that you also can see the opposite, I've noticed. Like um I hate to say that, but that's true. So uh my wife and I were we've been watching uh this series called Ellsbeth, and it's on Yeah, we've seen it a few times. Yeah, and so she's just a great actress, and um, and then one of the episodes, she's like up uh side by side with Alyssa Milano.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:27

And my memory of Alyssa Milano was based on you know childhood, you know, teenage fantasies of you know, in in who's the boss and as she grew up, you know. But um when she's standing when she's next to Elsbeth, I'm like, ooh, I mean, yeah, is it me or is she just not a very good actress? And my wife said, I don't think she was known for her acting, you know. So so it's uh when she when you're like you can also be outshone.

SPEAKER_01 37:56

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, when I go on set, you know, I never I know where the camera's supposed to be in the director and so forth. You look at the camera, of course. But I just do my scene and it's up to the camera guy and everything to position it right and everything. And so I don't even look even sometimes I'm not even aware there isn't even a camera or director there. I just get into the scene.

SPEAKER_03 38:18

When uh when you watch a show, a movie, whatever now, does it wreck it for you to some degree? Because you're recognizing the the camera angles, how many switches that they're doing?

SPEAKER_01 38:29

Oh, I see movies a lot differently now. Yeah, I'll be watching the movie and I'll tell Cindy, I'll say, Man, I love that camera angle. Yeah, I love the way they did that. They kept the 180 yeah rule, you know, or if they crossed the 180 rule, I know that. Or, you know, it's gotta be over the shoulder.

SPEAKER_04 38:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

Uh yeah, and the lighting and sound, the way the camera roams through the scenes. I pick all that up and it's just fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

Yeah, it's uh well, I think what a lot of most people probably don't know if they haven't done any acting in front of a camera, that it's uh it's kind of an arduous process because you think it's like the nice thing about acting on stage is that you rehearse, you rehearse, you rehearse, and you present, and it just rolls, and it's like you know, like the audience is the camera, and they're getting their view from their viewpoint in the wherever they're sitting. But the film, you're getting the director's view, right? Uh how the director he or she wants you to see it, and and so they're in total control of the presentation, uh, or the editor or whatever. I suppose you put it all on the director's shoulders, right? But you but uh to get that where you you to get you to get that scene, you will shoot segments of that scene ten different ways or more.

SPEAKER_01 39:46

Yeah. You know, and uh yeah, because like you could do like a page and a third, and it takes the whole day to do a page and a third. Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah. I did one movie, uh it was uh best man down, and that was with Shelly Long and Justin Long and Tyler Le Bine, who played Lumpy, and I was Lumpy's one of his best friends. So we did a scene, and I had my movie wife with me. So we're sitting at a table, and it was at the reception of a wedding, and Lumpy was the best man.

SPEAKER_03 40:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

So I called it best man down. They did call it Lumpy at first and they changed it. Anyway, my wife and I, movie wife, we'd get up and dance, and Justin Long was the one that married the young lady, so it was their reception. And Lumpy was getting drunk, and he'd go around, pick up people, and do stuff. So he came up to me and he started lifting me up, said, Hey buddy, how's it going? And I said, All right. And the director says, Cut, says, You're supposed to be upset that he's picking you up. I said, Okay. So I pushed him away and kind of yelled at him a little bit. And then he left me, and Justin Long was dancing, and and then uh so he went over to them, started goofing around with them. Then Shelly Long was uh dancing next to me, and she looked at me and because Lumpy went over there, grabbed her, and so she looked over his shoulder and she looked at me and says, Help me. So I went over there, pulled Lumpy off.

SPEAKER_04 41:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

And, you know, and and then there's a scene where he was dancing too, and he spilled wine on the bride's dress.

SPEAKER_04 41:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

So they brought him over and sat him down on the table. And I had to stand on his left shoulder side behind him. We had another actor on his right shoulder side, and now this is a director, they'll do different angles, and he'll do so many takes. That's why I said, you know, I do one in the third or two pages a day. Yeah. Just incredible. And he would do it over and over again. Well, Lumpy was supposed to start to get up from the table, then go back down, go back a little higher, and I shove him down the chair. That's supposed to be in the scene. Well, I was in the character, like I always am. And Lumpy went to get up part way, sat down. He got up third time again, sat down. I pushed him down, I was waiting for the director to yell cut. But Lumpy got up and started running. So I went running after him, I was going to tackle his behind. Yeah. So I started throwing tables and chairs all over the place, chasing him. I was going tackle him. And then the director yelled cut, and everybody started laughing. They even talked about the next day. They came up to me. They said, That was so good. And and so we did that at the second rehearsal, second time, and it was cut, and they didn't they said we heard we can't do that any better than that. Because I got into the character so much. Yeah, they told my job is keep him at the table.

