August 2017

In our new column Deep Focus, TrunkSpace is going behind the camera to talk with the directors, writers, and producers who infuse our world with that perennial pop culture goodness that we can’t get enough of.

In the second part of our interview with James Roland, creator, writer, and producer of the SyFy series “Blood Drive,” we’re discussing budgets, crews, and season twos!

(Read the first part of our James Roland interview here.)

TrunkSpace: Another one of the great things about “Blood Drive” is the direction. A great example of this is when Fat Elvis is being butchered in the episode “Welcome to Pixie Swallow.”
Roland: Yeah. That was the brain child of writer, Marc Halsey. He wrote that episode and came up with that. That was very specifically scripted and then David Straiton, our executive producer who directed some of the episodes, just nailed it. That was the goal. We didn’t want to just shoot a standard show that happened to have grosser moments in it and then slap a fake 15mm filter over the top. Because if you notice, we don’t do that. The trailer and the promos did that, but we were more interested in being true to the spirit than just the aesthetics.

What we challenged our directors to do, what David supervised all of the directors and challenged all the other directors to do, was to dig into the specific genres for each episode. Rather than just choosing color, really get into having a frame, why they were edited that way, and why they were effective. I think a lot of shows say, “Hey, we gave our directors creative freedom.” We give our directors A LOT of fucking freedom. That whole episode 6 where Christopher goes into the secret room?

TrunkSpace: Where he meets Julian in the hallway?
Roland: Yeah. And the room is spinning. Not scripted. That was the director and the production designer going, “This is a cool room. How can we make this even more interesting? How do we get it to the next level?” Somebody came up with idea of, “What if there’s throw-up on the floor, the cement, and all over because it makes it all look cooler?”

Then we had an amazing camera operator and he had this rig where you could rotate the camera completely around. We didn’t have enough money to get a gimbal, and for people who don’t know what that is, it’s where the whole room rotates upside down. It’s how they did the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” stuff where she’s on the ceiling. We didn’t have that, so that was our cheap, Grindhousey way of doing it and it turned into a really cool, sci-fi driven moment.

It was difficult to trust because with a basic, normal scene I can walk on set and say, “I can see what you’re doing. I see how that will come together. Make sure you get the close-up. Make sure you run that character moment.” But for a scene like that it’s like, “Is this going to make any fucking sense?” (Laughter) We took that risk. Every time we had that question, we took that risk and I felt like it paid off and made the show so much more interesting than it would have been, which is saying something given the scripts are so crazy.

TrunkSpace: It’s interesting hearing you mention the budgetary issues because it doesn’t look like a show that was hampered by budgetary constraints.
Roland: We’re in the SyFy channel low-budget model. The show runner is John Hlavin is a mad genius. He also runs “Shooter” for USA. We were going in, before we had officially sold the series, and he cracked a joke. He said, “When we’re up there in the office…” we call it the dark tower on the Universal lot. It’s this big, giant black tower that is very ominous. Anyway, he was like, “When we’re up in that dark tower, what do you do if we’ve got to make this show below our number? Who’s gonna be the first one to jump out the window?”

So we sit down and they hand us a sheet of paper and we see the number that they’re pitching for the budget and it’s barely above the joke number. I mean, barely. I’m the least experienced in the room. I was there with John Hlavin who is a pro. He wrote for “The Shield” and he’s got a long career. And David Straiton who’s this long term producer/director on shows like “Hemlock Grove” and all the Marvel shows. Experienced guys. They just go pale. I’m like, “Uh oh, this is bad.” (Laughter)

Normally shows will have a larger budget pilot and then the rest of the episodes are less, but this is per episode. The pilot was no more expensive than any other episode. The number that I’m quoting is about half of “The Magicians.” This is a lower budget number. What do you do? Do you say, “No, no thank you. I don’t want to make 13 episodes of my own show.” You just say yes and then you figure out how the hell you’re gonna do it.

We’re building this bigger world that we have in our head in a way that we can’t afford. Obviously on a script level, we reduce the amount of racing scenes to every other episode in these concentrated, little moments so that over the course of four to six episodes, people feel like they’re getting a lot of racing. But if you actually go back and look at the show, you don’t get racing every episode. We just couldn’t afford it. You have to get pit stops, which is fine as long as it has that adrenaline feel and we keep the energy up in the pacing of the plotting. It’s still going to feel like we have the momentum so that’s how we get away with that.

And then it’s, “Okay, we cannot afford all of these actors every episode.” If you listen to Slink, he talks about how the race goes on different paths every day, so that explains why you can’t have The Gentleman and The Scholar in every episode. They go out and they come back in and out of the story, so you can go a couple of episodes without seeing them and then seeing them again. It’s like revisiting old friends. Otherwise the only other answer was to cut out Domi and Cliff and just have The Gentleman and The Scholar or something like that. Even though you’re gonna get more of The Gentleman and The Scholar, you’re also gonna shrink the scope of your world.

I think it’s weirdly both a blessing and a curse because from the very first daily of the show, I don’t think the network had any idea how good it was going to look. We were all kind of really blown away, but the curse of that is that they forget that it’s a low budget show.

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) And when you get a second season, you get the same budgets!
Roland: Exactly!

I’m glad that you saw that that. I have worked with a lot of crews. My first career was as an assistant director. I did that for seven years. I worked with damn good crews and non-union crews. As an executive assistant, I worked with some of the best television crews. The South African team rivaled all of them. We would walk onto the sets and my jaw would drop at how intricate the set was.

When I saw what the costume department was doing with Slink and Aki… all of those costumes are handmade, handcrafted, and fitted. The rule was that they never dress the same way twice. Slink never dresses the same way twice, within reason. I think after six or seven episodes, you might see a recycle here or there, but it needs to feel different every time and they pulled that off. If you watch, his top hat is always changing. Those are all made by hand.

TrunkSpace: You hear this a lot in the horror/indie worlds, but sometimes when you’re forced to rethink your budgets and think outside-the-box, that’s when the magic happens.
Roland: Yeah, it’s true. Please don’t let the people with the paycheck hear that, but it’s true. (Laughter)

We talked a lot about that. I love the “Grindhouse” double feature. I love it, but their budget was 40 million dollars. That means that one of those movies, either “Planet Terror” or “Death Proof,” has the budget of our entire season. It kind of forced us to be little bit more grindhouse, for real. There are times when it shows, but those are the moments where we distract you with something shiny, so you’re not looking at the part that didn’t work. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: How have you guys avoided more conservative groups protesting the show, because it seems like “Blood Drive” would be right up their alley as far as saving us from moral brainwashing?
Roland: Yeah, you know, there’s one, but I expected more. There was one website that said advertisers need to pull their ads from the show. I was like, “Yeah, let’s get it started.” I was excited for it.

TrunkSpace: Usually those kinds of protests just bring in more viewers.
Roland: It always helps it. Maybe if we’d gotten more of that, it would’ve been even better for us. My gut tells me it’s because most people get it because we have a sense of humor about it. We don’t consider ourselves a spoof. We never wanted to do spoof. We technically get meta because of the show within a show aspect with Slink. All of it, even with the meta, we always make sure that what Slink says could be true for both the show you’re watching and the show he’s creating within the show.

TrunkSpace: Any word on a season 2 yet?
Roland: We haven’t heard yet. We’re waiting on pins and needles. We’ll see. We’re waiting for the official word, but I hope so. I’m dying, man. We have game plans for season 2 that kind of ups the anti to a new level. It would be amazing to get to do it.

