Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Hello and welcome to the special edition of Christmas Movie Spotlight.
I'm your host Don Mac and I'm here with my
friend and colleague and co host Pam. Hi, Pam, how
are you?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
I am doing wonderful. How are you today?
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I'm doing good, doing good. You know, we're inching closer
or either we're in the throes of the holiday season.
I don't know. I guess it depends on when our
people are, you know, listeners are listening or they listen
to this. But my goodness, I feel like we're in
the throes because everything is all about Christmas right now,
you know.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah. That and the cooler weather too.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Aye, Yeah, that is definitely made it feel like Christmas
here we are. We're having some of the coolest weather
I think we've had in recent fall seasons, so really
kind of feeling seasonal for a change. I'm loving it.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Look at you. I know this is right up your alley.
This is your kind of weather.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Well.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And the bonus, the cherry on the ice cream Sunday
is the fact that all of these hurricanes that have
been forming out in the East Atlantic rather that have
threatened the East coast have all turned and none of
it the East Coast so far, so that is a
huge blessing. I mean there's been some riptides and things
like that obviously, but I know there have been previous
(01:39):
years where no hurricanes hit the East Coast, but it's
been a while ago, so I'm I've been very happy
to see them all turning.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Oh absolutely, I'm always keeping an eye on the weather
for Austin, Chicago and the for North Carolina.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
But I don't want my paste to like fly away
or you know, I.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Know, I know right now, we're just soaking it in
for what it's worth because we had a really hot summer,
so we are embracing this cooler temperatures and great weather
and low humidity, I must say, So it's all good.
Weather is good, good, good, which is just helping the
whole holiday season all the more.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
So.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
We have to talk about our guest for today, because
he was an absolute delight to chat with and so
very busy that he I'm still just kind of blown
away that he took the time to you know, he
gave us a few minutes of his time to talk
about this movie that he's going to talk about today,
and it was just great. He's a very special interview
(02:52):
for sure, and I'm talking about the immensely talented Todd Terry.
What a great interview.
Speaker 5 (02:59):
Oh my, he was really, like you said, he was
wonderful to speak with. I enjoyed it. I almost didn't
want the conversation to.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
End by.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
He was just He's one of those guests that you
just like you've known a long time and you just
right comfortable chatting with. And so it was a great interview,
as you will soon hear in a few.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Yes, and don't forget to watch Todd Terry. He stars
in a holiday movie called Christmas at the Cabin and
it's in theaters.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I'm November fifteen.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
And we are so excited and honored to bring you
our interview with Todd Terry.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Enjoy the show.
Speaker 6 (03:41):
Hi, this is Todd Terry and you are listening to
Pam and Down.
Speaker 7 (03:45):
Hi Todd, Hey, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I'm doing great? How are you doing?
Speaker 7 (03:50):
I'm doing great? Thank you?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Oh awesome.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
I always like to start out with the same question
with everybody because we get some great answers, some interesting answers,
and otherwise. So when did you first discover you wanted
to be an actor? Was there like any particular moment
or many moments.
Speaker 7 (04:11):
Uh yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I mean I remember back in certain times in my
life where you know, where somebody said, oh you're funny,
or you know, something like that that were kind of
pivotal points in my life where I went, oh, wow,
that's interesting.
Speaker 7 (04:27):
You know, I got some you know, self esteem from it. Whatever.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
But honestly, I knew I wanted to be an actor
when I took a drama class in high school and
I got to do a monologue in the class, and
for me, it was really more therapy. I was kind
of a shyer kid, and so being more introverted, it
gave me a chance to you know, express my feelings
(04:50):
in a safe space, and that's really what.
Speaker 7 (04:53):
Got me interested.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
And then when I was in late days in high school,
I joined a team, a teen improv group, and we
did like improvise sketches on drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, those
kind of things, and that gave me what I felt
like it was more of a purpose.
Speaker 7 (05:11):
In doing it.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
And then I was hooked, you know, pretty early on,
just because it was, like I said, more of a
therapy type thing, getting to play different characters and exercising
my emotion. So that's That's the long and short of
how I got into it.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Really fascinating. You know, I think every actor has their
own personal reasons, and it sounds like for you it
was therapeutic, but then it grew into something quite greater
than that. And so when what do you look for
in a script before you decide to take on a role.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
Well, it's interesting what you just said, it grew it
into something greater, and I'll follow let me follow up
on that first, because there were years where, you know,
as an actor, a lot of times you're just suing
just to get any work because you know there's a
lot of people out there competing for the same jobs,
and you're just trying to book jobs.
