wingman wednesday

That ringing bell you hear signals that a TrunkSpace class is now in session. Overseeing our lesson in funny is “Teachers” star Kate Lambert, one-sixth of the comedy troupe The Katydids. In addition to portraying Ms. Watson in the TV Land sitcom, she is also co-creator, executive producer, and writer. That’s a lot of hats to wear anywhere but especially in a school, a place where wearing hats is generally frowned upon.

The second half of season 2 of “Teachers” kicks off tonight on TV Land.

We recently sat down with Watson to discuss the enjoyment of being involved in all stages of production, how acting is one of her first loves, and why she would never make Billy Joel a merman.

TrunkSpace: Is being in a comedy ensemble anything at all like being in a band? Is the relationship similar? If The Katydids were to break up, would you go on a “farewell tour” à la KISS?
Lambert: I think it can be a lot like a band – everyone has something different and special they bring to it. On the administrative side, it’s a lot of coordinating schedules, etc. And on the creative side, it’s combining different voices into something cohesive. We would for sure go on a farewell tour like KISS, but mostly for the face paint.

TrunkSpace: The second half of your TV Land series “Teachers” kicks off tonight. For those who aren’t familiar with your journey, how did the show ultimately come together and was it a long process from inception to your first day of shooting?
Lambert: We started out as an improv group in Chicago. Caitlin Barlow put the group together and at first it was more of a bit because we all had a version of the name Katherine: Caitlin, Katie, Katie, Kate, Cate, and Katy. We called ourselves The Katydids and we did a few one-off shows and didn’t think anything would come of it, but then we eventually did a run at a theater and there was something about that run that was just different. We decided that we wanted to do the most with the group that we possibly could. So we hired a coach and started rehearsing. When we got a run at iO, we made sketch videos promoting it. I thought that instead of hanging up a flier with the name of a group that people might not know, we could instead show them what our humor was like with these videos and that might get them to come to our show. After that, we started making sketch videos.

Matt Miller, a director and casting director in Chicago, approached us with the idea of doing a webseries about “Teachers.” Then everyone created their individual characters and we wrote the webseries. When we released the webseries, it took off right away. An agent at William Morris, Alec Botnick, took us on so that we could work on selling it as a TV show. TV Land then called WME looking for original content and were sent our sizzle reel and they made an offer. So we were incredibly lucky in that we sold the show before we ever had to go out and pitch it.

TrunkSpace: Speaking of that first day on set for “Teachers,” was it exhilarating, terrifying, or a combination of the two?
Lambert: I just remember being on cloud nine. It was so incredibly exciting to see so many people working on this big set in Los Angeles that used to be just a dream we had when we lived in Chicago. It was a lot of trying-not-to-cry moments and just being so incredibly grateful for the opportunity.

TrunkSpace: Now that you have been a part of the production machine for two seasons, do you still find any aspects of the process exhilarating, terrifying, or a combination of the two?
Lambert: I really love it all. As producers, we are hands on for so much of the process. We are in the writers’ room, at production meetings, on set giving notes, and in the editing room. I enjoy so much of it. I think editing is fascinating because it can make or break any moment. It’s the final writing of the episode.

TrunkSpace: Do you think “Teachers” could exist in its current form on one of the more mainstream networks? Is TV Land the perfect home for it not only because you’re making the show that you want to make, but also because there is less pressure to pull the maximum amount of eyeballs with each episode, which seems like a recipe for ulcers for those creators looking to make their mark with new, original content on something like a FOX or ABC?
Lambert: I think TV Land is the perfect place for “Teachers.” The network completely gets the show – it’s irreverent but it also has heart. They have allowed us to do the show we always dreamed of doing and that we think is funny. We are so grateful to them for their support and feedback. It’s made it a stronger show.

TrunkSpace: As a group, you’re all writing, producing, and starring in the show. Now that you’re two seasons deep, what is your favorite hat to wear in the process and why?
Lambert: I honestly don’t know if I could pick one. All of it involves things that I absolutely love. The writing process is so much fun because it’s limitless in what we can create for these characters and I love the process of pitching storylines, jokes, etc. I also really enjoy being on set. I have a big interest in eventually directing as well, so watching on set, giving notes, etc. is really interesting to me. Of course, acting is one of my first loves, and being able to do characters we created with the ideas we came up with in the writers’ room for such a big audience is really exciting.

TrunkSpace: In your opinion, how important is it that more women are not only spearheading content in Hollywood, but making the decisions on who those spearheaders (totally not a word but we’re running with it) should be? Do you hope that “Teachers” can help open the door for more women creators to get their projects greenlit?
Lambert: I think it is an incredibly exciting time. There are so many women who are creating and producing shows. They are inspiring and making the way for other women. There are so many people in this industry that I admire who have done that – Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Abbi Jacobson, Ilana Glazer, Shonda Rhimes, Lena Dunham, to name a handful. I hope that “Teachers” can do the same for people. The reason that we have a show in the first place is because we did not wait for someone to give us a part or tell us what to play – we decided how we were going to put ourselves and our work out there.

TrunkSpace: One of the things we always point out when it comes to music is that (and this goes back to our first question in a way) when a band is made up of all men, nobody calls it a man band, however, when a band is made up of all women, they call it a girl band. Why isn’t a band just a band and a group of comedians/creators just comedians who create? Are we getting closer to gender not being used as a label in entertainment?
Lambert: That is a great question and one that I think many of us find ourselves asking. I think that as more and more women get leadership roles in the industry and are in creative positions, that it will become less of a thing.

TrunkSpace: And Kate, we have to ask… we read in your bio that you’re dying to see Billy Joel in concert and that you still dream of being a mermaid. Would the ultimate dream then be – seeing Billy Joel in an underwater concert while living your life as a mermaid? Kind of the best of both worlds if Billy Joel was a merman too, right?
Lambert: Wow, my head just exploded even thinking about that possibility. Yes, seeing Billy Joel in concert is on my bucket list. He is one of my all time favorite musicians and I have always wanted to see a live show of his. But I wouldn’t make Billy Joel a merman; he needs his feet for the piano pedals.

TrunkSpace: Your story of how The Katydids first came together and how the group grew into what it is sounds very reminiscent of your executive producer Alison Brie’s Netflix series “GLOW,” only with less wrestling and more comedy. Has anyone made that comparison before, because it really does sounds similar in terms of the journey?
Lambert: I haven’t gotten that comparison before, but it is a huge compliment!

TrunkSpace: With that in mind, if someone with very deep pockets said, “We really want to tell The Katydids story in the form of a comedic series, BUT, you can’t play yourselves.” Terrible decision on the network’s part, BUT, you end up having say over the casting process. Who do you vote for playing you on screen?
Lambert: Jane Fonda, only so I can be associated with her in some way. I adore her and have always admired her.

TrunkSpace: What are you most excited for viewers to see in the second half of season 2?
Lambert: I really love that in season 2, we learn even more about the characters and see them in different lights. Also – there are some pretty exciting life moments that happen to several of the teachers.

To visit “Teachers” co-star Caitlin Barlow’s classroom, click here.

“Teachers” airs Tuesdays on TV Land.

Albert Tsai may be considered a child actor, but this young adult displays more maturity than most of the actual adults we know, and that’s not excluding ourselves. With an impressive career that has already spanned half a decade, the 13-year-old has mastered the art of making people laugh, which he has done opposite industry heavyweights like Malin Akerman and Ken Jeong through his early work in “Trophy Wife” and “Dr. Ken.” His latest project is the Mark Feuerstein-created sitcom “9JKL” airing Mondays on CBS.

We recently sat down with Tsai to discuss his love for entertaining, how he’s always absorbing knowledge while on set, and why individual episodes represent their own contribution to a show’s overall story.

