March 4, 2025 • 48 mins
Dive into an intimate and captivating conversation with actor and director Clayne Crawford as he reflects on his dynamic career — from his breakout role in A Walk to Remember to his upcoming part in the highly anticipated Hulu comedy Chad Powers alongside Glen Powell. His raw honesty and passion for storytelling shine through as he discusses not only his acting career but also his transition into directing, driven by a desire to craft bold, character-driven narratives.
In this episode, Crawford shares a rare dual perspective on the audition process — both as an actor navigating the industry's demands and as a director searching for authentic performances. He emphasizes the power of vulnerability, the importance of connecting with material, and his commitment to fostering a positive, collaborative atmosphere on set.
These are the unforgettable stories that landed Clayne Crawford right here.
Credits
- Lethal Weapon
- Chad Powers
- A Walk to Remember
- Rectify
- NCIS: New Orleans
- Justified
- Leverage
- 24
- Graceland
- Burn Notice
- Criminal Minds
- Swimfan
Resources
GUEST LINKS:
- IMDB: Clayne Crawford, Actor, Producer, Director
THAT ONE AUDITION'S LINKS:
For exclusive content surrounding this and all podcast episodes, sign up for our amazing newsletter at AlyshiaOchse.com. And don't forget to snap and post a photo while listening to the show and tag me: @alyshiaochse & @thatoneaudition
- MAGIC MIND: Get 48% off with code ONEAUDITION20
- THE BRIDGE FOR ACTORS: Become a WORKING ACTOR
- THE PRACTICE TRACK: Membership to Practice Weekly
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
This is an exciting one because Ialso didn't tell you this off mic.
You've been on the list for awhile where I'm like, how am I
going to ever get Clayne to comeand talk about his experiences?
So right time, right place.
Here we are.
Thank you for doing this.
I don't think when we did themovie, I was doing the interviews
when we did convergence.
(00:25):
I was doing the interviews, but I didn'tlaunch as a podcast to the following year.
So I can't remember if wetalked about it at all.
I don't think we did.
I don't think we did at all.
I didn't, I don't even know if I was awareof podcasts when we worked on that film.
I don't know if you were aware ofanything at that point other than
what was happening during that filmbecause you had a young baby at home.
(00:46):
You were you driving toand from your farm to set?
That's part of the reason why I said yesto that film was that it was about a four
hour drive, five hour drive from my place.
And like what we were saying off showis that I was gone so much that year
that I was willing to do anything justto stay near the house because I did.
(01:06):
I have a brand new little guy at home.
Yeah, I would drive back andforth every opportunity I had,
but I love being on the road.
So that's, it's not a big deal.
I know.
I remember you saying that, like justdriving the truck back and forth.
So that's where I wanted to start isdid you ever live in LA or New York?
A walk to remember is the bigfirst thing, but I can't, I
couldn't find where that shot.
(01:27):
So were you ever on coastal?
Yeah.
So I lived in, I moved to LA whenI was 18 and and I was there.
And then about a year and a halfafter being in LA, I went to New
York and I went back and forth.
I was seeing someone that was workinga lot in New York at the time.
So we had two places.
(01:48):
And when a walk to remember happened,which we shot that in Wilmington, North
Carolina And I booked that in L. A.And and then, it I went from that and
I went back to New York, which wasawesome and shot swim fan up there.
Literally, I left Wilmington andwent there and then went to Australia
for six months to do the great raid.
And then I kicked around and did theLA thing until around 2009, 2010.
(02:10):
And then I bought the farm and gotout because I started having children.
Okay.
So when I was doing this research, causefor you to get a walk to remember and
then swim fan, and then what was theone right after it that you just said to
the great raid,
all studio films what Were you just,because at 18, the early 20s, I feel
(02:32):
like you get every audition possible.
Was this just a random audition thatyou, because it seems like you have
a couple of co stars, guest stars,and then all of a sudden you're in
a, now you're in the studio system.
So I'm curious, you're auditioning oreven what was happening at that point?
Because then you hit a different stride,then you're in a different stratosphere
of choice.
(02:52):
It happened.
Because you're right whenyou're in, when you're 19, 18,
19, you just get everything.
And I did, when I first movedto LA, I'd been there for
literally a couple of weeks.
And I booked like a guest, a costar on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
But I didn't really know how to act.
I didn't know, I didn't take classesback in my hometown or anything.
(03:14):
I never did theater in high school.
I was an athlete, I went out therewith the goal to learn how to act.
I just didn't realize what I wasn'taware of is how expensive acting
classes were living in Los Angeles.
I was just a dumb hick, from Alabama.
So I wasn't aware of what I wasreally jumping into, which is
great because I would have never,I would have never attempted it.
I would have just, it wouldhave been too terrifying.
So I booked really quickly.
(03:36):
I was like, Oh, this isgonna be a breeze, right?
I'm so talented.
And then I realized I didn'tknow what I was doing.
And it was a really roughexperience on that set.
I was only in a couple of scenes,but again, it was just all so new.
And then a walk to remember happenedI don't know, a year after that.
And it was very similar, Adam Shane wassuper sweet and taught me the ropes.
(03:58):
But as you suggested, I got thrown intoit and I didn't have a proper team.
It's not like I could ask my parents,help guide me throughout this process.
And my reps weren't very hands on asit relates to nurturing me into the
industry and helping me understand howto navigate set, how to navigate press.
I'm just a hillbilly who likes to drinkbeer and smoke cigarettes when I'm 20
(04:20):
years old, and just going from job to job.
But what was great is I was learningon, it was learning as I go.
The Miramax job in Australia, I didthat because John Dahl was attached.
He was directing, and Iloved Rounders, right?
And I desperately wanted to work withthis guy, and I had a really cool cast.
And but it was rough.
(04:42):
It was rough on all of us.
One of the actors passed awayin a motorcycle accident.
He was decapitated on a dirt on amotorcycle that was in front of us,
and it was just really traumatic.
And we're there for six months.
And it was a really challengingshoot because it was World War II.
They put us through one of thoseridiculous bootcamps for two weeks.
And I just remember thinking, andthen the movie, so the movie came out
(05:05):
and it had been destroyed, had beenchopped up and it was actually sold
in an acquisition with Disney and thefilm never actually was properly seen.
And I put so much of my lifeinto it and I'm 21 years old.
So that six months seemed.
It seems so much largerthan time does now.
And watching how Miramax justbeat up John Dahl and then just
threw the movie to the side.
I was heartbroken and itall happened so easy for me.
(05:27):
I thought I could easily just walkaway from it and then come back when
I wanted to, so I walked away fromthe industry and stopped reading
for anything studio related, stoppedmeeting on anything studio related.
And I went down the indie route and Ifelt it would give me an opportunity
to play characters and not just be,the smart ass teenager or whatever
(05:50):
it was I was playing in these films.
Or a prop piece in a studio film ittruly, really, at especially that
time age, that early 2000s, not thatyou're not insanely talented, you've
got years, I've been on a set with you,but those that, that, like 20 to 25 age
range, they could put anybody in there.
I have to.
Anyone.
(06:11):
And then, like you said, theycan make you a great actor or
they can destroy you in editing.
They can make you a great director.
They can destroy you in editing.
There's so much I think actorssometimes don't realize how
much is out of our control.
You just want the job so bad.
Then you get the job and then you realize.
Oh, you're just a conditioningsystem of capitalism, really,
(06:34):
if not to, but it truly is thatat the end of the day, right?
So the studio system doesn'tcare about you at that time.
What was the recovery process ofwatching one of your co stars die?
SAG's starting to do some things now,but was there any type of We're going
(06:55):
to take a beat because how do you haveconcern about your safety moving forward?
I don't know how you're ableto use your full instrument.
I was 21, right?
And we're talking 2001.
So post 9 11, it all just happened.
So the world was just in aplace of uncertainty, so I
think going into this war film,
(07:18):
they put us through a very grueling.
Boot camp and by design, because thesesoldiers that were in this specific
battle in this this extraction had beenin the jungle in the bush for quite
some time right in the Philippines.
And these guys were very thin.
So they put us.
That's why we had to eat these rationsand go through this process will also
we had to That we were constantly doingthe choreography for this big extraction
(07:41):
because they want to do these massiveshots of us low crawling and going
into this camp and extracting these P.
O. W. S. So when the accident happened,we were leaving set one night and he
was a local actor out of Australia.
So the Americans would get into a busand then the bus would take us because
we were, we were up in the outskirts,like in the bush of Queensland.
(08:04):
I'm your surfers paradise.
And it was about a 45 minute toan hour drive back to our condos.
And we were leaving set and we'repulling out of the parking lot.
And Woody jumps on his bike.
He takes off in front of us and yeah,he was on the opposite side of the road
and a kangaroo jumped in front of him.
(08:24):
It is so funny because.
You hear the word miracle and it'sit's this perfect timing, right?
And it's everything aligning perfectly.
This was the closest thingI'd ever seen to a miracle.
And it was devastating.
It was not a positive thing by anystretch, but he hit the kangaroo,
which threw him ass over in.
And the traffic goes theopposite direction, right?
(08:46):
So he's in the air and a carcoming this way, hit him.
through his body, maybe 100 yards.
It felt like 100 yards up into the middleof the road and his head was literally
on the side next to a kangaroo thatwas that was dying and the kangaroos
leg kept jarring back and forth.
And it was just thisextremely overwhelming.
(09:07):
And also there was a little bit, I guessyou're a little desensitized, right?
Because of what we do, wesee really unusual things.
often, especially with goreand blood, depending on the
project you're working on.
And then watching six months earlier,I'd seen the twin towers fall, from
airplanes, which was so surreal as well.
So we were all pretty devastated,but we didn't even know
(09:28):
how to process the emotion.