Name: Lina Green

Hometown: Dallas, TX

Current Location: Hollywood, CA

TrunkSpace: When did you know that you wanted to act for a living?
Green: I knew probably since I was little. My sisters and I would put on little plays for our family and friends just for fun. My friends thought it was so weird, but they said they enjoyed it. I dipped my toes in the water with my first acting experience in high school when I did my first play, “The Tempest.” I think that’s when I really got the acting bug. I waited ‘til after I graduated from college to come out to LA and really pursue it.

TrunkSpace: Was there a particular performance or actor/actress from your childhood that you remember being drawn to and inspired by?
Green: I remember watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as a child for hours a day. I watched every movie they ever were in together ‘til like 5 a.m. I think I sat in front of the TV for 15 hours straight watching TCM. I also was enamored with Lucille Ball. She made me want to be a fierce comedic actress. Seeing a woman at that time be so fearless on television was empowering. She was a force to be reckon with and I dreamed of one day being an inspiration like she was for other girls.

TrunkSpace: How did you decide to approach your career as an actor? Did you formulate a plan of how you wanted to attack what is known for being a hard industry to crack?
Green: I really didn’t have a plan. I knew I wanted to do something that for the most part was not only my dream, but its difficulty was high. About 10 percent of people actually become successful in this business and those odds were enough for me. I didn’t want to live with regrets, so I decided to move out to LA, take classes, hustle to get an agent and just do it!

TrunkSpace: When did you decide to move away from your home and pursue acting as a career? How old were you at the time?
Green: I decided to take the leap of faith when I graduated from college. I had to wait some months because my sister wanted to come too. So after she graduated we drove from Texas to LA. The trip was a nightmare and that’s how I knew there was no turning back. It took 24 hours and we drove without stopping until we got to LA. I must have had about three panic attacks along the way, but by God’s grace we made it. I was 23 at the time and ready to truly live the life I always wanted.

TrunkSpace: Was that move an easy transition for you initially? How long did it take you to feel at home and find a good support group of friends and peers?
Green: The move was an interesting one. I’ve never driven for such a long time, so that definitely was a challenge in itself. It took at least a good year for me to feel at home. I found the acting school, Playhouse West, where I made a core group of friends that helped the transition a bit. It also just took some getting used to. I was a southern girl now living in Hollywood. That’s quite a shock for a girl who has lived in Texas her whole life and never dreamed of doing something so brash.

TrunkSpace: What has been been your biggest break in terms of a particular role or project thus far?
Green: I think doing “Grey’s Anatomy” has probably been my biggest break. It was an amazing experience that I will always cherish. The cast and crew are so kind and the set really had a family atmosphere. To work with actors that I had been watching for a long time was like being in a dream. I am also on a webseries called “Sexless” that’s had a lot of success in the online community and the work I do on there is so fulfilling and keeps me going creatively.

TrunkSpace: Is there a specific type of role you’d like to take on or a specific genre that you feel more at home in?
Green: I would love to take on a superhero role… one that is comedic. I love roles where the lead is a woman and she is badass and doesn’t apologize for it. Roles like Carrie Mathison on “Homeland” or Stella Gibson on “The Fall.” These are woman with complexities who struggle with being imperfect yet are still the best at what they do. There something about seeing a sexy, smart, kickass woman doing her thing that is irresistible. Those are the type of characters I want to embody.

TrunkSpace: What would you say is the greatest strength an actor/actress can have outside of acting ability itself?
Green: To be completely comfortable and open with yourself. When you know exactly who you are and what you are about then no one or nothing can tell you otherwise. When you know that, those little insecurities and wanting to please people don’t get in the way of being the artist that you’re meant to be.

TrunkSpace: What is your ultimate dream when it comes to your acting career? Where would you like your path to lead?
Green: Ultimately I would like to create shows for people of all ethnic backgrounds and walks of life. This is going to sound cliché, but I would like my path to lead to complete happiness and self-fulfillment. So often people go after goals and once they attain them they are still not happy. I don’t want to be one of those people. I want to be able to ultimately give back and help others to their dreams and goals in life.

TrunkSpace: What advice would you give another young aspiring actor/actress who is considering moving away from home to pursue their dream?
Green: To follow your heart and don’t expect your journey to look like someone else’s. (I wish someone would have given me this advice early on.)

TrunkSpace: Where can people (and casting directors) learn more about you?
Green: At my website at linagreen.net or blog at eddijoyce.com. My IG: @justlinagreen

After arriving in Hollywood from Washington to pursue his dreams, aspiring actor Jimmy Wong found it difficult to gain any traction in his career through the audition process alone. While he had reservations about trying to establish his own identity and brand on YouTube, he took a leap of faith in 2010 and began posting videos on his own terms. Before long he was amassing a major following and connecting with viewers by tapping into many of his childhood interests, including music and video games.

Now a sought after online personality who has starred in cult films like “John Dies at the End” and the web series “Video Game High School,” Wong is currently hosting the popular gaming show “Polaris Primetime” on Disney XD.

We recently sat down with Wong to discuss how he conquered the digital world, why Asian Americans are not better represented in film and television, and what makes “Polaris Primetime” different from other gaming shows.

TrunkSpace: In one way you took a traditional path in working within the entertainment business, but at the same time, you also created your own path and forced the industry to pay attention to what you were doing. Is that an accurate way of describing how you kicked off your career?
Wong: Yeah, it all started up when I came to Los Angeles as an actor. I arrived in the city after YouTube and online content creation had begun. I wasn’t particularly interested in making a YouTube channel or doing skits or bits because at that time, in 2010, it did not seem like there was any serious acting on YouTube. I spent a full year in the grind of rehearsals and auditions and trying to get any job that I could and maybe join the union. After a year of barely any success I said, “You know what, I am going to start pursuing YouTube, but I’m going to do it on my own terms. I’m going to do it with music because it’s something that I’ve studied and grown up doing as a good Asian child would.” (Laughter) I played classical piano for eight years.

That was a big kick off because immediately I saw this response and a growing fanbase that I never would’ve had in my full year of working as an actor in LA. In fact, I think in a month I was already further along and had more progress on YouTube than I did in an entire year. There was a lot of promise there. If I didn’t have that sort of expansion on my channel I probably wouldn’t feel as determined as I am today and I may have looked into buying subscribers on this Website.Fortunately, I had a very organic, gradual following.

TrunkSpace: What’s amazing with that too is that you’re doing it on a global scale whereas if you’re in LA trying to push yourself as an actor, you’re literally just focused within that one somewhat small bubble of the entertainment industry.
Wong: Yeah, that’s a great point. So many of the projects that I was going out for at the time were small student films and small brand deals with local companies. It’s a very insular thing when you’re starting out because you’re just unable to really get that kind of reach. With something like the internet and YouTube, we just know that there are tons of international people who consume this content on a daily basis and are obsessed with it in a great way. It was just a great transition for me to go from one to the other and realize just how different they were.

TrunkSpace: And you’re not only creating content that people enjoy, but you’re forcing studio execs and those who make decisions within the industry to notice you in a way that they may not in an audition alone.
Wong: Yeah, it’s interesting because coming up from the actor’s side there isn’t as much promise for doing YouTube still because a lot of it is personality-based and brand-based. A lot of the major YouTubers you see today are closer to life gurus or fashion DIY gurus that help you learn about certain parts of your life and it is less so actors. While there have been people who have transitioned from YouTube to the acting side, it’s not what your common every day YouTuber/online content creator is. At the same time, you’re right, it does create a lot of value for brands and larger companies to look at someone and say, “Hey, this person has a great influence over so many people. They’re listening to what this person says and they want to be a little more like this person, do the things that they do because it makes them happy, and maybe we’ll make them happy too.” For the business side, it definitely says, “Look, these people have a lot of influence!”