SPEAKER_04 42:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

And I didn't know, I didn't realize I threw chairs and stuff until Dan, uh down the street, you know, uh, you know, the store down there, uh, he came up to me and says, Well, I saw you on TV the other day. I said, Really? What was that? He sold me, he says, a movie where you're throwing chairs. I said, I don't remember throwing chairs in the movie. He told me the name of it.

SPEAKER_04 42:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:53

You know, and so I watched it and I did. I forgot. I didn't even realize I was throwing chairs until I saw it, until I saw it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:01

That's pretty awesome. And that was, but Justin Long and Shelly Long, they're not related. Just have the same last name.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

And when I was sitting with my movie wife at the table, we're just there to talking, and we heard Shelly Long talk. We both looked at her, looked at her, and we said, That's Shelly Long. We didn't know she was in the movie.

SPEAKER_03 43:17

Oh, really? Yeah. That's pretty cool. Yeah, she's pretty notable, isn't she? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:21

And she's got this certain voice that you know it's her.

SPEAKER_03 43:25

Yeah. That's pretty cool. Um, did you have uh what so your your agent's finding these you know opportunities for you? You're you're you're in the you're in the adjustment room uh doing your your screening, you know, your casting stuff, and you're sending it in, and uh right here in in in small town forest city where you've been for you know thirty seven years. Thirty seven years, yes. And um and and you're just uh going around and doing all of this stuff in addition to uh your your your business. It's amazing. So it's like you Like you said, you're an actor who plays a doctor.

SPEAKER_01 44:04

Yeah, I'm an actor who plays a doctor for life. Yeah. And my patients know it too. Most of them do. Yeah. So if I get have to leave for a day or two, they know it. Yeah. And they support me in it.

SPEAKER_03 44:14

Is that about normal? I mean, how what's the longest you've been away? Because I always hear about these.

SPEAKER_01 44:18

Well, I was gone for a month going through classes and but then I did a movie last year, the year before, and then I was gone for a week. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 44:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:28

A whole week. Yeah. Yeah. And uh I suppose is it is it right? Is it what do you is it okay to ask what people get paid? Like what does an extra get? What if I was an extra and I didn't have any lines and I'm just in the background, you get paid for that?

SPEAKER_01 44:41

Well, if it's an independent film, probably not. Yeah. It all depends. I mean, I've done commercials, I've auditioned for commercials where if I get it, it'd be like about$3,500 for half a day or two worth. That's pretty good. Yeah. So now or you could do something, it could be$800,$900 for half a day. Sure. It all depends.

SPEAKER_03 45:01

So uh and a day is 10 hours or 12 hours.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

You can go 12 hours. If you go over 12, then you get time and a half.

SPEAKER_03 45:09

Okay. Yeah. Interesting, isn't it? Yeah. Uh and and are there uh so are you a member of like uh the SAG or stuff like that?

SPEAKER_01 45:18

No, I'm non-union.

SPEAKER_03 45:20

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 45:20

I I'd like to be union someday, but you can get three vouchers before you have to. I've got a voucher already. I've done some commercials and stuff, and some other movies where I've worked with uh uh union movies, but they would hire me as non-union.

unknown 45:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:40

So they will do that.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

I really don't because once you become a union, then you can't do the non-union stuff.

SPEAKER_03 45:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 45:46

And you're very limited in what you can do. I just like to act.

SPEAKER_03 45:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:50

So I got one voucher, but that was from a Best Buy commercial.

unknown 45:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:55

Well, what's the advantage of a of a union?

SPEAKER_01 45:57

Well, you get insurance and you get better pay.

SPEAKER_03 46:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 46:02

Yeah.

unknown 46:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:03

Otherwise, you know, they can't pay. I've gotten paid union pay before, but didn't have to get the voucher. They keep me as the lowest pay for union. Like the Cohen brothers, I got union pay there. But they kept it as uh the lowest part, so I wouldn't have to get a voucher.

SPEAKER_03 46:18

Interesting.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

Yeah, otherwise, then once you get your third voucher, then when you go to your next movie, then you have to join, and that's probably around sixteen or eighteen hundred dollars to join.

SPEAKER_03 46:29

Yeah, you gotta pay. You gotta pay. It's not if you can't just go say, hey, I'm gonna be part of your club. It's like, well, it's gonna cost you. Yeah. Yeah, interesting. I uh so your non-union, is that how it is in Iowa? Most of the films that are that are made in Iowa is are they independent films?

SPEAKER_01 46:45

Yeah, they're more independent, non-union. I mean they'll bring in stars from here and there.

