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Your new movie Bloody
Nun - in a few words, what is it about, and what can you tell us
about your character in it?
It is a story about reality video “journalism”. What is real
journalism, reporters researching, interviewing and putting their lives on
the line vs phony journalism that is printed or uploaded just for clicks.
The story involves a haunted house where a murdered nun supposedly haunts.
Paranormal internet reporters or vloggers partake in a challenge of
documenting a haunting in the house. One of our six investigators though
is NOT part of para-normal academia. This man, Hugh Lewis AKA Hunk is
played by me. Hunk was a former investigative journalist
videographer who was almost killed in a firefight in Afghanistan, so he
is a serious scholar of doing in-depth reporting and documentary.
It’s only when his long-time friend Becky asks him to partake again in
a haunting venture which Hunk is not happy about, he only says yes to get
closer to Becky as his experience in Afghanistan caused a deep dark trauma. Hunk says yes to maybe confess his true feelings to Becky and heal
his soul.
As an acting choice I kind of based him in tone of speech from Bruce
Willis in the early Die Hard movies.
What did you draw upon to
bring your character to life, and how much Carl J Grasso can we find in
Hunk? I saw Hunk as somebody who didn’t take and nonsense
from ANYBODY. Hunk is a real tough guy who though was thirsty for
knowledge and wants to learn more about any topic that he comes across;
definitely somebody who doesn’t want to be ambushed in a firefight
again. Personally I LOVE, LOVE books and try to listen to as many
audiobooks and read a book a week. How did you become involved with the project in
the first place, and hor did you end up being an associate producer on the
movie as well? Will and I remained friends after the last
film that we did, Theater of Horror. He was kicking ideas of other
films and I assisted him on some ideas. He was going to shoot another
project in April and held a role for me. However he switched gears and
wanted to do something bigger with me, I only had two days to shoot
however. Will didn’t care and believed in me as an actor and retooled
the entire NEW project which eventually turned out to be the Bloody
Nun around my schedule.
What can you tell
us about your director Will Collazo jr [Will
Collazo jr interview - click here], and what was your
collaboration like?
Will is a friend. He was there for me during some serious times I was
going through with my infant son. I will never forget that; it goes to
show what really the definition of a friend is.
Him and I definitely clash with our styles and our sensibilities but at
the end of the day the goal is to make a good film (I’m the Keith
Richards to his Mick Jagger).
To what extent could you
actually identify with Bloody
Nun's brand of humour? I am actually funny, in fact
when I was a kid an educator wrote a book on funny children and she
interviewed me. So Hunk is basically the straight man which is fine
because everybody in the cast were amazingly funny. I love the fact that
this film is really funny. A few words about the shoot as such,
and the on-set atmosphere?
I think Mark mentioned this in his interview [Mark
C. Fullhardt interview - click here]. The one outtake
that SHOULD HAVE been filmed but wasn’t - me wrestling a Dalmatian. The
location was a cabin that actually had real live chickens and ducks
and… the owner had a Dalmatian. I didn’t see this thing at first but it
rushed me outside from the bushes barking and growling trying to get into
the cabin. I grabbed this Dalmatian and held it by the body and the collar
which wasn’t easy. He was strong and not happy that I was preventing
him from going into our location. The owner was apologetic with he won’t
bite. This is always the last thing you hear before the animal bites.
Other than that… making a movie with your friends is something you
have to do once a year. I worked with a majority of the cast in Will's
prior film, Theater of Horror. Angie Hansen, Cayrem Landt, Matt and Joe
were awesome to work with the first time and a pleasure to work with
again.
Any future projects you'd
like to share?
I just completed a short film for a university in the USA, University of North Carolina School of the Arts;
it's title is Painted Love, and I play a jerk co-worker (a part that is
usually on my resume). I am currently attached to a crime drama that will
be filmed in North Carolina(USA) called A Rat for All Seasons, and I am
really excited about that. I also have a few other projects where I play
“normal” people, which actually excites me. What got you into acting in the first
place, and did you receive any formal training on the subject? I
started when I was in junior college, and read every book (Uta Hagen,
Stanislavski, Lee Strasburg) took every class and learned from great
people. The main idea I got from learning how to act is MAKE IT LOOK REAL.
Make the audience be able to sort of identify with the person you are
playing. I also have Bachelors in English Literature and a minor in Media
Arts which introduced me to playwriting. Drama led me to playwriting and
actually got me into America's Dramatist Guild.
What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Bloody Nun?
When I lived in New York, I was involved in music videos, short films,
and webseries.
My favorite webseries was a series shot on the subway of Manhattan,
the Q line went to Coney Island and I saw the Wonder Wheel ferris wheel
for the first time in my life; I’m a big fan of the 1979 Walter Hill
film The Warriors, and that was a big deal for me.
How
would you describe yourself as an actor, and some of your techniques to
bring your characters to life?
Like I said, you know phony
acting when you see it. So I like to transform and lose myself, study the
dialogue and disappear into the guy. Sometimes I have to drop my blood
sugar so the performance I give is genuine exhaustion or fear. You have to
make it look real no matter what. Actors (and
indeed actresses) who inspire you?
Samuel L Jackson! That’s why I use the “J” to split my name; I
feel that Mr. Jackson is one of the best character actors of our time. He
taught a master class for the Masterclass series and he really got into
the work. Even if the film is horrible you still remember him and
his character.
Honestly I can write a whole book about who influences me, but in the
female department I think Bette Davis was a real true talent, who prided
herself on doing her best work each time. I try to do that as well.
Your favourite
movies?
My favorite genre are thrillers, not necessarily horror but I love whodunnits
(Agatha Christie type). I love suspense and of course older horror
films, for me the 70’s and the 80’s. I also love Ed Wood films [Ed
Wood bio - click here].
My favorite top three films in the horror genre(I hate making lists
because I always forget something): Alien, Ridley Scott’s masterpiece is
terrifying. If I have to pick two other horror films, probably The Thing,
John Carpenters remake, is awesome and has a memorable line every second.
Probably one of the scariest films from the 70’s in my opinion is Phantasm, with a terrifying score and Angus Scrimm as the
Tall Man.
... and of course, films you really deplore?
Not a big fan of the teenage light stuff, like the Twilight
series, my wife had to throw me out of the room when she was watching that
because I kept screaming “THIS IS STUPID, VAMPIRES CAN’T WALK IN THE
SUNLIGHT!” She said something about twinkling and sparkling and I just
went to bed. I’m also not a fan of the 50 Shades of whatever nonsense.
Three dirty movies that made a ton of money that are actually ridiculous,
sexist and very insulting towards women I feel. I don’t see how these
films are sexually exciting, and I’m no prude I enjoy whipped cream like
every other sex stud (on my ice cream that is), but please Cinemax has been
making better films for years, like The Devil wears Nada.
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Your website, Facebook, whatever else?
Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/carl.grasso.3591
Backstage website:
https://www.backstage.com/u/carl-jgrasso
Anything else
you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I
want to thank Will Collazo jr [Will
Collazo jr interview - click here] for giving me a chance and
letting me play the action hero love interest. He took a chance on me and
I hope I didn’t let him down. I loved working and meeting the new cast
too, Mark, Jessica, Tim, and Jen. They were awesome to work with. This is a good film, it’s funny and you
actually care about the characters. Please give the film a chance. Thanks
for the interview!
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