TrunkSpace: You’ve been acting professionally for a long time now. What is it about entertaining that you personally enjoy most?
Tsai: I love making people laugh, making people happy, and that’s why I love doing comedy. I love acting because I feel like I get to play different roles and be in different lives, almost like being a different person, and playing different kinds of characters. That’s what I really love about it, and also, exploring the different stories and scripts that I get.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned getting to play different types of roles. With that said, what is your process for finding a character? How do you connect with them?
Tsai: Whenever I get a new character, I always like to look at the little description, kind of a breakdown of what the character is that they give me. I’ll look at that and then read the lines that I have in the script and just imagine what the character would be like in real life and form his personality almost. Then, after I meet with the director or producers or writers, I will take in their notes and kind of mesh it.

TrunkSpace: Do you ever get into a situation where you think you have a character figured out, and then you meet with the creative team and they give you insight that you didn’t consider?
Tsai: Yeah, of course. I always like to incorporate what the director or writers think because they have a hand in also creating the character. It’s just a medley of all of our notes and who we think the character is.

For example, for Ian in “9JKL”, a major part of his personality is that he is a precocious latchkey kid who sits in the lobby a lot. He’s quite mature because he talks with all the adults that come in and out of the lobby. Also, he’s a cinephile, a movie buff, so he always likes to talk about different movies or plays or whatever.

TrunkSpace: “9JKL” is another sitcom in a series of great sitcoms over the course of your career. Do you wish to maintain your path in the comedy space or do you hope to branch out and do some serious drama?
Tsai: I love comedy, like I said earlier, and making people laugh, but I think also it would be great if I could do maybe some action or adventure stuff, like a feature film. I think that would be great, and it’d be a new experience for me because those characters are different. I feel like they’re developed more heavily also, so that would be a very interesting experience for me.

TrunkSpace: And we would imagine that the timing is different? You’re not having to find a joke within the dialogue.
Tsai: Yeah, like it’s not taken beat by beat. I feel like dramas or action and adventure, feature films in general, they’re more plot driven. It’s all about advancing the story and getting to the resolution.

TrunkSpace: We actually saw that you’re producing a project right now, which is not something you tend to see a lot of 13-year-olds doing. Is that something you’re hoping to continue doing in the future?
Tsai: I’ve always been interested in the behind-the-scenes part of things. Ever since doing my first show, the ABC family comedy “Trophy Wife,” I’ve been interested in how the entire production team – the director, the writers, the cast – how we all put together a TV show and we all do our part. I’ve always loved learning about directing or producing, and I think that would be great for me to do in the future. It’d be a lot of fun.

TrunkSpace: “Trophy Wife,” “Dr. Ken,” and now “9JKL” are all shows with incredible talent both in front of and behind the camera. Do you look at your jobs as an education as well, having the opportunity to learn from all of these successful people within the industry?
Tsai: I’m very curious about what happens on set, so I always like to learn from everybody and everything that’s happening during my projects. For example, “Trophy Wife” was a single-camera comedy, and “Dr. Ken” was a multi-camera comedy. They both had different aspects to them that I learned from. I think it’s great that I’ve done different types of projects and I’m very grateful for it.

TrunkSpace: In terms of “9JKL,” how does the show and character differ from other work you’ve done? What is exciting about it for you?
Tsai: Well, my previous shows, they’ve both been family comedies, and I’ve been part of the family. I played the main characters’ son. Now I’m outside of the family, so it’s kind of a different character perspective and almost a different experience when delivering the lines and how this character, Ian, interacts with the other characters.

TrunkSpace: Would you say the comedy itself is tonally different from previous comedies you’ve worked on?
Tsai: A little bit because I feel like because the main family is all adults, it’s slightly more adult-driven even, but there’s still those family dynamics that are really fun.

TrunkSpace: You worked on “Dr. Ken” for over 40 episodes. Over 20 on “Trophy Wife.” Is it fun for you to play the same character over an extended period of time?
Tsai: Because I feel like, especially with comedies, how each episode is kind of its own isolated story – I mean, they all interlink, but they’re their own story arcs – I feel like even though I’m playing the same character, getting the script every week is really exciting for me because it’s a completely new story. We might find out a new part of the character’s personality, or something really fun might happen. I feel like each episode is its own piece of the entire TV show’s story.

“9JKL” airs Mondays on CBS.

Featured image by: Wes Klain

Even though our slowly-shrinking jack-o-lanterns are still sitting on our stoops and our various Halloween costumes are slung over the backs of chairs, the changing of the calendar from October to November means only one thing for those particularly festive people like us… it’s the unofficial start of the holiday season!

Thanks to Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, our inner inflatable, oversized, holiday-themed lawn decoration is being filled with seasonal wonder from now through December as a magical series of Christmas movies pump our holiday spirit to maximum capacity. Premiering this Saturday on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is “The Perfect Christmas Present” starring Tara Holt and Sam Page.

We recently sat down with Holt to discuss going blue, why people love Holiday movies, and what her version of the perfect Christmas present would be.

TrunkSpace: You went from “Z Nation” to Hallmark Movies & Mysteries’ “The Perfect Christmas Present.” That’s a pretty diverse year, which as an actress, must be part of the fun of the job, right?
Holt: Yeah, you know, it’s been interesting, for sure. It’s definitely all sides of the spectrum. The role on “Z Nation” was something that when I was going out for it, I actually didn’t know that my character was blue until I’d gotten the part.

TrunkSpace: Surprise! (Laughter)
Holt: (Laughter) “Surprise, you’re blue.”

So that was really interesting, spending the entire summer as a blue half-human/half-zombie. It’s something I’d never done before, and I’m not so sure I’ll ever do again, necessarily. So I mean, I take it as it is, you know? It was a cool, different experience, and totally on the other side of the spectrum from “The Perfect Christmas Present,” which was just so fun. It was just totally different from any sort of dramatic role that I’ve done. It was lighthearted and easy to shoot, and it was a pleasure to be on that set. I didn’t have to go to any deep, dark crazy places emotionally, so that was nice. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: On a project like “The Perfect Christmas Present,” it’s really about the human connection side of the performance, right?
Holt: Absolutely. It’s so fun because they were so easy to connect with. It made my job so easy, and it was just really a breeze. Sometimes you get off of shooting an overly dramatic thing, any sort of horror, or any sort of extremely emotional thing, and to hop on a comedy or something like “The Perfect Christmas Present,” it’s such a relaxing situation because you just get to connect with the other person.

TrunkSpace: The makeup is barely dry on our Halloween costumes. What advice do you give us to transition our brains from spooky spirits to finding our holiday spirits?
Holt: It’s gonna happen very fast. You get four days to figure it out! (Laughter)

What’s nice about it is, I think Christmas is a great representation of all the holidays as a whole, so as soon as the holidays are approaching, Christmas is kind of a staple to that. Halloween and Thanksgiving are the buildup, but I think Christmas is the overall umbrella for it all. I don’t think there’s any time to start… you can’t start Christmas too early. In fact, I have friends who have their Christmas lights up all year round. I’m a huge Christmas person. I don’t think there’s any harm in starting it November 4, or earlier.

The other thing is, it’s nice because I’ve been going into some stores, and they’re already in the Christmas spirit. I was like, “Whoa, okay… we’re there.” In our society, as soon as Halloween is over, you better believe that it’s switching to Christmas.

TrunkSpace: The movie is actually kicking off the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Most Wonderful Movies of Christmas programming event. That has to be pretty exciting that they chose your film to launch such a big event for the network?
Holt: Yeah, we knew we had something special going on as we were filming. After each day we just knew we were surpassing what was expected, and doing it more justice than I think any of us knew we were initially going to do, so I’m actually very pleasantly surprised that they chose it for this position.

TrunkSpace: Why do you think this type of seasonal content continues to resonate with so many people?
Holt: I think there’s something very heartwarming about this kind of thing, because you get your family together, everyone sits down, you’re all together on the couch, you’re probably having some snacks while you’re watching it, having some laughs, having some feel-good moments and you’re with the people you love. It’s a moment to get lost in another world, and obviously there are some fantasy elements to all of the Christmas movies, and it’s a really fun world to escape into, especially before everyone’s really geared up and ready for Christmas. It’s such a great moment for everyone to start and sort of slip into that element early on. So that’s why I’m excited – to be the first one to start off the holiday season.