Really.
I certainly didn't.
I just realized that I wasn't eating.
For a couple of days.
And a friend of mine, Max Martini, hiswife was with us and she he was working
on film was, and his wife said, you shouldtry acupuncture, which I'd never heard of
acupuncture, and it really helped me dealwith a lot of the pain, but the problem
was Miramax, these motherfuckers wanted,and they wanted to maintain this unit
(09:54):
that they had created in the bootcamp.
So they literally called usand said that they wanted.
That's to gear up in ouruniforms to go to the funeral.
What?
Oh.
Did you?
100%. Wow.
Oh yeah.
I'm rendered a little speechless.
(10:16):
That's why I focus a lot on thepodcast too about recovery because
I don't care how cheesy it sounds,but when you are using your body,
your mind to go into a story, howeverhorrific, sometimes the stories are,
or the experiences are, there's notmuch training for the recovery of it.
Whether you're paying a serial killerfor a while, whether something like this.
(10:39):
Insanity happens or you're dealing withthe business and they just do not care.
So how do you regulate yoursystem to constantly not be a pawn
right in somebody else's thing.
So I don't, I clean, I never knew this.
I don't blame you for goinginto the independent film world.
(10:59):
After this experience at all, that'spart of your recovery, I would assume,
in trying to be a part of storieswhere it's fully collaborative.
What I love about the independentfilm, it's like what we were just
talking about off mic, you have alimited amount of Time, money, people
that are there want to be there.
(11:19):
People are trying to make somethingwork together versus trying, versus
throwing money at the problem ortrying to get somebody else just
to fill in and do another thing.
Just go on to the nextthing, go on to the next.
I, wow.
So again, a pivot of a moment.
So you go into independent filmmaking.
(11:40):
At this point, are you auditioning forthose things or are you taking meetings?
I was fortunate enough to bein a place to where the smaller
projects were coming to us.
So It allowed me to, but again, a lot oftimes I was saying no to what they were
offering me, reading a script and findinga really cool character that allowed
(12:04):
me to, grow facial hair or change myappearance in some way, change my voice.
And I didn't have that opportunityin the studio projects, they wanted.
You show up and they cut your hairthe way they want you to look.
They kind of mold you into this.
And I didn't have much input.
And for me, I got into thisindustry because I thought it was
designed to be a creative outlet.
I saw myself as an artist.
(12:27):
So choosing my clothing andmy shoes and how I look is all
my character's story, right?
This is who I am.
And and I just had verylittle input on that, right?
Early on.
So these indie films.
Yeah, they gave me that opportunity.
And and then getting to go to some ofthese larger festivals like Sundance, it I
(12:49):
then realized, okay, this is my community.
Yes.
As you said, we're notmaking any money to be here.
So if I've flown all the way outhere and I'm spending every night
memorizing dialogue and putting my, asyou suggest, putting my body through
this, it's because we all love it.
And that's what I really loved.
And and I was lucky enough to dothat until rectify came along.
(13:11):
And when I read that and metwith Ray McKinnon, it was the
independent movie TV show.
And I was like, Oh, I can gomake a little bit of money and
still get to do what I love.
And that kind of started pushing me back.
It started to slowly push me backinto the system a little bit.
Before we get there, because I thinkthis is an invaluable thing, a lot of
(13:31):
actors write in and write about this.
And I actually have this questionmyself, because I'm half the time,
what comes to me is from auditions.
The other half is meetings.
Now you're meeting on projects.
How do you handle those meetings?
So any of the meetings with theindependent films, what kind
of questions or how are youpreparing for those meetings?
(13:52):
In order for it to be collaborativeand for you to make the decision
to ultimately come on board.
I do not prepare traditionally as itrelates to what questions they may ask.
And I don't want to sound corny,but we're actors, so we are corny.
I'm not a religious person,but I'm extremely spiritual.
And I feel like you haveto be to do this job.
(14:14):
You have to be connected to spirit.
because again, I know it sounds silly,but stuff is flowing through you.
If you're doing it right,you're allowing things to you.
You're almost just My buddieswill never listen to this.
So it's okay.
You're like a vessel, for
yes.
So for me, I always just try to get myheart and my mind and my body all aligned.
(14:35):
I try to ground myselfas much as possible.
I believe that God is not thething, but it's what's in us.
It's what we're all a partof some original thing.
And I feel like my, that the Godthat I'm a part of that lives in me.
So I try to pray to that, to just becalm and to be focused and to be present
and to be the best version of me.
(14:56):
Which is what I did beforethis podcast, right?
I just always, cause your nerves getin the way of who we are and it forces
us to make decisions that, or to saythings without thinking properly.
And so I'm always just trying to putmyself in a place to be present and
similar to how I prepare for performing.
And I just want to make sure thatthey're getting the true version of me.
(15:19):
I never want to put something on.
And then when I show up toset who the fuck is this guy?
So I try to let them see me and andI'm not good at being vulnerable.
And in those meetings, I try toallow myself to be vulnerable to the
questions that are being asked andto allow true honesty to come through
how I see it and want to approach it.
That's beautiful.
(15:39):
I don't think there'sanything wrong with that.
I just think sometimes when you showup to these meetings especially if
you want to participate in it Whatkind of questions you're asking
the director or the collaborators?
What kind of ideas you're bringingforth because sometimes people are
like, I don't want to seem too eager whynot if you want to participate in the
project, like Some people are like whatshould I ask the director if I'm having
(15:59):
this general meeting for this movie?
It's what's your interestin doing the movie?
What's your interest?
I like researching the director,seeing what they've done before,
but also I really, what I want todo with the characters kind of.
What I'd like to talk about and seeif we're on the same page or even this
last meeting that I had, we actuallygot onto the conversation of how we
(16:23):
love a set to run, like how does adirect, it's like a coach, right?
As the director, they'reyour coach, right?
How are they seeing it?
What's their vision?
What's your vision?
How can we collaborate tobring it to the highest good?
And sometimes people, I think, getcaught up in, like you said, being
vulnerable about what they, whatyou want to do or how you see it
(16:45):
and not playing too cool or I don'twant to act like I want it too much.
Such a weird, sometimes positionto start your, or be in.
It's a
tug of war.
It is.
Yeah.
So just.
Go ahead.
Sorry to interrupt you.
No, that was essentially it because yourcareer, for you to be able to pivot, it's
you taking on these meetings and you'repretty, now as sitting in the director
(17:09):
seat too, you're doing some of thesemeetings, I'm sure, on the flip side.
Yeah, I, also as it relates to reallywanting jobs, I think that was part
of the reason why I moved away fromLos Angeles is when I lived there.
We're inundated every day with billboardsand bus stops of things were not in.
(17:29):
We see it way before anyone else does.
And we see that we see a PRpush that a majority of America
doesn't really get to see.
And the artwork is just surrounding you.
And then every time you go out to abar to go have a bite, you run into
people and everybody's reading for this.
And I just booked that.
And I was constantly beingreminded of what I wasn't in.
(17:50):
I'm highly competitive.
So I was in a place where I, when I wasin LA in the beginning, I just wanted
to book everything to beat other people.
And I wasn't even focusingon like the job sometimes.
So moving to my farm allowed me tohave a life outside of the work.
Cause I think when I was in LA, it was.
(18:12):
The work is my life was my life fully.
And here I'm quite busy justmaintaining the property and
my family and my Children.
And I started approaching thosemeetings different to where.
I genuinely wanted to make sure it fitbecause I'd had there's nothing worse than
(18:33):
as you were suggesting, how is a set ran.
If it's not a safe place trying toperform within that space is just awful.
It's awful.
It's awful.
And then it's your facethat's being judged.
And not the bullshitthat's happening on set.
You don't get to have the ticker at thebottom being like the director just lost
his shit on me and walked me into setand said, cause I've had this happen,
(18:55):
yell at me all the way in and then belike, okay, it's your closeup rolling.
I'm like, and then I have to deliver.
Nobody's watching that movie being like,wow, everybody got screamed at on set
and yet they still were able to make.
This piece of shit.
I don't like that movie and it tankedand I'm happy that it did because the way
it was run was so unprofessional unsafeEgotistical and then it fell apart in some
(19:23):
ways that's okay that's how it was run.
So That's the equation to it.
But a lot of times the equationis sometimes it's good and then
you have to go out and do pressfor something where the whole
team wasn't working well together.
And I love that we're actually having thisconversation because a big part of our
job when you sign on to something is inthe extension of it is the press for it.
(19:43):
Once you turn around and you'recontracted to go out and speak on
behalf of something that you've done.
With that, look what's happeningright now in the press.
The Blake Lively and the Justin Baldoniand everybody wants to weigh in on it,
and no, only so many people were there.
We don't need to go there, but I justfind it really interesting that you
don't get to learn this as an actoruntil you're already at that stage.
(20:05):
You're already in it, right?
And then it's really hard toturn around and ask somebody,
wait, how do I handle this?
If it's being run like this andthen still be able to deliver.
So I don't get fired.
So I don't, or maybe Ido want to get fired.
It's such a vital situation when theset is not from the top down being
run with integrity and respect.
(20:26):
I'll say it like that.
You're right.
It is challenging.
It's so challenging.
Okay.
So rectify.
So rectify comes.
Is that also a meetingthat you got to have with?
Yes, I met.
What was that?
I think, Oh, Libby and Juni had cast me in
(20:51):
an Allen ball series forHBO that didn't ever go.
We shot a pilot withBen, me and Ben Warshall.
And they called me, it's funny, Iwas doing a series called the glade.
It's for A and E. And when we shot thepilot, it was an awesome character.
And when they told me how it wasgoing to go, it was, I loved it.
(21:12):
And then they shot the pilot andthen I find out they were doing
16 days of reshoots three monthslater, and I'm not in the reshoots.
