March 8th, 2006

So it's weird to think back on this. What happened was that I was having a hard time casting the part of "Rego", the older mercenary who helps out Detective Peters.

And I had received interest from a guy who had a role in "Halloween 6". Since he was from Arizona I told him he could do an audition tape.

He sent me a dvd which, if I can find, maybe I'll post a piece. Just so you can see the difference in Tom Proctor then versus now.

My mindset at the time was--"Man, if he's good, I can't possibly afford him."

The dvd came in and he WAS pretty good. Heavier than I expected. Turns out he was a stuntman turned actor. He told me he had gained some weight as a result of a stunt gone wrong.

Apparently his foot had been all but blown off on a stunt. The doctor had thought he wouldn't run again. Well, Tom assured me he'd lose some weight before we shot the movie and that he'd run--maybe with a little limp.

There was a second I thought--I can't cast him. I can't possibly afford him. To offer him the meager salary I could would offend him.

So I thought "Just send him an email saying we didn't think he'd fit the part."

One of the best decisions I made was to NOT send that email. I called him. I figured, what the fuck?

I talked to him on the phone, apologized profusely for what I was about to offer him, and gave him my spiel. And at the end of it he said, "Listen man: I love making movies. You feed me two cheeseburges a day and find me a floor to sleep on, and I'm there."

Turned out to be a great decision.  He's exactly the kind of guy you want on a low-budget movie where stuff gets done mostly out of sheer will and the desire to make a movie.

I ended up writing a script for him, which he starred in and helped me produce("Bounty").

And would work with him again in a second. If you want to see what he looks like today(he's lost a TON of weight):
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1479183872/nm0698354

March 08, 2006

In the news dept., it appears we're about to cast a pretty meaty role in the film with a guy who was actually IN a Halloween movie! (though it was Halloween 6--but still!)

And I'm not talking as an extra, though the role WAS small. He played a guy who gets killed by Michael Myers!(he has a couple of lines before old Mike does him in)

So that's where I'm at.