TrunkSpace: From a performance standpoint, was it easy for you to discover who Jenny was? Did you have time to absorb the material and discover her as a character?
Holt: Yeah, I thankfully got a few weeks beforehand where I was really able to dive into my own character and kind of answer all those questions for me and make sure that I knew her inside and out before I stepped onto the set. I didn’t, however, get a chance to meet Sam Page, who plays opposite me, and Blair Hayes, who’s the director, until the day before filming. Thankfully, they’re lovely and such a great crowd to work with. It was really, really easy to fit in with them. When Sam and I started off, our first scene was kind of an argument and it was interesting because we had to break a connection there that hadn’t really quite been built yet. But thankfully, he’s so amazing to work with and such a great actor that it was really easy for us to have had that relationship built, for us to be in that place, to break it, even just in a day.

And overall, in comparison to some of the other roles I’ve done, this one didn’t require some crazy, dark niche and extreme studying to do beforehand. She’s such a sweet, loving person, and works for the charities, and does have some pain in her life that involves her family members and her upbringing, but overall, I didn’t have to get into the mind of, like the “Z Nation” show, where I’m like a half-human/half-zombie and I’m actually mentally five-years-old in a 28-year-old’s body. That was complicated. This one wasn’t so complicated. That was what was so great, the simplicity of her.

TrunkSpace: And in this one, you didn’t have to have blue skin!
Holt: I do not have blue skin, thankfully, in this one. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: It’s an obvious question for the star of “The Perfect Christmas Present” but we have to ask it… what would the perfect Christmas present be for you this year?
Holt: Wow, you know, surprisingly I haven’t gotten to that yet, so I haven’t really thought about it. I am very fortunate right now in my life to say that I have mostly everything that I’ve ever wanted, but there is something I’m working toward as an adult. “As an adult now…” (Laughter) I’m working towards purchasing my first home, so that is something that I would like to give to myself.

But as far as the perfect Christmas gift that somebody else could give me… I’m way bigger on life experiences over an actual tangible item, so I would have to say the perfect Christmas gift for me would be a trip somewhere – somewhere that I’ve never been. Hands-down, life experiences over anything for me.

“The Perfect Christmas Present” airs Saturday on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

For many diehard “Supernatural” fans who have been watching throughout the course of these 13 seasons (and counting!), identifying actors who have appeared in multiple roles has become a bit of a side game. With such a vast universe to inhabit and more than 260 episodes already under their demon-hunting belts, it’s virtually impossible to have so many guest stars written into the series and not have them reappear a few years later. And when their as talented as Canadian-born Billy Wickman, it makes just as much creative sense as it does the logical variety.

We recently sat down with Wickman to discuss how he put physical separation between his two SPN characters, the handsomeness of the Winchester boys, and getting to play a Hallmark Channel villain.

TrunkSpace: You’ve played two characters within the “Supernatural” universe, which as we understand it, is not uncommon with that particular show. That being said, is that a common occurrence with other shows or does the tenure of “Supernatural” just make it impossible not to have that option available to the casting directors?
Wickman: That’s exactly right, when a show has been around as long as “Supernatural,” they have to start dipping back into the same talent pool. Most shows won’t see you twice, or even once, if you’ve appeared in the same “universe” on another show.

TrunkSpace: What is that experience like? When you’re playing two characters within the same universe, and knowing how passionate that fandom is, do you purposely try to separate yourself from what you’ve done previously, both physically and through performance?
Wickman: Absolutely. For my second time around we darkened my hair and beard and I played Elvis as an experienced extrovert, as opposed to “Brian”, the fresh-faced fearful youngster.

TrunkSpace: For us, your more memorable turn was as Elvis Katz in the season 12 episode, “Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox.” The episode itself had a classic horror vibe, but more importantly, the character was very memorable. What did you look to bring to the role when you first read the sides?
Wickman: I wanted him to be warm and human, even during his friend’s memorial, to remind us why Hunters fight for our side. Demon hunting is serious, but you have to live to be human.

TrunkSpace: In that episode you played a Hunter, which in our book, really puts you in the meat of the lore because there’s so few Hunter’s within the universe. Do you feel like that by playing Elvis you have left your fingerprint on the franchise in a way?
Wickman: Hunters are a pretty elite group and I am very proud to be in the company of such great characters and the amazing actors portraying them.

TrunkSpace: The “Supernatural” fandom, or the SPN Family as they have come to be called, is extremely passionate and fully invested in the world and characters who inhabit it. Over the course of 13 seasons, there’s a lot for them to love, but have you felt that fandom’s reach directly following your performances within the series? Is that fandom as welcoming to guest stars as it is their favorite series regulars and reoccurring characters?
Wickman: The SPN Family is incredible, and your reach is huge! I have received my largest Twitter bump yet from you all. The Fam loves Jared & Jensen so much that it’s probably easy to miss a guest, but I still feel a lot of appreciation for our work and I appreciate it right back!

TrunkSpace: As we previously touched on, the series is currently in its 13th season. In your opinion, what is it about the show that has driven so many people towards it for such a long period of time? Why has it been successful for so long while other shows can’t maintain that kind of longevity?
Wickman: It doesn’t hurt that these are two of the most handsome dudes I’ve ever met, but they’re also super friendly and hard working. I’ve known them each for a long time now, and they’ve always been fun, open to ideas, and constantly improving. Also, the show has such credibility that we can get a legendary director like John Badham to come in and lead us.

TrunkSpace: You have also guested or reoccurred on some other great shows with passionate fandoms, including “The X Files,” “Arrow, “Falling Skies,” and “Hell on Wheels.” When you’re joining a show that has been filming for such a long period of time, even as a guest star, is there a level of anxiousness coming into something that already has a particular tone and way of doing things on set? Does it feel a bit like you’re the new kid in a school where everyone already knows each other?
Wickman: (Laughter) That’s exactly what it feels like! It takes a minute to get that out of your head, but you have to remember that everyone there is on your side and wants you to succeed. It can really help if the director and lead actors express their trust in you early, but usually they’re busy doing their jobs too. The best you can do is stay confident in the talent that got you there, and you’ll be welcomed into the family quicker than you think.

TrunkSpace: You come from a big family with lots of siblings. Did that upbringing shape you into the actor that you’ve become? Did having a lot of siblings put you in a position to entertain and have an audience from a young age?
Wickman: Being the sixth of seven kids taught me to fight for, and earn an audience. You don’t get much stage time at a busy dinner table, so you need to be quick and interesting!

TrunkSpace: You were born and raised in Canada and work there extensively. From what you’ve seen, has the Canadian production industry continued to grow and expand since you started your career and has it presented more opportunities for actors to stay in Canada without having to consider moves to Los Angeles or New York?
Wickman: I have seen our industry fluctuate, but it is definitely on the incline now. Vancouver used to be a training ground for LA, but with the quantity and quality of productions here now, and the stunning natural beauty, many successful actors are choosing to stay here.

TrunkSpace: You’ll be appearing in the upcoming Hallmark Channel holiday movie “Finding Santa” premiering November 24. Can you tell us about your character and where he falls into things?
Wickman: I play Clint, he’s the closest thing to a villain you’ll find in a Hallmark Christmas movie. He is the epitome of entitlement, the mayor’s son, who still lives in her basement. Clint is given the part of Santa in the annual parade, much to the disappointment of the entire town. I had a great time on that set, with a lot of hilariously talented people. It was my second time working with director David Winning (first was “Van Helsing” episode “Big Mama” airing November 23). He is one of my all-time favorite people.

TrunkSpace: The Hallmark Channel holiday offerings are always extremely popular and come with a built-in audience. Why do you think they consistently do so well year in and year out?
Wickman: Hallmark fans know what to expect with those films. As in life; family, community, hope, and happiness are major themes visited in every project. Hallmark has a direct line to America’s heartstrings. (Ooh, that sounds good!)

Thanks for inviting me to chat, it was my pleasure, much love to the SPN Family!