Speaker 7 (06:08):
You're trying to build your resume and all that.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
So in a sense, you're like you're taking anything and
it doesn't feel like there's a purpose. But I would
say about fifteen years ago, I became a Christian probably
you know, thirty years ago, and I started having an
interest in doing things that were more faith friendly. Not
that I do a lot of secular television as well,
(06:30):
but at that point in my life, I was like, ah,
there's more of a purpose. I wanted to do things
that had a script that had some purpose or a
really good message.
Speaker 7 (06:40):
And so today, to answer.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
Your question, a lot of times I'll look at what
is the purpose in what I'm doing, you know, even
if it's gritty and raw, you know, fine, as long
as I feel like there's a message in the end
that maybe has a bit of a faith element to it,
if not something that you know, good guy wins, bad
guy loses type deal. You know, those are kind of
(07:03):
the stories that I like and I grew up on,
and I know, you know, in Hollywood in general, there's
all sorts of mediums of or should I say more
projects that kind of.
Speaker 7 (07:17):
Go off the deep end in a lot of ways.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
That you know, I just choose these days, not to
you know, want to audition for. But yeah, I pick
and choose, but I don't have a hard and fast
rule it really does the script speak to me?
Speaker 5 (07:31):
Yeah, I think that when you choose something that's more fulfilling,
it's a better job for you, even though it's not
a job, because you're doing something that you love and
you have a moral to the story or a message.
Speaker 7 (07:46):
Yeah, yeah, that's absolutely right.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
Wow, Well that's a great thing. You know, I and
I love that you do it. What's the one thing
that surprised you after you started acting?
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Oh, well, probably it's not really a surprise, but it
is a grind in the sense of I mean, you
can audition over and over and you don't get anything,
and not getting any feedback for the things you're auditioning for.
Speaker 7 (08:16):
It's hard on an actor.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
So you know a lot of actors take classes, as
I did for many years, and that's really the place
where you get your feedback to find out what you're
doing wrong in these hopefully what you're doing wrong in
the auditions, or how you can improve yourself. So for me,
that was the biggest surprise learning curve is that, well,
(08:38):
part of me says, not a surprise. It's just you're
always continuing to grow in this business, no matter how
long you've been doing it, and I've been I've been
doing it almost forty years now, and there's always something
to learn, you know, especially now.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
With auditioning.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
You know, we do auditions in our homes now versus
going in person and somebody has the cameras up and
all that. So doing it from home, you're having to
create that whole world and do everything without somebody kind
of helping you out, and that's a bit of a
challenge at times, but I love it also.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Well, looking back over your career, which role do you
feel best represents your evolution as an actor?
Speaker 7 (09:25):
It's a very interesting question.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
I don't know that I could answer that question because
you know, honestly, I'm more of a proponent of trying
new things and doing new things as an actor. So
typically most actors, I would say, get typ casts based
on the first few roles you get. So for years
I would play law enforcement DA and you know, I
(09:49):
did a lot of roles in that vein, but for me,
it was really about breaking out and trying new things.
So what I've done more recently in the say, the
past five ten years, has been more interesting to me
because I got to a point where I was like,
you know what, I'm tired of going out for these roles.
And I understand that the casting directors see actors one way,
(10:12):
typically because they're used to seeing a certain headshot or whatever,
and they go, Okay, this guy fits this role. So I,
in a sense reinvented myself. I grew my hair longer,
I grew beard, and try to create more of a
vibe that I could be in a Western or you know,
I could be a rougher character than people saw me as.
(10:32):
And then I started booking things like that. So for me,
that was exciting and it was a change his pace.
So that's really how I saw I have seen my
career evolve is just by willing to kind of change
the way I looked so that people saw me different.
Speaker 5 (10:50):
Yeah. That's probably about the only way that you can
get people to look at you differently for different roles,
because you're not you know, I would imagine you send
out headshots first, right, So in.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
This day and age, it's really a lot of it's
your agent or if you have a manager, and your
you know.
Speaker 6 (11:09):
But I also network a lot. I talk to people
I got.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
I get a lot of work just from people I've
worked with previously or recommendations.
Speaker 7 (11:17):
So after a while, that is what happens.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
But initially, early on, it's yeah, it's all about sending
your head shot out, your demo reel and just trying
to you know, get jobs.