SPEAKER_03 46:50

Yeah. I mean, Iowa's a right to work state, so I don't know if that makes any difference anyway. Yeah. Um but back when uh when Iowa had the the the film office or whatever it was. The Iowa film office. Yeah, and it didn't go the right direction. I remember that being in the in the news, you know, that it unfortunately those things happened, but um and got taken advantage of by Hollywood surprise, you know, they're pretty crafty.

SPEAKER_01 47:15

We have an incentive right now, which is yeah isn't as good as what it was. We've had this for close to a year. Yeah, people still don't know about it. But you have to have a business uh like the warehouse or something like that for like three years, I think it is for Ohio. Okay. And then the budget has to be several million dollars, which leaves out most of the people doing independent films, so it's not benefiting them at all. Yeah, it's still just benefiting the big Hollywood people coming here, right?

SPEAKER_03 47:47

And uh, you know, was that when when that idea came about, was it based on kind of what Georgia was up to? Because Georgia's been successful in that regard. Or I think they've been pretty successful. You see all these movies.

SPEAKER_01 47:59

Atlanta. Atlanta to me is like a like a Hollywood.

SPEAKER_03 48:01

Really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:03

You have Hollywood, then Atlanta, I think, is like second or third. New York is pretty big too, but that's more theater. But Atlanta, Georgia, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:10

Yeah, they make a lot of a lot. They also make a lot of films up in Canada, uh British Columbia and stuff like that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

Yeah, if you like the Doc, uh the gentleman that wrote the Doc way back when, 20 years ago. Well, 2000, Doc was popular because I met the guy, he was living in LA, but he's from Buffalo Center, I think, somewhere around.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:32

Johnson.

SPEAKER_01 48:33

Johnson brothers.

SPEAKER_03 48:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:34

Yeah. So I met them up there, and I was going through you know my uh acting classes and so forth. But when they did Doc, they can only bring in like two or three American actors, USA actors, everybody else with the tax incentives, they had to be up in Canada.

SPEAKER_03 48:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 48:51

Like Billy Ray Cyrus, you know.

SPEAKER_03 48:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:53

Yeah, he was the star of it.

SPEAKER_03 48:54

So Billy Ray.

SPEAKER_01 48:55

Yeah, because I told him, I said, Man, put me in your movie. He said, Well, we can't.

SPEAKER_03 48:58

Yeah. Did you have, I mean, so do you have uh you've met all these you can name drop. This is the perfect time to name drop all these people that you've met, or or some of the people, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 49:12

Like Shelly Long, Justin Long, Richard Kind, Alan Cummings, good story there, too. Oh, well, Ned Beatty.

SPEAKER_03 49:18

Yeah, come back to that.

SPEAKER_01 49:20

Yeah. Ned Beatty. Oh, he's great. Yeah, he was when I met him, he came out of his trailer. We were on set, he came out of his trailer, and uh he was wearing a lime suit.

SPEAKER_03 49:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 49:30

But there's a tragedy going on that happened that day. Uh my sons and I, we've done a live acting together. Matter of fact, every time we did a movie in Minnesota, they called us the Iowa Boys.

SPEAKER_03 49:39

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

So we'd do a lot of stuff. And Jamie, Jamie was 16, he was directing a movie up in Minnesota, and they told, and we had that was eastern Minnesota, and we had to be on set for this movie called Sweetland. Sweetland. But we were required to get a hotel in in the town in Minnesota, and what happened is when we got up that morning, we went to film Sweetland, uh, Superman died. You know, Christopher. Yeah. He died that morning. And Ned Beatty was in Superman.

SPEAKER_03 50:15

Yeah, he was.

SPEAKER_01 50:17

So we didn't shoot Ned Beatty scenes that day. You know, but but that was pretty tragic. And then that's the day where that's the time when Alan Cumming, Alan Cumming was there. And the story, but like I said, I like the backstories. My two sons and I, well, there is a young young man there that was with Alan Cumming, and Alan Cummings from New York, and Alan knew that he had a role in this movie called Sweetland, but he had this favorite dog. He takes his dog wherever he goes. So he was out he was out in the street in New York, and he saw this kid about 15, 16, on a skateboard. And he asked the kid, says, Hey, would you mind traveling with me to Iowa and take care of my dog? And he got permission from his parents. So my kids hung out with this guy, this young kid, and all he did was took care of Alan. So he played for his pay for his flight and everything. So he actually hired somebody right off the street, skateboarding by to take care of his dog, which is very interesting.

