COLONEL’S CRYPT: What attracted you to the character of Jay in BRUTAL MASSACRE?

BRIAN O’HALLORAN: I’ve always been a big fan of the Christopher Guest type of mockumentary film. I think the subject of a horror film was kind of funny. I’m a big fan of comedy obviously but when I read the script and saw the angle that Stevan Mena was going for, I thought it was worth while being on board. I had met Stevan two years prior at the Long Island International Film Festival. I had a film there and he had his film MALEVOLENCE at the time. He won his category and I presented him the award. We got to talking and he just kept my information. He said “I am working on a comedy, I was thinking about you in mind,” and I was interested so sure enough a year and a half later, we worked together.

CC: Who is Jay?

BOH: Jay is Harry’s assistant director, the person on film sets that when the director doesn’t have to deal with background people or making sure that when things are ready then this person helps the director and assists on what he wants. He’s the liason between the director and his crew or the director and day players.

CC: With Jay, he’s a bit of a more comedic goofball in a way which is different than the straight man you’re most known for as Dante in the CLERKS movies. Would you consider Jay to be a goofball or just as someone who wants to do the best job for Harry?

BOH: I think he wants to do the best job that he can for Harry. In the sense of goofball, I think he’s more ironic in a way. He is the type of when somebody says he can’t do it, he says why not, so he’s not so much of a goofball but more of a smart ass in that sense where he tries to do his best for Harry because Harry is the one who has given him somewhat of a professional break in his career. He’s the one who took him out of the public television arena and got him into making horror films, which are the films Jay enjoys doing the most. I thought it was really interesting. It’s definitely a different character than Dante, who is someone who gets walked over all the time and complains about it.

CC: Did you base Jay off of any assistant directors that you’ve worked with in the past?

BOH: There are a few. I’ve worked with many assistant directors and there are three that I’m thinking of when I think of this character of Jay. The personality of one, the temperament of one, and then the let loose attitude of another and when the situations called upon those personality traits, I had one of those to call on.

CC: Dropping a spoiler here, Jay pretty much saves the film by suggesting that the film has no ending, which is ironic considering THE SOPRANOS ended the same exact way.

BOH: That was really funny because obviously we had shot this before that episode aired. I thought it was kind of funny because I have seen other filmmakers who get to that point where they go “I’ve told my story but I don’t know how to end this” so it’s kind of funny that that is something that’s actually happened to filmmakers. I think even Stevan at one point had found that situation where he had told his story but that ending alludes you. In mainstream it’s when you go “Wow, that’s kind of odd,” especially when they couldn’t figure out how to end it. If it was a song, they would just fade out the song and not give it some kind of ending. In a film, you can’t really do that. It’s very tough.

CC: You have a love of the theater. What do you enjoy about acting in film, television, and theater and what are the similarities and differences between all three?

BOH: The actor in me absolutely loves the theater. It’s the thing that you can take from beginning to end, you take the character and you work on it in rehearsals. You have a live audience giving you feedback on whether you’re doing it right or not. Usually if you’re doing Broadway or Off-Broadway you have a six to eight month run until your contract is up where you either get renewed or you move on to other things. You can improve upon things and change it up and have fun with it in front of a live audience. I always love to hear the audience’s reaction as I’m working. That’s the actor in me. As far as pay scale wise, the film industry although you’re only doing the performance once, it pays a little bit more than theater. The other thing about film is you’re not in control of that. With the three mediums that actors are involved in, you have television, film, and stage. Stage is the actor’s medium. Once he’s on stage, it’s all him, there’s nobody else. That’s his show. When you do television, that’s the writer’s medium. That’s where a group of characters can write a character and carry them from episode to episode to episode for months and years from season to season and it’s fun for the writer. Film is really the director’s medium. Film is where the director has usually complete control of choices of shots, choices of this, choices of that, and tells the story that he wants to tell you. Acting in film is different because obviously you have to study and do it again. You’re under the gun sometimes in getting your best performance out there once and one time only while it’s on film. Sometimes the best take that you feel as an actor is usually not chosen because the director sees something different in the take that he prefers. The lighting of the shot was better or the framing of the shot was better. You’re performance on the closeup was great but was not used because they decided on another take which was an OK performance so it’s definitely that kind of feel.

CC: Although BRUTAL MASSACRE is a comedy about the making of a horror film, and you’ve entered into the genre with VULGAR, would you be open to doing more horror films in the future?