Speaker 7 (11:28):
Where you can.
Speaker 5 (11:30):
Yeah, and that's kind of hard in the beginning too,
you know, because you don't have a whole lot to
put out there yet. But once you've built your your base,
then you're you're good to go. Yeah, you've been praised
for your grounded, authentic performances, So how do you bring
truth and subtlety to even the most dramatic roles.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Uh, you know, I I'm I'm a I guess I
would say I'm a pretty grounded person. I'm you know,
I've never been an actor that goes super big. It's like,
I think I'm the actor sometimes that they got you
got to pull a little more out of because I know,
the camera picks up everything, and you know, I came
(12:11):
from the theater and so I'm used.
Speaker 7 (12:13):
To that environment.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
But when I started doing film a TV, you know,
you kind of learned the hard way. You see yourself
in a project and you go, oh, I wish I
didn't do that.
Speaker 7 (12:23):
I was doing too much, and.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
So I've learned to kind of just bring things down
to where I am generally talking to you or anything.
You know, it's really more about what is my objective
in the scene, what's my mission, my motivation you know
that I'm focused on.
Speaker 6 (12:41):
So it's not about the theatrics of it.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
So I guess my groundedness just comes from not feeling
like you really have to push you just have to
be connected to what you want in the job you're doing.
And that's what uh, I guess that's what I bring
to it. I don't know, it's a good question that.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
You know.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
And and piggybacking on Pam's question, is you know, in
terms of you doing faith driven films, I mean a
lot of fans that know you from that and so
and that does require a lot of authenticity and groundedness
and just being your real self almost to convey that.
But what draws you to stories with the message of
redemption or hope?
Speaker 7 (13:24):
What drives me? I think just my faith.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
My faith in Jesus Christ is one thing that you know,
propels me to do stories that have that message because that's,
you know, how I try to live my life is
in faith.
Speaker 7 (13:40):
That would probably be the biggest thing.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Sorry not to skip, but when you just were talking
about groundedness and faith films, you know, for so many
years they weren't very grounded.
Speaker 7 (13:54):
They were very bigger than life or on the nose.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
And what I appreciate now is that they're going back.
We're not going back, but they're becoming a lot more
grounded than they've ever been, because so many Christian films
have had a bad reputation of just being cheesy. And
you know, I think as an audience member, you want
to discover things with the characters in the show that
(14:17):
you're watching and not kind of be told, Okay, this
is how you're supposed to.
Speaker 7 (14:21):
Feel and blah blah blah, which was.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The horrible thing about Christian film years ago. It's gotten
so much better. Sorry to segue, but that just came
to my mind when you had said that earlier on.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
But sorry, I don't know if I answered your Yeah,
your other.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
Question was about you know what draw I guess what
you know propels me to do these things, and it's just, honestly,
it's just faith bringing up, you know, trying to bring
a good positive message.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, you know what you were saying about the Christian
movie industry. It has really come a long way, and
I think it feels like it's fast becoming the movie industry.
So many people Christians and you know, unbelievers alike or
gravitating towards these stories because they resonate with people from
(15:12):
all walks of life, regardless of beliefs, And it really
is it's growing by leaps and bounds. It's great to
see the explosion, you know, of all the great films
that are being produced and coming out.
Speaker 7 (15:24):
Yeah, you know, it's funny.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
It's I think a lot of it too, is things
have had gotten so gratuitous, you know, all the stuff
in Hollywood that's come out behind the scenes. You know,
it's one thing, and then you know, it's like people
just don't want to be assaulted on the screen every
time they see a movie, because you can be watching
a great movie and then all of a sudden something
pops up that's just like whoa.
Speaker 7 (15:46):
You know, it.
Speaker 6 (15:47):
Offends your senses, and you know, is that really necessary?
Speaker 7 (15:51):
I'm a believer in that.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
You know, you can you can convey all those gritty
things in a non grato it his way.
Speaker 7 (16:02):
Kind of in a way that used to do it
back in the sixties or the fifties.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
You know, but exactly, but you can do it in
a way that is, you know, you get the message across,
but you're not slamming somebody over the head with the
two by four, you know, trying to show them everything
that they may may may not want to see.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Yes, and those are a lot of the movies, Well,
I don't watch that are bloody and glorious like that.
I just like, give me a cheesy films, that's what
you want to call it, and I'll watch it.
Speaker 7 (16:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Yeah, And again I'm not trying to, you know, say yeah,
because there's everybody has sensitivities towards certain things, lance or sex,
you know, so everybody's different in that area.