They’re able to connect with their fanbase in an organic and real way. That’s something that a lot of companies I think struggle with because they’re just so big and they’ve got so many parts to the company that it’s hard for them to connect with that everyday consumer in the way that they really genuinely want to. These influencers and content creators are a great bridge for that. If it’s a good collaboration, if it’s something that both parties are interested in, then it’s a win/win for everyone because I think that’s the beauty of the best collaborations from the physical non-digital world

With a nostalgic sound reminiscent of the gritty 90s, the last great decade for mainstream rock recognition, Ontario band Heavy Hearts is carrying the melodic musical torch forward, hoping to return the genre to sweeping significance. With their latest single “Unravel (Your Love)” now available and more new music in in the works, Heavy Hearts is staying busy writing and touring in hopes of reaching as many people and places as possible.

We recently sat down with singer/guitarist Justin Glatt to discuss writing on the road, staying relevant, and how he looks forward to fans being inspired by Heavy Hearts in the same way that he was inspired by his favorite bands.

TrunkSpace: You guys are currently on a U.S. tour that is winding down. What has the experience been like and can you give as any highlights?
Glatt: The experience has been great. These are all places we haven’t played before and it’s been really cool to see people singing along and to be getting a good response from the crowd. Fossil Youth and Sleep In are great bands and are great people to be around.

TrunkSpace: Aside from playing out and sharing your music to new ears, what do you guys look forward to when you’re out on the road?
Glatt: Seeing new places is always great. We always really look forward to spending time with the bands we’re out with and meeting new people.

TrunkSpace: Something that you can never plan for always happens on extended road trips. Any horror stories that you’ll (hopefully) look back on and laugh at?
Glatt: A few years back we were driving back home from a show and one of our tires popped. We had to wait for the traffic to open up so we could pull over slowly to the right side of the highway. That was pretty fucked up.

TrunkSpace: We know you’re out in support of your new single “Unravel (Your Love)” but does life on the road allow for future singles to be written? Can the creative brain operate in that nomadic lifestyle?
Glatt: It isn’t that often that we write new material while we’re out on the road. However, on this run I’ve been working on some new ideas whenever there’s been time before shows and during sound check one time we all kind of messed around with something that could end up turning into something. We’ve seen other bands that we’ve toured with recording demos in their van while on the road. It’d be sweet to be able to do that eventually.

TrunkSpace: In a perfect world, what does the Heavy Hearts songwriting process look like?
Glatt: For all of our past releases the writing process included us just playing new ideas over and over again until something came out of it. The writing for “Unravel (Your Love)” and all of our other new material was a little different. Davis has a studio in the same building as our practice space and we would go in and record demos of new ideas immediately. Even if it was just a guitar riff, we’d record it and build on the idea from there. I think we all enjoyed that process a lot more and will continue writing songs that way.

TrunkSpace: Based on your experience, what’s the difference between releasing and supporting a single and releasing and supporting an album? Are they handled in the same capacity and manner?
Glatt: They’re handled somewhat similarly. The rollout for releasing a new single is a little bit easier to handle though. With releasing an album there are preorders, vinyl pressings, and lots of other things to worry about.

TrunkSpace: What is the first song that Heavy Hearts wrote and is it still a part of your musical repertoire? If not, have you ever thought about revisiting it and tweaking it with your experience now in mind?
Glatt: The first song we wrote together was called “Tranquility.” It was on our first EP called “Jacoba” that we released in 2013. Sometimes people still ask us to play it but none of us are really interested in playing it any time soon. Maybe if we break up.

TrunkSpace: What is your first memory of picking up an instrument?
Glatt: My first memory of picking up an instrument was when I was a little kid. My dad plays guitar so I picked up one of his, put it on backwards, and played it upside down.

TrunkSpace: What is the most difficult part about being in a band and reaching an audience in 2017?
Glatt: Staying relevant is probably one of the hardest things to do for a band these days. There are plenty of bands all trying to get people’s attention and with social media playing a huge part in bands being able to reach out, it’s important to constantly remain active so no one forgets about you.

TrunkSpace: There are so many artists all vying for the ears and eyes of music fans. How does a band rise above all of that and solidify themselves as a unique offering that those fans can’t get anywhere else?
Glatt: Writing good songs, having an active internet presence and networking with other people in the industry are the most important things to become successful.

TrunkSpace: Is touring and playing out live still the best way to build a fanbase and reach new people?
Glatt: Touring and playing for new ears is a great way to reach new people. Someone wearing one of our shirts or buying a record and showing their friends goes a long way in getting our name out.

TrunkSpace: What do you guys want people to take from your music? Is it about finding those messages within the music itself or just having a sonic acceptance of what they’re listening to?
Glatt: I’ve always wanted our music to make people think or to make them feel literally anything, whether it’s through the lyrics, or the overall vibe of the song. Getting inspired from bands that I love is a great feeling and being able to have our music make someone feel that way would be unreal.

TrunkSpace: What else is Heavy Hearts looking to accomplish together in the near future? Is there a new album in the works? Additional tours?
Glatt: Throughout the rest of the year we’d like to see our music reach new places and do some things that we haven’t done with our previous releases. New music and tours coming very soon.

Learn more about Heavy Hearts at:
www.heavyheartsband.com
www.twittter.com/heavyheartsband
www.facebook.com/heavyheartsband
www.instagram.com/heavyheartsband

 

Kelvin Yu has been making television viewers laugh in two very different ways. As a writer and producer of “Bob’s Burgers,” he has helped bring the animated Belcher family to life by shaping their personalities and giving them each their own distinctly unique point of view. As an actor on the Netflix series “Master of None,” he portrays the affable Brian, bringing fervency and cinematic composure to each scene that he appears in. Separate they would be two impressive career paths, but together, it’s lightening in a bottle with Yu as Zeus, bolt in hand.

We recently sat down with Yu to go full Oprah on his past, to learn why he became a Bob Dylan guy, and to discuss how he went from a Starbucks writer to a television staffer.

TrunkSpace: We know you write, produce, and act, but where did the bug first bite you in terms of your interest in the entertainment business?
Yu: It depends on how Oprah you want to get.

TrunkSpace: Full Oprah!
Yu: (Laughter) A kid pushed me and I was like, “I’m going to win an Emmy someday!” (Laughter)

No. I’ll go 7.5 Oprah, out of 7.6.

My parents are immigrants. They tend to be fairly reticent and very pragmatic. You don’t get here to dillydally. My dad went to Mississippi in 1966. He’s 5’4, 106 pounds, and it was the height of the Civil Rights Movement. You don’t get here without a plan. They’re very pragmatically-minded, upward mobility-oriented people. He ended up getting a PHD in Engineering. They did more than I’ll ever do in terms of trajectory.

We didn’t grow up wealthy or anything, but a solid middle class household. But it wasn’t an artistic household, and on top of that, they spoke Taiwanese all day. My theory is that my brother and I, because of that and because we’re not fluent in Taiwanese and didn’t understand most of what they were talking about, grew up vibrationally. You grew up trying to figure out what the fuck people are saying and what this really means. “Are they going to fight? Are they happy?”

TrunkSpace: So almost listening to the tone as much as the words themselves?
Yu: Yeah. Imagine watching a foreign movie your whole life and just going, “Are these two people about to kiss or fight? How does this scene end? What scene am I in?”

My brother started writing very early, but for me, I might have been looking for a place to express myself and emote… a place where I could access. That’s one angle.