So I was like, Oh man, that's a good idea.
Maybe it's okay that maybemy stuff worked right.
They completely changedthe entire storyline.
My character was basically goingto be in prison the entire series.
(21:33):
So all of my scenes were like througha glass on phone and I hated it.
I hated it so much and I wasbegging them to write me off
and they wouldn't write me out.
And all the while I'm in Miami shootingthis thing and flying back and forth
to LA trying to get another gig, right?
Taking meetings constantly.
And the show hasn't, hadn't airedyet, so no one knew that I was on it.
(21:55):
And they cast me in the Alan Ball thing.
I go back to the producers,beg them to get me out of it.
They get me out of it.
I'm not happy.
I did not make any friends on that job.
Go to the Allen ball gig.
It doesn't get picked up.
So then my wife's what are you doing?
We have kids.
So then Rectify, three monthslater, so the universe, right?
(22:17):
So three months later, Rectify callsand I go meet with Ray McKinnon and I'd
met him when he was directing Crystalwith Billy Bob and It just clicked.
I did have to read forAMC and and Sundance.
So I went to a reading, I readonce and and then I booked the gig.
(22:40):
And, again, serendipitous that itshot in Atlanta and it was a two
hour drive for me from my farm.
And it was four years of, I'll saythis, instead of saying it was magical,
it absolutely ruined me for the
industry.
Look, the script forRectify was so beautiful.
What you guys did was so magical.
(23:01):
That was a bubble.
I'm glad it didn't shoot in LA.
It's some of the best work I've seen.
And it changed, I think, televisionin a small, like a very small way.
People started realizing, oh,television doesn't have to be we got
that commercial break, you had toshove it down your throat, right?
Like it was that, that, that pilot,it just breathed so beautifully.
And we started to come into the world.
(23:21):
So since it is called that one audition.
You having you learning on the job.
What did you like?
What is your technique to auditioningeven if you use rectifier any of
the other auditions that you've had?
Besides reading the script since you liketo develop the characters so much What is
the first few things that you start to do?
(23:44):
Before you present what youare thinking about for the show
My first step is just to understand whathe's saying And from what he's saying, I
can start to build on why he's saying it.
And then that starts to informme of who this individual is.
(24:05):
So I audition, I prepare foran audition the same way.
That I prepare for the job itselfwhich doesn't always work out because
I'm not a performer necessarily.
I try to, that's why rectify was sonice is allowed us to sit there and be
present and be grounded and to listenand respond, and it wasn't just cut,
(24:29):
cut cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, you know,cut, and network, you get maybe two.
Yeah, three seconds.
And then there's another kindof, there's nothing plays
longer than a couple of seconds.
And Ray would just let scenesjust completely play out.
So yeah, I approach it that way.
I go into the room.
I try.
I'm never someone whohas the page in my hand.
I'm always off book because ifI'm looking, then I'm acting
(24:50):
and if I'm acting, I'm awful.
I'm not a good enough, I'mnot a good enough actor to
just be able to put on a show.
I have to I'm the magician thathas to trick himself, I have to
be fucking shocked that I justpulled this handkerchief and
then it just keeps coming, right?
If I know it's in there, I don'tdo a very good job hiding it.
I look like I'm acting.
So yeah, off book fullyunderstanding who the guy is.
(25:12):
And I do all the dumb stuff.
Like I dress, I try to dress like theperson I'll go ahead and do the accent
and I'll come in with the accent sothat they don't hear the transition.
I try to be the person so that out ofeveryone that came in that day, I res,
I'm trying to resonate that I'm the guy.
Now we're in that self tape era.
(25:33):
And now I'm just going to flip it onits head because now you're directing.
So are you getting tapes now?
And what are auditions looking like foryou that you're viewing as a director?
What stands out to you?
Are you at that process?
Are you just doingmeetings for your films?
No, we did.
We all audition.
I'll say this.
(25:54):
I know in the first couple of seconds.
It really does.
Is it because of the look, theessence that they're giving or
they're drawing you into something?
I have my own opinions aboutthis and people try, every
actor tries to fight it too.
They're like, why isn'tcasting watching my whole tape?
Cause they've got, cause you're not it.
When we used to walk in the room,when we walked in the room, I could
(26:15):
tell right away, I'd look at casting.
I'm like I'm not their choice.
Just by the way, I walked in the room.
All right.
I'm just gonna have a good time.
I'll get out of here.
I loved I definitely did not appreciatethe room until after the room wasn't
a thing walking in I think I can reada room really well and I can know, I,
and I can play to the room really well.
So I can feel it and sense it,almost like being on stage.
(26:39):
And I can, and I allow that to fuel me.
The self tapes are challenging.
So again, I try to just be the guy, whenI sit down and when I say, Clay Crawford
reading for Bruce Wayne, whatever itis, I try to make sure that I feel
whoever that person is in that moment.
So to answer your question about tapes,man, like for instance, I cast Sepideh
(27:02):
Moffie in the Killing Two Lover.
She played my wife, right?
And I had a ton of tapes.
She didn't even say anything.
She reaches over to grab a glass of wine.
And then goes to say the line,and I was like, there she is.
It was something about, so I don't evenknow if, and that's why, because my
(27:23):
wife, when she's helped me sometimes,if I have to put something on tape,
she'll, she's just I don't know, whatthe fuck, why are we doing it again?
That was great!
I'm like, it's not, it's, I have thismuch time for them to say yes or no.
They don't give a crap whatI'm doing in the third scene.
It's right in that, those firstcouple of seconds till they hit click.
I couldn't agree with you more andI got in a good debate with a well
(27:44):
known actor the other day that wedid a tape together, three scenes.
The strongest scene was the third one.
I said, I'm going to put the third onefirst for you to send to your agent.
He was like no.
Do it in order.
I said no.
This is the scene thatwill get you the job.
And they're not going to see it.
He's what do you mean?
I'm like, they're not going towatch to that point because sorry,
but this first seems nothing.
And if you do it out of orderto casting is going to be like.
(28:06):
Wait a second, but thenthey've got you, right?
So put your best foot forward, one,two, Yes, that ten second, I don't
even know if it's ten seconds.
There's an article going around rightnow where some casting director said,
I watched the tape for four seconds.
And now she's being persecuted for it.
You know what?
It's pretty true.
So instead of being up in arms asan actor about it, Do good work.
(28:28):
And I also think, and I'm curiousyour thoughts as a director, if I know
something in the first four secondsor ten seconds is doing something for
me and they're not the right look,I'll keep, people will keep watching.
I think it's somethingthat's captivating, right?
You're watching something andthen ultimately you might be like,
Oh, okay whatever, moving on.
But it does, it either makes youlean in and you found your person or
(28:52):
it makes you lean in and you storethat person away for something else.
Or maybe they're great for something else.
I just don't think that there'smassive science to this.
You can't really putdown a feeling, right?
You're
so right.
I First of all, some of the bestauditions I've ever had, as it relates
(29:13):
to feedback and going out and meetingdirectors back in the day, was when I
didn't have the sides in the right order.
accidentally, because I'm anidiot, and I would do the scene
and they're just like, this guy,that's not even in the right order.
But you're right, it's stuck with them.
So there's a lot of value to that.
I love that you were you madethe suggestion to move the scene.
And look, we know when we reada script, I only get 15 pages.
(29:39):
If it's not good, I know in 15, sometimesI can know on page two, if the dialogue
and I'm like, okay, if you can't writegood dialogue, that's the only part
I'm saying, we're going to createall the other shit on the go, right?
The blocking is going tobe created in the moment.
Art department's going to do that.
None of it's the dialogue.
And I know immediately, if I'mgoing to continue reading a script.
(30:01):
So I support the casting director.
Who's like, I know right away.
Because I did, yeah, we all do.
I know when I watch myself backfor something where I'm like, okay
this clicks or I tried too hard.
But
also
what you said is
I've, a lot of the jobs I've gottenwere because I was reading for the lead.
(30:21):
And it, that goes to a movie star,but they're like well, you read it.
Are you interested in this character?
That was even my first job.
I walked, remember Iread for Shane's role.
They're like, but you can be this guy.
Same with the sweat band.
They're like, no, you're notthat, but we play this guy.
So it's always I agree a hundred percent.
You, I literally read, causenow we're in the world where.
(30:45):
It doesn't matter what the job is, unlessit's soup, unless it's an Indy, but
every studio jobs reading again, becauseno one's worked in the last four years.
So everyone's willing to read.
So now it's, you're putting self tapes up.
And I'll even read for somethingthat I know I'm not right for.
Just so that I'm, they're like, oh, butwait a minute, you know what, he would
work really well in this character.
(31:07):
Okay, so then that, that's, thenI have to jump to Chad Powers.
Because, you've gone on the recordabout Lethal Weapon, about why
you didn't want to audition for itand why you didn't want to do it.
And I'm going to leave Lethal Weaponright where it is because I have
to tell you, Clayne, you are onein a million to work with on set.
You're incredible.
Your integrity is amazing.
(31:27):
And how you care so much about the endproduct is what makes you such a damn good
actor and a damn good person to be around.
So Chad Powers is, I was, I
feel the same about you.
I, even after we did the movie,I'm like, when can, I was trying
so hard to get on Rectify.
I was up so many times for that because Iwas like, I want to go play in that world.
It was right after I did TrueDetective and I was like that, I
(31:50):
like that's where I resonate as well.
You and I are kindred in that.
The indie film market, the indie filmstudio, like the television making.
That's, I just resonatewith that so much more.
So here comes Chad Powers.
I'm, will you walk us through?
You getting this job and yourdesire for what you saw on the page.
(32:10):
So that brings us backto, and it's apple, right?
Yeah.
Chad powers is apple.
Hulu.