Feature image by: Bryce Bladon Photography

Even though our slowly-shrinking jack-o’-lanterns are still sitting on our stoops and our various Halloween costumes are slung over the backs of chairs, the changing of the calendar from October to November means only one thing for those particularly festive people like us… it’s the unofficial start of the holiday season!

Thanks to Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, our inner inflatable, oversized, holiday-themed lawn decoration is being filled with seasonal wonder from now through December as a magical series of Christmas movies pump our holiday spirit to maximum capacity. Premiering this Saturday on Hallmark Channel is “Christmas Festival of Ice” starring Taylor Cole and Damon Runyan.

We recently sat down with Cole to discuss the draw of Christmas content, why she so easily connected with her character Emma, and her own favorite holiday memory.

TrunkSpace: Your new holiday Hallmark Channel film “Christmas Festival of Ice” premieres just a few days after Halloween. For all of us who are still nursing candy corn hangovers, how do we jump start our brains to transition from spooky spirits to finding our holiday spirit?
Cole: The crisp air and new latte flavors, of course. Also, I’ve already started planning my family get-together and there’s nothing like family to bring in the holiday spirit.

TrunkSpace: The film is a part of the network’s “Countdown to Christmas” programming event. People love the holidays and they love Hallmark Channel original programming. The marriage of the two seems like a no-brainer. In your opinion, why does this particular type of seasonal content resonate with so many viewers?
Cole: I think Hallmark Christmas movies evoke a sense of nostalgia that people are yearning for during the holidays.

TrunkSpace: In the film you’re playing fresh-out-of-law-school Emma Parkers who returns to her small town only to discover that an ice sculpting competition that means a lot to her has been cancelled. The two elements that are most often discussed as relating to holiday Hallmark Channel movies are relationships and the holidays themselves, but a big part of their allure is the environment of a community that they establish. In terms of “Christmas Festival of Ice,” how important is that element of community and the town itself to the overall story and to who Emma is?
Cole: Emma really discovers herself through fundraising for her favorite childhood pastime with the help of her community. Giving back and creating memories for the town again makes her realize her passion in life might be different from what others expect her to be.

TrunkSpace: Was it an easy journey for you to discover just who Emma was? It is our understanding that things move pretty quickly from the moment you land the part to the first day of photography. Did you have time to absorb the material and connect with the character?
Cole: I connected with Emma immediately because of her connection with her father and the activities they bonded over. My favorite memories as a child were camping with my father and road tripping to volleyball games. I recently bought a trailer and spent the last year and a half traveling the US driving from job to job for that very reason.

TrunkSpace: From a performance standpoint, what was your favorite moment in your journey as Emma? Is there a particular scene or aspect of the story that you’re most excited for viewers to see?
Cole: The last scene with my father was hands-down my favorite scene. I’m a daddy’s girl and that bond is beautiful and unbreakable.

TrunkSpace: Speaking of viewers, Hallmark Channel has a very passionate fandom. Coined Hallmarkies online, they love all things Hallmark Channel, especially seasonal content. As an actress, is it rewarding to be working on a project that not only has a built-in fan base where you know people will show up for the premiere, but is also something that the entire family can share in?
Cole: The fans are so great because they are so genuine and loyal. What more can you ask for? My favorite part of Hallmark is the family bond it has created for so many families, including mine.

TrunkSpace: We here at TrunkSpace are admittedly a bit obsessed with all things “Supernatural.” We know that you appeared in two episodes with a large gap in between, so we’re curious, how much of a surprise was it when you received the call to reprise the role of Sarah Blake in season 8?
Cole: I always thought it would be an interesting storyline to continue considering she was Sam’s first love interest after his great loss, but it was so early in the show I wasn’t sure there’d be room for a love interest. So getting a call seven seasons later was definitely a surprise.

TrunkSpace: As someone who was on set in the inaugural first season and then again in season 8, does it come as a surprise that the show is currently still going strong in its 13th season?
Cole: The blend of the boys charm and the humor and adventure in the writing are a winning combination. And you can’t beat their fans. Their passion reminds me of Hallmark fans. They are the reason Sarah Blake returned to the show. That episode was used to kill off everyone that the fans begged to have back, which I think is kind of genius. They’ve done it all and the fans can’t get enough.

TrunkSpace: You’ve starred and guested in a lot of great, memorable shows over the years. Is there a particular character that you wished you got more time with to explore further and why?
Cole: I really enjoyed playing Sofya Voronova on “The Originals.” It was fun to have the challenge of playing two characters in season 4. Working and growing with such gifted talent inspired me everyday.

TrunkSpace: Again, “Christmas Festival of Ice” is part of the Countdown to Christmas programming event. What is one of your favorite holiday memories and what do you most look forward to each year as the season kicks off?
Cole: My arts and craft skills are not up to par so my favorite thing to do is attempt any cute holiday idea and see how poorly I can execute it. My favorite holiday memory was asking my dad to dress up as Santa so I could catch him leaving gifts under the tree.

“Christmas Festival of Ice” premieres Saturday on Hallmark Channel.

Keller Wortham is not only a recognizable actor with a reoccurring role on the hit series “Jane the Virgin,” he’s also a working doctor who has mastered the art of juggling auditions and on-set commitments while seeing patients as a general practitioner from his office in Glendale, California. He’s also a dreamy telenovela star, has one of the best outlooks in the business, and rocks a refreshing sense of humor as seamlessly as he does a stethoscope.

He’s basically the guy at the party you’d feel insecure introducing your significant other to.

We recently sat down with Wortham to discuss how he makes two full-time careers work, finding value in early role choices, and discovering the proper wiggle techniques of a giant sperm. (Yes, you read that right!)

TrunkSpace: We’re probably starting off with the same question people always ask you, but we feel it would be a mistake not to. You’re managing two successful careers, both of which are full time jobs for most people. How do you pull it off?
Wortham: Yes, sometimes it’s difficult. I have to say, I was really lucky to find a practice out here that was willing to work with my schedule and work with me on a part-time basis. I moved here from residency in Pittsburgh about 13 or 14 years ago and I have been working at this practice for really about 12 of them consistently, so it feels very much like my practice, although the fact that I’m not the owner gives me a lot of flexibility. Often times I’m at the practice, and I’ll have to take a little bit of a longer lunch. I’ll run down and change in my car, drive to an audition, put on my acting hat, come back, have relaxed from the anxiety that always happens during auditions, and then walk right into a room with a patient and act like everything’s normal. “I’ve been here all day.”

TrunkSpace: For somebody who is an entertainer and comfortable in front of people, does it make you a better doctor in terms of how you interact with patients?
Wortham: Yeah, and even beyond that, there’s a lot of intimacy in acting because you’re dealing with strangers, and you’re dealing with intimate scenarios, and you have to jump right into it and be very present. They’re skills that you learn acting or just inherent qualities of someone who goes into that. And then when you go into a room with a patient, you’re also very present. You often are in an intimate situation. I cry with patients all of the time. I know a lot of doctors don’t do that, either because they’re protecting themselves or they’re not as emotional of a person, but I think that humanity creates a really strong bond in that relationship, and I think it’s one of the aspects I bring to medicine – that availability and personability.

TrunkSpace: You work as general practitioner. From what we read, not a lot of doctors are focusing on that these days, which puts the future of family medicine in kind of a tight spot. Being on the inside and seeing it firsthand, is that something that you see as a problem?
Wortham: I do. You know, it doesn’t pay very well and it’s paying less and less the way things with insurance evolve. You’re coming out of med school with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. Luckily, interests rates have been low, but you know, it doesn’t incentivize people to go into family practice. It’s a lot of work and you have to know a lot – you have to have a broad base of knowledge and you don’t really get paid so well for it. You become the public defender version of your career and not the private lawyer, and there’s a big discrepancy in what those people get paid.