Another angle is that I was a latchkey kid, like a lot of people of my generation, and maybe you were too, who grew up on the television. Kids now grow up on the internet and that’s terrifying, but the TV was my babysitter. Maybe I just wanted in.

Around 14 a teacher tapped me on the shoulder and said to me, “Hey, I think you should audition for the spring musical.” I always credit her because I just think it’s important for people to understand how informative and pivotal they can be in a young person’s life.

TrunkSpace: Did she see something in you that you didn’t even see in yourself?
Yu: Yeah, and maybe it wasn’t good. Maybe I was just a loud asshole. (Laughter) She tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I think you should maybe exorcize some of those demons.” (Laughter) My point is, she was right. And I did. That was the first step in a 1,000 step journey. She had no reason to do that. No incentive. The butterfly flaps its wings and you just don’t know.

So that was that, and outside of athletics and surfing, that became my primary extracurricular activity. My brother was highly academic. He had taken calculus as an 8th grader. He was a math mind. I was not. I was searching, and so I landed in drama and literature. I found theater. I have to say, pretty early on, I just got Shakespeare. Maybe because I wanted to. Do you ever want to be into something so bad that you force yourself into it, and then you get it after even if you don’t get it at first?

TrunkSpace: Absolutely. Especially during adolescence, a time when you’re still trying to discover yourself.
Yu: Exactly. Even if you start with the idea of it at first and then get to the reality of it. I forced myself to like Bob Dylan. I decided I was going to be the kind of guy who liked Bob Dylan at 16. Then I, to be honest, didn’t like Bob Dylan for probably a year and a half. Then one day you’re like, “Okay, I kind of like…” (Laughter) It’s like drinking coffee. “This tastes like shit, but I’m going to keep drinking it.” It didn’t take me that long to like Shakespeare and to like theater, and early, just classical theater. I don’t know why.

Then I auditioned for colleges and the one that I chose was UCLA, so I got into the theater program and I was there. That’s the Oprah answer. The IMDb answer is that I got my first job on the WB. It’s Oprah VS. IMDb in this binary. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: So when did it start to become a career pull?
Yu: Somebody came up to me, actually, of all places, at church. I’m not a church-attending Christian at this point in my life, but I was when I was younger. Somebody tapped me and said, “Hey, there’s an audition for a 16-year-old Chinese kid on this new show if you want to go there.” I went in there, just beginners luck, so free and loose that I think, for that reason, I got the role. I hurdled a lot of early firewalls. I never had to search for an agent or I never had to do extra work because I walked into this audition and booked it and it was six episodes on a network show. When you do that, an agent will find you and you don’t have to do the search.

It could be a curse as well as a blessing, because then within a few seconds you realize that it’s not going to go like that forever.

TrunkSpace: At the same time, you probably nailed the audition because your mind was a clean slate and it wasn’t bogged down with so much extra industry “advice” on how you should have approached those types of things?
Yu: I think that’s right. Are you a sports fan?

TrunkSpace: Yes.
Yu: I’ve been pontificating on this recently and it applies to this for some reason. You have somebody like Peyton Manning and you’ve got somebody like Tom Brady. That’s a binary that a lot of people talk about, because Peyton Manning was a number one draft pick and Tom Brady was something like 194. I think that never leaves you. I just don’t think your entrance ever goes away, even though they end up having a lot of parody later on. I think when you’re Steph Curry and nobody thought you would be a star, that chip on your shoulder, even after two championships, it never goes away.

Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I had to grind and I had to hustle for a year and a half right out of the gate. I ended up grinding and hustling afterward. I waited tables for seven and a half years. I definitely wasn’t a super star out of the gates, not that I am now. All of that informs who you are in your life.

TrunkSpace: A lot of times we talk to actors about what it’s like playing the same characters for an extended period of time when they’re doing a series. You’ve been writing on “Bob’s Burgers” since 2011. What is that process like in terms of not only writing the same characters for that long, but building out the world for that long and keeping it fresh for yourself, and is it as exciting as it was in year one?
Yu: It is. It actually is. To what we’re talking about with me as an actor, at least my own POV of my last several years as an actor, Bob’s has had, in a way, a similar trajectory, which is that the vast majority of people still don’t know about “Bob’s Burgers.” It’s not like we pierced the culture like “The Simpsons.” I’m not shy about saying that. We talk about that openly here. And yet at the same time, the culture is different than it was in the early 90s when “The Simpsons” was in their heyday and making their mark. Things are different. There was five channels, now there’s… you couldn’t even really put a number on how many channels of entertainment there are that exist.

We’re not really trying to pierce the culture that way. What we have here is, I would say, maybe not the quantity of fans, but the quality of fans of “Bob’s Burgers” is tremendous. The people who love “Bob’s Burgers” is heartwarming. Everybody here feels that. I’m not speaking for the show, I’m speaking for myself, but I think that the access point for that has been the kids. I think there’s a whole legion of girls out there that just met Tina Belcher and she resonated immediately with them. Gene and Louise have a similar following.

During the first season, I had a writing partner at the time. We called ourselves Starbucks writers. We were just two guys with laptops at Starbucks, like there are here in LA everywhere you go. We got some traction on a spec script and we got a meeting off of that script. We went and sat down, and within five or six minutes it became more and more clear that we were getting the gig. At the time, I was just an actor. I was almost, in a sense like, “Is this going to interfere with my ambitions and goals as an actor?” Then I put that aside quickly and thought to myself, “You know what? This is going to be an awesome six months.” That’s really what I thought. It’s going to be a really fun six months. Here we are, eight years later.

What I’m trying to paint for you is that, the first year was a lot of figuring out how to ride a bike while on a bike. To the credit of Loren Bouchard and Jim Dauterive, they actually went out and tried to find a few people like that. Steven Davis and I being two of them. The Molyneux sisters had never staffed. Holly Schlesinger, a writer here, never staffed. You had a nice mixture of “King of the Hill” alum with people straight out of Starbucks. Straight out of their apartments.

TrunkSpace: Who were all unjaded to the process at that point in their careers.
Yu: Totally unjaded. Not that the older writers were jaded, but when you talk to them, people like Garland Testa who had written on “Roseanne” and Greg Thompson who had written on “3rd Rock from the Sun,” I’m endlessly interested in the stories that they have coming from that generation.

The first two or three years, we were trying to find the show. It’s a very small club. You have the Seth MacFarlane shows, Mike Judge shows, and “The Simpsons” and Matt Groening. To try to even get into that room is presumptuous. It takes a lot of bravado. I think the show is pretty humble and the people that work for it are pretty humble, so we were just like, “Just happy to be here everybody,” while in the corner. And low and behold, I think people started to find it mostly on other media… on Netflix and on Hulu. It pairs nicely with the college kids and I think with marijuana, from what I’m told. It’s a nice pairing. So if you are looking for some marijuana to enjoy while binging some Netflix shows, maybe look int something like this Receptra coupon here or similar.

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) Imagine if it was legal across the country, the ratings would be through the roof.
Yu: (Laughter) We’d make so much money if we could just get everybody stoned, watching “Bob’s Burgers.” Or, at least let those who don’t want to smoke have some cbd infused chewing gum. Fun for all the family, maybe?

TrunkSpace: You also star in “Master of None,” which seems like a really important show in the grand scheme of things because it presents all of these characters of different ethnicity and backgrounds, strips away the stereotypes and just presents them as people. Do you think the series is going to help change the way that Hollywood represents people on screen?
Yu: It’s so funny working on both shows because Bob’s is a slow, lazy river… a perfume that slowly invaded the room. And you hear like, “Did somebody spray perfume?” It takes you 20 minutes to realize it’s there. “Master of None” came out and it was in the zeitgeist. It was in the moment. It was totally right now. It was the cool, hip, popular kid in the room. It just was everything opposite of Bob’s. Yet, such a joy in just the opposite way. I’m writing on Bob’s, I’m acting on “Master of None.” One’s in LA, the other one’s in New York. So I was having these really parallel, totally different experiences flying back and forth.