Speaker 7 (16:43):
But I'm more of a proponent.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
And look, I'm I'm probably guilty, and I've done some
you know, projects that are you know, have led that way.
Speaker 7 (16:53):
But you know, what I enjoy doing and what I
you know.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
I think people really would rather see is things that
are really grounded but yet don't hit you.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Over the head exactly.
Speaker 5 (17:07):
And that's why Don and Christmas movie fanatics. So you've
been both part of major Hollywood productions and indie projects.
So what do you enjoy most about working in an
independent film?
Speaker 7 (17:29):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (17:30):
I like it because there at least there's a feel
of being able to collaborate more so than on a
project that's a bigger budget project that you have a
million producers associated with. They know exactly what they want.
You know, you may get some direction on okay, we
(17:50):
need to lean this way. But you know, regarding dialogue
and things like that, there's never much of a say.
Speaker 7 (17:57):
And I found an independent film.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Most of the films I've worked with are very collaborative,
you know, with you know, dialogue or things like, hey,
I'm you know in the script, I'm not seeing this
and you know, what do you think about working this
into it? Most everybody I've worked with has been great about,
you know, trying to not accommodate my thoughts but work
together to make a great project. And that's what I
(18:21):
like about it, because you feel like everybody's apart trying
to make it better.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Oh yeah, for sure. Now we know that you have
a brand new movie that's coming up very soon, is
going to open in theaters in November, I think, and
Christmas at the Cabin. What can you tell us about
the movie without giving too much away? Of course?
Speaker 7 (18:42):
Oh my gosh, Well, it's funny.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
I'm I'm a I don't know how much I can
say about it honestly, other than what my character does,
because it's you know, it's a it's a group of
four people that have gone on this kind of Christmas
vacation and with each other, there in you know, comedy ensues,
(19:04):
tragedy ensues, and I'm the character that, in a sense
is somewhat of a rescuer of one of the main characters,
or I say, I'm the sage person in it that
gives this person some advice that hopefully changes their course
for the better.
Speaker 7 (19:23):
I play a character named.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
Luke's He's basically a cowboy rancher who runs into this
girl who's in the freezing cold and she's caught her
leg up in a in a wolf trap, which probably
normally would snap.
Speaker 7 (19:38):
That foot right off, but it doesn't. Yeah, and so we.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Have some conversation, and you know, she thinks I'm a
bit of I could be a bad guy.
Speaker 7 (19:51):
You never, you know, she doesn't know.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
But she ends up going back and I feed her
and we have a great conversation, and then and she
goes back, and then some of the story resolves after
that regarding all the conflict that had happened before. I mean,
that's the best way, because I wasn't in any of
those scenes to really say, you know, the ins and
outs of her character. But it was a blast. We
(20:16):
shot it in Breckenridge just as the snow was starting
to melt and so it wasn't super cold. The mountains
were beautiful. Got to ride a horse in the mountains,
which was even better.
Speaker 7 (20:29):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker 7 (20:33):
In fact, this was what. No.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
I've been in one other Christmas movie before this, and
then I'm getting ready to do another one next month,
just a small part. But yeah, it's like it's exciting
for me because you know, everybody likes to watch Christmas movies.
And well, the first and not to go too off topic,
the first one I was ever a part of. It
(20:56):
was called A Year Without a Santa Claus. You know,
the claymation version, a Year Without a Santa Claus.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Oh yeah, Well they did a.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Live animation version and it had all these people in it,
John Goodman, Chris Cotan, Ethan Supplet, a lot of Delta Burke,
all these you know actors that you've heard of, and man,
it just did not go anywhere. It just was not
very popular. It was so much fun to shoot it.
(21:26):
We shot a snow scene in the middle of the summer,
and so you're sweating while you're supposed to be freezing.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
But that's honestly.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Been the only a Christmas movie I can think of
that was like a pure Christmas movie other than this one,
Christmas at the Cabin that's coming out November fifteenth.
Speaker 7 (21:44):
So I'm excited.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
I'm glad you're a part of that. It sounds really
good and we're looking forward to watching it. And I
know there's many others out there, like John and myself
that cannot wait for this time of year and their
start these movies earlier in the year, and we're not
going to complain.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Keep them, keep them coming, I mean coming out before Thanksgiving,
I mean for real.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yeah, well, here's your your chance now to shout out
a message to the world and tell them who are
some of the actors or directors you'd love to collaborate
with in the future in the future.