SPEAKER_03 51:15

I mean, it's a great story. Today you wonder, like, oh, that's kind of weird. Why why hey man, why are you doing that? You know, but yeah, that's that's that's good. You had a you said you had a you had a a good backstory. Was that for no it was Alan Cumman, yeah. Alan Cumming, yeah. That was okay. Yeah, Ned Beatty, Mr. Luthor, Mr. Luthor. Oh my gosh. He was great, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:37

That was a sad day when we heard Christopher Reeves passing away that day.

SPEAKER_03 51:42

And so um, who else you got on your list over there, folks that you've you've interacted with?

SPEAKER_01 51:47

Oh my gosh. Uh no, the kids' table, we just did that in 24. And uh I paid uh I was Doug Harris in that one, and that was Storylines full-length feature film. We shot in Seed Rapids for a week, and I was there every day because I was one of the main characters, co-starred in that. And uh that was really fun to do. Uh I had a fall down the flight of stairs, so I did that five times. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:20

You know a good chiropractor.

SPEAKER_01 52:22

Yeah, and I thought I felt good because I fell three three times one day, then we wanted to shoot that scene over again the next day, and the doctor said, You sure you want to do this? We can get a stand-in for you or stunt double. And I said, No, I'll do it. So I I fell down probably about five stairs at the bottom. And when I got done, I came home, my leg was sore. Yeah, I got a big blood clot in my leg. Oh, really? Yeah. That's uh that happens, you know, and yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:50

We were in character, man.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

I was in character, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:53

Go down those stairs.

SPEAKER_01 52:54

And small town girl, we did that last year.

SPEAKER_03 52:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:56

That was fun. I was there for uh a whole week. Whole week with that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:03

Well, it's highly organized too. I don't think people realize how uh obviously the the the higher level, you know, f studio films down, you know, but the I mean the shots are the the dailies, everything like the schedule, it's all I mean it's money, you know, and you're paying a lot of people. On a small independent film, you might have a crew of a dozen, but if you have uh a big big big big money film, I mean how many people are just there's like hundreds. Yeah, could be.

SPEAKER_01 53:35

Oh my gosh. One one other movie was uh a prairie home companion. I was there for a couple days before my so was Jimmy. Yeah, and that had uh Woody Harrelson and Lindley Lohan and Kev uh Kevin Kevin Klein, yeah, Harris Keeler, Harrison Keeler, Tina Madsen, yeah, John C. Riley.

SPEAKER_03 53:55

I like that movie.

SPEAKER_01 53:56

I've seen pretty much all these people there on set.

SPEAKER_03 53:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:59

And the director is Robert Altman, and he started directing, I think, in the 50s, maybe the 40s, but he was old.

SPEAKER_03 54:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 54:05

As a matter of fact, this is like a behind-the-scenes story.

SPEAKER_03 54:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

Robert Altman is the type of guy that'll say what he wants. He swears, God says he does everything, and he just he's not that nice guy that'll tap you on his shoulder and say, Good job.

SPEAKER_04 54:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:19

You know, but that's just the way he is. Yeah. People wanted to work with Robert Altman because he's done so many incredible things. But they hired a young director to direct with him to be by his side because Robert Altman, his health was failing, and they didn't think he was going to live through directing the movie. Yeah. So they hired this guy, and I looked at this kid, and it's he looked like he was like mid-20s.

SPEAKER_04 54:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:42

You know, and there is a we had three cameras set, camera one, two, and three, and uh Woody Harrelson and Lindy Lindsay Lohan was in the scene, and I was in the scene with them. And Robert Altman said, he started yelling, cussing out camera guy number two. He says, I cannot see, you've you got your camera set up wrong, you're wasting my money. He's going on and on. And then Woody says, Hey Bob. I guess he's probably the only guy could call him Bob. He said, Hey Bob, what if Lindsay and I moved a little bit this way? Because there's chairs in the way. You know, and uh so they moved, and Robert says, Perfect, looks great. And then the guy behind camera too looked at Woody and says, Thank you, Woody.

unknown 55:26

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 55:27

That's when I really met the real Robert Altman. Oh, wow. And then I don't I love that movie. I don't know if he I don't know if he saw the movie or not because shortly after his release, I mean, I he died shortly after that.

SPEAKER_03 55:39

Really?

SPEAKER_01 55:39

So I'm not sure if he even got a chance to see it complete or not.

SPEAKER_03 55:42

Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Uh I love that show. I like I like Prairie Home Companion. I like that sense of humor and Lake Woolbegone from Garrison Keeler, all of that.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

John C. Riley was awesome. God is funny.