TrunkSpace: So the chicken or the egg question: What came first for you, was it a desire to be a doctor or a desire to be an actor?
Wortham: No, it was an actor for sure. I was an actor. I was that four-year-old who was putting on shows in the living room and singing and getting my friends to dress up in crazy costumes and making our parents watch it. If there was a fault it was them – it was my parents humoring that kind of behavior. (Laughter) It eventually led me into this, but I’ll tell you what, I acted growing up, not professionally in a sense, but I was doing school plays and summer camps and some community theater. But, I never viewed it as a career option, I think, just because my example was my father who is a physician and I knew I wanted something stable and something that people admired and I’m kind of risk averse, really.

So, it took me getting an MD and getting a residency to then be talking with my parents, my mother, one day and her asking me, “Well, what are you gonna do next year once residency’s over?” And me saying, “Well, I think I’m actually gonna move to LA and be an actor!” Then there was just this silence on the other side of the phone for a second and then, I swear to God, the next words out of her mouth were, “I think that’s a wonderful idea!” I don’t know if she was suppressing some other comments or just trying to be supportive, but they knew I was an entertainer and an artist all along who had just chosen a route of more stability. And I gotta say, were it not for that, I wouldn’t be acting today.

TrunkSpace: So having stability placed you in a position to put yourself out there as an actor?
Wortham: Absolutely. It’s allowed me financially to provide for myself. No knock on people who need to be bartenders and waiters and other things that often actors do – those are very viable options, but I couldn’t have done it. There were plenty of years where I would not have been able to provide for myself as an actor, so I would’ve undoubtedly ended up in one of those jobs that allows you the flexibility but is not really mentally stimulating. So, not only financially having bought myself the time that you need to do the training and do the auditions and slowly, slowly climb out of the marsh that is the millions of people in LA trying to act, but also the confidence to walk into a room and say, “I don’t need this, I’m doing this because I want to and I enjoy it. I have something else that I can do that brings me personal value and fulfillment so I’m going to play and I’m going to do it because it’s really something I love and not something I need.”

TrunkSpace: Does that allow you to go out for roles that you have genuine interest in, as opposed to the idea of following the work?
Wortham: Yes, absolutely. I have rarely turned down opportunities. I have, but I’ve rarely turned down opportunities because I think there’s something to learn in many, many different opportunities that at first don’t seem to be your top choice. I’ll tell you something mildly salacious… my first film ever, and I was a horrible actor back then and it’s embarrassing more for that than the fact that I’m naked in it for 80 percent of it, but I did a film when I’d been here a year. A French director who really wanted to talk about sexuality and violence in American society was basically like, “Are you okay with being nude and being erect in this movie?” And I think a combo of the naiveté of being fresh off the boat in LA and having a science background, thinking, “Aw geez, I see naked bodies all the time it’s not the biggest deal to me” propelled me into that scenario, which, in retrospect, might not have been the most advisable choice. (Laughter) It was one of those films that fell short of achieving what it wanted to achieve so then you just look like a guy who’s naked on camera a lot.

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) But even in that you must have been able to pull something from the experience that you could then apply to your career moving forward?
Wortham: Yes, yes. You know, it’s funny – I had mentioned just moments ago that I’m rather risk averse, but I have taken some big risks – calculated risks. Within my acting career, that certainly was a risk. Going into it, I knew I was gonna be naked all over the place and it was really gonna be the first images anyone would ever see of my career.

TrunkSpace: So when you’re working on something like “Jane the Virgin,” which is such a buzzy, acclaimed series, does it feel like, as far as your acting career is concerned, that it’s a turning point in terms of the types of roles that will open up to you moving forward?
Wortham: I hope so. I can say it that way. I’ve been with them for the first three seasons and I have quite a bit more material in this fourth season, which is great. This character was just a one-episode guest star when I came in. It was like a nothing thing and I guess it resonated with them, and they liked me, and I was brash enough to pitch them ideas. (Laughter) I was sitting there at lunch with one of the writers going like, “Oo! Oo! What if you brought him back and blah blah blah?” And he was like, “Oh! That’s kind of fun idea, sure!”

So, I hope that I continue to get to work more in the, let’s call it the English market, because I have quite a strong footing in the Hispanic market. I’ve just come off filming another show with Telemundo and got an offer to do a Christmas special with them, so I’m going back next week to film that, and I had an offer to be a character in a new series, but it conflicted with the dates. They love “Jane the Virgin” and there’s a lot of crossover audiences, obviously, so that’s worked quite well in my favor to work more in Spanish and as the Spanish market matures in the US, you get more and more interesting content, which is great.

But obviously, yes, I would love to have this catapult me into a pilot season where there’s some good opportunities for great American, English speaking characters in the mainstream market.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned that Esteban was supposed to be a one-off. From a performance standpoint, when you found out he was coming back, did it make you look back at those early choices you made for the character and dissect them?
Wortham: Yes, and I think more than anything, when we filmed my first episode, the show hadn’t started airing yet, so you had no idea what they were doing with it. You just had to read the script and trust the director. In TV the director changes every time, so you’re working with a director who’s coming in for her first episode as well and you’re all trying to find the tone in this show that’s not quite defined yet. By the time I had gotten the offer for the next episode, because they’d offer me a couple episodes in a row, I had been able to see the show and saw that really, we had more fun with it. It was a little bit goofier. As a one hour drama, you’re not quite sure what tone they’re gonna strike. So, it was looking at my performance, but I say even more-so, looking at the show as a whole and being like, “Oh! We can push this more! We can have more fun!”

And the writing lends itself to that. I think in season 2 and 3, I got to be bolder and a little bit more obnoxious and a little bit more arrogant. And, now, in season 4, thanks to the storyline, there’s the ability for this character to be more human now that he’s falling in love and wants to be a father. So, he’s still the arrogant telenovela star that he was, but the situation allows to see a little more human side of him, which is fun as an actor.

TrunkSpace: We have to ask… what goes through your mind when you emerge from wardrobe dressed like a sperm, because, frankly, that’s not something we get to ask very often?
Wortham: (Laughter) Yeah, I’m sure this is the third time you’ve asked it today, right? (Laughter)

The crafting of the sperm costume took many days, so there was a wardrobe fitting and a subsequent fitting and then another one, and then the design people coming in because we had to figure out not only how to make it look like a sperm, but how to be able to lie on the ground in it and wiggle in it with my head and face still viewable. And then, be able to unzip it enough to walk in it. So, they had their work cut out for them, but the funniest parts were literally going in and, first, I’m in this totally white spandex onesie, which was just funny in itself so that was bizarre, but then, we would just do these “auditions,” if you will, of the costume by having me lie down on the dressing room floor and wiggle. (Laughter) “How’s the tail wiggling? Is the tail long enough? Does it need to be shorter? Is the head too big and you can’t lift your face up so that the camera can see you? Or turn to the side?” So it was really funny just to be wiggling on the floor of the dressing room in what felt kind of like a mermaid of some sort.

The writers are so brilliant. They really are fun. The director within the show would say, “Less like Superman! More like sperm!” It would go from the Superman-esque style to like just gyrating side-to-side, which was really fun.

“Jane the Virgin” airs Fridays on The CW.

The upcoming CBS series “S.W.A.T.” has a number of factors going for it that puts it in a position of achieving network success. It has a built-in brand without being based on an existing group of characters or universe, a rarity in a landscape where every great idea has been mined ten times over. It is tackling topical subject matter that is prevalent in the daily conversations of viewers. And quite possibly best of all, it has David Lim, the California-born actor who brings an indefinably cool James Dean-like presence to every scene he’s in.

We recently sat down with Lim to discuss his premiere plans, how it feels more like a movie than a series, and why his contribution to “S.W.A.T.” will hopefully inspire a future generation of Asian-American actors.

TrunkSpace: “S.W.A.T.” premieres this week. What’s going through your mind – nerves, excitement, a combo of both?
Lim: You know, not really nerves, more excitement. We filmed the pilot, it seems like, ages ago – back in April, so it’s been six months in the making. I’ve seen some of the rough cuts of some of the upcoming episodes and how great these episodes are turning out and so I think for all of us, we’re just very excited to finally be able to share it with audiences.

