William Mapother

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Mad Men Mad

Posted on: April 27th, 2013 by wmapother 9 Comments

MadMen6-Facebook-Timeline-850x315

 

 

 

 

In anticipation of my guest spot on this week’s episode of Mad Men, below are some Q&A submitted by folks just like you.
Please feel free to submit further questions in the comments.  To left, you can sign up for my (occasional) newsletter.  And I’m on Twitter @williammapother, and on Facebook here.

[Here is AMC’s post-ep summary and wrap-up.]

Q:  Will you be giving out any spoilers in this Q&A?
A:  No, of course not.

Q:  Grrr.  What about at least discussing the –
A:  No, I’m sorry, I’m not even going there.

Q:  Okay, fine.  Whatever.
A:  Sorry, is that a question, or … ?

Q:  Damn, dude, just give me a second, would you?  Okay, Mad Men is very protective/secretive about information on upcoming episodes.  Lost was, too.  Which show’s Powers That Be would you rather face after having given out spoilers?
A:  Probably Lost’s.  As geeks themselves, Damon and Carlton would probably buy the explanation that I got over-excited and overshared.  Matt Weiner, however…  I just had this vision of confronting him in a sort of Mad Matt: Beyond Madison cage, and it involves ritualized disembowelment, humiliation before the secretarial pool, and a very bad wardrobe.  I’ll take the smoke monster and polar bear, thank you very much.

Q:  So what can you tell us about your character?
A:  He’s got two arms, two legs, and speaks English…intelligibly, on occasion.

Q:  That’s hysterical.  Really.  ADD LINKS  But based on your previous characters, does he maybe live in the jungle, or get inhabited by an alien, or munched by a ghost, or mummified and buried by underground creatures in the Old West, or even haul his 800-lb body around in a motorized lounge chair (and here’s a photo, in case you forgot)?
A:  I’m not clear…what’s your point, exactly?

Q:  Oh, I think I made it.  Back to the puffballs:  How did you get the role?
A:  I auditioned.  It was set up by my agent.  I’d gone in once before, but it was a couple years ago, and I don’t recall for which character.  I read for Matt, a casting director, and a few other people.  After the first time through, Matt gave me some good notes to tweak my performance, and I read it again.  I think there was another note or two, and then a third reading.  A day or so later, I heard that I got the role.

Q:  What was Matt like during the audition?
A:  Respectful, smart, focused, funny, specific, and serious about the work.  About what I expected.

Q:  Did you get to read the script for the entire episode?
A:  Once, yes.  A day or so before the ep started shooting, there was a group script reading.  A number of shows do this.  The entire cast, plus some others (execs, production team, etc.), gather in a big room and read the script aloud.  As you can imagine, it’s a good opportunity for everyone to get an overview of the episode and make tweaks as necessary.  For actors new to the show, it also helps bring them into the fold a bit, so they’re more a bit more acclimated when they start to shoot.

Q:  Who knew that you were going to be on the show?  Was it hard to keep it a secret?
A:  Only my agents and manager, and my family.  (I shot in December and had to change my travel plans for the holidays.)  It actually wasn’t difficult to keep it a secret.  MM was emphatic that they expected that, and I’m accustomed to generally keeping quiet about projects until I know I’ve survived post-production.
[Most actors have either experienced or heard horror stories about being cut out. (Back when actual physical film was used, it was called “being left on the editing room floor.”).  A friend was in a movie, and another actor in it flew his family out from the Midwest for the premiere.  He sits down with them, the movie starts, and he’s not in his first scene.  Or his second one.  Or any of them.  The movie ends, and his family was, like, “Where were you?”  The producer/s never told him (forgot?  afraid to?) that his part had been entirely removed…]

Q:  Was it fun to work on the show?
A:  Yes, it was a blast.  Everyone was friendly and welcoming.  And working with a cast and script like MM’s is always a privilege.

Q:  Do you have any ideas or hints about where this season of MM is headed?
A:  Zero.  And if my picks for this year’s NCAA basketball tournament were any indication, you really don’t even want me to guess.