SPEAKER_03 55:54

Oh man, yeah. And and from there, he had went Step Brothers and Talladega Knights, and you know, just he's done tons of stuff. Yeah, yeah. Unbelievable. Yeah. So uh all kinds of people. Um if you were to give advice, I mean the the the ups and downs, the pros and cons of of uh uh being an actor, yeah. Uh what would you what would you tell people?

SPEAKER_01 56:19

Well, starting out, you know, if you have a chance to be in independent film, just a bunch of buddies doing a short film, maybe a 15-20 minute film, whatever, and they need an extra, start out doing the extra work. Yeah. That's how you build your resume and get practice and people see what you do. Do that. Uh never get discouraged if you audition for a movie. I've auditioned for hundreds and hundreds, yeah. TV shows and stuff. And you know, if you don't get it, don't get discouraged. I've heard some people say they've auditioned a hundred times before they got the part.

SPEAKER_04 56:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 56:54

You know, so and then don't do it for the money. Right. Do it because you love it. If you don't love it, then then it's something you shouldn't do. Yeah. Yeah. And just keep going for your dream. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:06

Now, if you were gonna uh how would how would you advise give advice about getting an agent or doing that type of thing? Like how do you at what point do you say, yeah, I'm I probably should get an agent?

SPEAKER_01 57:19

Yeah. Well, I got Sherry Vale from Talon, Iowa. Uh, I got her because and how I got interested in acting is I had a mother and father as a patient and their two children, and they had a son and a daughter, and they're like 10 and 12 years of age. And they're talking about acting, got this agent, Sherry Vale. And so I said, I'd like to meet her. So I called her. She says, I want you to come down, bring the whole family. So actually she signed up all six of us.

SPEAKER_04 57:46

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:47

But we didn't that was in '92, but we didn't get anything going until I got my first job in '94.

SPEAKER_04 57:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 57:52

So yeah, and it could take a while, you know, and and finding an agent, I guess you'll know when the time is right, when you're starting to do stuff. Now, the agent Des Moines, he was kept asking me to join his agency for a couple years, and I just wouldn't sign up. And another thing too is with these independent films, I can do an independent film without the agent. You know, yeah. I don't have to work strictly with the agent. Right. You know, because he said, Yeah, if somebody comes up like independent films, so forth, you know, just just take it. You know. So he he was good. So finally I said, Yeah, I'll sign with you. So I did.

SPEAKER_03 58:27

Now the you and I have been on a film together.

SPEAKER_01 58:33

Yeah. Yes. Yes, we have.

SPEAKER_03 58:38

And and you saw the night in the Algona? Two films together. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think I was even credited in that in that one. I was in it. Yeah. Uh, but I I mean, I don't even I don't know if I was even credited. Maybe I was. I mean, I just no speaking. I was just coming out of the corn. I was in the cornfield as a as a German POW.

SPEAKER_01 58:57

And I cast several people in that.

SPEAKER_03 58:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 58:59

Asked me to cast X Rus, so I did perform. And then there's about three speaking roles.

SPEAKER_04 59:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:05

The director called me up and says, Hey, I need so-and-so. Do you know somebody that can speak German? You know, we need them like within a week. Yeah. I said, Well, I know the person. I mean, I know all these actors and stuff around here. I said, I know a guy. So I called him up in uh German, it's his second language. We've done a lot of movies together.

SPEAKER_03 59:20

Oh, sure.

SPEAKER_01 59:20

So they hired him, they hired they hired two other people that I recommended.

SPEAKER_03 59:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:24

You know, and then I helped I didn't get any credit as producing or anything like that for Saturday Night in Aligona. But I'm their Iowa Connection, and there's a movie we want to do, yeah, coming up. And about a year and a half ago, they made me associate producer.

SPEAKER_04 59:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 59:40

And my job is to raise money for it, which is tough to do.

SPEAKER_04 59:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:44

Yeah. So, but yeah, we're so made associate producer in that one, but you know, we haven't kicked that off yet.

SPEAKER_03 59:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:53

Still trying to raise money.

SPEAKER_03 59:54

So um the first one we were in together was Rise of the Sea Urchin.