BOH: I’m definitely open to doing more horror, more suspenseful horror, horror done not for blood and gore’s sake, you know what I mean? It’s usually because when it gets to that overt blood and gore, it turns into a comedy for me quite often. I wouldn’t be close minded to that fact. I would definitely want to read the script and see if it’s something that hasn’t been done or something that would be done in a different way so I wouldn’t be opposed to it. I’ve been doing horror conventions now since BRUTAL MASSACRE has been promoted. I’ve done about five or seven of them now. Meeting the horror genre fans, and they’re the same fans who follow Kevin Smith’s movies, there are just some people who would follow more horror stuff than comedy. I am introduced to a world that I wasn’t familiar with before. I’m not a ginormous fan of the horror genre. I do like the classic horror films, the really great ones, but I’m not out there trying to find BLOOD ZOMBIES FROM THE PLANET VOODOO if you know what I mean.

CC: How has it been working from project to project with Kevin and having the rabid fan base that his films have had over the past few years?

BOH: What’s great about that fan base is that it’s not your everyday guy or everyday girl type of fan base. It’s not this astute type of elitist fan base that their argument would be your type of politics. I think it’s somewhere where you can joke with them and they can joke back with you and they’re not afraid to ask very touchy or what people would consider rude type questions. They don’t mind very touchy and rude type answers back. That’s the one thing that Kevin has always maintained in his entire career and life. It’s that he’s always been honest and truthful and straight up front. There’s no airs about him, there’s no airs about us. We’re regular guys and we’re regular fanboys as well. I ran into John Landis at the last convention and I’m a huge BLUES BROTHERS, ANIMAL HOUSE, and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON fan. I was a big fanboy and it turns out he’s a big fan of Kevin Smith’s work as well. It’s that type of mutual lovefest where you know the people who love the industry and why they love it.

CC: Do you like the convention atmosphere?

BOH: I do. It’s very laid back. It’s very fun. Everybody’s there for the same reason. They’re fans of the genre. They want to know more about the genre and perhaps get inside information and perhaps meet people and talk more about it. It’s fun and it’s something I thoroughly enjoy. That’s the other thing. Kevin cares what the fans think. He’s always on his website all the time with his “My boring ass life” blog. He does his AN EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH all over the country. He’s gone to London with it. He’s gone to Australia with it. He wants to know what the fans like because the fans are who he makes this film for. We were very nervous going into CLERKS II that we were going to do it right because what if we got it wrong and here’s a beloved movie that could piss off the fan base and once you piss them off, it’s going to be hard to get them back.

CC: I agree and I think that’s why George Lucas gets the worst of it with the STAR WARS prequel because the bar is raised so high, when they don’t get the greatest ever, they say it’s the worst thing ever. I have to say with CLERKS II, it’s my favorite film of Kevin’s and yours.

BOH: Thank you.

CC: Talking about the different mediums, CLERKS is in many ways the last of its kind to have a feature film shot on actual film. With the rise of digital technology, have you worked with 24p video and how is it?

BOH: Yes I have. As a matter of fact, I was involved in  a film in Canada named DROP DEAD ROSES which was the first feature film to be shot in Canada in 24p. The only other films shot before then were ATTACK OF THE CLONES and a few others. My producer and director had gotten a really great deal through the Canadian film board and an editing house. The medium was good to work on in the sense that what you saw on the monitor was what you saw what we were shooting. The problem was what you saw on the monitor was what you’re going to see which took the lighting design and color saturation that much longer to set up. It was good to have the immediate feedback but you could still have that today. There are video taps to every film camera that’s out there. It’s something that you may not get that 24p level and Hi Definition level that quality that you’ll see on the monitor but there are video playbacks on every set. Knowing that immediacy is good and also Kevin is the type of director who edits as he shoots. What would happen is within the first three days of shooting, by the time the third day of shooting has happened, the first set of dailies have come back and Kevin always sets up an editing suite in whatever location we set up at any extended length of time. So when we were shooting CLERKS II we had taken over the Days Inn motel which was in Orange County across the street from the abandoned Burger King. At the end of the shooting day, we would shoot from 7am to 7pm. After dinner, he would then go up to one of the rooms which is set up with all this editing equipment and he would edit the footage from three days ago. He was cool enough to allow us to watch some of it while we were still shooting to correct certain issues or just to double check that we’re doing the right thing. That was just interesting and fun. Many nights I would go with him to the editing suite and just sit quietly in the back and sit on the couch while he’s editing just to see his style of editing and to see where his mindset was. Number one, he’s a very efficient editor. Number two, he knows what he wants. Number three, he chain smokes like a fiend but he gets the job done and he’s very open to wanting to show people once it’s done.