Oh, Hulu.
Okay.
Yeah.
First of all, I, yes, I'm competitive,but I also love competition.
I love watching competition.
I would, I've said before I'd watchtwo rats fight over a cheeto if I
could distinguish one from the other.
And college football being.
(32:32):
And from Alabama there'snothing else down here.
So when I, when some of my guys called,when I heard Chad powers, cause I was
aware of the sketch that Eli did there'sno way this is going to be any good.
There's just no, I don'teven know how you turn.
And then they said, Walt,Michael Waldron was attached.
I was like, He's incrediblyintelligent and a great writer.
And I thought Loki was the bestDisney show that they made.
(32:55):
So I read it.
So there's so many elements.
So one is college football.
Two it was shooting in Atlanta, right?
I can drive there.
And then they're like, SteveZahn is playing the head coach.
Look, since watchingsuburbia, like that guy just.
I just love him in everything hedoes and in Rescue Dawn where he's
(33:17):
the P. O. W. with Christian Bale.
I thought his dramatic work was justunbelievable, so the opportunity to
work with Steve Zahn was very exciting.
And then I read the script.
And it was great.
It's great.
And I, and it was one of the, it'sone of the only, it doesn't rarely
do, and you can relate to this rarely.
Do you read something?
You're like, I'll watch this.
(33:37):
Yes.
This is something that I want to watch.
Yeah, man.
And it was just like thisone scene and they were like.
Do you want to meet because you'rein the reading phases and if
you're going to meet, it'll beanother couple of weeks, right?
And I was like, what's the scene?
So they sent me a couple of scenesand I just picked one of them.
(33:58):
And I did the scene and I'venever auditioned for I've
never auditioned for comedy.
So that was the other thing.
This was very, this wasnew territory for me.
So I'm like, I don't know ifthey're going to get that.
I can do this because so often I'm inthe, Timmy has cancer movie, right?
So I'm like, okay, let me give it a shot.
And it was it was a greatscene that was so textured.
(34:20):
This guy was he was in such a bad place.
Frustrated.
And I love the Jack Lemmonstyle of comedy, right?
Where it's just played completelyhonest, but just a little elevated.
And that's where the humor is, right?
When somebody's just
Which scene was it?
Which scene from the pilot was it?
Can you?
It's when Perry comes in.
She plays Steve Zahn's, Steve'sdaughter, and she's an assistant coach.
(34:41):
And she's coming in first episode,we're talking about tryouts.
And, you got to understand likewe're trying out our quarter.
This isn't a kicker, right?
We're not trying out for punters.
This is our freaking quarterback.
And we play in the sec andwe're having open tryouts.
Things are not trending in theright direction for this team.
So I felt like this guy was just.
(35:02):
Over the top and completelyfrustrated and a little dramatic.
So that's how I played itand yeah, I got a call.
I don't know, a month or two later,because it was a long process
for them finding all the pieces.
And I think it was a lot of trying tofigure out Glenn's schedule as well.
And then they called and they'relike, hey, you want to go to Atlanta?
And I was like, yes, please.
(35:24):
I cannot tell you how excited I am.
I think I can say this on therecord that you guys are only
doing two seasons, right?
Because of Glenn's schedule if itgoes for a second season, which
So what we've been told is we'll shootseason two and three back to back.
And we're I don't want to give I don'twant to say too much, but yeah, I think
(35:46):
it's We only did six episodes, okay?
They're half hour, so it'sgoing to be consumed quick.
So they're gonna try to space it out.
We're gonna try to alignit with college football.
Are they gonna do weekly?
Cause I just did a Hulu show andthey dropped all episodes on the
same day and I swear it crushed us.
Oh, there's
no way you could do that.
Yeah, we were a half hour thriller comedyand I thought it was really interesting
(36:08):
that they dropped them all at once.
It happened to be also right atthe end of the strike so we could
do no promotion for it whatsoever.
But it was this great.
You don't, it's in the get outstyle, but Hulu made the decision
to drop them all at once.
And we couldn't, so I'm so glad.
So Chad powers is goingto go week to week.
As far as
that's what they're telling us.
It'll go week to week.
And again, they're trying to alignit with the college football season.
(36:31):
Um, and then again, as I'munderstanding, cause we only.
So basically from my understanding,the series as a whole will be over one
season of football because, you can'tgo too much longer with this thing.
Everybody's going to start tounderstand who he is and so forth.
As it relates to within the show,but yeah, I think that's the plan.
And I don't know if we'll shootmore than six season two or three.
(36:52):
I don't know if they'vemade that decision.
I'm so excited.
Do you guys have a date yet?
Is it April or may no footballsin the fall to the fall?
August or September.
Yeah.
Okay.
When you're just like, there'slike paradise out right now.
I don't know if you've watchedthat there's certain Hulu's doing
some great content right now andthey're making us wait for it.
(37:17):
Okay.
I need to ask a couple of questions.
How was it doing a comedy?
How was it working with Steve?
What did you take awayfrom this experience?
How can you, how doesit feel doing comedy?
I'll ask you that for just to have aquick switch in your career at this point.
I've always thought Iwas pretty funny, right?
(37:39):
Looking around.
I've always made my mom laugh.
I don't make sure my kidsare like, you're not funny.
I, Look, I just, I loved it so much.
I love that there wasnever pressure on the day.
It's all about the beats and timing.
I love physicality, I, what Chaplinand Buster Keaton did what those , even
(38:00):
Michael Richards, and Seinfeld and thatentire cast of Seinfeld, like they're, the
physical comedy is really important to me.
The physicality and Ijust, man, I loved it.
I loved it.
Steve is the sweetest, mosttalented everyone, man.
It was just formed a reallyclose bond obviously with Steve
cause he lives in Kentucky.
(38:20):
He has a farm, we both have cowsand horses and goats and pigs
and chickens and the whole thing.
And not many people dothat in our industry.
And he's got kids that are grownup and my kids are growing up.
And so we were really kind of pals, on thejob, but I'll tell a quick story and this
would embarrass him, but just to give youa difference of how it affected me, right?
(38:42):
Because when I show up to work,I come from a family of blue
collared, hard working humanbeings who work their entire lives.
If I get emotional, youhave to edit it out.
So ridiculous.
Not at all.
Not at all.
Not, I don't think it is at all whenyou're talking about work ethic and
(39:03):
you're talking about family and whatit means to actually, it's intense.
So they're
hardworking.
Yeah, my people are, my family'shardworking and they don't
have, they worked their wholelives and don't have a lot.
So to do this job, to do a joblike this, it is such a gift.
(39:23):
And I know I just nevertake it for granted.
So to show up and everybody's there has ishaving fun, and everyone appreciates that
it can, that we could be shoveling shit.
You know what I mean?
And or roofing a house in the summertime,there, there's so many jobs out there
that are so challenging and these menand women that do them with no gratitude.
(39:45):
There's no, no, thank you.
No pat on the ass.
It's just this endless cycle.
So what we get to do is new and it'sadventurous and we get to go to a new
place and we see a city we haven't seen.
And so anyway, I'm on this set and Glenn,who has no reason to be a good guy, he
could, He, and not even that I'm sayinghe could, he's playing, this guy's
there four hours before the show startsbecause he has to do these prosthetics.
(40:06):
Yes.
This guy's sitting in a chair at 4 a. m.While I'm still in bed and I'm rolling in
at 8 a. m. and this guy's like morning,and we're on set one night and it's late
and we've been shooting all day long andwe're on this football field in Georgia.
In this big, awesome stadium at GeorgiaState and and there's a guy on the
(40:27):
ground who plays the backup quarterbackand we're trying to get this piece of
coverage and he's meant to be yellingsomething to Glenn's character as Glenn
as Chad Powers is running onto the field.
And And they're like no.
I like, and he's only take six becausethey're just having him and he's a funny.
This kid is a funny little fucker andhe's throwing everything out there, right?
(40:48):
And they just keep another take.
And they're trying toget his eye lines right.
Cause he keeps moving his eye lines.
Glenn, who again is just doinga million different things.
Instead comes running from offcamera to get in a position so
that this guy can look at his back
and when you have that type of leadershipand you have those types of individuals
(41:11):
on a set, everyone feels safe.
Everyone, it raises the bar as itrelates to preparation, kindness being
willing to go with the flow, right?
A lot of times you get an actor, they'relike, Hey, so we've had an issue.
Can you shoot scene 17?
I know we're on schedule for that forThursday, but if you could shoot it
today, I've seen actors go, I'm not ready,
(41:35):
but what are you?
You're going to rehearse it17 times before you shoot it.
So you're going to be ready,but it's the ego, right?
None of that existed on thisgig and restored my faith in
filmmaking on a higher scale.
You've had such a beautiful career.
You've always been workingand I am so grateful.
(41:56):
I really can't, I'm so excitedto see you in the director seat.
So when are those films coming out?
The one year and pre productionfor right now, right?
So we're doing a film right nowthat we, yeah, we're in pre pro now.
We start shooting in March.
It's usually we'll try to have it readyfor Sundance submissions and then all
the festivals are right there in a rowas it relates to get them submitted.
(42:18):
And, um, so because they're indies,when you go that route, you're
looking at what a six months to ayear post, and then you have the
festival, which could be a year later.
And then once you get adistribution deal, you're looking
at another six months to a year.
We shot Killing in 2018 andNeon released it in 2021.
(42:39):
And then with Joseph Chambers, weshot that in the heart of COVID in
2021 and it didn't come out until2023 on Paramount So it's a process.
So I, right now, I try to make theimportant things the important thing,
and that's just putting together agood group and then the next step
will be telling a great story andtrying to, as you suggest, create an
(43:00):
environment where everyone feels heard.
This is jazz, and everyone'svoice matters, and it's what makes
this collective piece of art.