People of color, gay and lesbian people, and people who might feel less than represented over the past several decades or centuries or feel slightly marginalized, it’s interesting because it’s not new to us. I don’t walk around with chopsticks all the time. I’m just living my life. I think the best thing that Aziz and Alan did, the way that they penetrated or permeated that membrane into relevance, was to make it look really, really attractive.

When you think of “Master of None” in your reptilian brain, people are like, “I want to eat all of those episodes tonight. I want to go home and eat all of it tonight.” I think that’s really genius, because what they’re doing is like sushi in the 80s or yoga in the 90s. It’s this thing that might have been incredibly exotic to mainstream America, that’s just found a way into the culture because people were smart enough to say, “Hey, raw fish is delicious, but I’m not going to freak you out. And we’re not going to shame you and make you feel like you don’t understand Indian people or lesbian people or trans people. We’re going to make it all really fun. And you’re going to feel a part of it.” I think that when I take a step back and look at “Master of None” as a viewer and as a fan of Alan and Aziz, I’m actually really grateful. I realized that they were able to do a service for so many different communities and they had a great time doing it.

Actor and comedian Nik Dodani is about to embark on a career-defining journey that will force the pop culture community to open its eyes wide to the Arizona native’s talents. With a string of high profile projects set for release in the near future, including the new Netflix series “Atypical” on August 11, the creative multi-hyphenate is well on his way to becoming a household name.

We recently sat down with Dodani to discuss sinking or sailing in stand-up, why he transitioned to the spotlight of the stage, and how much he enjoyed being an openly gay actor playing a very straight character.

TrunkSpace: The chicken or the egg question. What came first, acting or comedy?
Dodani: Acting. Acting definitely came first. I started acting when I was a kid back in Arizona. So, I’ve been acting on and off for about 10 years. I only started doing stand-up about two years ago.

TrunkSpace: So if acting came first, do you think that working with the words of other writers helped you when you started working on your own material?
Dodani: I think so, yeah. I think watching comedic actors over the years has really helped understand timing and energy and presence in a way that I think has really helped me in stand-up.

I definitely think that they kind of feed each other. And I think it works the other way too. My stand-up has also helped me in my acting. Being on stage by myself in front of a large crowd, either bombing or doing well, really taught me more about timing and about how to connect with an audience and how collaboration in performance can really change the tone or the way a joke lands.

TrunkSpace: Stand-up really feels like the purest form of content creation in that, what you created is what you’re performing, with no outside influence or participation. You either do well on your own or bomb on your own.
Dodani: Yeah, absolutely. You’re up there by yourself and you have your own story to tell. While you’re on stage it’s a very solitary experience. But I will say, my stand-up community has been a big part in helping me become the comic writer that I’ve been. It’s definitely been a village of people who have helped me get to where I am. It’s a solo performance and you sink or sail on your own, but getting there has definitely been a group effort.

TrunkSpace: Is the most difficult thing with starting a stand-up career finding your own unique voice and presence on stage?
Dodani: For me I think the most difficult part was finding ways to take what I’ve experienced in my life and making that relatable to folks. A lot of my stand-up is about being gay and being Indian and about growing up in Arizona, which I think most people can’t directly relate to. But, you know, I think there are parts of those experiences that are so relatable, in about feeling like an outcast, about feeling like a fish out of water, about struggling to figure out who you are. I think those are all things we can all relate to. When I’m writing, that process of figuring out where I can make that connection, that’s one of the hardest parts for me. But also, the most exciting part and the most fun part. It sounds really cheesy, but it has taught me how similar we all are.

TrunkSpace: You’re about to be recognized for your acting in high profile projects like “Atypical” and “Alex Strangelove.” Do you hope that working in projects like those will open your stand-up to new audiences?
Dodani: It’s always hard to tell how a specific project is going to effect your career. For me, I’m just really excited to be part of these projects and it’s been so much fun being able to work on them. Especially with “Atypical” and “Alex Strangelove,” the specific ones you mentioned, the story that both of those are telling are so powerful. The theme of “Atypcal” is what it means to be normal and that is directly related to the themes that I talk about in my stand-up and things that we all struggle with. And the same with “Alex Strangelove,” it’s about this teenager struggling with his sexuality. And being able to be a part of those stories in a small way has been a really special experience for me.

TrunkSpace: Just before we talked we had a look at how many people had viewed the “Atypical” trailer on YouTube. It was over 257,000 within a 24 hour period. That’s pretty great.
Dodani: Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. I just saw the one on Facebook has like 2.4 million views, which kind of blew my mind.

I think “Atypical” speaks to that thread that kind of runs through all of us. I think we all kind of are made to feel, at some point in our life, that we don’t fit in or that we’re different or weird or not normal. And so I think Sam’s story kind of resonates.

TrunkSpace: Where does your character tie into Sam’s story?
Dodani: I play Zahid, Sam’s ridiculous coworker and best friend who takes it upon himself to teach Sam how to date and how to talk to women and the ways of women. He really treats Sam like he’s anybody else, more than anyone else does in Sam’s life. He just wants Sam to get laid. (Laughter)

At the end of the day he treats him like his equal and his peer. And Zahid is also absolutely a weirdo and I think is someone who’s quirky and odd and relates with Sam’s honesty and his struggles with autism in a way that helps them connect. Zahid is really just there to have Sam’s back and he’s helping him through his journey of trying to figure himself out.

TrunkSpace: While his intentions are pure, is Zahid leading Sam blindly at times?
Dodani: (Laughter) Yeah, I think Zahid thinks he has the best advice, but from an outsider’s perceptive, I don’t think it is great advice all the time. (Laughter) Zahid’s the kind of guy who tries really hard to be cool, really hard to be funny, and doesn’t quite hit the mark always. And so definitely, I think some of his advice is a little off base.

 

TrunkSpace: From a performance standpoint, what drew you to Zahid?
Dodani: Zahid is so different from who I am. Zahid is just very self-confident, goes out there and puts himself out there. He’s very assertive in his attitude and behaviors in a way that I’m just not, especially when it comes to dating. I’m the awkward, shy, really get-in-my-head kind of guy, so being able to play a character that is just so out there was really fun for me. And also, Zahid is very straight and I’m an openly gay actor and comic and that was really exciting for me. You often see examples of straight actors playing gay parts and it’s really fun to be a gay actor playing a straight character.

TrunkSpace: “Atypical” seems like such a great combination of comedy and heartfelt storytelling. It feels a lot like an indie, character-driven film.
Dodani: Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s a spot-on description. It very much has that indie vibe to it and I think folks are going to be feeling a lot of emotions while watching it. It’s definitely funny, but it also is very heartwarming. It can get sad at moments, you cringe in other moments, but it definitely touches on the whole range of emotions and it has that very indie vibe to it.

TrunkSpace: Acting was your first love, but stand-up seems to be taking up a lot of your career energies these days. If a role of a lifetime came along where it kept you busy for multiple seasons, could you step away from stand-up for a period of time?
Dodani: That’s a great question. I love stand-up so much. I kind of started doing stand-up because it was a way to express myself creatively and to have fun, but it’s become this thing that has become such a big part of my life and I absolutely want to continue working on my material and finding my voice in a way that will take time. And so ideally they kind of go hand in hand, but sometimes you never really know the forces that play into this career, and within this industry in particular, and where that takes you.