CC: What’s coming up for you?

BOH: Actually, I’m going to jump on the other side and I’m helping a friend produce a film. It’s a genre I haven’t worked into before which is a children’s film. It’s based on a kid who becomes a bat boy for the New York Yankees. The Yankees are on board. Major League Baseball are on board. It’s probably about the range of an eleven million dollar budget although I’ve been hearing we’re going to aim higher on that. We’re taking meetings right now with people and we’re trying to get Billy Crystal on board with it.

CC: I thought you were a Mets fan.

BOH: Yes, I am a Met fan but I am doing a Yankee project.

CC: But you don’t hate the Yankees?

BOH: I don’t hate the Yankees. As a matter of fact, I was born and raised in the Bronx until I was eleven. The reason I became a Met fan was because a friend’s family actually worked at Shea Stadium and she used to take me and her kids to games so it was just through osmosis. I was in the Bronx during the 1970s during the whole Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin, and Thurman Munson era. I was there for those championships and back then I was a huge fan. I ate the Reggie candy bars. I was a Yankee fan who went to Mets games.  Then just over the years I just kept going to Mets games because I felt for that team. Then there was the big win in 1986 and of course the big disaster of last year. I’m a fan of the Mets. I’m a diehard Rangers fan, a big hockey fan, and I’m a diehard Jets fan. I’ve always been that blue collar follower because I’ve come from a blue collar background so those are the types of teams I root for.

CC: I’m a big time Rangers fan as well.

BOH: What do you think about losing Avery?

CC:  At first I couldn’t believe they didn’t resign him but now I think if he really wanted to stay, he could’ve worked something out with the team.

BOH: That’s true. I know his agent is kind of a ball buster but I can see why Dallas is attractive to him. They’re very competitive and a team that he thinks can win.

CC: I liked the pickup of Redden but I think Jagr’s gone.

BOH: It’s looking more and more that he’s going to Europe.

CC: Speaking of which, what was up with the Penguins jersey in CLERKS?

BOH: I had to wear that because I couldn’t find my Rangers jersey.

CC: So you had to go with them?

BOH: You know it was either that or a Devils jersey and there’s no way I was putting on that fucking thing.

CC: Say no more. I know Kevin’s a huge Devils fan. Has there been any smack talk between you two on set over which team’s better?

BOH: No. As a matter of fact during the playoffs, Kevin was on the NHL website doing their celebrity blogs where they got a bunch of celebrities to blog about the playoffs and he blogged on the Devils. I think that’s where the Rangers burnt out. They gave it their all to take on the Devils this past year and they had nothing in the tank when it came to take on Pittsburgh. As far as bickering, I don’t get a lot of face to face time because he lives in Los Angeles and I’m still in New Jersey. I go to LA two or three times a year and that’s enough for me. Usually when I’m out there, it’s not even hockey season. Walter Flanagan however would say to me “We’ve won three and you’ve won one.” I go “Alright, you’ve got that one on me but we still won last year.”

CC: Here’s one for them. I usually tell the fans I love it when they win the Cup because they parade in the parking lot with less fanfare than Daffy Duck. At least he draws crickets.

BOH: (Laughs) Right, the parade in the parking lot, how great. When the Rangers won the Cup, we paraded in the biggest city in the world. It’s the biggest thing and with them it’s like a barbecue in someone else’s house.

CC: I think we’ll be celebrating before them. Once Brodeur retires, they’re done. Now you’ll be at the premiere of BRUTAL MASSACRE at the Pioneer Theater this Saturday?

BOH: Correct, the screening is at 9pm and Stevan will be there as well.

CC: And with that, I leave the last word to you.

BOH: The last word? I really had fun doing BRUTAL MASSACRE. Everybody who worked on it was terrific to work with. It’s something that Stevan has even thought about doing a sequel if the response as far as the general public is concerned is that much greater than we’re hoping. We wish to have had a larger theatrical release but I know how Anchor Bay can be gunshy being HATCHET a few others didn’t fare so well but hopefully people will watch it, enjoy it, and have as good a time as we did making it.

CC: Thank you so much for your time Brian.

BOH: Take care and let’s go Rangers.

(Special thanks to Ed Peters at Sue Procko Productions)