FilmForce: An Interview with Bruce Davison

[This is the third installment of Bruce Davidson's interview with Barry O'Brian. Stay tuned for two more installments in the coming week but to access previous installments, use the above navigation links.]

IGNFF: For two weeks, I have been wondering, "Where's Waldo?"?

O'Brian: Yeah. How has that been?

IGNFF: Great. How is the project?

O'Brian: What?

IGNFF: Where's Waldo?

O'Brian: Oh, sorry. Amazing. It is all coming into place. I had a dream the other day about a monkey who lives with a man in a big yellow hat. The monkey then goes on to do crazy things.

IGNFF: Curious George?

O'Brian: Yes, only his name was Willey. He had a bad eye and kinda slurred when he talked..

IGNFF: So, does this relate to the Waldo movie at all?

O'Brian: Absolutely not. But Michael Keaton came over the other day and we played scrabble with my kids. Michael made the word "Caution" and banged his fist on the table.

IGNFF: How often do you hang out with Mr. Keaton?

O'Brian: Really quite interesting.

IGNFF: What? What is?

O'Brian: That picture over there (points).

IGNFF: Yes sir. But what about my question?

O'Brian: 6 days a week, maybe more..

IGNFF: Can't be much more. Only one more day in a week?

O'Brian: Yep. He's a great guy. We love just hanging out. He's like my father only he's my brother's age.

IGNFF: I heard a rumor of a reality T.V. show you're working on. This true?

O'Brian: Yep. You have four couples. Then starting on a day, you see who can get pregnant, have a baby, and teach it to crawl first. The winner gets $10,000. FOX is doing it.

IGNFF: Geez. So officially, what the heck are you doing next. Right now. Honest truth. Please.

O'Brian: "Where's Waldo?" is my number one goal to get released first. I said last week, the script is totally finished and perfect, but the next day I went back and in about an hour and a half I did a re-write and the studio loved it.

IGNFF: My question, as well as thousands of others who have e-mailed me. Cyborgs. Any cyborg relations in the movie?

O'Brian: Yes. I am working with the whole cyborg thing in the new script. This time, among the musical numbers, which I trimmed down to only about 20 minutes or so, Waldo will be turned into a cyborg.

IGNFF: Sounds like you are breaking alot of ground. 3-D, cyborgs, musicals, camera just sitting there...You think you are?

O'Brian: I wish. 3-D maybe. But cyborgs, musicals, and the camera deal...not at all. But the camera sitting there for 21 minutes is revolutionary I think.

IGNFF: Was there any moment where you realized "this may be going to far"?

O'Brian: Sometimes, it was a vague reference, but I didn't really have anybody that watched out for me very well when I got to Hollywood. I was a young kid, and I didn't take real good care of myself. But it all turned out. I mean, look at "Kangaroo Jack".

IGNFF: Who is playing Waldo? Final time asking for now.

O'Brian: Well I said before Danny Glover, Michael Keaton, but I think David Hyde Peirce is desperate to do it. He loves the idea.

IGNFF: Okay. Let's change subjects. More personal questions. Who is your Hollywood idol?

O'Brian: Michael Keaton.

IGNFF: Favorite song?

O'Brian: Hmmm, tough one. I listen to the "Tron" soundtrack alot.

IGNFF: Favorite word.

O'Brian: Snake. You asked me that before, didn't you?

IGNFF: No, I asked "who is your favorite director"?

O'Brian: Oh. Probably Quinton Tarintino.

IGNFF: Ever seen "Pulp Fiction" or "Jackie Brown"?

O'Brian: Nope.

IGNFF: To end this interview for now, I will say a word. Tell me the first thing that comes to your head. First. "Cinema".

O'Brian: Reminds me when Michael Keaton tripped on my stairs and dropped some dominoe's on my wife's head who then proceded to drop a can of Cherry Coke on my dog's head.

IGNFF: Terrorism.

O'Brian: A game of pictionary when my friend John Tripten drew a picture of a guy throwing a stone at a wizard's hat. Then he screamed.

IGNFF: How is "Artificial" going?

O'Brian: Excellent. Only not its about robots who go on a little journey. It's "Stand by Me" for the technological kids.

IGNFF: I understand. Any other script ideas?

O'Brian: Yes. You ever feel the hair on the back of your neck standing up? Well I want to make a movie about an old man who is haunted by ghosts. But no one else knows about it. He then meets a mysterious stranger who tries to help him overcome the problem. He then goes on a weird journey where he is attacked by some sheep who have a strange message to give him.

IGNFF: Do sheep attack?

O'Brian: Not sure, but in this movie they do. They can't talk to he gives them a pen and a pad and they write down their thoughts and "bhaa". Should be explosive.

IGNFF: Anything else before I go?

O'Brian: Yeah. I want to an autiobiographic movie about Fred Rogers. When he was between the age of 8-15. Try to figure out what went wrong!

IGNFF: Are you kidding me? He was a good man. A great role-model.

O'Brian: Oh yeah. I heard he got caught raping a boy and he then started screaming.

IGNFF: A lie. Don't beleive that.

O'Brian: I don't know. Sounds true to me.

IGNFF: What is it like getting that sort of recognition from your peers?

O'Brian: It's great. You suddenly can let go of feeling that you haven't achieved something in your life and you can say, "Okay, this is fine." Still doesn't fill the hole, but it's great and I know that I'm in a place where I can let go of false desires about how that could fix my life. I got that after "Kangaroo Jack"

Check back tomorrow for the fourth installment of Bruce Davidson's interview with Barry O'Brian.

-- Bruce Davidson.

«Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 3 |