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Your new movie Crossbreed
- in a few words, what is it about, and what can you tell us about your
character?
Crossbreed
is a sci-fi action/adventure film with
a nod to the style and pace of the action films from the 80’s. Crossbreed
takes place in the future and follows a group of mercenaries
that are hired by the President of the United States to extract a highly
volatile alien life form from a space station that could generate WW IV
if not retrieved and returned to the rightful owners. Once on the space
station, of course, things don’t go as planned.
I play Adam “Boss” Ryker. I am highly capable
ex-mercenary/military that abandoned Earth for the settlement on the
Moon after I lost my family. I’m done saving the world and just really
want to be left alone. Unfortunately my finances are not doing so well
and the bar that I own and operate at the settlement is being threatened
to close. I have little to no choice in taking this extraction job on.
What did you draw upon to bring your
character to life, and how much Stink Fisher can we find in Ryker? Without question characters are only as
interesting and believable as they are on paper. Robert Thompson wrote a
hell of a script and gave me great backstory to work with. I drew a lot
on my own life experiences in creating a multi-layered Ryker. For
instance, the financial hardship with a business … I’ve been there. I
have owned a restaurant for the past 13.5 years and in the very
beginning we were absolutely strapped and had no idea how we would
survive. That’s a character builder there I can assure you. I have
also suffered loss in my life with my dad’s passing in 2001. He was my
best friend and mentor and his loss shook me and still affects me today.
My background is football. I played high school, college and dabbled in
pro football, and was a captain on just about every team I played for. I
know what being part of a team is all about and I know what it means to
lead teammates into battle (in a metaphorical sense) and be by their
side and fight to death (or the final whistle). So I found all of those
parts of me entering into my relationship with Ryker. I think it’s
easy to say there is a lot of Stink Fisher in Ryker.
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How
did you get involved with the project in the first place? I first became aware of
Crossbreed
through my
manager, Rosella Olson. An audition popped up for Ryker and Rosella
called me and asked if I was interested in reading for the role. She
sent me the character breakdown and the script and I immediately knew
that I was Ryker. Hands down. I jumped at the opportunity. With
Crossbreed being a
science fiction movie, is that a genre you can at allidentify with? The funny thing for me is I’m a goofball. I
love comedy. My dream job would be a series regular/lead on a
long-running comedy. BUT … my deep, dark secret is action-adventure and
sci-fi. I love both genres but especially sci-fi. I am a
dreamer/adventurer/explorer in my own life and I really love getting
into different worlds and space travel etc. I am a firm believer in
aliens, Bigfoot and everything in between and can’t wait to meet them
all. I actually had lunch with Bigfoot
last week. Nice guy. What
can you tell us about Crossbreed's
director Brandon Slagle [Brandon
Slagle interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
like? Brandon flat out just blew me away. From
my first day on set I knew I was in very good hands. Brandon is a
visionary. He is a student of film and knows what he wants. As an actor,
you really cherish the opportunity to work with someone like Brandon for
many reasons, but trust and instinct are up at the top. Without those
two qualities a simple set can become a nightmare. Brandon made
collaboration and adjustments enjoyable, allowing his cast to feel their
characters and go in directions that might not have been on the
forefront. I am 100% certain that because of that people will be treated
to a really special film. Do talk about the shoot as such, and the on-set
atmosphere? The on-set atmosphere was intense in a good way.
We were working at times in very difficult conditions or places and the
hours were long ... comfort wasn’t the first priority. But for some
reason (the amazing cast, crew and production folks) we had an absolute
blast. We became family. That’s a good set!
Any future projects you'd like to share? I am currently being considered for a day-time
Emmy for supporting lead in a comedy series called New Dogs Old Tricks
which is streaming on Amazon Prime. I also have another film coming out
this soon called Just One More Kiss where I play the love interest.
Aside from that, I have some other projects keeping me on hold until
production locks down shoot dates etc and I also have an original
comedy screenplay that I wrote that is currently in development. I am
looking forward to 2019. I think this is the year of the Stink. :) What
got you into acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject? I have no formal training in acting as far as the
cart before the horse. Once I started acting I took classes with George
DiCenzo (Helter Skelter ’77) and also at the Upright Citizens Brigade
in NYC. But mostly I just dove in. How I dove in is another story. I
was 300lbs and playing pro football in the CFL (Canadian Football
League) for the Montreal Allouettes and the season ended. They offered
me a 2 year contract extension the day that I was to drive home. I told
them I’d think about it and discuss with my wife (ex-wife now). I got
home on Halloween, or right around that time, and was literally
discussing the Canadian opportunity with my wife when my phone rang. On
the phone was an old high school friend who was working in casting in
Philadelphia. She needed a football player type for a commercial and
wanted to know if I was interested in auditioning. I had grown up in a
theatrical house … my parents took my siblings and me to Broadway
plays, musicals, movies almost every weekend. And to add to that
atmosphere not only was my dad my high school football coach but he was
also a writer/screenwriter, playwright and director of plays and
musicals, so I had a pretty solid background in this realm. So anyway, I
get the call from a friend about the casting and I’m supposed to be
eating at my grandmother’s that night. I called her and asked if she
minded if I shot a commercial instead of coming to dinner. My
grandmother told me to do whatever makes me happy and that she loved me
regardless. So I shot a commercial that night and the rest is history.