Yeah, it'll be to do that, and thenwe'll just take it one step at a time.
And we'll be back, I'll be back shootingPowers in a few months and I'll get to
just be an actor and I don't have toworry about time sheets and deal memos
(43:22):
and what time people need to work.
Exactly,
we'll come back, will you comeback when the movie comes out,
because then I just want to do awhole segment just on directing.
I would love that, to pickyour brain about that.
For this.
I
love that.
Yeah, thank
you.
I adore you.
Thank you so much for doing this.
I really do appreciate it.
I really love, I love watchingyou work and I'm so glad.
(43:42):
I cannot wait for Chad Powers.
I can't say it enough.
Look, you're awesome and I just reallyappreciate you taking the time and
obviously I would love to come back.
And then that.
This is an exciting one because Ialso didn't tell you this off mic.
You've been on the list for awhile where I'm like, how am I
going to ever get Clayne to comeand talk about his experiences?
So right time, right place.
Here we are.
Thank you for doing this.
I don't think when we did themovie, I was doing the interviews
when we did convergence.
(00:25):
I was doing the interviews, but I didn'tlaunch as a podcast to the following year.
So I can't remember if wetalked about it at all.
I don't think we did.
I don't think we did at all.
I didn't, I don't even know if I was awareof podcasts when we worked on that film.
I don't know if you were aware ofanything at that point other than
what was happening during that filmbecause you had a young baby at home.
(00:46):
You were you driving toand from your farm to set?
That's part of the reason why I said yesto that film was that it was about a four
hour drive, five hour drive from my place.
And like what we were saying off showis that I was gone so much that year
that I was willing to do anything justto stay near the house because I did.
(01:06):
I have a brand new little guy at home.
Yeah, I would drive back andforth every opportunity I had,
but I love being on the road.
So that's, it's not a big deal.
I know.
I remember you saying that, like justdriving the truck back and forth.
So that's where I wanted to start isdid you ever live in LA or New York?
A walk to remember is the bigfirst thing, but I can't, I
couldn't find where that shot.
(01:27):
So were you ever on coastal?
Yeah.
So I lived in, I moved to LA whenI was 18 and and I was there.
And then about a year and a halfafter being in LA, I went to New
York and I went back and forth.
I was seeing someone that was workinga lot in New York at the time.
So we had two places.
(01:48):
And when a walk to remember happened,which we shot that in Wilmington, North
Carolina And I booked that in L. A.And and then, it I went from that and
I went back to New York, which wasawesome and shot swim fan up there.
Literally, I left Wilmington andwent there and then went to Australia
for six months to do the great raid.
And then I kicked around and did theLA thing until around 2009, 2010.
(02:10):
And then I bought the farm and gotout because I started having children.
Okay.
So when I was doing this research, causefor you to get a walk to remember and
then swim fan, and then what was theone right after it that you just said to
the great raid,
all studio films what Were you just,because at 18, the early 20s, I feel
(02:32):
like you get every audition possible.
Was this just a random audition thatyou, because it seems like you have
a couple of co stars, guest stars,and then all of a sudden you're in
a, now you're in the studio system.
So I'm curious, you're auditioning oreven what was happening at that point?
Because then you hit a different stride,then you're in a different stratosphere
of choice.
(02:52):
It happened.
Because you're right whenyou're in, when you're 19, 18,
19, you just get everything.
And I did, when I first movedto LA, I'd been there for
literally a couple of weeks.
And I booked like a guest, a costar on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
But I didn't really know how to act.
I didn't know, I didn't take classesback in my hometown or anything.
(03:14):
I never did theater in high school.
I was an athlete, I went out therewith the goal to learn how to act.
I just didn't realize what I wasn'taware of is how expensive acting
classes were living in Los Angeles.
I was just a dumb hick, from Alabama.
So I wasn't aware of what I wasreally jumping into, which is
great because I would have never,I would have never attempted it.
I would have just, it wouldhave been too terrifying.
So I booked really quickly.
(03:36):
I was like, Oh, this isgonna be a breeze, right?
I'm so talented.
And then I realized I didn'tknow what I was doing.
And it was a really roughexperience on that set.
I was only in a couple of scenes,but again, it was just all so new.
And then a walk to remember happenedI don't know, a year after that.
And it was very similar, Adam Shane wassuper sweet and taught me the ropes.
(03:58):
But as you suggested, I got thrown intoit and I didn't have a proper team.
It's not like I could ask my parents,help guide me throughout this process.
And my reps weren't very hands on asit relates to nurturing me into the
industry and helping me understand howto navigate set, how to navigate press.
I'm just a hillbilly who likes to drinkbeer and smoke cigarettes when I'm 20
(04:20):
years old, and just going from job to job.
But what was great is I was learningon, it was learning as I go.
The Miramax job in Australia, I didthat because John Dahl was attached.
He was directing, and Iloved Rounders, right?
And I desperately wanted to work withthis guy, and I had a really cool cast.
And but it was rough.
(04:42):
It was rough on all of us.
One of the actors passed awayin a motorcycle accident.
He was decapitated on a dirt on amotorcycle that was in front of us,
and it was just really traumatic.
And we're there for six months.
And it was a really challengingshoot because it was World War II.
They put us through one of thoseridiculous bootcamps for two weeks.
And I just remember thinking, andthen the movie, so the movie came out
(05:05):
and it had been destroyed, had beenchopped up and it was actually sold
in an acquisition with Disney and thefilm never actually was properly seen.
And I put so much of my lifeinto it and I'm 21 years old.
So that six months seemed.
It seems so much largerthan time does now.
And watching how Miramax justbeat up John Dahl and then just
threw the movie to the side.
I was heartbroken and itall happened so easy for me.
(05:27):
I thought I could easily just walkaway from it and then come back when
I wanted to, so I walked away fromthe industry and stopped reading
for anything studio related, stoppedmeeting on anything studio related.
And I went down the indie route and Ifelt it would give me an opportunity
to play characters and not just be,the smart ass teenager or whatever
(05:50):
it was I was playing in these films.
Or a prop piece in a studio film ittruly, really, at especially that
time age, that early 2000s, not thatyou're not insanely talented, you've
got years, I've been on a set with you,but those that, that, like 20 to 25 age
range, they could put anybody in there.
I have to.
Anyone.
(06:11):
And then, like you said, theycan make you a great actor or
they can destroy you in editing.
They can make you a great director.
They can destroy you in editing.
There's so much I think actorssometimes don't realize how
much is out of our control.
You just want the job so bad.
Then you get the job and then you realize.
Oh, you're just a conditioningsystem of capitalism, really,
(06:34):
if not to, but it truly is thatat the end of the day, right?
So the studio system doesn'tcare about you at that time.
What was the recovery process ofwatching one of your co stars die?
SAG's starting to do some things now,but was there any type of We're going
(06:55):
to take a beat because how do you haveconcern about your safety moving forward?
I don't know how you're ableto use your full instrument.
I was 21, right?
And we're talking 2001.
So post 9 11, it all just happened.
So the world was just in aplace of uncertainty, so I
think going into this war film,
(07:18):
they put us through a very grueling.
Boot camp and by design, because thesesoldiers that were in this specific
battle in this this extraction had beenin the jungle in the bush for quite
some time right in the Philippines.
And these guys were very thin.
So they put us.
That's why we had to eat these rationsand go through this process will also
we had to That we were constantly doingthe choreography for this big extraction
(07:41):
because they want to do these massiveshots of us low crawling and going
into this camp and extracting these P.
O. W. S. So when the accident happened,we were leaving set one night and he
was a local actor out of Australia.
So the Americans would get into a busand then the bus would take us because
we were, we were up in the outskirts,like in the bush of Queensland.
(08:04):
I'm your surfers paradise.
And it was about a 45 minute toan hour drive back to our condos.
And we were leaving set and we'repulling out of the parking lot.
And Woody jumps on his bike.
He takes off in front of us and yeah,he was on the opposite side of the road
and a kangaroo jumped in front of him.
(08:24):
It is so funny because.
You hear the word miracle and it'sit's this perfect timing, right?
And it's everything aligning perfectly.
This was the closest thingI'd ever seen to a miracle.
And it was devastating.
It was not a positive thing by anystretch, but he hit the kangaroo,
which threw him ass over in.
And the traffic goes theopposite direction, right?
(08:46):
So he's in the air and a carcoming this way, hit him.
through his body, maybe 100 yards.
It felt like 100 yards up into the middleof the road and his head was literally
on the side next to a kangaroo thatwas that was dying and the kangaroos
leg kept jarring back and forth.
And it was just thisextremely overwhelming.
(09:07):
And also there was a little bit, I guessyou're a little desensitized, right?
Because of what we do, wesee really unusual things.
often, especially with goreand blood, depending on the
project you're working on.
And then watching six months earlier,I'd seen the twin towers fall, from
airplanes, which was so surreal as well.
So we were all pretty devastated,but we didn't even know
(09:28):
how to process the emotion.
Really.
I certainly didn't.
I just realized that I wasn't eating.
For a couple of days.
And a friend of mine, Max Martini, hiswife was with us and she he was working
on film was, and his wife said, you shouldtry acupuncture, which I'd never heard of
acupuncture, and it really helped me dealwith a lot of the pain, but the problem
was Miramax, these motherfuckers wanted,and they wanted to maintain this unit
(09:54):
that they had created in the bootcamp.
So they literally called usand said that they wanted.
That's to gear up in ouruniforms to go to the funeral.
What?
Oh.
Did you?
100%. Wow.
Oh yeah.
I'm rendered a little speechless.
(10:16):
That's why I focus a lot on thepodcast too about recovery because
I don't care how cheesy it sounds,but when you are using your body,
your mind to go into a story, howeverhorrific, sometimes the stories are,
or the experiences are, there's notmuch training for the recovery of it.