SPEAKER_01 59:58

Oh my gosh, yeah. You did a great job, man. You're funny. You're so funny.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:03

I tell you that movie has been I don't I don't think Rae McQueen was supposed to be the star of that show. He he was the he's the main character. Yeah, but you know, steal that show.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:14

You stole it, man. Ray was good. Rain was my my son actually in the movie.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:20

Yeah, yeah. You played the dad that floated away on on a b on a balloon experiment. Yeah, yeah on a lawn chair. Yeah, and it was funny.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:27

And we filmed the last scene first, yeah, because I had to grow a beard and look bad, and I had two sets of clothes. Yeah. Exactly the same set, and I'd rip, I even put my shirt, I ripped it up, buried it in the dirt for a few days. I remember you showed me those, and it was I put grease and oil and my and dirt in my hair and stuff, so I looked really terrible. Yeah. And then I cleaned myself up and put on the clean clothes that were cut, cut up and so forth, and did the beginning of the movie.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:55

I I mean, uh, so that was fun. Uh that was that was a fun show. I think that um I have a buddy who's been on this show. Uh he's he was in the National Guard with me, um Jesse Howard, and he has promoted that show, that film, probably more than anybody else in the world. I think he made people watch it. Like, you know, he was in charge of soldiers. So he's like, that's what we're watching tonight. And I'm like, why are you watching that movie? You know, because I think I think you could see it on YouTube if you really want to. And it was, you know, I mean, it's okay. You know, it was a funny movie. It's funny. Yeah. You know, uh, you know, uh, but it was definitely a low budget independent movie.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:39

It was a great movie for you. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:42

That a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun. And you that was that was a lot of work. I mean, it really was. Yeah. Everybody had jobs, you know, so it's like you'd have to do stuff. We go up to the Albert Lee High School, the swimming pool, or we go to decora and you know, use Luther's pool. So you'd be up, but you have to and filming is that that's how film is. So like if you're you know, you're probably filming late at night when nobody's around, so you have you know all of that stuff, and yeah, it's it's uh and you don't do it out of sequence too. Yeah, yeah, it's not you're not starting to get it. You're not starting getting to the end, no. No.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:12

Because if you have several scenes that's at like a farmhouse, yeah, all the scenes there in the two or three or four days, then you go somewhere else like the swimming pool, do all their scenes there, you know. And I've even, you know, being an actor, I mean, I've produced many movies and I've written two and I've directed three. So I've you kind of do stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:35

It's kind of fun to do that.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:37

Well, you love film. I mean, you just you love it. Yeah. Yeah. More than the more than a stage.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:43

Yeah. I'd like to do stage sometimes we've done that.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:47

But every time they have a production, and I look back and go, it's a good thing I didn't audition because I either did a movie during the time of rehearsal or the night of the show.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:57

You know, because uh yeah. Yeah. And in acting, you know, like you said, it's it's different from the stage, of course. Yeah, yeah. With a heavy makeup and over the top, because in acting you gotta yell, or you talk loud enough so people in the back can hear you.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:11

And you know, you get mic'd and so forth, you know, or boomed or whatever with the films. And a lot of times the best scenes are non-verbal.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:20

Just the way you look.

unknown 1:03:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:22

And the Cohen Brothers, they do a lot of that too. Yeah. They do scenes where it's just things are quiet for quite a while. Yeah. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:31

Yeah, it really is. And you can get a lot like uh I think British filmmakers are are fantastic at really drawing out a scene and not necessarily a lot of dialogue and just making you kind of sit in the room with them, you know, which is which is pretty cool. Yeah. Um, I wonder if I'm gonna draw my phone there for a second, but it survived. Um well, I would say uh what is the um uh it seems like um because of social media and everybody's got a phone, and the phone cameras are actually pretty good, pretty darn good. Very good. Um now you can and then you can, you know, movie maker on your iPhone, and just the I mean, it's amazing. Then AI and all this stuff up. Uh do you think that the uh performative nature of uh our kids like uh is becoming more so now because they're just used to being on camera or they're used to being Snapchat or Instagram or whatever they're I don't even know them all, but you know, but is that a thing? Are you seeing that from your experience in ideas? Yeah, interacting with a whole generation of kids that have always had a phone in their hand.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:42

Yes, and I I love that too. The biggest thing I like about acting and this filmmaking, I love seeing junior high kids, high school kids, college, you know, going out doing their own thing. Yeah, and we even have a category too for the Iowa Independent Film Festival, which will be September 10th, 11th, and 12th in Mason City. Okay. And Iowa Motion Picture Association, our award show is May 30th, and the week before that we're going to be showing movies. Uh that's coming up here in the next month and a half. Yeah. Yeah, but I love it when we we both have, you know, students, and you can do so much through the phone. And when I do my auditions, I don't edit anything. You know, if I'm doing a three-minute dialogue and I screw up a word, we start over again. Yeah. That's just the way I do it. But yeah, I like I said, I just love it, just bring me so much happiness to see the kids get into it.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:36

Well, they definitely do. And uh, and we're and I think it's it's a the human nature to tell a story, uh, to tell a joke, uh, to make uh make your buddy laugh or make him, you know, cry, tell him a sad story or whatever it is. Those are those are I think, you know, um it's it's it's I it's a good thing. So and the good thing about acting in film is Is like you've indicated a lot of the things that you're doing are m one day, sometimes they're a few days. Um and and so and anybody, um, I don't say anybody can do it, but like all ages. So you could be listening to this and you're like, Well, I just turned 91.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:14

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:15

It's like, yeah, well, there's probably a 90-year-old part for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:18

Well, look at that lady did the commercial, Where's the Beef?