“Atypical” premieres August 11 on Netflix.

Name: Marinela Zubovic

Hometown: Memphis, TN

Current Location: Los Angeles, CA

TrunkSpace: When did you know that you wanted to act for a living?
Zubovic: I think I always knew ever since I was a kid that I enjoyed entertaining and making people laugh. It just grew into a real option in high school because I was spending all my time in the theater. From then it was about convincing my parents to let me pursue it as a career, and luckily, they did.

TrunkSpace: Was there a particular performance or actor/actress from your childhood that you remember being drawn to and inspired by?
Zubovic: When I was 10 years old, I watched “Resident Evil” on VHS, and I saw Michelle Rodriguez playing Rain. Up to that point, I had only seen Disney princesses or damsels in distress on TV and in film. That was the first time I had seen a woman holding her own around men. I didn’t know roles like that were possible. I think my eyes popped out of my head I was so excited.

TrunkSpace: How did you decide to approach your career as an actor? Did you formulate a plan of how you wanted to attack what is known for being a hard industry to crack?
Zubovic: I knew I had to go to a real conservatory style program and learn how to be a stage actress. I wanted to have a degree and real training behind me so I could have the confidence to walk into a room and know I was qualified to be there. USC SDA really prepared me for that. As for the industry, well I think that takes years to figure out, and I’ve only really started to understand what it means to be a young actress in 2017.

TrunkSpace: When did you decide to move away from your home and pursue acting as a career? How old were you at the time?
Zubovic: I was 18 and I was moving into my dorms at USC to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. It was exciting and terrifying.

TrunkSpace: Was that move an easy transition for you initially? How long did it take you to feel at home and find a good support group of friends and peers?
Zubovic: Going to college in LA is a lot different that actually living in the city. When I graduated, I felt really lost, like everything was new. I lived in a different part of the city, and I was struggling to even get an audition. It’s only been a year since then, and while I feel like I’m understanding LA more, it can still be a challenge. But the people I went to school with are some of my best friends and it’s so reassuring to have them around.

TrunkSpace: What has been been your biggest break in terms of a particular role or project thus far?
Zubovic: I think I’m so new at this that even getting a manager or an agent can be a big break. It feels like you’re climbing a ladder, only every time you make it up a couple of rungs, you go backwards. I’ve learned to appreciate every little thing that comes my way.

TrunkSpace: Is there a specific type of role you’d like to take on or a specific genre that you feel more at home in?
Zubovic: I would love a really gritty, real tortured role. I think too often they put us 20-year-olds in these cushiony roles because they don’t think we’ve experienced life yet. I’d love to get my hands dirty with something really challenging.

TrunkSpace: What would you say is the greatest strength an actor/actress can have outside of acting ability itself?
Zubovic: Know who you are, and don’t let anyone tell you different.

TrunkSpace: What is your ultimate dream when it comes to your acting career? Where would you like your path to lead?
Zubovic: As a child I think I definitely wanted the fame because I didn’t know any better, but a real actor knows that the joy is in the craft, so even something as simple as being able to make a living off of acting alone is my dream, even if I never sign a single autograph. It’s the same goal of making people laugh or cry or making them feel anything that breaks up the monotony of daily life.

TrunkSpace: What advice would you give another young aspiring actor/actress who is considering moving away from home to pursue their dream?
Zubovic: Go to school and get a degree. Plenty of people think that Instagram or YouTube fame is an option, but everyone has to be trained in order to exceed in their particular trade and this industry is no different. Having that solid foundation is what allows you to build an amazing career.

TrunkSpace: Where can people (and casting directors) learn more about you?
Zubovic: You can check out my website ( www.marinelazubovic.com ) or my IMDB page. And of course, Facebook and Instagram by the same name!

As we melt into the dog days of summer and the dread of a winter to come chills us to our sun-loving core, the Hallmark Channel is here to help us embrace what we all wish could be an evergreen season filled with the accumulation of beachfront memories. “Love at the Shore” is the network’s latest foray into seasonal programming and stars Amanda Righetti, an actress who has impressed in everything she has appeared in, including memorable roles in “Colony” and “The Mentalist.”

In slipping into the shoes of her character Jenna, Righetti was excited to step away from the heaviness of her previous roles and spend time with the lighthearted, emotionally-driven storytelling of “Love at the Shore.” Working in television over the years prepared her for the ambitious 15-day shoot, much of which became reliant on the cooperation of Mother Nature. (Thankfully the weather was mostly agreeable!)

We recently sat down with Righetti to discuss cinematic escapism, transitioning from modeling to acting, and if Jason Voorhees is as scary as a broken heart.

TrunkSpace: Hallmark is probably best known for their holiday movies, but they’re actually really great at painting the feelings and emotions of all seasons. With that in mind, what makes “Love at the Shore” a summer movie in terms of painting those feelings and those emotions?
Righetti: Well, Jenna is a novelist. She rents this summer home for her kids to go to. She’s still licking her wounds from a divorce and hasn’t really figured out quite how to move on. It hits her in a very unexpected way. There’s something very juvenile about the way she falls for Lucas (Peter Porte). It’s met with a very adamant, “No, I don’t like him. I don’t have time for relationships.” Sometimes, love doesn’t have bounds. It finds us sometimes in really unexpected places. That’s kind of part of her journey, just relaxing and letting go of control. She trying not to be as neurotic about things and allowing somebody to care for her. Especially considering the tumultuous relationship she has come from.

Nobody expects any marriage to end when they go into it, so there was a certain aspect of sheltering herself and trying to protect herself. That all gets kind of cracked open. It opens her eyes to a new avenue. There’s something really lovely about that journey, and I think everybody can kind of relate to it.

TrunkSpace: Most Hallmark movies end on a happily ever after note, a theme that is actually not common in a lot of other film and television projects these days. Is part of the allure of Hallmark films a sort of a welcomed escapism for people who feel like they’re tapping into a simpler, less chaotic time?
Righetti: Yeah, absolutely. I think there’s so much heaviness on TV that just the idea of escapism, that you don’t have to worry about death and upheaval at the end, there’s something kind of refreshing about it. I think sometimes we need that. We need to be able to tune everything out and not fret about what’s going to happen tomorrow or what’s even happening today.

I think there’s some merit to that. I think we need that sometimes as an audience. Hallmark seems to have that genre pegged.

TrunkSpace: You started your career as a model. Was acting always a part of the plan?
Righetti: Yeah, it’s funny because I actually fell into modeling by way of trying to get into acting, and I guess in some ways I got derailed for a few years by doing the modeling thing, but eventually came back to it. At the age that I started, there was a lot of legal things that would have had to happen, emancipation and things like that. Modeling bought me time until I was 18 and I just could start pursuing it full time.

I wasn’t quite sure even when I did start getting into acting if that was the avenue I was going to go and then I saw myself really falling in love with it. I started to not see myself doing anything else. It clicked for me in a way that I went, “This is it. There’s nothing else I want to do.”

TrunkSpace: Once you had established yourself as a model, did you have to work your way out of the perception of being a model who wanted to act?
Righetti: Yeah, I think that’s what even happens now. I think sometimes it can be tricky. It sounds so cliché, but it’s the “pretty girl syndrome.” You feel like you have to prove that you’re not just a pretty face. That there’s more behind it. I was lucky in the sense that the modeling stuff for me happened all overseas. I haven’t done any domestic modeling, so I wasn’t really fighting against being in some Tommy Hilfiger campaign or something like that, going in, and they’d be like, “Oh wait, aren’t you the face of…?”