TrunkSpace: Do you have any premiere plans?
Lim: Yeah, a couple of the cast members and myself, Jay Harrington who plays Deacon and Alex Russel who plays Jim Street, we’re going down to Santa Monica at Rock’n Pies. Jay’s buddy owns the place, and we’re just gonna bring out a bunch of our friends and they’re gonna shut down the restaurant for a couple hours and we’ll be able to enjoy it with each other and all our friends.

TrunkSpace: That sounds awesome. Great way to celebrate the launch of a series that could have easily taken a more standard procedural approach, but instead, it feels a bit like a hybrid between a network series and a cable show.
Lim: Yeah. I think it’s really gonna set itself apart from just your standard, let’s say, network procedural. I think there’s gonna be times when you’re like, “What am I watching? Am I watching a movie or am I watching network television?”

TrunkSpace: And you’re tackling some pretty heavy, relevant subject matters throughout.
Lim: And we’re excited about that as well. From the get go we’re talking about Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, we get into human trafficking, we get into cyber bullying. I think it’s stuff that’s very topical and relevant to what’s happening in the world today. And we’re not gonna shove it down anyone’s throats, how you should think about the matter, but we’re just gonna approach it from both sides – the police side and the community side. And that’s what’s exciting and hopefully we’ll be able to start some discussions.

TrunkSpace: And you mentioned that it will feel like a movie, which is helped along by the fact that Justin Lin’s creative fingerprint is definitely on the project. You can see it in the action sequences.
Lim: Yeah, when we were shooting the pilot it definitely had that kind of cinematic feel. You have Justin Lin directing this thing and I have so much respect for him and what he’s done. I’ve been a fan of his since “Better Luck Tomorrow,” and obviously “The Fast and the Furious” franchise and “Star Trek: Beyond,” and so when we’re working with him, when we were shooting the pilot, it never felt like television. It felt like we were on the set of a movie. At times it felt like we were doing “The Fast and the Furious” when we’re doing some of those car chases and when we’re blowing up cars. I definitely think his fingerprints are all over the pilot and you’ll kind of see it throughout the series as well.

TrunkSpace: Can you walk us through where your character Victor Tan falls into things and what his journey is?
Lim: You’ll sort of find out more about him as the series goes on. They created this role for me. There wasn’t a Victor Tan in the pilot when it was originally written, so they created this character. I was originally on as kind of a recurring role and then a few episodes in they bumped me up to a series regular and then they really could start delving into my character and writing for my character. So come probably later December or early January, when we get seven, eight, and nine episodes in, you’ll really start to get a sense of more of who this guy is. It’s kind of blue sky because they didn’t have him initially in the pilot, so we could really go anywhere with him. I’ve had a few conversations with the writing staff and where we want to take this guy. He’s got some kind of former CI’s in the community that he deals with who may or may not also be love interests – just some really interesting stuff.

TrunkSpace: Because you started as a recurring and then your role was expanded, were there things that surprised even you in terms of how Victor has progressed?
Lim: How they originally wrote him was as a guy who grew up in Venice Beach – a surfer/skater who eventually became a part of LAPD. As we started filming and they got more of a sense of who I am and what I brought to the role, I think they kind of went away from this surfer/skater thing because we haven’t touched on that at all.

We’re filming an episode right now, which is going to be the ninth episode of the season I believe, and we’re really starting to get into Victor Tan’s backstory, which like I said, kind of involves a former CI who could be a love interest as well. I’m very curious to see where they take him.

TrunkSpace: From a performance standpoint, is it interesting to to get the scripts each time out and sort of learn about Victor as you go?
Lim: Yeah, I think it’s great. When each new script comes out, you’re looking for little bits and pieces, the little clues, and you’re like, “Okay, well I had originally kind of created this backstory for this character and now I’m getting this new piece of information…” And it’s really cool because as the scripts continue to come out, I think all of us are really starting to settle in to the characters as we get more pieces and more of our backstory. Obviously you know you can do a ton of homework and make stuff up for yourself, which a lot of the actors do, but it’s nice to get a new script and see what they write for your character.

TrunkSpace: Now that you’ve seen the inner workings of how police and specifically, S.W.A.T., operate, do you have a different point of view if you’re driving and you stumble upon an officer or team in the midst of an operation in your day to day life? Do you look at things differently now?
Lim: So differently. As we’ve worked with some of these guys and got to know some of these S.W.A.T. officers, just the level of respect – I already had a great respect for law enforcement and what they do, but it just ups the ante in terms of respect for what these guys do. We went down to LAPD S.W.A.T. just to take a tour of the facilities and they got a call when we were taking the tour and we got to actually see them roll out. It was like a caravan of 10 vehicles going out on a call and it was unbelievable to see. So now, definitely that we’ve been dealing with these officers or we’re filming all this stuff with the vehicles, every time you pass a situation or something you’re like, “Oh, there’s S.W.A.T. right there and there.” But just huge respect for what these guys do and we want to do our best to try to bring the authenticity and the realism to the show.

TrunkSpace: We saw that you had a degree in Electrical Engineering. Is that something you hope you never have to use?
Lim: When I graduated college, I knew I wasn’t really cut out for engineering. I didn’t really have an interest in getting into it. When I started to pursue acting and got into my first class and really fell in love with the craft and realized that this is something I want to do as a profession, if I could do it until I retire, that would be incredible. But in the back of my mind I’d always tell myself, “If acting doesn’t work out and if I’m not able to make a living at it, I do have this engineering degree that I can always fall back on.” So that’s always there. Do I hope to fall back on it? No, I hope I don’t have to get a job as an engineer. (Laughter)

TrunkSpace: (Laughter) It’s a nice safety net though, right?
Lim: It’s not a bad safety net, but it’s been like 10 years since I graduated. (Laughter) I don’t even know if companies would still even look at that and take that seriously.

I love acting and I hope to continue to be able to do this and tell interesting stories and play interesting characters. I think “S.W.A.T.” is such a great vehicle. It’s got the name brand and I just think it’s such a great vehicle for me in particular to bring a cool, bad ass Asian-American character to television because growing up I never saw any. We didn’t have a lot and we still don’t have too many. And to be able to do that and maybe start a larger discussion – maybe people see this and they start to bring more cool roles for Asian American guys.

TrunkSpace: And perhaps a young Asian-American kid will be sitting down to watch the show, see your performance, and be inspired to pursue is own dreams.
Lim: To me that’s what it’s all about – if I can inspire some kid or if he can even just see me on the screen and say, “Hey, maybe acting is possible. Maybe I can become an actor.” When I was growing up, I never saw anyone who looked like me playing a cool role, so I didn’t think it was possible to become an actor. And so if we can do that and at the same time entertain, because at the end of the day it’s about entertaining, and people can get lost in our show, that’s awesome.

“S.W.A.T. premieres Thursday on CBS.”

Featured image by: Gary Fitzpatrick

Juan Riedinger may not be on his best behavior as Teo in season 2 of TNT’s “Good Behavior,” but getting the chance to play in the gray with a character is always a fun prospect for the Alberta native. He’s been keeping audiences on their toes both as an actor and as a filmmaker since first falling in love with the craft while attending college and has contributed his talents to everything from the Netflix hit “Narcos” to the popular Canadian series “The Romeo Section.”

We recently sat down with Riedinger to discuss how taking an elective to round out his course load led to a career, why being a director makes him a better actor, and what the most memorable aspect of working on “Good Behavior” was.

TrunkSpace: If you take a look at your filmography, one thing is very clear – you work a ton. Do you love the work itself or do you have the kind of personality where standing still isn’t an option?
Riedinger: It’s definitely a combination of both. I mean, standing still is definitely not an option, but it’s also important what you’re filling your time doing, and it needs to be something that you love as far as I’m concerned. I love everything about being an actor and a filmmaker as well. I direct and I edit, but my focus these days has definitely been acting, and I can’t complain. Things have been pretty good.

TrunkSpace: What first drew you to the industry?
Riedinger: It all started out in an acting class that I was taking in university. I was studying to, at first, to be a veterinarian, so I was majoring in biology, and then I volunteered at a vet clinic one summer and, as much as I love animals, I just couldn’t see myself in that position doing that for the rest of my life. So I kind of shifted gears and started to take English classes, literature, with the idea of potentially pursuing being an English professor or something along those lines because I was always good at writing essays and I enjoyed that, but, again, it was not something that I absolutely loved.