Whether you're paying a serial killerfor a while, whether something like this.
(10:39):
Insanity happens or you're dealing withthe business and they just do not care.
So how do you regulate yoursystem to constantly not be a pawn
right in somebody else's thing.
So I don't, I clean, I never knew this.
I don't blame you for goinginto the independent film world.
(10:59):
After this experience at all, that'spart of your recovery, I would assume,
in trying to be a part of storieswhere it's fully collaborative.
What I love about the independentfilm, it's like what we were just
talking about off mic, you have alimited amount of Time, money, people
that are there want to be there.
(11:19):
People are trying to make somethingwork together versus trying, versus
throwing money at the problem ortrying to get somebody else just
to fill in and do another thing.
Just go on to the nextthing, go on to the next.
I, wow.
So again, a pivot of a moment.
So you go into independent filmmaking.
(11:40):
At this point, are you auditioning forthose things or are you taking meetings?
I was fortunate enough to bein a place to where the smaller
projects were coming to us.
So It allowed me to, but again, a lot oftimes I was saying no to what they were
offering me, reading a script and findinga really cool character that allowed
(12:04):
me to, grow facial hair or change myappearance in some way, change my voice.
And I didn't have that opportunityin the studio projects, they wanted.
You show up and they cut your hairthe way they want you to look.
They kind of mold you into this.
And I didn't have much input.
And for me, I got into thisindustry because I thought it was
designed to be a creative outlet.
I saw myself as an artist.
(12:27):
So choosing my clothing andmy shoes and how I look is all
my character's story, right?
This is who I am.
And and I just had verylittle input on that, right?
Early on.
So these indie films.
Yeah, they gave me that opportunity.
And and then getting to go to some ofthese larger festivals like Sundance, it I
(12:49):
then realized, okay, this is my community.
Yes.
As you said, we're notmaking any money to be here.
So if I've flown all the way outhere and I'm spending every night
memorizing dialogue and putting my, asyou suggest, putting my body through
this, it's because we all love it.
And that's what I really loved.
And and I was lucky enough to dothat until rectify came along.
(13:11):
And when I read that and metwith Ray McKinnon, it was the
independent movie TV show.
And I was like, Oh, I can gomake a little bit of money and
still get to do what I love.
And that kind of started pushing me back.
It started to slowly push me backinto the system a little bit.
Before we get there, because I thinkthis is an invaluable thing, a lot of
(13:31):
actors write in and write about this.
And I actually have this questionmyself, because I'm half the time,
what comes to me is from auditions.
The other half is meetings.
Now you're meeting on projects.
How do you handle those meetings?
So any of the meetings with theindependent films, what kind
of questions or how are youpreparing for those meetings?
(13:52):
In order for it to be collaborativeand for you to make the decision
to ultimately come on board.
I do not prepare traditionally as itrelates to what questions they may ask.
And I don't want to sound corny,but we're actors, so we are corny.
I'm not a religious person,but I'm extremely spiritual.
And I feel like you haveto be to do this job.
(14:14):
You have to be connected to spirit.
because again, I know it sounds silly,but stuff is flowing through you.
If you're doing it right,you're allowing things to you.
You're almost just My buddieswill never listen to this.
So it's okay.
You're like a vessel, for
yes.
So for me, I always just try to get myheart and my mind and my body all aligned.
(14:35):
I try to ground myselfas much as possible.
I believe that God is not thething, but it's what's in us.
It's what we're all a partof some original thing.
And I feel like my, that the Godthat I'm a part of that lives in me.
So I try to pray to that, to just becalm and to be focused and to be present
and to be the best version of me.
(14:56):
Which is what I did beforethis podcast, right?
I just always, cause your nerves getin the way of who we are and it forces
us to make decisions that, or to saythings without thinking properly.
And so I'm always just trying to putmyself in a place to be present and
similar to how I prepare for performing.
And I just want to make sure thatthey're getting the true version of me.
(15:19):
I never want to put something on.
And then when I show up toset who the fuck is this guy?
So I try to let them see me and andI'm not good at being vulnerable.
And in those meetings, I try toallow myself to be vulnerable to the
questions that are being asked andto allow true honesty to come through
how I see it and want to approach it.
That's beautiful.
(15:39):
I don't think there'sanything wrong with that.
I just think sometimes when you showup to these meetings especially if
you want to participate in it Whatkind of questions you're asking
the director or the collaborators?
What kind of ideas you're bringingforth because sometimes people are
like, I don't want to seem too eager whynot if you want to participate in the
project, like Some people are like whatshould I ask the director if I'm having
(15:59):
this general meeting for this movie?
It's what's your interestin doing the movie?
What's your interest?
I like researching the director,seeing what they've done before,
but also I really, what I want todo with the characters kind of.
What I'd like to talk about and seeif we're on the same page or even this
last meeting that I had, we actuallygot onto the conversation of how we
(16:23):
love a set to run, like how does adirect, it's like a coach, right?
As the director, they'reyour coach, right?
How are they seeing it?
What's their vision?
What's your vision?
How can we collaborate tobring it to the highest good?
And sometimes people, I think, getcaught up in, like you said, being
vulnerable about what they, whatyou want to do or how you see it
(16:45):
and not playing too cool or I don'twant to act like I want it too much.
Such a weird, sometimes positionto start your, or be in.
It's a
tug of war.
It is.
Yeah.
So just.
Go ahead.
Sorry to interrupt you.
No, that was essentially it because yourcareer, for you to be able to pivot, it's
you taking on these meetings and you'repretty, now as sitting in the director
(17:09):
seat too, you're doing some of thesemeetings, I'm sure, on the flip side.
Yeah, I, also as it relates to reallywanting jobs, I think that was part
of the reason why I moved away fromLos Angeles is when I lived there.
We're inundated every day with billboardsand bus stops of things were not in.
(17:29):
We see it way before anyone else does.
And we see that we see a PRpush that a majority of America
doesn't really get to see.
And the artwork is just surrounding you.
And then every time you go out to abar to go have a bite, you run into
people and everybody's reading for this.
And I just booked that.
And I was constantly beingreminded of what I wasn't in.
(17:50):
I'm highly competitive.
So I was in a place where I, when I wasin LA in the beginning, I just wanted
to book everything to beat other people.
And I wasn't even focusingon like the job sometimes.
So moving to my farm allowed me tohave a life outside of the work.
Cause I think when I was in LA, it was.
(18:12):
The work is my life was my life fully.
And here I'm quite busy justmaintaining the property and
my family and my Children.
And I started approaching thosemeetings different to where.
I genuinely wanted to make sure it fitbecause I'd had there's nothing worse than
(18:33):
as you were suggesting, how is a set ran.
If it's not a safe place trying toperform within that space is just awful.
It's awful.
It's awful.
And then it's your facethat's being judged.
And not the bullshitthat's happening on set.
You don't get to have the ticker at thebottom being like the director just lost
his shit on me and walked me into setand said, cause I've had this happen,
(18:55):
yell at me all the way in and then belike, okay, it's your closeup rolling.
I'm like, and then I have to deliver.
Nobody's watching that movie being like,wow, everybody got screamed at on set
and yet they still were able to make.
This piece of shit.
I don't like that movie and it tankedand I'm happy that it did because the way
it was run was so unprofessional unsafeEgotistical and then it fell apart in some
(19:23):
ways that's okay that's how it was run.
So That's the equation to it.
But a lot of times the equationis sometimes it's good and then
you have to go out and do pressfor something where the whole
team wasn't working well together.
And I love that we're actually having thisconversation because a big part of our
job when you sign on to something is inthe extension of it is the press for it.
(19:43):
Once you turn around and you'recontracted to go out and speak on
behalf of something that you've done.
With that, look what's happeningright now in the press.
The Blake Lively and the Justin Baldoniand everybody wants to weigh in on it,
and no, only so many people were there.
We don't need to go there, but I justfind it really interesting that you
don't get to learn this as an actoruntil you're already at that stage.
(20:05):
You're already in it, right?
And then it's really hard toturn around and ask somebody,
wait, how do I handle this?
If it's being run like this andthen still be able to deliver.
So I don't get fired.
So I don't, or maybe Ido want to get fired.
It's such a vital situation when theset is not from the top down being
run with integrity and respect.
(20:26):
I'll say it like that.
You're right.
It is challenging.
It's so challenging.
Okay.
So rectify.
So rectify comes.
Is that also a meetingthat you got to have with?
Yes, I met.
What was that?
I think, Oh, Libby and Juni had cast me in
(20:51):
an Allen ball series forHBO that didn't ever go.
We shot a pilot withBen, me and Ben Warshall.
And they called me, it's funny, Iwas doing a series called the glade.
It's for A and E. And when we shot thepilot, it was an awesome character.
And when they told me how it wasgoing to go, it was, I loved it.
(21:12):
And then they shot the pilot andthen I find out they were doing
16 days of reshoots three monthslater, and I'm not in the reshoots.
So I was like, Oh man, that's a good idea.
Maybe it's okay that maybemy stuff worked right.
They completely changedthe entire storyline.
My character was basically goingto be in prison the entire series.
(21:33):
So all of my scenes were like througha glass on phone and I hated it.
I hated it so much and I wasbegging them to write me off
and they wouldn't write me out.
And all the while I'm in Miami shootingthis thing and flying back and forth
to LA trying to get another gig, right?
Taking meetings constantly.
And the show hasn't, hadn't airedyet, so no one knew that I was on it.
(21:55):
And they cast me in the Alan Ball thing.
I go back to the producers,beg them to get me out of it.
They get me out of it.
I'm not happy.
I did not make any friends on that job.
Go to the Allen ball gig.