It wasn’t like that for me. It was a little bit different. I was doing the Japanese markets and things like that. They were sort of once removed. They kind of never coincided and crossed over with each other in that way. It wasn’t so much about fighting against the modeling as much as it was just fighting against, “Look, I’m more than a pretty face.” I never really brought the modeling into the acting that way, in terms of trying to sell myself.

TrunkSpace: You mention fighting against the pretty face syndrome. Does that also apply to the types of roles you would get offered and read for?
Righetti: Yes, absolutely.

TrunkSpace: Has that changed at all in recent years? Are there more interesting roles for women now than there were when you started your career?
Righetti: Yeah. I think even as I’ve sort of grown up in the business a little bit and because I’ve been doing it for more than a decade, the rules change, too. As you get older, you enter your mid-20s, roles are different than they are when you’re in your late teens. And even into your late 20s or early 30s the roles are a lot different. It seems like things are sort of shifting in the direction of more female-driven characters and female-driven shows. That’s exciting, and really, it’s an exciting time to be part of the business in that way. To be able to explore stuff that usually, many years ago, would have been a male playing certain roles… they’ve started to see things differently and I think audiences want to see something different too. It really lends itself to great opportunity.

TrunkSpace: It feels like the time of “desired demographics” is going to fall to the wayside and good content will just be good content.
Righetti: Well, I think people are open to that. It doesn’t matter what the role is, as long as it’s interesting and you can get behind it and you can find an audience for it. Sometimes people don’t know what they want, they just know what they don’t want. If we can present interesting characters, even if they’re female, it still is worth watching. It’s all opportunity. I think it’s exciting. It’s a great shift and I’m really pleased to see that it’s finally starting to swing in that direction.

TrunkSpace: Looking back, is there any advice you would give to your teenaged self in terms of lessons you’ve learned and wish you could have avoided?
Righetti: (Laughter) That’s a loaded question.

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) It’s a heavy question.
Righetti: Wow, you know… the list could go on and on, or it couldn’t, because I don’t know that I would change anything.

I would say to my younger self to believe and don’t doubt. “Just go for it.” I struggled with a lot of self doubt as a teenager and trying to figure out what I was going to do with my career. I think that would have been a good piece of advice to have known in my heart at that time.

TrunkSpace: Is there a particular project that you learned the most from, not only in terms of the industry but in terms of yourself and your abilities as an actress?
Righetti: Each one I’ve learned something from that unexpectedly, I didn’t really know I would have learned. But, I think that the one I take the most pride in is “Colony.” It was really wonderful to be part of such a collaborative, creative team. And to also be surrounded with such generous and talented actors. The character that they wrote gave me an ability to see so many different colors in a character. I really appreciated that. It exceeded my expectations.

Every project sort of exceeded my expectations in some regard. We didn’t think “The Mentalist” was ever going to do seven seasons. That really exceeded expectations. I never thought that I would learn how to fire a gun or do tactical takedowns and things like that, but there I was and I did. Even going back, “The O.C.” was a huge learning experience for me. I got to work with people that I grew up watching. It was a wonderful experience and those actors were all very generous as well, and very warm and loving. I was a kid. I didn’t know what I was doing and they were all just really lovely to me.

Every project has had its moments of unexpected pleasant surprises. I think most recently “Colony” was really the one that I learned the most from and I think I grew the most through. It could be just the time of my life too, I don’t know.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned “The Mentalist.” You did seven seasons and 132 episodes of that show. It must be interesting to watch a character grow and learn over a long period of time as you yourself are also growing and learning?
Righetti: Yes, absolutely. That’s a really neat thing, looking back. I think I was 24 or 25 when I started that show. I really came into my own as a woman in that show. I had a child when I was doing that show. My life changed a lot. The character was so naive and she kind of came into her own. She went through a lot of things. It’s neat just to see. It’s like the old adage, does art imitate life or life imitate art? “The Mentalist” definitely had certain aspects of that.

TrunkSpace: Finally, we have to ask… who is a better on-screen antagonist. A broken heart, which you deal with in “Love at the Shore,” or Jason Voorhees, who you dealt with in the “Friday the 13th^” remake? It seems like both can be pretty hard on a person.
Righetti: (Laughter) Yeah, both can be hard on a person. I think you can be chased by Jason Voorhees and have a broken heart at the same time. (Laughter)

“Love at the Shore” premieres Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

Artist/Band: Dang Clēts

Members: Connor Cunningham, James Forward, Jake Mills

Website: https://www.facebook.com/dangclets

Hometown: The band formed in Boston, but we’re all from California, and in just a couple weeks we’re moving back to Los Angeles!

Latest Album/Release: Dang Clēts EP

Influences: Beach House, Tame Impala, Future Islands

TrunkSpace: When you strip away the instruments, who is Dang Clēts? Take away the descriptors and the genre labels and what kind of band do you want to be?
Mills: When you strip away the instruments, Dang Clēts is three best friends. We do just about everything together. We want the music to be a portal to our friendship, and the way we’ve come to see it all.

TrunkSpace: The band itself is new, but the members have been performing in and around Boston for years. What lessons did you learn from past musical endeavors that you’re applying to Dang Clēts?
Mills: We learned that our music can be whatever we want it to be, not just the sounds we made trying to sound like indie rock. It’s taken time to be ourselves as musicians and people. Finding that place together has led to a new balance and new sounds. The most important lesson might be in being patient.

TrunkSpace: The music industry seems like a tougher nut to crack than a macadamia. How does a band break through the noise and become relevant in an overcrowded and underfunded landscape?
Mills: If you figure out how to do either of those things we are all ears. But I think it must be by being decent with all the people you come across and letting the music do the rest.

TrunkSpace: The band recently released its self-titled EP. What did you hope to accomplish with the four songs and how long was the process from inception to completion?
Mills: We hoped and still hope that people dig the songs and that we get to play them in strange places. We started recording the EP in January 2017 and finished mixing at the end of March. It took a few more months to get the tracks mastered and get ready for the release.

TrunkSpace: How do the tracks differ from what we’d hear in a live setting?
Mills: Lately I’ve noticed that our builds and dynamics are more emphasized when we play live. The songs are usually given a long leash to find their fit with the band. We don’t want people to miss out on their favorite part of any song, but we also stay away from any kind of exact recreation.

TrunkSpace: Boston is a city known for its great music history, but what is the scene like today in 2017? Is it competitive or is it nurturing?
Mills: It’s nurturing! We’ve found bands in Boston to be responsive and supportive, and you can’t really ask for anything more than that. Venues have also done a great job of carving out their own space and it’s fun to see where touring bands end up. We’ve loved it here.

TrunkSpace: A lot of musicians believe that the city that engulfs them as their home plays a big impact on the art that they create. How has Boston impacted Dang Clēts?
Mills: Boston helped us leave our comfort zone. Grunge is the wrong word to describe what happens here, but there is a level of grittiness that’s loved in guitar-based Boston bands. Maybe it’s because most of us start out in the basements of quirky New England houses. As a band, you want to match the atmosphere of the crowd that ends up there. If it’s going to be sweaty, you might as well be moving. A couple questions ago, you asked about what’s different about our live sound – this definitely left a mark on the noises we’re drawn to.

TrunkSpace: What would be the ultimate dream come true as far as the band’s music is concerned? If the sky is the limit, what’s your sky?
Mills: Our sky is making songs from all the ideas that are stuck in our heads and recorded in voice memos. I think the music comes first but one of our biggest goals is that the project becomes a means to travel. We’re wary of the pains of touring, but I hope we get to share the experience of the road. Dang Clēts needs to feel the road.

