Character Fest with Sy Richardson

My name is Alex Cox, and you're listening to Movie Meltdown. The following feature has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is intended for mature audiences, and parental discretion is advised. It's showtime, folks. Enjoy the show.

Our nuclear reactor pumping out one million kilowatts of power. to provide more cooling in the containment chambers. To your centers, we have Movie Meltdown. Renaissance Man. What's up and welcome to Movie Meltdown. I am Brian and joining me this week is.

Lucy. Look, we went right to you because it's only been a week. I know. I feel like I'm part of the gang again. You are back in full force.

And we're coming to you live via digital recording from the Kentucky Theater. No joke. We're in the lobby right now. Yeah, it's all ours. We kicked everybody out.

We're like, go. Yep. And here we are. Technically, we're in the state theater lobby, but it's all the same thing. I mean, it's got a hallway now.

It's interconnected. Fair. I was trying to think earlier, because I don't remember tons of going to see. You were here, so you probably went to a lot of stuff when this was a separate thing. Well, it was closed forever.

So I was not, I never went to movies here. I don't know exactly what year the state theater closed. But when it closed, I was a very small person, if not nothing in the ether waiting for my big moment. But I think it for many years was like an X-rated. So even as a child, I would not have come here unless there was some seriously questionable parenting.

A really good one, sure. Yeah. Parenting. Oh my god, I'm so tired. Parenting.

You have been at this for days now. I have. Weeks is actually. Yeah, this is the second run. Yeah, I'm a little exhausted.

Now I was trying to think, because at one point were they doing specifically live acts? Because that's the only thing I remember seeing before they took over from the Kentucky and busted into this side and made it all one thing. Or maybe it was already one thing at that point. But at some point... What's the base player for the stray cats?

Is that Slim Jim? No. I don't know who my different stray cats are. I only know two stray cats. I've got Brian and I've got Slim Jim.

See, it's the other one. And I got nothing else. And I knew him and now it's left my brain. Oh. And so now he's going to be deeply hurt.

Given his attitude that day, I don't think he cares. Are we spending a lot of time on this? Yes. Or is this a thing we're committed to? We're going to find out this person's name.

Should I be talking about something in the interim? Sure. Okay. So we're at Character Fest, which has nothing to do with the Stray Cats, as far as I know. Although I guess it could at some point.

I mean, I'm surprised he wasn't in this movie we saw tonight. Well, you know, the Stray Cats, Harry Dean, Stanton connection. I mean, everything does, in fact, come back around to Harry. As we discussed last time, yes. Did we?

I mean, we discussed. But not specifically Stray Cats. Well, no. The time and space all connects in this city. And Harry Dean is the king of it all.

Yes, yes, yes. So what about the specific? Well, Slim Jim. Slim Jim. Am I getting his name right?

Slim Jim Phantom? Is that a person? That sounds like the kind of guy who would be in the Stray Cats. Again, not a rockabilly person, or maybe a music person, or maybe not even a person at all right now. I'm so tired.

But he was in bands with Harry. And actually, they just released a record together during COVID, I believe. It might have actually been right before COVID. But he was a band. Were they called the Cheap Dates?

Yes, the Cheap Dates. And Jamie James, former guest of the festival, future guest of the festival, I would assume, because he's Jamie James, put out the record. So it's Slim Jim and Harry and Jamie and some other folks who I will not spend an hour Googling, which is what you're sitting here doing, trying to find this random. See, I knew it was a made up rock star name. Lee Rocker.

It's so made up. It's forgettable. That's hilarious. But he played a show here in this side, not in the Kentucky side. And I just remember it because it was at least at the point it still looked nice in there.

So I'm assuming at some point they refurbished things. Yes. So this would be after it was already connected to the Kentucky. I'm assuming that this would have been a Troubadour concert series venture or a wood song. That's why I figured you probably had more of an idea of it.

Because I just remember being in that theater and looking around and going, wow, they did a really nice job with this. Yes. Well, it's a beautiful theater. It is. And it also has the capacity for twinkly lights.

Which is really what we're all looking for. It is. Yes. I mean, we talk about various fundraising things that are needed for the Kentucky Theater, but I feel like priority one should be bringing back the Twinkly Lights. Twinkly Lights.

Yes. So anyway. But yes, the State Theater, smaller house than the Kentucky Theater, but very charming in its own right with its own very distinct vibe. There's clouds in the sky. There's like this Italianate sort of like. … Very ornate.

It's very ornate. Yes. Yeah. And also Lee Rocker appeared there sometimes. Now that we know the identity of this person, I feel like we need to repeat his name often to make that five-minute search valuable.

He was fine. Okay, cool. I just remember that being not a movie that I saw there that I thought was kind of weird at the time because I was like, Can we watch a movie now? And luckily, that's what we got to do here today. We did.

We've gotten to do it all weekend. You've seen many. I've seen all of them. So do you want to give an overview of that, which is Character Fest? Sure.

Well, it's year one of Character Fest, and our first and only honoree is Mr. Cy Richardson. And when the idea of Character Fest, well, it was an idea I had a number of years ago. But when I finally was like, let's pull the trigger on this thing, He was the one guest that immediately popped into my mind. And I reached out to former Harry Dean Stanton Fest guest Alex Cox and said, hey, you know, we're thinking about doing this festival.