Speaker 7 (22:27):
Oh my gosh, y'all are asking hard questions now.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
I mean there's so many. There's so many actors that
I really admired their work, you know that, whether I
worked with it or not, I always like watching them.
Speaker 7 (22:46):
And names are just not coming to my head right now.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
I'm literally I'm seeing faces but not names, So I'll
have to come back to it in a second. But uh,
as far as directors go, Colly, you know, Christopher Nolan
would be a dream somebody like that. Oh my gosh,
I'll y'all just y'all stumped me because I can't think
(23:12):
of the directors that I like right now.
Speaker 7 (23:16):
But yeah, but I will say that the ones that
I've worked with most all of them have been amazing.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I've I just worked with a director, Michael Lyons who
it's a western that literally just came out streaming two
days ago.
Speaker 7 (23:31):
I don't know if I can talk about it.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
It's not a Christmas movie, but it's, uh, it's a Western. Yeah,
it's called Bad Men Must Bleed and uh, it's just
out on Apple here. It's got Chad Michael Murray in
it and uh uh cast of a bunch of great actors.
Speaker 7 (23:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:53):
So anyway, that's that's. That's one director I've really absolutely
loved Jared O.
Speaker 7 (23:58):
Flaherty.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I do a a faith based detective series called Vindication.
Speaker 7 (24:04):
He's been amazing as well.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Among the many other ones, Tory who was the director
for this movie Christmas in the Cabin, she was amazing
as well.
Speaker 7 (24:13):
So too many to name, but that's a handful.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Well, that's a good list, and I'm sure after we
hang up, you'll they'll all come to mind.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Like you know, dang.
Speaker 7 (24:23):
It, I know.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Before we wrap up, we always like to close with
a fun little lightning round game. It's all Christmas oriented.
It's five questions, no wrong answers.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
We just like to.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
See what the guests says. So the first question is
do you prefer a fake tree or a real tree?
Speaker 7 (24:46):
Real?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
There was no fault in that.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
It was like every year it's a real tree and
it's a gosh, what's the name of it? Trees aren't
coming to me, but yeah, it's the wild wide branch
one noble, noble noble.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah, yeah, all right, matching ornaments or mix and match ornaments,
mix and match? Okay, Uh? Do you prefer snow for Christmas?
Or do you prefer beach weather?
Speaker 3 (25:19):
No snow, absolutely snow cold as possible?
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Yep, all right, Christmas in July through December or only
in December.
Speaker 7 (25:31):
Christmas?
Speaker 3 (25:32):
And uh, I guess it depends what you mean. But
if it's referring to the weather, I would take it
like all year longer six months, but but no, I'm not.
I'm not a Christmas like six months. After keeping all
the decorations up ours usually lasts for about a month.
Speaker 7 (25:50):
Yeah, mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And then the last question, one thing you have to
find in your stocking?
Speaker 7 (25:58):
Ooh oh, lottery scratchers.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Oh can go wrong with those.
Speaker 7 (26:05):
That's always been a custom of ours.
Speaker 3 (26:07):
Each get about five to ten lottery scratchers just to
see if anybody wins.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
Yeah, well, has anybody hit it? I mean fifty box
or something?
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Is great?
Speaker 7 (26:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
My brother in law one year, I think, uh, scratched
off a thousand bucks, So that was pretty good.
Speaker 7 (26:24):
That's the highest one I remember. But yeah, yeah, it's fun. Wow.
Speaker 5 (26:29):
Then he should have brought bought breakfast the next day
or life.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
Yeah, you probably did.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
We want to thank you so much for joining us today.
It was a blast. We love hearing about the movie
and more about yourself, and we look forward to much
more and you're invited back anytime.
Speaker 7 (26:50):
Awesome. Thank you. You all have been a pleasure and I
appreciate you having me.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Thank you so much, Tyd, thank you so much for
into our latest episode of Christmas Movie Spotlight Don't forget.
You can find our podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, iTunes, Sprinker
and more. To search Christmas Movie Spotlight spelled m U
v i E s.
Speaker 8 (27:13):
For even more, visit us online at Christmasmovies spotlight dot com.
Follow us on our social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram.
Follow at Christmas Movie Spotlight and on X follow us
at Christmas Movies, which would be X M A S,
m U v i e S. Until next time, stay
(27:33):
merry and we'll see you again real soon