TrunkSpace: We read one reviewer call your single “Lines” a song that feels like a “breezy afternoon spent next to the beach.” That being said, where is Dang Clēts music best enjoyed?
Mills: Dang Clēts is best enjoyed where the sun goes down late. But when the feeling’s right, you’ll find it inside the hot cocoa of a snow storm.

TrunkSpace: You guys use that crazy E in your name, causing us to search in our “INSERT SPECIAL CHARACTER” section for it. WHY?!?!
Mills: I’ll tell you why. It’s because there is no urgency. And Dang Cleats didn’t feel quite right. But we are grateful to you (and everyone else out there who inserts a special character) for your patience. If it doesn’t happen, we don’t take offense.

TrunkSpace: What else can fans of Dang Clēts look forward to for the rest of 2017 and into the new year?
Mills: We are going to California! Once we get there, we will record more music, release said music, and gear up for a tour. Can we come visit?

There have been plenty of talented people with the name Jackson who have left their mark on pop culture. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, is an obvious one. Randy Jackson, the “American Idol” judge and record producer who made “dawg” a household phrase. Shoeless Joe Jackson, the famed and shamed professional baseball player who later became fictionalized in “Field of Dreams.” And Samuel L. Jackson, the iconic “Pulp Fiction” actor who once had to fight motherfucking snakes on a motherfucking plane.

The list could go on and on, but only ONE Jackson has shared a passionate screen kiss with his scene partner while having a human eyeball pass back and forth between their lips. (At least we think he’s the only Jackson to do that. Truth be told, we haven’t actually fact checked that because it just felt like a safe assumption.)

South African-based actor Craig Jackson plays slacks-wearing, serial killing, lap-dogging Cliff in our favorite man-eating car drama “Blood Drive.” And the fact that we can even say that sentence out loud proves just how cool this interview is going to be, so put on a bib because you’re in for a treat!

We recently sat down with Jackson to discuss bloodthirsty love, putting the pedal to the hybrid metal, and why he’s so proud of having worked on the series.

TrunkSpace: We have been asking this of every “Blood Drive” cast member we speak with because, well, it just seems like an obvious first question. (Laughter) Did you ever wonder if the material you were working on in “Blood Drive” would ever make it to air?
Jackson: All the time! When I read the line, “Back door entrance, Barbie,” my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I thought they might censor some of the material. I’m just so glad it all stayed in. It was just so out there and crazy and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard!

TrunkSpace: What is interesting about the show is, due to the premise, many of the actors had on-screen partners, in your case Jenny Stead. Do you think that helped the actors find their sea legs in a series that is so over-the-top… being able to instantly rely on a scene partner who is also your character’s partner?
Jackson: Definitely! When Jenny and I first met at the studio, we hit it off immediately! I remember the crew asking me if we had known each other for years! It was nerve-racking coming into this series, because it was so off-the-wall and we were worried where to pitch our performances, being comfortable with each other made everything so much easier. Jenny is a really funny and talented actress, working with her was such a pleasure.

TrunkSpace: Your character Cliff is going through what a lot of long-married people go through. He is wondering what happened to the excitement and spark that he and his wife had in the early years of their relationship. However, Cliff’s excitement and spark involves the longing to return to a life as a serial killer. Was it fun tapping into that totally relatable concept, and yet, sooooo not relatable at the same time?
Jackson: Such fun! I think Cliff is “comfortable” with their marriage and doesn’t like change too much, but adores Domi and would do anything for her even though she’s a ball busting narcissist who drives him crazy. Domi is on a mission to find that spark again and Cliff follows like the lap dog he is.

TrunkSpace: A bit of Cliff’s backstory is discussed through some reminiscing with Jenny’s character Domi. Did you two explore that even further, either together or with creator James Roland? Perhaps, how the two ultimately met and fell in bloodthirsty love together?
Jackson: Jenny and I came up with a backstory, which was very dark. Cliff and Domi knew each other at a young age and fell in love when he helped her kill her parents. They realized then that they were soulmates. Years before entering the “Blood Drive” race, Domi had a miscarriage and Cliff saw the dead fetus, which put him off killing. This event has affected their relationship and their marriage had stagnated as they didn’t kill together anymore.

Before we shot our very first scene (the eyeball kiss), I spoke to James about my character. He said what he loved about my audition was that I reminded him of Winnie The Pooh! I loved that!

TrunkSpace: The amazing thing about Cliff is that although he looks like a suburban super dad on the surface, he is probably one of the more better equipped characters for this world, at least mentally. Hell, even Rib Bone had a weakness in the dog! Do you feel like Cliff is sort of the big psycho fish in the small “Blood Drive” pond?
Jackson: For sure. That’s what I love about the characters that James has written. They look so normal. Your typical harmless, middle American couple, who are repulsed by the other drivers. They see them as lower class. Even though Cliff is a ball–busted whipping boy to Domi, his inner rage is unrivaled. When he loses it, he is a bad ass! And coupled with Domi,… well, lets just say… Arthur and Grace wouldn’t get out of their starting blocks!

TrunkSpace: We just spoke of weakness. Would Cliff’s weakness be Domi?
Jackson: 100 percent. Even though she drives him crazy, he would be nothing without her. Oh, and the Prius! I mean, how emasculating can you get? Cliff would have loved a cool mustang, but NO! Domi insisted on a slow HYBRID!!!!

Domi: (staring at Cliff) Tone.
Cliff: Yes, Dear…

TrunkSpace: Eyeball make out session! How does one prepare for something like that?
Jackson: Hubba Bubba chewing gum.

I was really excited! Before shooting the scene, I thought to myself, “Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would be shooting a kissing scene with an eyeball! How great is my life right now!” The environment was so relaxed. We had such a great team around us and it was such a pleasure being directed by James Roday.

TrunkSpace: Just out of curiEYEsity… what was the actual prop eye made of?
Jackson: Plastic dipped in some sweet blood syrup. Yummy!

TrunkSpace: How do you share your new gig with family when said gig is a show with cars that eat people and a character who is mouth-swapping eyeballs? What is that conversation like?
Jackson: Well, my family find it hilarious but can’t quite get their heads around the concept, but they are all very supportive and eager to see the show. I love watching my wife’s face when she watches the eyeball scene. It’s a look of pride with moments of disgust.

TrunkSpace: “Blood Drive” is so very unlike anything else on television. That statement is said a lot about a great number of shows, but usually it’s just said for the sake of saying it. It truly is the case with your show. Does that make being involved with it feel all the more special?
Jackson: Absolutely. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun. Not being 100 percent sure how this show would turn out was both frightening and exciting and I’m so proud of the finished product. This show isn’t just about blood and gore, there are amazing, clever themes running through each episode and James Roland has done a sterling job. It was an awesome team to work with! I have also made lifelong friends. I’ve just got back from the United Kingdom where I met up with Marama, Thomas and Andrew. What a lovely, talented team! South Africa misses you guys! COME BACK SOON!

TrunkSpace: You spent multiple seasons starring in “Black Sails” as Featherstone. What did your time on that series teach you about working with the same character over a prolonged period of time
Jackson: I find the longer you play a character the easier it becomes. You’re more at ease when delivering dialogue and can play more and try different things. We also had amazing script writers in Jon Steinberg/Robert Levine and Dan Shotz, which makes an actors work a whole lot easier.

TrunkSpace: When you look at your career moving forward, what would you like to accomplish? Do you have bucket list items that you want to check off in your career?
Jackson: I love what I do and want to keep doing challenging roles, whether it be for film, television or stage. An award or two would also be nice!