(re)search my Trash

<body> <div align="left"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" width="800" cellpadding="0" height="100%"> <tr> <td width="100" rowspan="3" background="../stylepix/square.gif" valign="top">  </td> <td width="4" rowspan="3"></td> <td width="592" height="1%" valign="top">  </td> <td width="4" rowspan="3"></td> <td width="100" rowspan="3" background="../stylepix/squareright.gif" valign="top">  </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="592" valign="top" height="99%">  <table align="right" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="155"> <tr> <td width="100%"> <p align="right"><img border="0" src="../stills/bradmaule-head.jpg" width="150" height="171"></td> </tr> </table> <p><b>What can you tell us about your upcoming film <i>Christmas with the Dead </i>and the character you play in it?</b> <p>  <p>I played the role of GM in <b>Christmas with the Dead</b>. GM was a garbage collector before the big "event" and simply continues on with his job except now he picks up bodies instead of trash... "like the people who gathered the dead during the black plague." GM is also known as "Karen", but you'll have to see the movie to understand. <p>  <table align="left" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="205"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img border="0" src="../stills/damian-christmas.jpg" width="200" height="253"></td> </tr> </table> <p><b>How would you describe your approach to your role?</b> <p>  <p>GM is sort of an "everyman", but also a character who has failed at life... marriage, raising his kids, financial security, etc. <p> <p><b>How did you get involved with the project in the first place?</b><p> <p>I teach in the film program at Stephen F. Austin State University, a college in Texas - <a href="http://www.sfasu.edu/" target="_blank"><b>http://www.sfasu.edu/</b></a> -, and my responsibilities for the summer include teaching the film students who crewed this production, securing locations for the film and maintaining relationships between the school, the town, and location owners. The producers, Joe Lansdale <i>[<b><a href="joerlansdale(9-11).shtml">Joe R. Lansdale</a></b><a href="joerlansdale(9-11).shtml"> interview - click here</a>] </i>and William Arscott asked me to play the role of GM in this film.<p>  <table align="right" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="155"> <tr> <td width="100%"> <p align="right"><img border="0" src="../stills/damian-christmas2.jpg" width="150" height="195"></td> </tr> </table> <p><b>To my information, </b><b><i>Christmas with the Dead</i> was shot in the heat of a Texan June. Was this at all taxing on you and your performance?</b><p> <p>It's always hot in Texas in the summer and this summer was no different... except hotter. It's a hot sweaty zombie movie. I think we succeeded.<p> <p><b>What can you tell us about your director, Terrill Lee Lankford <i>[<a href="terrillleelankford(9-11).shtml">Terrill Lee Lankford interview - click here</a>]</i>?</b><p>  <table align="left" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="155"> <tr> <td width="100%"><img border="0" src="../stills/bradmaule-head2.jpg" width="150" height="140"></td> </tr> </table> <p>I think our respect for each other was mutual.<p> <p><b><i>Christmas with the Dead</i> is based on the story of the same name by Joe R. Lansdale <i>[<a href="joerlansdale(9-11).shtml">Joe R. Lansdale interview - click here</a>]</i>. Were you at all familiar with that story prior to filming, and what can you tell us about the good Mr Lansdale?</b><p>   <p>I just finished Joe's <i>A Fine Dark Line</i> and I am a big fan of his writing and Joe as a human being. I think Joe wrote a great story (<i>Christmas with the Dead</i>). Keith Lansdale <i>[<a href="file:///C:/Users/saturn/mikesite03/articles/keithlansdale(9-11).shtml"><b>Keith Lansdale</b> interview - click here</a>] </i>wrote one of the best scripts I've certainly ever been a part of, and there's probably no one that could interpret Joe's writing better than Keith. And while I'm at it, Keith, Kasey <i>[<a href="kaseylansdale(9-11).shtml"><b>Kasey Lansdale</b> interview - click here</a>]</i>, Adam, Karen, and the entire Lansdale clan are good down to earth wonderful people. How's that for subtle?<p> <p><b>Is the zombie genre a genre you can at all relate to, and your genre favourites?</b><p> <p><b>Christmas with the Dead </b>is a sweet zombie movie with a message... and it's own dance (<i>The Lansdale Stomp</i> written by Spence Peppard)... a new genre perhaps? I relate to that big time.<p> <p><b>Let's go back to the beginning of your career: What got you into acting in the first place, and what can you tell us about your early acting experiences?</b><p>   <p>My early career consisted of guest starring on <b><i><a href="../research/resultserieslinks.shtml?Charlie's Angels">Charlie's Angels</a></i></b>, <b><i>Three's Company</i></b>, <b><i>The White Shadow</i></b>, <b><i>Too Close For Comfort </i></b> and lots of other television shows now seen on <i> TV Land</i>. Later on I was Ashlee Simpson's dad on <b><i>7th Heaven</i></b> for three seasons.<p> <p><b>You might be best-known for your incredibly long run on the daytime soap <i>General Hospital</i>. Now how did you get onto that show, and what can you tell us about your years with <i>General Hospital</i>?</b><p> <p>I sang <i>Arthur's Theme</i> from the Dudley Moore film <b>Arthur</b> on <b>David Frost's American Music Awards Show</b> when the song was nominated for <i>best song</i>. Gloria Monty, the producer of <b><i> General Hospital</i></b>, saw my performance and created the role of "Dr. Tony Jones" which I then played for the next seventeen years. <b><i> General Hospital</i></b> was a great part of my professional life. While on the show my character was shot in the head and the heart, paralyzed, comatose, impotent, blind, and had four brain surgeries... I don't just know zombies, I was one.<p>   <p><b>How does working on stage differ from working on a daytime soap differ from working on an independent horror film like </b><b><i>Christmas with the Dead</i>, in your opinion?</b> <p> <p>There's very little difference. You meet some good people. You meet some bad people. There were a lot of good people on this set. <p> <p><b>During your career, you have also recorded quite a bit of music, right? A few words about Brad Maule, the musician?</b><p>  <p>I have two solo CDs/albums, <i>Living It Up</i> and <i>Chameleon</i> and a bunch of compilation and Christmas works that are out there somewhere. My producer says to tell you, "My albums have all sold well under a million."<p>   <p><b>You are currently teaching acting at the Stephen F. Austin State University, right? Would you like to elaborate on this?</b><p>  <p>The best part of dying on <b><i>General Hospital</i></b> was that I "woke up" in Nacogdoches where I teach cinematography (with my mentor William Arscott) and acting for the camera for Stephen F. Austin State University. One of the most important components of filming <b>Christmas with the Dead</b> was the film students. This film could not have been made without them and their absolute dedication to the work. They get the least recognition and worked the hardest and I am very very proud of each one of them.<p> <p><b>Anything else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?</b><p> <p>I hope <b>Christmas with the Dead </b>makes zillions of dollars and every single person that worked on it gets an Oscar, but the truth is, "...anyone who can complete a film and get it released deserves a medal of some kind."<p> <p><b>Thanks for the interview!</b> <p>   </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="592" valign="top" height="1%">  <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> currentyear = "2010"; </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language="JavaScript" src="../scripts/endcreditsart.js"></SCRIPT> <SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript"> dosworsdonn(); </SCRIPT> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </body>