SPEAKER_03 1:06:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:21

Where's the beef? Yeah, that was great. She's old.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:25

Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna say she's not with us anymore. I don't think so. But that was from the 80s, you know, she was old then. But isn't that funny though, like how um, you know, when when you're looking at people in the in the in the film is eternal. So you can look at somebody and watch a movie with I mean, I don't know, Raquel Welch. Yeah, you know, and you'd be like, Hubba Hubba.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:48

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:50

She's like 90. I don't know how old she is, you know, eighty years old. You know, it's like I think she's still I don't know, you know, I think she's still, you know, that's what's and I would i it's it's film is eternal and and and that's where the you know theater is fleeting. Like you're you you can be uh have the best performance that's ever been done of Hamlet, uh but because the world can't see it anymore, it's you we just have to take your word for it. But in film, um, you know, you can go back to it, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:18

Yeah, and you know, my look and so forth, my character look, I like I like comedy, that's my favorite. And uh I was doing a movie with the lady who's on Young and Restless, I believe it was, for 18 years, played Mar Margot.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:33

And so, you know, we had dinner with the director and some other people too, so there's like five of us. And she said something to me. Well, I told the director this story once. When I was taking these acting classes, not from Joan Darling, but a lady that would fly to Des Moines in Chicago and I'd take her classes. Uh, she looked at me and I have this double chin, you know, this is just my look.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:57

And she looked at me and says, uh, you know, you should think about getting rid of that. You know. And so I told Jamie, my youngest son, I said, you know, I said, this is what she said I should do. He said, Dad, but if you do that, you wouldn't be you.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:10

I thought, you're absolutely right. Well, I told the director this, then they told this lady who was on the Young and Restless, and she was sitting next to me, and she grabbed it and she said, uh, yeah, the director told me your story. And she says, Don't change. She said, You're hot. And I'm thinking, okay, well, you kidding, nobody's ever called me hot before. She goes, and what I mean is if you go to Hollywood, yeah, and there's and if you're 18 to 21 and you weigh 160 to 180 pounds, yeah, he says there's thousands of yeah. Thousands of thousands. Says, look at you. You're unique. You got your look, you got your character. Yeah. They said, You don't have thousands of people looking just like you.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:50

She says, You're keep what you got.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:52

That's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:54

I felt better.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:55

Absolutely. Yeah. Well, you are unique, uh, and a unique story. And a uh uh, I think you've brought a lot of happiness to people because your d demeanor, you know, whether it's on this show or just you're being you. That's you're not acting now. This is who you are. You're a kind person, you love telling stories. Uh, you've had a lot of cool experiences. Um, you're not you're not necessarily like, you know, like bragging, like um name dropping and stuff, but boy, somebody opens up that uh can of worms and say, I didn't know you didn't. And then he's like, Oh yeah, and then you can go you scroll through your phone and like this, this, you know, this and all these stories. Yeah. It's uh it's a cool little, it's not a secret, but it's a cool thing. Uh, and it's inspiring that people can uh have this uh other uh situation going on, this other, I don't say hobby, interest, love, and and and be performative and learn a skill and meet interesting people and do a little bit of traveling, uh, tell some stories and have it preserved uh for uh a long, long time. And that's a cool that's a cool thing you're a part of. And I'm just glad that you're uh able to share some of those stories with us. Is there anything that I didn't get a chance to ask you that you were hoping that I would ask?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:06

I don't think so. I we think we covered everything pretty well.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:10

Very good.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:10

I can't think of anything wrong. I probably will five minutes from now.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:13

I want to ask you this do you have anything that you want to plug or organization or a website or anything like that?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:20

Yes, the Iowa Motion Pitch Association. We are having our uh our awards gala, be our 31st, 35th, sorry, 35th uh annual awards gala, and that's gonna be May 30th at the Palms Theater in IMAX in Waukee, Iowa. We had it there last year too. And then the week leading up to the gala, we'll have a showcase of all the nominated films shown at the Floor Cinnamon and Cafe in Des Moines. So keep that in mind, and our website is impa.tv. IMPA dot TV.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:55

And we'll put a link in the show notes so folks can get to that.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:57