Q:  Your character is planning a trip to a desert island where he’ll be alone.  Because he’s one of your characters, this is not considered unusual behavior.  What are at least five things he takes?
A:   A Native American headdress; the Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour”; “How to Lie with Statistics”; the collected works of Aldous Huxley; and his ongoing list of the best and worst things about G. Gordon Liddy.

Q:  WTF?  Thanks for nothing on that last one, man.  Moving on…. Do you have any preference about working in TV or film, big-budget or low-budget?
A:  Not really.  There are benefits to each.  I’ll go to wherever the work is good, or, more specifically, where they’ll hire me.

Q:  So, Mr. Picky, I’m on the other side of the deserted island from your character, and I have nothing to entertain me but all the projects you’ve been involved in (as this Q&A weirdly starts to bend in on itself).  First, though, because it seems more interesting, I count all the grains of sand, then clean my toes with palm fronds, and finally lie back and try to make heart stop through sheer willpower.  Then, with nothing else to do, I decide to watch some of your work.  Where do you suggest I start?
A:  [All links are to Netflix]  Movies:  drama In the Bedroom; sci-fi Another Earth (video & HBO); horror-western The Burrowers; horror The Grudge; sports film Without Limits.  TV:  Lost (11 eps) and Justified (2 eps).  IMDb page.

Q:  Do you ever play characters who aren’t, you know, weird or creepy?
A:  Sure, plenty of times.  Another Earth, FDR: American Badass!, Citizen Gangster, Moola, World Trade Center, The Lather Effect, The Grudge, Without Limits

Q:  Okay, I get it, thanks.  Maybe I’m lucky and packed some movies besides just ones you’re in.  What are some favorites you can recommend which I might not have seen?
A:  Most of these are older…Buster Keaton’s The General and Chaplin’s The Circus.  Cult comedy Withnail and I.  Hitchcock’s sexy thriller Notorious.  The fantastic Shampoo.  Action epic Bridge on the River Kwai.  Screwball comedies His Girl Friday (1940), Nothing Sacred, and The Lady Eve. Some Like It Hot, of course.  Six Degrees of Separation.  More recent:  Wonder Boys; Superbad, and the French drama Dreamlife of Angels.

Q:  What’s coming up for you?
A:  As usual, I’m attached to a few films due to shoot later this year, and I’m waiting to hear back about a couple more.  A few of my indie films are in post-production, and the indie Underdogs was just accepted to Newport Beach Film Festival.

Q:  Anything else about you I should know before I finish this and resume my life?
A:  I co-founded the premiere online film finance marketplace, Slated.com, which connects independent filmmakers with investors worldwide.  I also do voice-overs, write, and invest in/advise start-up companies.  I’m a spokesperson for Elder Abuse Awareness, on the Board of the Community Foundation of Louisville, a co-founder of the Flyover Film Festival, and a member of the Kentucky Film Commission.  I have a B.A. in English from Notre Dame and lose my voice during football season.

Finally, my previous Q&A’s are under the “Interviews..” category, to the left.  And I write occasional posts with information I hope will be helpful to young actors. Those are to the left, too, under “Acting<Acting Tips…”

 

 

 

Posted in Acting Projects, Acting Tips & Info, Favorites, Interviews and Q&A's, News & Events, Press, Recs, TV

Valentine’s Day Movies

Posted on: February 13th, 2013 by wmapother 4 Comments

One of the best parts of various holidays is the favorites movies we associate with them.  Unknown

Random sidebar: I just thought of a fun parlor game:  Pick three of your favorite movies that aren’t associated with a holiday, then invent a holiday that incorporates aspects of all three.  Fun for the whole family!  Or at least, some friends who are over for drinks..

Anyway, the film section of Leo Magazine (in my hometown of Louisville) asked me for some of my favorite films for Valentine’s Day (they supplied the various categories below).  I was happy to oblige, partly of course as a selfless public service, and partly because I’ll use any opportunity to push my favorite films on people.   The full article with others’ recs, too, is here.  The envelopes, please (with Netflix links):

Funniest Sex Scene?  Monty Python’s Meaning of Life, the ‘Sex Education’ skit.  It’s exactly the way Americans imagine a literal British sex ed class would be run.