Those would be a spinoff of Harry Dean Stanton Fest. But we would focus on one different character actor every year. And I said, do you think Mr. Cy Richardson would be interested in something along these lines? And instead of responding to me, he then sent an email to me and Cy together that's basically like, okay, here you go.

And Cy was like, cool. And I was like, oh, I didn't even ask you, but yay. Now I have to do this festival. Well, no, no. I mean, I obviously wanted to, but it was one of those things where it's like, I guess we're doing this.

This is happening. It's all on board. But the amazing thing was I started speaking to Mr. Richardson. I still can't call him Cy because he's Mr.

Richardson. He's like, duh. Where am I going? My brain, again, mush right now. His response.

His response, oh, he was like, we chatted back and forth about it for a little bit. And then one day, and this was all via email, he said, oh, wait, so this is in Lexington? And I said, yes. And he said, oh, my in-laws are in Lexington. And then that's when I knew that, yes, in fact, Lexington is the center of the universe.

And so this has been just the loveliest experience. I said, you know, we would love to have some of your family here for the reception. Um, how many people would you like on the guest list? And he said 35. And as soon as he said 35, I almost started crying because I was like, oh my gosh, we're hosting a family reunion and this is going to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

So while we're all here watching movies, his family has come in from Richmond, Virginia. I mean, they've come, they have traveled. Uh good portion of them were just standing in this room a little while ago. Yes and they're literally i mean mrs theresa richardson's family is the loveliest family i have ever met and i have met everyone from children to her 96 year no she's gonna be 96 at the end of month year old aunt who i feel like is like a contemporary of mine i mean she was very not a Nonagenarian? Is that what it is?

You don't even get to say it that. Much because who do you meet? She's so youthful. So the good news is Mrs. Richardson has wonderful genes on both sides and will hopefully live forever because she is the loveliest person ever.

I mean, they're just the sweetest couple. So I feel like I should be gushing about the movies, but right now I'm just gushing about how nice an experience this has been from other angles. I mean, it really was a family reunion because as we were standing here... I heard someone go, I just met a cousin. So they really are like connecting within their own family.

But also my other favorite thing about them is that, you know, I mean, these, these are very, like they all went to church together. Like this was, and they were like, we met some people at church and now we're going to bring them to straight to hell. And I was like, wait, Oh, is this a good idea? And I was having like, do you know what this movie is? It's even in the title straight to hell.

And there's literally a part where a preacher gets bit. Anyway, no spoilers. No spoilers, I guess. I don't know. That you can spoil.

Straight to hell. But I had concerns that afterward it was just this big love fest where they're like, oh, we had so much fun during the movie. And it continued to be so sweet and wholesome, despite the fact that that's not a sweet or wholesome movie. But anyway. As we covered earlier, no swear words, though.

No swear words. So it's good for the whole thing. It's wild to me. Yes. So I don't know if you're going to be playing that audio or maybe you cut to that audio now.

I'm not sure. Anyway. But yes, no swear words in the movie. We'll get to some later. You think there will be swear words, but there's not.

It seems like it would be one of those movies. And yet I really noticed watching it this time. Yeah. Because I was just like, what? They're so going out of their way to do so many strange things in this movie.

And I mean that in the best possible way. again I was so the first time I saw it was because Alex was coming and I was like okay I guess I need to watch this movie and I'd seen the cover forever and I finally watched it and was like this is insanity and I love it it is so much fun and then watching it this time I'm like watching all the so many ways that they go out of their way to just do a weird thing for no good reason other than here it is in our movie so I also like that as you're discussing it, we're getting differing stories from Alex Cox versus Psy. Right. Which just adds to the mystery and the insanity that is this movie. So I'm very glad we got to see this and to have our lead, if you will.

We'll be covering that in just a minute here. Because, yeah, I mean, the poster's right over there. His name is first on that list so it is interesting when you're a character actor to start moving into that scenario. So well I will say something that I found fascinating is that you know Mr. Richardson speaks at length about how much he enjoys being a character actor and how he doesn't have any interest in playing leads.

And then he also said Harry Dean Stanton only wanted to be a character actor and had no interest in playing leads. But if you ask Mr. Richardson what his favorite movie is, it's the one he plays the lead. And if you ask Harry Dean Stanton what his favorite movie is, it's the one where he plays the lead. So I feel like maybe they're both just frustrated leading men, but I won't psychoanalyze anybody.

I would love to see Cy Richardson as a leading man. I understand his reasons for not wanting to be, and I have all the respect in the world for those reasons, but he can definitely carry a movie. Most definitely. And an interview. I say we go talk to him right now.

We'll take our break, and we'll go sit down with Cy, and we'll be right back. My great-grandfather came to the United States and. Created an empire of theaters around Indiana and Kentucky and Illinois. And this one is the gem of them all. and it was the job of my grandfather, Harry Swito, to build it. The Kentucky Theater is the best thing that we have in Lexington that compares to anything old Hollywood.

It's grand and splendid and beautiful, and there's something about the beauty and the grandeur of it that makes you sit up a little taller, and it makes me feel like I'm part of a longer history, a part of a much larger story than my own. My name is Brad Dourif, and I'm listening to Movie Meltdown. Ladies and gentlemen, Cy Richardson. All right. Well, I usually try to start with people and just sort of get a sense of them.

I think so much of it starts when you're a kid. So I was going to see as far as the arts in general, like where did you grow up and then what were you kind of interested in? Okay. I grew up in Chicago, but actually I was born in Cincinnati. A year later, my father started singing with a gospel group and they were in Chicago, so we moved to Chicago.

At four years old, I'm at church, and I crawl underneath the chairs, came to the middle of the aisle, and I start screaming and hollering. The pastor stopped the service, picks me up, brings me to the pulpit, and I started singing, Do Lordy, Do Lordy, Do Lordy, Remember Me. My father was upset because his group was. Up there singing. And you interrupted everything.

Yeah, and so at 10 years old, This lady wanted some Africans in this play she was doing, and I agreed to do it. And so opening of the play, I'm standing there with the spear next to the king. You hear boom, the lights go out and come back up. When the lights come back up, I'm dead. So that was my first.

Your first big death scene. Yeah, see, so. by the time I'm 16 years old, uh, I've already recorded my first record. And, uh, my mother would get up, would get off of work. And, uh, on, uh, that night on Fridays, she would, uh, uh, get off work, come down to the house, uh, relax for a couple of minutes and take me to the nightclub. And so she would have to sit in the nightclub for the four hours that I'm there with my group to sing, uh, The sad part about it, I didn't think nothing of it.

That's my mama. She's supposed to do that. That's true. You're a parent. That's what you do.

But I wanted to be a singer. So by the time I was 26 years old, I decided, I went to the Navy, came out of the Navy, and I decided that I needed to find something to do with myself. So I'm driving the city bus in Chicago, and what happened is, A guy told me, he said, you know, you can go to college for free because you're a veteran. So I went to college for free. Well, while I'm in college, I'm in the math class and this kid, I call him a kid because he was like 18 and I was 26.

And I go see this play and he was in the play. And I stared at him the whole time when he came back to class because I had never seen You know, he was one way on stage and different in person. So then I wanted to know more about that. So I hit 29. I graduated from my junior college in Chicago, and I had a scholarship.

I went to Boulder, Colorado. Not Boulder, but Denver, Colorado. And in Denver, they wanted to start a black theater company, and they needed a 65-year-old black guy. The closest to it was me, and I was 32. Yeah.

So I did the play. Loved it. So I started doing plays there. And when I graduated from college, I checked out this dinner theater. And they did oleos and vaudeville shows.

And I auditioned for it. And three days later, the guy called me. He says, you're either very talented or a fool. I can claim both. And so.

What happened is I got in the lines, but I didn't remember them. So I made them up. And it still worked within context? Yeah, so he gave me the job. That's good.

For a year and a half, I did oleos and ball field shows. And we did them in St. Louis, Montana, Utah, you know, like that. So the last one I did was in St. Louis, Missouri on the Golden Rod Showboat.

And When we got to, some of the actors said, what are you going to do, man? Are you going to Chicago and get into journalism? Because that's what I went to school for. And I said, no, I don't think I want to do advertisement. But, you know, and they said, well, I said, I'm not going to do the theater anymore.

I said, I got to find something else to do. And it started to snow. Just financially or artistically? Financially. Financially, yeah.

Which, yeah, I think most artists will agree, that never pays the bills. And then it started to snow. And when it started to snow, I said, hmm, you know what I'm going to do? So what are you going to do? I said, I am going to California and be a character actor.

And they all looked at me here. They didn't laugh at me. They just looked at me. And I left and came on to California. 30 days after I got to California.

Well, when I got to California, I had no place to stay. I had $ 50 in my pocket. And I didn't know anything about California. I'd only been to California once. And I sung at the Bill Maugh Hotel with a choir.

Yeah. So I didn't know it at all. And I thought about my ex-wife. She had a friend who lived with us for 30 days before she moved to California. So I called her and she said, I said, I'm in Los Angeles.

I need some place to stay just for 30 days. Then I got my own. So she called the girl and the girl said, yeah, I can stay with her for 30 days. So She gave me the address, and I went to the gas station. I said, will you tell me where this address is in Los Angeles?

He said, sure, I'll tell you where it is. He said, walk to the corner, walk down four blocks, and you're there. This is not Los Angeles. It's Santa Monica. It's a lot of subsections once you get in there.

Yeah, and so I ended up staying with her 30 days. And I met a guy on the streets who was an actor, and he told me to look in this magazine called Dramalogues. If I get the drama log, go through it. It comes out every Thursday. And I didn't have a lot of money, so I would go to the library and read the drama log.

So I guess I'd do that. And I get this one. They were looking for a black guy, 35 years old. I am now 36. And so I went in.

I auditioned for it. Two days later, I get a call, and it said I booked it. And so it was a film called Cinderella. And so I booked it. And the first day I went to try out outfits and so forth, I get in the elevator and the elevator opens up.

There's six naked women in the elevator. And I got so nervous. I looked up like this the whole time I was in the elevator. Whistling, staring at the ceiling. I didn't know it was a soft core porn movie.

I'm new, you know. How many kids in L.A. fall for that? You don't know what you're going to get into. So I booked it, and I played the fairy godmother. So I did that.

That was my first film. And the only thing that happened in that film that changed, that made me really think and get my head together, it was that he says, one day he says, look, you see those girls over there? He says, pick one, take home with you. And I looked at him and I said, I came to California to make movies and not get laid. And he looked at me for a minute or two and he said, okay.

So that's how my career started here. It's a different set. Of standards than some people have. So yeah, it's good. The good part about it is four of the next films I did were all Friends of His, but they weren't porn films.

Yeah, that's what I kind of noticed looking at a lot of these. There's so many things that Regardless of whether you're first on the call sheet or not, sometimes it's the people that you meet or you end up in these scenarios and interesting situations that just wouldn't have come about had you not taken regardless of what the part is. My favorite one, and I taught an acting class for 10 years, and I always like to tell everyone this story. I was in New York doing a film called Not Turner. Right.

And the lead actor couldn't work one day because he had to be a background actor in a soap opera. And so the next day when he came back, I said, how come you went into a background job when you're the lead in this film? And he looked at me and he says, I'm an actor. I said, oh, okay. And so when I came back from doing Nocturne, I came back to L.A., I get a call.

Some lady named Victoria Thomas said that another casting director told her about me and that she needed a background actor for a film she was doing at UCLA. And since I remember what that guy said, I did it. You know, I did it. And I did it. And two of her friends who were there at the shoot, one was named Alex Cox and the other one was named Charlie Burnett.

So when I got there to do the background work, One of the actors didn't show up. So I, in turn, ended up being a principal and doing that. So I did that. Sometimes that's how it goes. So I always like to say, you know, you are an actor.

Don't allow money, names to get in the way. You know, this is your love. This is what you do. And so meeting Alex Cox and Charles Burnett, I've been basically working every cent of what I've done. Seven films for Alex Cox and three films for Charles Burnett.

Yeah, I was definitely trying to figure out where Alex got involved. Because, yeah, it starts, I guess, like Repo Man. And then that one, just because of dealing so much with Harry Dean over the years, I guess, what was your take on that shoot? And then what was it like that first time you met Harry Dean Stanton? I was nervous.

I was nervous. I mean, he's already a pretty established actor by that time. Yeah, he's been doing it for years. I was nervous because I wanted to make sure I did it right. See, because I had heard that he had the tendency to get in your face if you don't do it right.

Yeah, see. And so, I talked to him, you know, and I followed him around and listened to him and You know, didn't ask any questions. I just listened to him. And so when it was time for me to shoot, I started shooting. And the day before I was doing the scene with him, he looked at me and winked his eye.

You know, and I felt good because I figured that wink meant he's comfortable. He knows I'm going to do what I have to do. But I really enjoyed working with him. But see, that's what I wanted to be. I came to California to be a character actor.

I didn't want to be a movie star. And so having the chance to work with him and he was a basic character actor. Then, you know, I learned by listening, you know. So specifically came looking for that just because you wanted to be involved in movies or is it something you would have rejected had you started getting more and more, you. Know, lead roles?

I didn't want to be. I wanted to do movies. I didn't want to do commercials. I didn't want to do theater. I didn't want to do print.

I didn't want to do TV. All I wanted to do was movies. And I basically did that for a while. But then I found out that my agent helped me out. He said, you have bills to pay and you've got to eat.

And he says, you've got to do commercials because one day you can get more. And I started doing commercials. Well, that's what, yeah, I know Lucy and I were talking about that last week of like when you're, when you are essentially whether or not you want to be called a character actor or not, but like when you're just a working actor, how much control do you even have over like, oh, I want to do this project and I don't versus I just need food on the table. So it's like, do you, did you at some point, you know, get to a point where you were like, I'm going to pass on this one? Or is it like if something good comes along and it seems like it's going to work, just kind of roll with it?

What I do is I read the script. Sometimes I get a chance to talk to the director or the writer. But I do any film as long as it doesn't affect my morals and my ethics. Because I'm an actor. So if I'm going to be an actor, I have to work.

And so I will work, but like I say, I just... There were some things I didn't do. There were things that came up where I was doing this one thing and the guy told me he wanted me to take my penis out and shake it. And I told him, I'm not doing it. And everything stopped.

Everything went still. The DP, everyone just thought, you can't say that to the director. And he looked at me for a while and then he said, okay, let's move on. You know how you do it, you know what I'm saying? Yeah.

And that's, that's the way that I looked at that. There is a point crossing the line that that's probably it. We've been working more with, with Alex Cox. I mean, it's, it's specifically where we're going to get to straight to hell. And that one, that one's almost, it's an ensemble, but you're kind of our lead guy.

So is that, is that crossing over too much? Was it still okay as you got into that shoot and realizing it? It was okay then because, uh, As you work with people and you learn and you talk to the older directors and so forth, you can star in a film. You don't have to be the star. Yeah.

And one old time has explained to me, he says, a lot of these kids today, they become stars, they become arrogant. You know, he said, they're not really stars, they're just ignorant. You have a lot of kids. Yeah. And not so many kids, grownups too.

And so I started doing principal roles and, you know, and so forth. And it was okay. You know? Well, I love that. I remember just watching it to talk to Alex Cox when, when he came to the last one years ago.

And that is such a, an original concept and like that shooting out. I mean, those just the buildings, like the, that shoot just had to be amazing and probably not comfortable. Um, yeah, You know who Charles Bronson is, okay? Oh, yeah. He's a method actor.

And what happens when your situation, like you were talking about, you take in this character, you deal with this, nothing else matters. It doesn't matter what the set scene looks like. What matters is what you're doing, who you're doing it with, and why you're doing it. And that's what I did. I know I did one film.

And I came home and my wife says, I didn't know who you were. I said, what's your name? She said, Yuri. Changed. Your face looked different.

She said, and I just got away from you for a while. That's impressive. When she doesn't recognize you. Yeah. See, so those things happen.

And Charles Bronson mentioned that. Oh, yeah. And he, we worked on a film together. And from the moment he walked on the set, he became that character. Yeah.

And he stayed that character until he walked off, walked out the studio. Yeah. He was hard working too. He did, he did a lot of stuff over the years. Yeah.

Well, it was kind of, yeah, I was jumping through different ones. I just recently went back and watched Tape Heads. And that's one of those that like just a time and place. It's like you, you're just the bartender, but like you're across from a young John Cusack. And, uh, You've got Tim Robbins and you've got Fishbone playing behind you.

It's such a crazy scenario that you're thrown in the middle of. I was fascinated with that one with the Michael Nesmith. How did you end up getting involved with that whole group of people? I knew that from UCLA. And Emilio Estevez said something one time.

And I took that in, and that was something he. Says, be. Willing to work with your friends, you know, because they need you, and they're hiring you not just to be the actor, but to cover their back. Yeah. They're going to cover yours, you know.

And so I get a call, and they want me to do it. I got the script read, and I said, I'm in. You know, that's what I do. And I still do that today. You know.

I mean, he's a perfect example. It's like you end up starting off early on with Repo Man, and it's not too many years later he's directing a movie and puts you in it. Yeah, that's what I'm in the process of doing. At this present time, I've done everything in the motion picture industry but direct-to-feature film. I've directed shorts.

I've written five books. I've written three scripts. Only one of them was published. And, you know, so... I do it all.

I consider myself a renaissance man. Definitely. When I find something I like, I try it. And what we're doing now is what I'm getting ready to try. I've never tried the podcast before, and I keep telling my wife, I think I just check this out and see.

It gets addictive, I have to say. There was a time when I learned of it, and before long I was doing it, and now I've been doing it for more years than I can think about, and it's, yeah, it's It's a fun format because it gives you kind of a little time to breathe and get to know people. Yeah. Where I live at is in the senior citizen community. And this lady, she's 94 years old, and she lived in Japan for 14 years.

Yeah. And I said, what does an Italian lady do in Japan for 14 years? And she started telling me stories. And I said to myself, huh. Maybe I should do a podcast with her.

They've got a lot of people where I live in the industry. They've done things probably all over the world. I think it would be kind of fun. Definitely, yeah. There's so many people that you don't know when you walk past them, but they've got these amazing stories.

That's what I've found doing this over the years. I like, again, starting with childhood and then sometimes they end up in the same place, but the journey is always so different. And, yeah, that's one of the ones I was going to ask you about. It's like you have done so many things and you've gotten to a point of teaching. So, I mean, what is it that you found over all of this that's something that you want to as you're teaching kids not just acting but also just, you know, life lessons in general?

Like what all have you learned? Yeah, I still mentor young people. But, see, I believe my job as an entertainer is to entertain people inform, inspire, and minister. And that's four things I have to do. He didn't say this, but in his conversation with John Wayne, he brought up stuff like that.

He made a point. He says he was in a posse and they reached a fork in the road and they didn't know which way to go. And so the miner stood up and pointed to the right. He said, and then the posse went to the right and they caught the bad guy. He said, everyone in the film is important because everyone's there to tell, to help tell the story.

And I thought, okay, I got you, I got you. So I had to look at it differently, you know. And then I met, uh, Sidney Poitier. Oh yeah. And he was my favorite actor since I was eight years old.

And so, uh, I mean, his documentary coming up next year too. Yeah. And so, he mentioned, he says, uh, uh, If you go see a movie that you're in, and when you come outside and the audience start talking about how good you are, how great you are, he says, you haven't done anything. He says, it's nothing. He said, but if you come out of the movie where you are in it, and they stop and they ask you about the character, they ask you about the story, he said, then you've done your job.

Yeah. And I thought about that. Oh, I got you now. Entertain, inform, inspire, and so on. And just disappear into the role.

Like you said, your wife didn't even recognize you. Like that's, that's impressive. Yeah. Why? And you're, you're, you're born from music too.

Like that's what amazed me when, yeah, Lucy was going through stuff and we're like, wait, 16 years old. Like how do you jump from that into, you know, the film industry? And so, yeah, you've done, you've done so much. Is there any specific story? I know we've hit some of the bigger ones, but are there, is there like a, one story that you remember from something that isn't as big a movie that you remember, like the, the shoot itself was way more interesting.

Than, you know, even the finished product sometimes. Working with Alex on, um, Oh, wow. He has so many films. I can't remember which one it was, but I was, I was working with, working with Alex on, um, Walker. Yeah.

I don't know if you heard of that. He, he really loves Walker. I think that's his favorite. Yeah. Yeah.

Me too. Yeah. And, We were walking down the road, and the painter ran over to him and started telling him what he needed to do with this place and how he needed to change the paint from this to that and do this there. And he listened, and he says, okay. He said, go ahead, do it.

And then when he left, I said, you're the director. Why do you listen to what he says? He says, just remember this. He said, if there's 200 people on this project, we're all here for one reason, to make a movie. Whether I use it or not isn't important.

What's important is that I listen because he may have something that I can use that's better than what I thought of. I said, oh, okay. I got you. That's a sign of a good director. Yeah.

Not just one that wants to tell everyone else what. To do, but yeah. Figures out, these guys are here, and they have a specific job, and they probably know their job. Yeah. So that was it.

That's amazing. When you say you've got new stuff coming, do you have new stuff in the works that you want to tell people to look for, or what's the best thing to. Not yet, because we haven't found the money for these three projects. Oh, yeah. They're searching for it now.

Well, you guys get on it and fund his projects. Get the Kickstarters going, and yeah, we'll get them all done. Well, thank you for joining us today. Well, thank you. Thanks for coming to Character Podcast.

See, by you doing this, you know that you're done. You let me know that I can do it. Yeah. Yeah. The setup is pretty simple, as you see.

But, yeah, once you get into it, it's just kind of finding the right people and finding the right discussions that you want to have. Yeah. Cool. It's pretty fun. Yeah, I like it.

I like it. So thank you for being part of this one. And thank you for thinking of me. No problem. Most of the stars I've met are egotistical.

Um. They think they know more than you do. I was working with one, I'm not going to mention his name. We both had just finished doing a reading together. And when I left, I said, hey, I say, you and I go to the same church and my wife, the usher, does she know your wife?

He looked down at me like that, looked up and walked away. Most of the stars have nothing to do with you because. You're not on that level. And I didn't like that. And I didn't like the vibe.

I hope I didn't go in that direction. Stay off that ballpark. So thank you to Cy for joining us. I'm still calling him Cy. That's fine.

I just can't do it. We were pretty tight like that. We're starting a new podcast together. Okay. I will be an avid listener.

That is my favorite part of that. I don't know. I've talked to a lot of people over the years, both random people that I know and people that have been in the industry. I don't know that it's been like... a sales pitch as much as this. I mean, he was, as it went on, he was just like, maybe I do need to start a pod.

Into it. And under most circumstances, I'm like, oh, no. the last thing this world needs is another podcast, but I kind of want to hear size. Oh, a thousand percent. And with that voice. Yeah.

And, and just Tim, he already has people picked out. He wants to talk to. So I definitely want to, yeah, I want to hear this show. So he, this was again, he's naming off all the things that he's done in his career, but he said he had not done a podcast before. So we, Wait, you've never been a guest on a podcast?

That's what he said. So we threw open the door there. And now, as I told him with me, it's a slippery slope. And next thing you know, you got your own show. Very cool.

I feel like we've done something for the world now. Well, his wife's entire family is trying to convince him to move back here. So maybe you can help him out with equipment and stuff. I told him it doesn't take much. I referenced the desk here.

I'm like, here's the things I'm using. This is it most of the time. So yeah, it's not that hard to piece together. It's what you do with it from there, and I'm not necessarily including myself on the good side of that, but I'm sure he could put it together just fine. I can include you.

You can't say it yourself, but I can. You do great work. I keep at it. That's all I can say. As long as we've been doing this.

But yeah, he's a fascinating guy, as you well know. You've hung out with him all week. Yeah, I mean, I just, I mean, I'm sure you covered, yeah, I think you just mentioned all of his careers, the many lives he has squeezed into this one life. It's incredible. And now, did he mention his book?

Because now I am deep into his book. I think you're his new PR person on the book. Well, happily, because it is fascinating. And I mean, just, yeah. And I haven't really sat down reading it front to back because I was kind of like, you know, sort of cherry picking.

And then I was like, wait, wait, wait, what am I doing? I need to just start at the beginning. And then I was like, well, what? Like the family stories? Like, I mean, it's just, and he says everything.

I mean, he doesn't. Is it self-published or is it through? I'm not sure. I believe that it's self-published. I'm just wondering, is it like on Hulu?

Is it available? I mean, since we're pitching it, I'm like, we should. He said to... Because I had actually looked for it on Amazon and had not been able to find it because I did look for it before he came because I wanted to read it. He said to just Google it.

And he said, if you just Google side by side, it'll pop up. So that's apparently the best. Way to do it. Start placing your order right now. But I did purchase another of his books, which was self-published on Amazon because he has all of these guides to acting and about his spiritual journey.

I mean, he just... i don't know how. He covers everything. Yeah there's like somehow he gets like five extra hours in a day i guess i accomplish nothing. So i've given up on accomplishing things but yeah even i could tell that just in sitting there i was like i'm just gonna go ahead and start throwing out the big picture questions right because i think you've got a handle on that like you can tell us specific things about this movie or that movie but I think you've got the answers to most things, so let's just give it to us. Yeah, he's great.

And, well, if we're going to continue to pitch for him, he has three movie projects. I told him to get Kickstarter going. Yeah, well, I'm actually going to try to connect him with some people tonight. I have some people coming to chat with him about one of the projects. Because I will say, I don't have a lot of regrets in life.

But I will say, and not that I could have done anything. Like, I don't even know what I'm talking about. But the thing that I kind of regret the most is that Monty Hellman, later in his life, had a script that he really wanted to have made into a movie. And tried and tried, and... talked about it a lot and I tried to connect him to a couple people but I didn't like really like dig in heels and because I do feel like there's money in Kentucky and like it's a little more untapped than Los Angeles if you figure out how to do it and I feel like the world needed that last Monty Hellman movie and I feel like Monty Hellman needed that last Monty Hellman movie and it makes me very sad that it never came to fruition and I feel guilty as someone a fan and a friend that I didn't help more.

So now I'm like, so I were Richardson. We're getting this movie made. Yeah. So Monty wanted to direct that. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, he had the script. I was going to say, can we get the script and still bring it to life? I mean, without Monty directing, obviously, but the script, well, he passed the baton, you know, he's got to, he's got to enlighten people through his work, even. After he's gone.

That's a good point. Hmm. Speaking of, I was thinking, I know you were saying last time around that it's almost questionable, like trying to pitch the idea of this, but I was also thinking because some people don't want to see themselves as character actors, but I'm like, there's also a second spin going on there of like, we're not just doing it because you're a character actor. The whole purpose of anything like this would be because you're creating great Yes. So maybe that's your spin.

That's your focus is like, you know, we're just picking people who create impressive characters on screen, whether you're on screen for five minutes or for two hours. So I think that's the pitch. Yeah. Because it's character fest, not character actor fest. Yeah.

Because I know it seemed a little questionable last time of like, are we going to get ourselves in trouble? Are people going to be mad at us because we call them? Well, but my feeling is honestly, do we want those people do we want the people that get offended when we call them character actors i mean like harry pretended to but he didn't really like he was a. Lot of things i love the man but like he he had so many different things that he would say one thing over here and then you say something else over here and then he'd do an entirely different thing because he's harry and he could do whatever the hell he wanted So, yeah, you can't go by what Harry says. If we approach somebody and say, we love your work, we have a festival that celebrates character actors, and we would love to honor you.

If they say, I am a leading man or lady, you monster, then I don't necessarily know I want to spend a weekend with that person. I agree. But I'm just, you know, we were trying to come up with a good presentation. But no, no, no. I think you're right.

I think that's a very good pitch. It's about creating great characters. Yeah. And he's a perfect example. Going back, we didn't get a chance to talk about Mystery Train, but I rewatched that recently myself.

Oh, my favorite. And I love that movie anyway. But he's not even five minutes, maybe? Like, it is such a minute. But, like, his moment, like, then changes everything for this character afterwards.

You get such a little window into this guy and like what he's doing. And then it, yeah, it changes everything for the woman he's talking to for the whole rest of that movie. Truly. And then it gets passed on to the next girl. And yeah.

So if you haven't seen it, go watch it. Oh, I love that movie so much. And I think that he and Screamin' J.A. Hawkins are like the standouts. And that's kind of what I said on Friday night when we had opening night and we showed Repo Man and I did a little introduction where I sort of talked about what it is to be a character actor and different definitions from different people.

But my feeling is when I think of what a character actor is, I think of they are the folks who you don't see on the poster before the movie, right? but they're the folks you were talking about after the movie. They're the folks who come home with you and you're thinking about because they just stole the frickin' show. Or even if you are the lead. Again, this poster behind us. Then I love that poster.

I've seen that on the video box for years, but it is funny that the rock star is the one on the poster, even though the first name is Psy. It's marketing. It's all about marketing. That is what it is. So as we're rounding out this episode and this whole two-week extravaganza, especially for you more than anyone, I was kind of asking the same things.

What have you learned from this process? Oh, my goodness. Wow. Well, now I'm so curious what his answer was. But I know you don't share it with me because then it's reviewed for the audience.

You guys. Everyone else knows but me. Oh, Lordy. What have I learned? What is your takeaway from all of this craziness that you seem to enjoy it.

You, you, you find amazing connections and amazing people that are all involved. So is, is that what keeps making this worthwhile every, every time around? Yeah. I mean, I think the takeaway this year, well, I don't know. Cast some shade.

Um, I will. Say that you're trying to be more upbeat last time. Um, Usually we have great, amazing guests, and we've had some guests that have become lifelong friends because they're so amazing. I will say that the last couple of weeks, I mean, Alice Nanders, Billy Swan, Cy Richardson, and then Joe Atkins, who's always been a friend of the festival, and Silas House, who's always been a friend. When you work with really lovely, kind, generous folks, it's just a pleasure.

There's nothing stressful about it. You may not get to eat all day and you may be rushing about, but there's no part of you that feels stressed out because you're just floating on this bubble of love. And you have great people to help support. You had one that brought food. because you needed just a little while. Ago yes that was just my friend amy that wasn't even a volunteer and showed up with food we realized that mr richardson hadn't had the opportunity to eat between church and being here and.

It's a lineup you have a lot of movies and that's a good thing. Right and i said what do you what would you like and so i ordered the food and then my friend amy had been like what can i do to help just let me know and i said well actually you can run by pies and pints and pick up this cauliflower crust pizza that i just ordered and she showed up because she's an angel and that's just what lexington is to be honest i mean we just have a really nice kind supportive community here so Shout out, Amy, for picking up the Pies and Pints pizza. And shout out, Pies and Pints, your future sponsor. You had the perfect pizza that I wanted. Literally.

It was kind of miraculous. He was like, well, what I want, you're not going to be able to find. And I said, try me. And you were like, let's see. And it was literally two blocks down the street.

So there you go. That's how amazing this whole little world here is. And shout out for Hayward for knowing that Pies and Pints had cauliflower crust pizza. Yeah. I didn't even know that was a thing.

I've seen it places. Okay. One of which, I don't remember if that's the same one, but somebody around here has it. Luckily, you found it and it's delivered. Yeah.

And now we're talking about pizza. And now I'm getting hungry. And you're hungry. Wait a minute. So we should wrap it up because you also haven't eaten all day.

Yeah. And I got to let out my dog and you got to let out your dog. The most important thing is we have to take our dogs. Yes. The most important things.

Yes. Well. Is there anything to tell people? I know you're working on the new website, but in the meantime, just tell them to go check out Harry Dean for the time being. Yeah, I mean, we've already put up the dates for next year's Harry Dean Standfest because we try to make it around his birthday, but his birthday doesn't always fall on the weekend.

But in 2023, it surely does. So we will kick off on his birthday, July 14th, 2023. It will be run through the. 16th, so. And is Character Fest always going to immediately follow it?

Absolutely not. Okay, I thought that was an interesting choice this time. The whole reason to do that, as I mentioned, in my head was kind of thinking that we might phase out Harry Dean's Stanton Fest, phase in Character Fest. So that we were still paying homage to Harry, doing it around his birthday, and acknowledging him every year, but having it be sort of a different animal. And then when the whole Billy Swan cry fest thing happened, and I realized, no, we got to do Harry Dean's dance fest forever.

Harry Dean is my favorite animal. That's when I was like, okay, so we'll do both, but not, no, not back to back. I thought this was an odd choice if you were going to make yourself do this every year. So it's good to know you can... Spread it out a little bit.

God is my witness. Never again. But they are awesome, both in their own little world. Yeah, so you can write in and tell us when you think Character Fest should be. We kind of have to plan around, like it can't be during Keeneland because then you can't find hotel rooms.

There's like a. Whole bunch of stuff. Things you have to think of when you put. These things together. It can't be in the wintertime.

I'm thinking like May after Derby. Yeah, yeah. Just kind of buffer it between this one. Just give yourself and everyone else some breathing room. And everybody else.

Jump right back into it. Fair. All right. But yeah, write in your suggestions. Not to me, to Brian.

You can work it all out and tell me what I'm doing because I don't want to make a decision. Nobody normally sends me things. That's fine. At least I'll be like, oh, an email. It's exciting.

Well, let's round it out. As we've discussed, Sai is a man of many careers. So let's go all the way back to the first one. Yay. You've posted at least one of those songs, so what was the best song option there?

Oh, Everything's So Good. Everything's So Good. I just figure it's so rare that we have someone who is both a musical act and a fabulous actor. I would go with the song by Lil' June and the Januaries, and you can pick which one you want that to be. All right.

But that was his band. And he had like a whole career, like a whole career, not like just like I put on a record as a kid. Before he was old enough to vote, he had a whole career. And then he like started a recording company to like put out the work. And then he wrote for other people.

But yeah, I would say definitely play a little June and the Januaries because my mom heard one of those songs and it like transported her back to her like adolescence. It did. It was very sweet. I mean, she was swooning. It was the loveliest thing I've ever seen.

You were like, oh, I know that guy. All right. Well, that's how we're going out. So once again, thank you for having us here. Thank you to Cy for talking to me.

And yeah, otherwise that about does it. We will return next time. Same geek feed. Thanks for listening. I hear you talking so near.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, to me. Oh, don't remind me that you waste your heart. Don't involve me too long. It matters so much about you. So if you don't have any questions and you're curious when you leave here and you think of something, Google Side by Side, The Journey of a Character Actor.

That's my latest book. And it's on Lulu.com. It's a great read. I recommend it. Thank you so much.

Thank you. This episode is a production of Movie Meltdown, produced and edited by The Oddity Studios, with opening music performed by The Empires. For more on how to sponsor or support the show, email producer at moviemeltdown.com. Talk hard! This program is a proud member of the Battleship Pretension Fleet.