And then the Iowa Independent Film Festival that takes place in uh in Mason City, and there's a theater, you know, the mall down there in Mason City that we're working on. And uh we're gonna be having a premiere of a movie coming up soon so we can show it, and then we'll have our awards show there, and that's September 10th, 11th, and 12th, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. And so keep that in mind, and we'll show films there and also at the Mason City Community Theater. We'll show films there too.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:32

Good. And is there a website for that?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:35

Yes, it's ifilmfestival.org. Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:39

So both of those links will be in the show notes there. Folks can uh uh check those things out. Plan to attend, it's always fun to go. Oh yeah. Uh I do like the floor, uh I know exactly what movie theater you're talking about down there on on well on floor uh avenue in Des Moines. Uh and uh it's it is a cool kind of an old, it's not it's not necessarily an old building, but they've kind of got an old school feel too. I do like that. Yeah. And they show uh like retro movies too, uh uh occasionally as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:07

Yeah, that's where I met Bill Murray too last year. Oh, really? I got a call to throw that in at the end. Sorry, name dropping. I didn't know he was going to be there. See, I got a call about two o'clock in the morning from the treasurer from the Iowa Motion Picture Association said, We need you here. You gotta get off work, you gotta come here because we're promoting a film. And Bill Murray's in it, and a famous dog from Newton, Iowa is in it. And so I went, so I did cancel the patients. I went there, I was in a room uh at the theater, and I was writing all the questions down. Then this lady came up to me and says, Nobody knows this, but Bill Murray's gonna be here in a half hour. I said, Oh my gosh, so I started writing letters from him. So I got pictures of him and I together, you know, people in the audience were taking pictures about those. Because I was interviewing Bill and I was telling Bill Murray and and the two directors were there, and the lady that I owned the dog, and and the dog was there, so I was telling him how we're going to do the interview, the questions I'm gonna ask, and so forth. And so there's some pictures of that. And then I didn't know Bill Murray's with me there. It's so cool. And then Bill Murray has a band. He does. Yeah. So he asked me to come with him and watch watch the band, so I did that. Wow. Got home about two in the morning, had to work the next day.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:23

Yeah, but what a cool story. So you gotta hang out a little bit with Bill Murray. Is he a cool guy?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:27

I mean, I I would have to imagine that he is. I mean, like Peter Vinkman. You're talking to Peter Vinkman or Carl Spankman or what do you know from uh the Caddyshack and just all a million things.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:38

And I introduced him, I said, and here's Bill Murray with a deadpan look, like he always has.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:43

I'd start laughing and stuff. Yeah. And then he says, and you're a chiropractor, I just might need an adjustment afterwards. Well, we never did that.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:51

But I think he was fun to work with.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:53

Yeah, and he uh doesn't have an agent.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:56

Doesn't have an agent?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:57

No, I I well, I don't know that for a second. I don't know that that's a good thing. I was like, um the legend is that I've heard is that he has an 800 number.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:04

Oh yeah?

SPEAKER_03 1:14:04

So if you want him to be in a film, you call the 800 number. And then he'll listen to it. And if you're interested, he'll call you back.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:13

And then he just shows up.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:14

Yeah, the movie's called The Friend.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:16

The Friend.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:17

The Friend.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:17

And that's coming in.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:18

And I haven't seen it because when there's Or is out. It's out. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:21

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:21

Because what they did, they have the premiere there.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:24

And they had about 300 people in the audience. It's a private. Nobody in the audience could come in. They had people from all over there watch it. And then after it was they ran it, the guy that owned the IMAX says, I know you didn't see the movies. You're so busy writing questions for QA afterwards. We did about half-hour QA afterwards. He says, I'll play the whole movie for you if you want to go in there alone and watch it. I said, No, Bill Murray invited me to go watch him play. Yeah. But I still haven't seen the movie. But I want to see it. I want to see it.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:55

Perfect. Well, Dr. Jim Rock, the Cairo actor, and uh that's obviously going to be the title of this episode. You bring a lot of uh joy and uh insight into the uh this this interesting career that you've also got going on. And uh uh that's what uh the the sunny side of life is supposed to be about when we talk about things like the the pursuits which make us happy. And I can't think of a better example. Your guy that you this is what you love to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:24

I love it.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:25

Very good. Well, thanks for being here. Thanks for being a part of the sunny side of life and for being the sunny side of so many other people's lives.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:31

Well, thank you so much, Troy. I appreciate this so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:33

When the shadows fall and doubts begin to creep, remember together we're strong every week. Lift your neighbor up with kindness every day. Let your actions speak the words you want to say.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:50

The Stunny Side of Life is a weekly production about our life on the Family Farmstead here in Iowa, the liberties we prize, and the pursuits which make us happy. None of this is possible, of course, without Christ in our lives. For the Lord God is our stun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory.