Your new movie The Actor
- in a few words, what is it about?
The Actor
is a story about love lost, love regained, and the regret
that comes with decisions made. This is The Actor’s story, one of a
struggle to come to terms with himself and the woman he loves, The Muse. The plot is based on my relationship with Christine Perla, The Muse. How
we met, fell in love and why I left only to begin a downward spiral. This
journey comes to light in an acting lesson with The Coach, played by Diana
Porter. With The
Actor being based on your very own biography - what made you share
your story with a broad audience, and how did the project come into being? Three
years ago, Mike Messier [Mike
Messier
interview - click here] asked Christine and I how we met. He was intrigued
and wanted me to write the screenplay. I am not a screenplay writer. Mike
developed the project as a one act play to submit to festivals. Mike
asked Skip Shea [Skip
Shea
interview - click here] to read the script. He did and he and Mike called me. With
Skip on board with Mike, Christine and I were in immediately.
David Graziano, Christine Perla |
To
turn the last question on its head: What was it like to pretty much
revisit some not-too-comfortable periods of your life for the movie? I
found it to be very challenging, difficult and cathartic. I needed to
do this for myself and most of all for Christine. I did end our
relationship in an abrupt manner and I wanted to do something for her in
the present that was unique. This
might sound like a stupid question, regarding you're playing yourself, but
I don't believe it is - what did you draw upon to bring your character to
life? And have you managed to keep a certain distance between your
character and your real you? I work with Mike as an acting
coach on a weekly basis in class and privately when preparing for a role.
We recreated the emotional content/memories of that time in my life. Skip
was instrumental in making sure I kept just enough distance. Was
there anything you have learned about yourself during the making of The
Actor, and have you maybe gone away from making this with a
different perception of yourself?
David Graziano, Diana Porter |
I don't know if I have a
different perception of myself, I learned that I am a very lucky guy. The
Actor made it clear to not take a relationship for granted and reminded
me to cherish what Chris and I have and to make peace with myself. What can you tell us
about your directors Mike Messier (who also wrote the script) [Mike
Messier interview - click here] and Skip Shea [Skip
Shea interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
like?
Frankly, not enough. Mike and Skip are genuine and keenly
insightful and do not accept anything from an actor that is not the same.
The collaboration with them, Diana Porter (The Coach) and Christine Perla
(The Muse) was open, direct and special for me.
What can you tell us about the shoot as such? We
had a terrific team with Will Smyth--cinematographer, Chris Hunter--audio
supervisor and Roland Khorshidianzadeh--PA.
Diana was very generous in our scenes and I think the you can see that in
the film. She gave a wonderful performance. Christine was genuine in her
role. Everyone shared Skip's and Mike's vision and we had a blast.
A
few words about audience and critical reception of your film so far, and
when and where will it be made available to the general public, however
tentatively? We are all happy with the critical reception
of our film. The few people that have seen the film have found it to be intriguing.
We will release the film in early 2014. We are submitting
to festivals now. Any future projects beyond The Actor
you'd like to share? I have a lead role in Christopher Di
Nunzio's feature, A Life Not To Follow, which will be released in early
2014 [Christopher Di
Nunzio interview - click here]. I will be shooting an episode for the new
web series In The Bedroom
in February 2014. The episode has been written by Mike and
will be directed by him also. A wonderful actress, LaNecia Edmonds, will
be playing my wife. What got you into acting to begin
with, and what can you tell us about your training as an actor?
My uncle Angelo, as if it is a big surprise to anyone, that a second
generation Italian-American would have an uncle named Angelo. When I was
about 6 or 7, he had me watch two films: King Kong and
Rebel Without A Cause. He also turned me on to film noir, Humphrey Bogart and Alan Ladd. I
was hooked. He showed me how to make stop action animation. He raved about
James Dean's performance. Angelo was a very talented guy, an artist and a
painter.
I studied Theatre at Suffolk University with Dr Gerald Wilkens and
Acting with Steve Alexander.
Can
you still remember your first time in front of a movie camera, and what
was that experience like? I shot a student film for a
friend and we had a lot of fun. I was running thru the Boston Common and
randomly pushing people, other actors of course. I did not give it much
thought afterwards. What can you tell us about
your filmwork prior to The Actor?
I
guess the best way to answer you is to give you my IMDb profile ;) Serioulsy
I have worked with some terrific people, lead role in Rich Camp's
Gotta Find Barry, lead role in Chris Esper's Tough Love and Still
Life [Chris Esper
interview - click here],
lead role in Adam Carbone's Sauced-trilogy, four films for Skip
Shea - Ave Maria, Out of The
Night, Children of the Asylum and The Twain [Skip
Shea
interview - click here] - Bryan
Casey's Between Us and Paying Your Debts, and of course Christopher
DiNunzio's Under The Dark Wing and
A Life Not To Follow [Christopher
Di Nunzio interview - click here], to name a few. You've
also done quite a bit of theatre, right? So how does performing on stage
compare to acting in front of a movie camera, and what do you prefer,
actually? Yes. On the stage you have one shot at getting it
the way you want it. In film, you have multiple takes and keeping your
focus and energy high is challenging. I don't have a preference, currently
I am enjoying film. How would you describe yourself as an actor? Intense,
moody, prepared, not afraid to take risks, disciplined, easy to direct and
act with, at least I think so ... I am very self effacing... Actors
(or indeed actresses) who inspire you? This is a tough
question! In no order; Daniel Craig, Christian Bale, Humphrey Bogart,
William Powell, Daniel Day-Lewis, Brando, James Dean, Cary Grant,
Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Gabin, Keneau Reeves, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow,
Carol Lombard, Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Hilary Swank, Judi Dench,
Javier Bardem, Kim Novak, Liz Taylor, Lili Taylor, Ingrid Bergman,
Bridgette Bardot, Jean Seaberg--too many to list! Your favourite
movies?
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Another tough question! In no particular order;
Anything Hitchcock, Jean-Luc Godard, Takashi Miike's work, The
Godfather, Touch of Evil, I dunno anything the above actors/actresses are in. I
really like Touchez Au Pas Gribis (Don't Touch the Loot), Maltese
Falcon,
Big Sleep (Bogie version), Tarantino, Oliver Stone's work---too many! I
could go on for days... ... and of course, films you really deplore?
I
love film. None really. There are many made that I don't like, but I don't
deplore any. Your
website, Facebook, whatever else?
Facebook for David
Graziano
Facebook for The
Actor
Anything else you are
dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Thank
you for the interview! Thanks
for the interview!
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