Invincible
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TV series you made repeat
appearances on include Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The
Sopranos and Gotham - all series with a bit of a cult
following, so please do talk about your involvement with them of a bit,
and how did you get on those shows in the first place? I have been very fortunate over the years to be
part of television history in regards to The Sopranos, Team Coco and
most recently Gotham. I booked Conan early on in my acting career as
nothing more than a big dude with comedic timing and over the course of
three or four years they kept brining me back for more involved
sketches. Conan was a blast. Once they moved out to LA they found other
big, goofy guys to fill their roles. But I still love them. The Sopranos
came at the same time that I was shooting Invincible with Mark Wahlberg
and Greg Kinnear. Invincible was a 1970’s period piece and my hair and
beard were out of control and I remember being so worried I wouldn’t
get the role because I couldn’t change my look. Somehow The Sopranos
production dug my look and I became part of their world. The wild thing
about The Sopranos is that even though I only did 3 or 4 episodes as
Uncle Junior’s nurse I wound up on the Sopranos calendar as one of the
months. Pretty damn funny. And Gotham, well, I was just thrilled to
death to be part of that show. So much fun, so creative. I actually
auditioned for maybe 9 different roles on Gotham before I landed Aaron
Helzinger. Helzinger ultimately becomes the villain Amygdala. I am
a legacy character, meaning I was created by the comic book so I can’t
be killed off. So I am just floating in limbo currently. Other
past movies and TV shows of yours you'd like to talk about? I’ve been very fortunate to have been a part of
many great shows and films. Some that come to mind on the TV side are
Blue Bloods, Flesh and Bone, White Collar,
The Black List, 30 Rock. On
the film side there is The Longest Yard (remake), The Lovely
Bones, Freeheld, Arthur (remake), Gulliver’s
Travels, Going The Distance, and
also a great scene with Sally Field in Spiderman 2 that was
unfortunately edited out. There’s more but my brain is full at this
point. I also used to do a boat-load of commercials back in the day and
I think every one of them was a national spot which was very lucky. Most
likely I’ve been in many people’s living rooms at one point, invited
in or not. How
would you describe yourself as an actor, and some of your techniques to
bring your characters to life?
I guess the easier definition is that I am a
character actor. I play characters. I’m not a movie star by any means
playing variations of myself. So the fun begins when I can slip into
someone else’s skin and start exploring. I am a 100% all-in type of
person in general and that translates well into my approach towards
acting. I’m locked in. I feed off the character and make decisions
through that character’s eyes. Stink is in there of course, but he
takes a servient role to the dominant character at the moment. It’s
kind of schizophrenic you could say. I like to go into a meditative
state to prep for any role and really try and see life through that
character’s eyes. If I feel an accent or a certain dialect I pretty
much walk around all day long using those tools and driving my family
crazy in the process.
Actors (and indeed
actresses) who inspire you?
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Gotham |
There are so many that come to mind that have
given me a love of what I do. But I would have to say at the top of my
list is Gene Hackman, Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, Amy Adams,
Christian Bale and Mark Ruffalo. On the comedic side whenever I need
inspiration I turn to Tropic
Thunder. Tom Cruise and Robert Downey jr
…just comedic brilliance. Your favourite movies? I have so many films that I could call my
favorites; that heavily influenced me in so many ways so I just can’t
list them all. But I’ll give you a couple here ... The Big
Lebowski,
Cinema Paradiso, Tropic
Thunder, Hell or High Water, Pulp Fiction, Dr.
Strangelove, Blazing Saddles, Hoosiers, Shawshank
Redemption, Star Wars, Superman, Saving Private
Ryan, Unforgiven, Kelly’s Heroes, Animal House,
Stripes and on and on and on ... ...
and of course, films you really deplore? There are not many films that I would vocally
come out and blast. Regardless of how bad a film may be, somebody wrote
it, people funded it and many were involved in making it. There’s a
lot of effort in there. I don’t think anything that demands that much
effort should ever be ridiculed. With that being said … Cops and
Robertsons with Chevy Chase … I almost walked out … twice. Just not
good, not funny. And I fell asleep in the theatre watching Godzilla. It
was one of the remakes at some point or another, and man it was bad. Your website,
Facebook, whatever else?
I am pretty sure I’m the only Stink Fisher on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I don’t have a dedicated website but
perhaps I should one of these days. Stay tuned on that.
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Facebook:
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Twitter: @UStink
Instagram: stinkfisher
Anything else you're dying to
mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? I’m glad you asked! I have an amazing and super
talented personal chef who happens to be my wife, Jessica Floyd and 3
amazing boys, Holden (17), Dashiell (12) and my step-son Dean (7). We
happily live in Medford Lakes, NJ and plan to take over the world one of
these days. Thanks for
the interview!
It was my pleasure. Thank you so much for the
interest and for giving Crossbreed
much respect. You guys rock!
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