Then, in my third year of university, this was all in Calgary, by the way, I took a theater class because they asked me to take an elective to fill my course load. I’d never done that before and I figured, “Oh, it sounds like it might be an easy credit.” I just remember we had to do monologues in front of the whole class, and I was the first one selected to do it. I didn’t get to see anybody else do it. I just kind of got up and did this monologue that I had prepared, and it was just… that’s definitely the moment that this spark ignited in me because I just realized, “Holy cow, what an amazing thing to be able to do!”

It was definitely more of a gradual process to sort of commit to doing that as a full-time career, but that’s, to answer your question, that’s where the spark started.

TrunkSpace: It was probably a bit of a gift that nobody went before you because you had a clean slate and didn’t have to compare internally. You just did your thing as you envisioned it.
Riedinger: Absolutely, and if I had gone out to party instead of put the time into learning that monologue and I wasn’t fully prepared for the experience, that might have put a bad taste in my mouth and my entire life course could have gone in a completely different direction based on that singular moment, which is just, to me, blows my mind.

TrunkSpace: You mentioned how you’re also a director. Does being a director make you a better actor and vice versa?
Riedinger: I like to think so, yeah. One general rule that I’ve stuck to is, I never cast myself in any of the projects that I’m directing because I like to keep them very separate. When I’m directing, I like to focus entirely on that. Having directed the projects that I have, it’s really opened my eyes to what it is to work with an actor, which has sort of taught me, when I’m acting, what it is that a director is trying to tell me.

It’s just a different kind of language, and I feel like it’s definitely sharpened my skill as an actor being on the other side of the camera, and the same with editing. Being an editor, what it’s taught me is that not every single moment is as precious as we tend to make them out to be as actors. If you have a little moment where you’re just not feeling it or it didn’t go the way you planned it to, that’s okay because that’s what editing is for. I feel like it’s really allowed me to not make things so precious and to trust the fact that, in the end, everybody’s going to be doing everything they possibly can to make this as true and as authentic as it possibly can be.

TrunkSpace: Does that make you more open to taking notes from a director and applying them to your performance?
Riedinger: Absolutely, yeah, and it also depends on the director that you’re working with. You get directors of all shapes and sizes and experience levels and the levels of talents for the craft of directing. I think that a big part of the director’s job is to gain the actor’s trust, and, once they do that, then I think an actor will become much more malleable and open to adjusting the performance in ways that maybe that actor didn’t originally envision.

TrunkSpace: You’ve joined the cast of “Good Behavior” in season 2. For those you have yet to catch up, can you give us a sense of who your character is and where his journey will take him?
Riedinger: I play a character named Teo, who’s kind of this mysterious figure who appears. He’s a childhood friend of Javier’s, played by Juan Diego Botto, and also of Javier’s sister, Ava. He sort of appears in their lives after many, many years, and you don’t really know what his intentions are at the beginning. You don’t know if he’s up to good, if he’s up to bad, and that’s something that just sort of begins to become clear as the story progresses.

TrunkSpace: It’s got to be fun to play in the gray and keep people guessing.
Riedinger: Yeah, you don’t want to reveal too much early on. You want to keep the audience on the edge of their seats that way.

TrunkSpace: From a character stance, did you know where we was going when you signed on or was that a learn-as-you-go experience for you as well?
Riedinger: That’s funny, because I spoke to the creator, Chad Hodge, before we started shooting, and he actually gave me the option. He said, “Some actors like to know every little thing about the course of where the character is headed and some actors don’t want to know anything.” I think I am more in the middle. I like to know kind of the broad strokes and then just sort of fill the gaps as we go along. I did have a general sense of what we were going to be doing with Teo, but there were also a lot of surprises along the way.

TrunkSpace: Performance-wise, what was the most memorable aspect of playing the character for you?
Riedinger: I was acting in two languages, which I haven’t had the chance to do a lot. Teo is from Argentina, and so, even though I speak Spanish, my mother is from Peru, I haven’t had the chance to act in Spanish a lot. And not only Spanish, but Argentinian Spanish. It’s something that I definitely wanted to get right, and so we had a dialect coach. She was originally from Argentina, and she was helping us with that. Also, I was getting help from my fellow actors who were also Argentinian. So it’s getting the Argentinian Spanish, but then it’s also getting the dialect when you’re speaking English because the Argentinian accent is very different actually than, say, Mexican Spanish.

For me, that was a very big challenge, but everybody seemed to be happy with it. I felt happy with how it went in the end, too. I got to watch a lot of movies from Argentina, which opened my eyes to filmmakers from a part of the world that I wasn’t familiar with. Yeah, that’s definitely something that I got to take away from that experience.

“Good Behavior” airs Sundays on TNT.

Featured image by: Noah Asanias

It is no easy feat to to be a standout in a cast that includes Matt Damon and Julianne Moore, but Karimah Westbrook does just that in “Suburbicon,” the latest film to be directed by George Clooney. In the small town thriller based on a true story, the Chicago native plays Daisy Myers, who along with her husband William (Leith M. Burke), discover that the idyllic American Dream of settling into a peaceful suburban existence is not all that it is cracked up to me.

We recently sat down with Westbrook to discuss the secrets of the suburbs, why the film’s message is so timely, and how Daisy Myers never let hatred harden her heart.

TrunkSpace: The cast is amazing. The creative team is the best in the business. The story is compelling and timely. With so many great factors involved in your new film “Suburbicon,” what do you think the biggest draw is?
Westbrook: I think the biggest draw for the film “Suburbicon” is that it’s an interesting play in regards to what the suburbs is supposed to be, in the sense that, everyone thinks that the suburbs is the safest place to live, right? This movie turns that on its head in the sense that you find that there is murder, deceit, betrayal, and racism all happening in this one town. It’s just the unique play on the world, the suburbs, and how people look at the suburbs and what actually happens there.

TrunkSpace: So, how people present themselves face to face and how they respond in a completely different way behind closed doors?
Westbrook: Absolutely. It’s what happens behind closed doors, and in this case, some things people aren’t trying to hide exactly – how they feel. In particular, with the Myers family, they were the first black family to move to this all white suburb, which is based off of a true story of what happened with Daisy and William Myers in 1957 in Levittown.

TrunkSpace: The film is set in the 1950s. For a lot of younger people, visually it looks like an alien world, and yet the subject of race relations and the conversations we’re having now are not dissimilar to what they were having back in that time period.
Westbrook: Absolutely. I think that racism has always existed, but I think now with technology, we have the ability to really shine a light on it. We’re able to capture a lot of moments, as before a lot of things went hidden because we didn’t have the technology that we have today. I think it will be good for the youth to see exactly where we were during that time, and look at where we’re at now, and to really see how much has not changed. Hopefully they’ll be able to make decisions of wanting to do something completely different moving forward.

TrunkSpace: Now it seems it’s not about how people behave behind closed doors, but how they behave behind avatars and their digital devices.
Westbrook: It’s so much easier for people to hide behind avatars online and spew all types of hate and malice. We’re living in some really, really interesting times. The internet definitely makes it easier for people to be more vocal about how they actually feel, but at the same time, hide their identities.

TrunkSpace: Do you feel like a film like this, releasing at this particular time, is more important than ever?
Westbrook: I think so. I think this film will garner a lot of social commentary, especially in the sense of, like I said, seeing where we were, and seeing where we’re at right now, and really seeing how much things have not changed. A lot of times seeing it on film, in this movie and the full story, you really get a chance to see just how ridiculous it was and how unwarranted these behaviors were during those times. It’s the same exact thing right now. But, I think that this film offers you a full story in the sense of, you could really see how it was unwarranted and unnecessary.