Most Romantic Moment?     Tie:  The conclusions of Chaplin’s “City Lights” and, of course, ‘Casablanca.’  In the former Chaplin reveals his true self to the woman he’s loved but has never seen him, and in the latter Bogart sacrifices his love for Bergman for the sake of her happiness and the free world.  They’re very different, but very romantic.

Best Kiss?    Tie again:
(1)  Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, ‘Notorious.’  [The photo above.]  For two and a half minutes they kiss, pull slightly apart, then kiss again.  Repeat, please.  Trivia:  Hitchcock devised this to get around the prohibition against kisses lasting more than three seconds.  Repeat, please.
(2) Buster Keaton’s ‘The General‘.  Keaton’s beloved fuels the train’s fire with just twigs, as they’re escaping the enemy. He strangles her for half a second, then kisses her.  It’s a beautiful and hysterical summation of love.

Best Non-Hook-Up?  “There’s Something About Mary.”  Poor Ben Stiller suffers and suffers.

Best Break-Up?   The end of ‘Superbad,’ one of my all-time favorites.  Jonah Hill and Michael Cera head off with their new squeezes, looking back over their shoulders at one another and the end of their adolescent friendship that dare not speak its name.

Favorite Anti-Love Story?  “War of the Roses” (Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito), or “The Break-up,” in which Vaughn and Aniston have to share an apartment post-break-up.

Favorite Overall Romantic Comedy or Love Story?  “Shop Around the Corner,” with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.  They work together and detest one another, but they fall in love as each other’s anonymous pen pal.  Funny, sophisticated, and fantastic.

Here’s to a Valentine’s Day that’s sweet or spicy, however you like it.

 

 

Posted in Favorites, Film, Funny Like Ha-Ha, Interviews and Q&A's, Louisville & KY, News & Events, Other Photos, Press, Video (Online & Home)

Get Thee to a Class

Posted on: March 7th, 2012 by wmapother 1 Comment

(Another in a series of posts to actors.  For more check out the ‘Info to Actors’ category at left.)

Actors young and young-ish, it’s dangerously easy to stop growing in your craft. Other performers — dancers, singers, etc. — wouldn’t imagine stopping their training. Why should an actor?  I once read that only a week before he died, Laurence Olivier was still in an acting class. QED. And RIP. And…moving on.

Last evening I was reminded of an entirely separate benefit to being in class:  the connections you make. On your own, you’re likely to let this asset slide. For a craft so dependent on interacting with others, actors tend to spend a lot of time alone. How many people are you going to meet on your three trails between the fridge, the TV, and the toilet?

So yesterday I went to a party for the premiere of Samantha Gutstadt‘s web series – kileshay.com. While there I ran into Tava Smiley, an acting classmate from several years ago.  She introduced me to Gabe Sachs, a writer on – genuflection, please – the cult series Freaks and Geeks. (Yes, it’s on Netflix.) This show launched the careers of people like James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Siegel.  Yeah, I know.

Anyway, to wrap this up, after I stopped fanboying all over Gabe, I was reminded of an acting class’s ancillary benefit:  friends for now and connections for the future. No actor is an island, as it were. So make the connections and then – especially when you feel you’re falling off the face of the earth – stay in touch with them.

And just so I can squeeze one more lesson from this, I’ll add that it’s also a reminder of the importance of being in not just any class, but a good one, alongside actors who are studying and serious.  The ones who will be around for a while and find a way to work. The committed and idiosyncratic. The freaks and geeks.

[This is another in a continuing series of potentially helpful, hopefully practical posts to actors on practicing their craft or surviving the trying.  I bear no responsibility for how this or any of my posts might ruin your life, lead you to law school, or make your parents sick with worry.  For more of the same, click the ‘Info to Actors’ category at left.]

Posted in Acting Tips & Info, Favorites, Random, TV