It doesn't get picked up.
So then my wife's what are you doing?
We have kids.
So then Rectify, three monthslater, so the universe, right?
(22:17):
So three months later, Rectify callsand I go meet with Ray McKinnon and I'd
met him when he was directing Crystalwith Billy Bob and It just clicked.
I did have to read forAMC and and Sundance.
So I went to a reading, I readonce and and then I booked the gig.
(22:40):
And, again, serendipitous that itshot in Atlanta and it was a two
hour drive for me from my farm.
And it was four years of, I'll saythis, instead of saying it was magical,
it absolutely ruined me for the
industry.
Look, the script forRectify was so beautiful.
What you guys did was so magical.
(23:01):
That was a bubble.
I'm glad it didn't shoot in LA.
It's some of the best work I've seen.
And it changed, I think, televisionin a small, like a very small way.
People started realizing, oh,television doesn't have to be we got
that commercial break, you had toshove it down your throat, right?
Like it was that, that, that pilot,it just breathed so beautifully.
And we started to come into the world.
(23:21):
So since it is called that one audition.
You having you learning on the job.
What did you like?
What is your technique to auditioningeven if you use rectifier any of
the other auditions that you've had?
Besides reading the script since you liketo develop the characters so much What is
the first few things that you start to do?
(23:44):
Before you present what youare thinking about for the show
My first step is just to understand whathe's saying And from what he's saying, I
can start to build on why he's saying it.
And then that starts to informme of who this individual is.
(24:05):
So I audition, I prepare foran audition the same way.
That I prepare for the job itselfwhich doesn't always work out because
I'm not a performer necessarily.
I try to, that's why rectify was sonice is allowed us to sit there and be
present and be grounded and to listenand respond, and it wasn't just cut,
(24:29):
cut cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, you know,cut, and network, you get maybe two.
Yeah, three seconds.
And then there's another kindof, there's nothing plays
longer than a couple of seconds.
And Ray would just let scenesjust completely play out.
So yeah, I approach it that way.
I go into the room.
I try.
I'm never someone whohas the page in my hand.
I'm always off book because ifI'm looking, then I'm acting
(24:50):
and if I'm acting, I'm awful.
I'm not a good enough, I'mnot a good enough actor to
just be able to put on a show.
I have to I'm the magician thathas to trick himself, I have to
be fucking shocked that I justpulled this handkerchief and
then it just keeps coming, right?
If I know it's in there, I don'tdo a very good job hiding it.
I look like I'm acting.
So yeah, off book fullyunderstanding who the guy is.
(25:12):
And I do all the dumb stuff.
Like I dress, I try to dress like theperson I'll go ahead and do the accent
and I'll come in with the accent sothat they don't hear the transition.
I try to be the person so that out ofeveryone that came in that day, I res,
I'm trying to resonate that I'm the guy.
Now we're in that self tape era.
(25:33):
And now I'm just going to flip it onits head because now you're directing.
So are you getting tapes now?
And what are auditions looking like foryou that you're viewing as a director?
What stands out to you?
Are you at that process?
Are you just doingmeetings for your films?
No, we did.
We all audition.
I'll say this.
(25:54):
I know in the first couple of seconds.
It really does.
Is it because of the look, theessence that they're giving or
they're drawing you into something?
I have my own opinions aboutthis and people try, every
actor tries to fight it too.
They're like, why isn'tcasting watching my whole tape?
Cause they've got, cause you're not it.
When we used to walk in the room,when we walked in the room, I could
(26:15):
tell right away, I'd look at casting.
I'm like I'm not their choice.
Just by the way, I walked in the room.
All right.
I'm just gonna have a good time.
I'll get out of here.
I loved I definitely did not appreciatethe room until after the room wasn't
a thing walking in I think I can reada room really well and I can know, I,
and I can play to the room really well.
So I can feel it and sense it,almost like being on stage.
(26:39):
And I can, and I allow that to fuel me.
The self tapes are challenging.
So again, I try to just be the guy, whenI sit down and when I say, Clay Crawford
reading for Bruce Wayne, whatever itis, I try to make sure that I feel
whoever that person is in that moment.
So to answer your question about tapes,man, like for instance, I cast Sepideh
(27:02):
Moffie in the Killing Two Lover.
She played my wife, right?
And I had a ton of tapes.
She didn't even say anything.
She reaches over to grab a glass of wine.
And then goes to say the line,and I was like, there she is.
It was something about, so I don't evenknow if, and that's why, because my
(27:23):
wife, when she's helped me sometimes,if I have to put something on tape,
she'll, she's just I don't know, whatthe fuck, why are we doing it again?
That was great!
I'm like, it's not, it's, I have thismuch time for them to say yes or no.
They don't give a crap whatI'm doing in the third scene.
It's right in that, those firstcouple of seconds till they hit click.
I couldn't agree with you more andI got in a good debate with a well
(27:44):
known actor the other day that wedid a tape together, three scenes.
The strongest scene was the third one.
I said, I'm going to put the third onefirst for you to send to your agent.
He was like no.
Do it in order.
I said no.
This is the scene thatwill get you the job.
And they're not going to see it.
He's what do you mean?
I'm like, they're not going towatch to that point because sorry,
but this first seems nothing.
And if you do it out of orderto casting is going to be like.
(28:06):
Wait a second, but thenthey've got you, right?
So put your best foot forward, one,two, Yes, that ten second, I don't
even know if it's ten seconds.
There's an article going around rightnow where some casting director said,
I watched the tape for four seconds.
And now she's being persecuted for it.
You know what?
It's pretty true.
So instead of being up in arms asan actor about it, Do good work.
(28:28):
And I also think, and I'm curiousyour thoughts as a director, if I know
something in the first four secondsor ten seconds is doing something for
me and they're not the right look,I'll keep, people will keep watching.
I think it's somethingthat's captivating, right?
You're watching something andthen ultimately you might be like,
Oh, okay whatever, moving on.
But it does, it either makes youlean in and you found your person or
(28:52):
it makes you lean in and you storethat person away for something else.
Or maybe they're great for something else.
I just don't think that there'smassive science to this.
You can't really putdown a feeling, right?
You're
so right.
I First of all, some of the bestauditions I've ever had, as it relates
(29:13):
to feedback and going out and meetingdirectors back in the day, was when I
didn't have the sides in the right order.
accidentally, because I'm anidiot, and I would do the scene
and they're just like, this guy,that's not even in the right order.
But you're right, it's stuck with them.
So there's a lot of value to that.
I love that you were you madethe suggestion to move the scene.
And look, we know when we reada script, I only get 15 pages.
(29:39):
If it's not good, I know in 15, sometimesI can know on page two, if the dialogue
and I'm like, okay, if you can't writegood dialogue, that's the only part
I'm saying, we're going to createall the other shit on the go, right?
The blocking is going tobe created in the moment.
Art department's going to do that.
None of it's the dialogue.
And I know immediately, if I'mgoing to continue reading a script.
(30:01):
So I support the casting director.
Who's like, I know right away.
Because I did, yeah, we all do.
I know when I watch myself backfor something where I'm like, okay
this clicks or I tried too hard.
But
also
what you said is
I've, a lot of the jobs I've gottenwere because I was reading for the lead.
(30:21):
And it, that goes to a movie star,but they're like well, you read it.
Are you interested in this character?
That was even my first job.
I walked, remember Iread for Shane's role.
They're like, but you can be this guy.
Same with the sweat band.
They're like, no, you're notthat, but we play this guy.
So it's always I agree a hundred percent.
You, I literally read, causenow we're in the world where.
(30:45):
It doesn't matter what the job is, unlessit's soup, unless it's an Indy, but
every studio jobs reading again, becauseno one's worked in the last four years.
So everyone's willing to read.
So now it's, you're putting self tapes up.
And I'll even read for somethingthat I know I'm not right for.
Just so that I'm, they're like, oh, butwait a minute, you know what, he would
work really well in this character.
(31:07):
Okay, so then that, that's, thenI have to jump to Chad Powers.
Because, you've gone on the recordabout Lethal Weapon, about why
you didn't want to audition for itand why you didn't want to do it.
And I'm going to leave Lethal Weaponright where it is because I have
to tell you, Clayne, you are onein a million to work with on set.
You're incredible.
Your integrity is amazing.
(31:27):
And how you care so much about the endproduct is what makes you such a damn good
actor and a damn good person to be around.
So Chad Powers is, I was, I
feel the same about you.
I, even after we did the movie,I'm like, when can, I was trying
so hard to get on Rectify.
I was up so many times for that because Iwas like, I want to go play in that world.
It was right after I did TrueDetective and I was like that, I
(31:50):
like that's where I resonate as well.
You and I are kindred in that.
The indie film market, the indie filmstudio, like the television making.
That's, I just resonatewith that so much more.
So here comes Chad Powers.
I'm, will you walk us through?
You getting this job and yourdesire for what you saw on the page.
(32:10):
So that brings us backto, and it's apple, right?
Yeah.
Chad powers is apple.
Hulu.
Oh, Hulu.
Okay.
Yeah.
First of all, I, yes, I'm competitive,but I also love competition.
I love watching competition.
I would, I've said before I'd watchtwo rats fight over a cheeto if I
could distinguish one from the other.
And college football being.
(32:32):
And from Alabama there'snothing else down here.
So when I, when some of my guys called,when I heard Chad powers, cause I was
aware of the sketch that Eli did there'sno way this is going to be any good.
There's just no, I don'teven know how you turn.
And then they said, Walt,Michael Waldron was attached.
I was like, He's incrediblyintelligent and a great writer.
And I thought Loki was the bestDisney show that they made.
(32:55):
So I read it.
So there's so many elements.
So one is college football.
Two it was shooting in Atlanta, right?
I can drive there.