TrunkSpace: It seems like a lot of people who are disconnected from the subject of race just sort of thought race relations was something that resolved years ago, but as recent events have shown, that is not even remotely the case. A film like this, it becomes a matter of art imitating life, and helps to present a different point of view.
Westbrook: Absolutely. That’s the power of media, film and television. You get to tell stories, and a lot of them change the world, or could change the world and change people’s thought process about things, and definitely shed light on what things were and how they are now. That’s why I really love filmmaking and creating movies, because art imitates life on a lot of levels a lot of times.

TrunkSpace: The Coen brothers wrote the film. They’re known for having a very brand-specific artistic point of view, often times handling serious or dark subject matter in a humorous way. Is that creative fingerprint on the film as well?
Westbrook: Yes, I do feel that you will see the Coen brothers in the film – their writing and their style. George definitely has his own style as well, so it’s a little bit of a combination of the two. I think hardcore Coen brothers fans will be able to see the difference, and also see the similarities for sure.

TrunkSpace: As you mentioned, you’re playing a woman who actually existed and walked this earth. Does that put added pressure on you from a performance standpoint?
Westbrook: Yes, absolutely. Portraying someone who actually lived is a unique challenge. It’s an exciting opportunity, because for me as an actor, I want to get it right, for lack of a better word. I want to stay true to whoever it is, in this case, whoever Daisy Myers was. I did a lot of research. It was important for me to give an accurate depiction of who she really was and how she really lived through those times. It was exiting, rewarding, and definitely a bit of a challenge because you want to be as close to the truth as you possibly can to who they really were.

TrunkSpace: Does it make you second guess choices you may make? Do you stop and say to yourself, “Would Daisy react this way?”
Westbrook: She had written a book too, which was very helpful. “Sticks’N Stones: The Myers Family in Levittown.” That gave me a wealth of insight as far as how she felt and how they approached things. That gave me enough to really feel like I had a good understanding of where she was and where her heart was. I felt pretty confident on living her, as far as understanding who she was. I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on who she was as a person, so I didn’t have any hesitance.

TrunkSpace: What a gift for you as a performer to have a book, written in her own words. That must have been a great tool for you?
Westbrook: I was shocked because after reading the book, you see how they didn’t let that experience harden their hearts. They actually went through a lot. It was very eye-opening in the sense of, just the level of love that they had regardless of what was being done to them. It was very insightful.

“Suburbicon” arrives in theaters today.

Featured image by: Nate Taylor

We geeked out over the series “Jericho” when it first premiered on CBS back in 2006, and although its potential was cut short due to what many believe was a premature cancellation in season 2, the doomsday drama helped set the stage for many Internet Age fandoms to come. What it also did was introduce us to a wonderful ensemble cast, including Brad Beyer who played the emotionally-driven Stanley Richmond.

Currently the Wisconsin native can be seen in the new drama “Thank You for Your Service,” based on the heart-wrenching biography by David Finkel. Exploring the difficulties experienced by a group of U.S. soldiers attempting to integrate back into civilian life, the film had a lasting effect on the actor who portrays real-world serviceman James Doster, who unfortunately died in a roadside bombing in Baghdad on September 29, 2007.

“Thank You for Your Service” opens nationwide today.

We recently sat down with Beyer to discuss the importance of the film’s message, the responsibility in representing the soldiers and their loved ones in a positive light, and what he experienced when seeing the movie for the first time.

TrunkSpace: Your series “Jericho” feels like one of the first shows to have really established that sort of modern, Internet Age fandom. It was canceled after only two seasons, but it lived on it comic books and maintained that fandom, which is pretty amazing.
Beyer: Yeah, you know, I think that show really got cut way too short. I think it sort of laid the groundwork for a lot of shows that are out now and that have been coming out, and I think it was ahead of its time. It’s really too bad that it didn’t go further. I loved that show and I loved that character.

TrunkSpace: Had social media been as prevalent then as it is now, it feels like it could have been pushed forward and stayed on the air.
Beyer: Yeah, I think so too.

TrunkSpace: Does it surprise you when a project does or does not resonate with an audience?
Beyer: You can never really tell when you’re doing it. When we were doing “Jericho” it felt special and everybody in the cast loved one another and they loved what they were doing, but we had no idea that the fans would be so loyal and so passionate about it. That’s what you want as an actor and as an artist, is to have something you do resonate with people, but you just never know. There’s things that you do that you think are going to be great and that people are going to love that just come and go. It’s very hard to tell.

TrunkSpace: Your new film “Thank You for Your Service” opens today and it seems that the film’s message is more important than ever with everything that has been going on in our political world.
Beyer: I think the movie is very powerful without being political. It takes the stance of the soldier and it’s pro soldier. It’s not really to the right or to the left. It’s just telling a story about how our guys are coming home and they’re suffering and they’re not getting the help that they need with PTSD. I mean, 22 guys a day are taking their own lives, which is insane.

It’s a book by David Finkel, “Thank You for Your Service,” and it came out a couple of years ago. He followed this group of infantry guys, the 2-16 Infantry Battalion in Iraq, and then followed them home, and it’s telling their story of what emotional things that they’re dealing with after. They call it the After War and how much of a struggle it is for them.

TrunkSpace: And it’s really impossible to get a handle on what those men and women go through once they return… the adjustment that they must make both in their personal and professional lives due to the emotional impact of everything they have experienced.
Beyer: Yeah, I mean these guys are seeing horrible, terrible things. As soldiers, they go over there, they fight, they see death, they see children dying. Then they’re supposed to just come home and be normal. There’s no reintegration process for them into civilian life. It’s a really tough transition and it’s a thing that a lot of people don’t know about. I think this movie is shedding a light on it in a way that will open some eyes, hopefully, because our guys are dealing with a lot.

TrunkSpace: When you’re working on a project like that, which has such real world connections, do you feel like you take on more responsibility to handle the material in a particular way?
Beyer: Yes, absolutely. I think first of all, I was playing a real guy by the name of James Doster and he passed away. The movie deals with how his death effects these other guys coming home. I had the opportunity to spend time with his wife and his children in Kansas before I started filming. It’s a huge responsibility. You want to get it right. I wanted to make sure that James’ legacy is upheld and Jason (Hall), the director, did too. Everybody in this movie wanted to get it right because these are all real people with real stories and you don’t want to mess that up.

For all of the other guys that come home and are suffering from PTSD, you’re telling their story as well. The stakes were very high for all of us.

TrunkSpace: In a lot of ways, the film also doubles as a PSA in that regard.
Beyer: Absolutely. The first time I saw the movie, it wasn’t like any other movie I’ve seen. I had no idea. Your experience of making the movie and the movie itself are often very different. We were all very dedicated to doing the best we could and getting it right, but when I saw the movie, I mean, Jason made an incredible movie. It’s remarkable. It’s almost like you’re not watching a movie – it almost feels like you’re watching real life happen, which you can’t say that for a lot of movies. You go to a movie and you know you’re going to a movie, but this film grabs you from the very beginning. It’s like a freight train of emotion. It’s really something else.

TrunkSpace: And it’s great to see that because films haven’t really been saying much these days. It’s been mostly about tentpole entertainment for a long time.
Beyer: Yes, that’s the other thing. It reminded me of a movie that was made in the 70s. It’s very gritty. It’s hard to watch, but it just grabs you from the second you start watching it. And yeah, a lot of the movies now, they’re superhero movies, they’re comic book movies and those are great – everyone loves to go escape and watch those kind of movies and have a good time, but this is telling a very important story and it’s very character-driven and it’s all based on real people. It’s a whole different ballgame.

TrunkSpace: More often than not, for actors, the experience tends to be more memorable than the end product, but it sounds like for you, the film itself really had an impact?
Beyer: Yeah, when I sat down and saw the movie for the first time, when the movie ended, I was just kind of paralyzed sitting in my seat. It was so powerful and so raw. The thought of Amanda Doster, who’s played by Amy Schumer in the movie and who does a fantastic job in one of her first dramatic roles – she’s amazing – the thought of her sitting there watching that movie, it really did something to me. For any of these real people to sit there and watch this replay, it’s got to be very difficult and very emotional.

“Thank You for Your Service” is in theaters today.