And then they're like, SteveZahn is playing the head coach.
Look, since watchingsuburbia, like that guy just.
I just love him in everything hedoes and in Rescue Dawn where he's
(33:17):
the P. O. W. with Christian Bale.
I thought his dramatic work was justunbelievable, so the opportunity to
work with Steve Zahn was very exciting.
And then I read the script.
And it was great.
It's great.
And I, and it was one of the, it'sone of the only, it doesn't rarely
do, and you can relate to this rarely.
Do you read something?
You're like, I'll watch this.
(33:37):
Yes.
This is something that I want to watch.
Yeah, man.
And it was just like thisone scene and they were like.
Do you want to meet because you'rein the reading phases and if
you're going to meet, it'll beanother couple of weeks, right?
And I was like, what's the scene?
So they sent me a couple of scenesand I just picked one of them.
(33:58):
And I did the scene and I'venever auditioned for I've
never auditioned for comedy.
So that was the other thing.
This was very, this wasnew territory for me.
So I'm like, I don't know ifthey're going to get that.
I can do this because so often I'm inthe, Timmy has cancer movie, right?
So I'm like, okay, let me give it a shot.
And it was it was a greatscene that was so textured.
(34:20):
This guy was he was in such a bad place.
Frustrated.
And I love the Jack Lemmonstyle of comedy, right?
Where it's just played completelyhonest, but just a little elevated.
And that's where the humor is, right?
When somebody's just
Which scene was it?
Which scene from the pilot was it?
Can you?
It's when Perry comes in.
She plays Steve Zahn's, Steve'sdaughter, and she's an assistant coach.
(34:41):
And she's coming in first episode,we're talking about tryouts.
And, you got to understand likewe're trying out our quarter.
This isn't a kicker, right?
We're not trying out for punters.
This is our freaking quarterback.
And we play in the sec andwe're having open tryouts.
Things are not trending in theright direction for this team.
So I felt like this guy was just.
(35:02):
Over the top and completelyfrustrated and a little dramatic.
So that's how I played itand yeah, I got a call.
I don't know, a month or two later,because it was a long process
for them finding all the pieces.
And I think it was a lot of trying tofigure out Glenn's schedule as well.
And then they called and they'relike, hey, you want to go to Atlanta?
And I was like, yes, please.
(35:24):
I cannot tell you how excited I am.
I think I can say this on therecord that you guys are only
doing two seasons, right?
Because of Glenn's schedule if itgoes for a second season, which
So what we've been told is we'll shootseason two and three back to back.
And we're I don't want to give I don'twant to say too much, but yeah, I think
(35:46):
it's We only did six episodes, okay?
They're half hour, so it'sgoing to be consumed quick.
So they're gonna try to space it out.
We're gonna try to alignit with college football.
Are they gonna do weekly?
Cause I just did a Hulu show andthey dropped all episodes on the
same day and I swear it crushed us.
Oh, there's
no way you could do that.
Yeah, we were a half hour thriller comedyand I thought it was really interesting
(36:08):
that they dropped them all at once.
It happened to be also right atthe end of the strike so we could
do no promotion for it whatsoever.
But it was this great.
You don't, it's in the get outstyle, but Hulu made the decision
to drop them all at once.
And we couldn't, so I'm so glad.
So Chad powers is goingto go week to week.
As far as
that's what they're telling us.
It'll go week to week.
And again, they're trying to alignit with the college football season.
(36:31):
Um, and then again, as I'munderstanding, cause we only.
So basically from my understanding,the series as a whole will be over one
season of football because, you can'tgo too much longer with this thing.
Everybody's going to start tounderstand who he is and so forth.
As it relates to within the show,but yeah, I think that's the plan.
And I don't know if we'll shootmore than six season two or three.
(36:52):
I don't know if they'vemade that decision.
I'm so excited.
Do you guys have a date yet?
Is it April or may no footballsin the fall to the fall?
August or September.
Yeah.
Okay.
When you're just like, there'slike paradise out right now.
I don't know if you've watchedthat there's certain Hulu's doing
some great content right now andthey're making us wait for it.
(37:17):
Okay.
I need to ask a couple of questions.
How was it doing a comedy?
How was it working with Steve?
What did you take awayfrom this experience?
How can you, how doesit feel doing comedy?
I'll ask you that for just to have aquick switch in your career at this point.
I've always thought Iwas pretty funny, right?
(37:39):
Looking around.
I've always made my mom laugh.
I don't make sure my kidsare like, you're not funny.
I, Look, I just, I loved it so much.
I love that there wasnever pressure on the day.
It's all about the beats and timing.
I love physicality, I, what Chaplinand Buster Keaton did what those , even
(38:00):
Michael Richards, and Seinfeld and thatentire cast of Seinfeld, like they're, the
physical comedy is really important to me.
The physicality and Ijust, man, I loved it.
I loved it.
Steve is the sweetest, mosttalented everyone, man.
It was just formed a reallyclose bond obviously with Steve
cause he lives in Kentucky.
(38:20):
He has a farm, we both have cowsand horses and goats and pigs
and chickens and the whole thing.
And not many people dothat in our industry.
And he's got kids that are grownup and my kids are growing up.
And so we were really kind of pals, on thejob, but I'll tell a quick story and this
would embarrass him, but just to give youa difference of how it affected me, right?
(38:42):
Because when I show up to work,I come from a family of blue
collared, hard working humanbeings who work their entire lives.
If I get emotional, youhave to edit it out.
So ridiculous.
Not at all.
Not at all.
Not, I don't think it is at all whenyou're talking about work ethic and
(39:03):
you're talking about family and whatit means to actually, it's intense.
So they're
hardworking.
Yeah, my people are, my family'shardworking and they don't
have, they worked their wholelives and don't have a lot.
So to do this job, to do a joblike this, it is such a gift.
(39:23):
And I know I just nevertake it for granted.
So to show up and everybody's there has ishaving fun, and everyone appreciates that
it can, that we could be shoveling shit.
You know what I mean?
And or roofing a house in the summertime,there, there's so many jobs out there
that are so challenging and these menand women that do them with no gratitude.
(39:45):
There's no, no, thank you.
No pat on the ass.
It's just this endless cycle.
So what we get to do is new and it'sadventurous and we get to go to a new
place and we see a city we haven't seen.
And so anyway, I'm on this set and Glenn,who has no reason to be a good guy, he
could, He, and not even that I'm sayinghe could, he's playing, this guy's
there four hours before the show startsbecause he has to do these prosthetics.
(40:06):
Yes.
This guy's sitting in a chair at 4 a. m.While I'm still in bed and I'm rolling in
at 8 a. m. and this guy's like morning,and we're on set one night and it's late
and we've been shooting all day long andwe're on this football field in Georgia.
In this big, awesome stadium at GeorgiaState and and there's a guy on the
(40:27):
ground who plays the backup quarterbackand we're trying to get this piece of
coverage and he's meant to be yellingsomething to Glenn's character as Glenn
as Chad Powers is running onto the field.
And And they're like no.
I like, and he's only take six becausethey're just having him and he's a funny.
This kid is a funny little fucker andhe's throwing everything out there, right?
(40:48):
And they just keep another take.
And they're trying toget his eye lines right.
Cause he keeps moving his eye lines.
Glenn, who again is just doinga million different things.
Instead comes running from offcamera to get in a position so
that this guy can look at his back
and when you have that type of leadershipand you have those types of individuals
(41:11):
on a set, everyone feels safe.
Everyone, it raises the bar as itrelates to preparation, kindness being
willing to go with the flow, right?
A lot of times you get an actor, they'relike, Hey, so we've had an issue.
Can you shoot scene 17?
I know we're on schedule for that forThursday, but if you could shoot it
today, I've seen actors go, I'm not ready,
(41:35):
but what are you?
You're going to rehearse it17 times before you shoot it.
So you're going to be ready,but it's the ego, right?
None of that existed on thisgig and restored my faith in
filmmaking on a higher scale.
You've had such a beautiful career.
You've always been workingand I am so grateful.
(41:56):
I really can't, I'm so excitedto see you in the director seat.
So when are those films coming out?
The one year and pre productionfor right now, right?
So we're doing a film right nowthat we, yeah, we're in pre pro now.
We start shooting in March.
It's usually we'll try to have it readyfor Sundance submissions and then all
the festivals are right there in a rowas it relates to get them submitted.
(42:18):
And, um, so because they're indies,when you go that route, you're
looking at what a six months to ayear post, and then you have the
festival, which could be a year later.
And then once you get adistribution deal, you're looking
at another six months to a year.
We shot Killing in 2018 andNeon released it in 2021.
(42:39):
And then with Joseph Chambers, weshot that in the heart of COVID in
2021 and it didn't come out until2023 on Paramount So it's a process.
So I, right now, I try to make theimportant things the important thing,
and that's just putting together agood group and then the next step
will be telling a great story andtrying to, as you suggest, create an
(43:00):
environment where everyone feels heard.
This is jazz, and everyone'svoice matters, and it's what makes
this collective piece of art.
Yeah, it'll be to do that, and thenwe'll just take it one step at a time.
And we'll be back, I'll be back shootingPowers in a few months and I'll get to
just be an actor and I don't have toworry about time sheets and deal memos
(43:22):
and what time people need to work.
Exactly,
we'll come back, will you comeback when the movie comes out,
because then I just want to do awhole segment just on directing.
I would love that, to pickyour brain about that.
For this.
I
love that.
Yeah, thank
you.
I adore you.
Thank you so much for doing this.
I really do appreciate it.
I really love, I love watchingyou work and I'm so glad.
(43:42):
I cannot wait for Chad Powers.
I can't say it enough.
Look, you're awesome and I just reallyappreciate you taking the time and
obviously I would love to come back.
And then that.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com